How You Can Help

As many of you know by now, it has been a time of great change in our family. Last fall, Katie and I started to pray more specifically about how and where God was leading us forward. After much thought and prayer, we have decided to transition back to living and working in the States. You can read more about our decision here.



On April 6th, we will move to Charleston, South Carolina. Both of us are looking forward to getting back in the classroom! Next fall, we will be teaching in elementary schools in Dorchester County, where Paul taught previously. After our move in April, each month will signify a new beginning: Paul will start graduate school in May for school administration, we will move into our home at the beginning of June, and we will begin our new teaching jobs in August!

As we prepare to embark on this significant transition, we have some needs that you can help meet. First, please PRAY for us as we wrap up our ministry work and prepare to say goodbye to our friends here in Romania. The ministry in Romania, especially the people we have had the privilege to serve beside, will always have a special place in our hearts, and leaving won't be easy. Our latest newsletter outlines some new ministry projects in Romania that you can also be praying about. Thank you for praying for us and for the ministry here.

Second, we have financial needs that include:

• Moving costs like luggage fees and moving vehicles 
• Other relocation expenses like a car, furniture, and appliances for our home

Our new full-time jobs won't begin until mid-August, so we are trusting that God will provide for us in the interim. If you can GIVE towards any of these needs, please consider making an online donation through the Teleios Ministry website and mark your gift for Paul and Katie Crook. As always, 100% of what you give comes directly to us, and all donations are tax-deductible.

Thank you again for your care, support, encouragement, and love!

Love,
Paul and Katie

Transitions Ahead

Greetings and love to you all!  We hope this post finds you enjoying your February so far and seeing God's work all around you.  It's warming up here... in fact, one might say it's almost Spring!  We want to take a moment to thank you for following along with our blog and for encouraging and supporting us from near and far.  We are so grateful!  It makes a difference in our lives to know we are prayed for and loved.  Thank you!

Throughout each of our lives, we have sought to follow where God is leading us.  We have loved following His guidance into the full-time ministry here, first Paul in 2012 and then Katie in 2014, and we have seen Him bless our obedience and the obedience of the believers here.  In our partnership with the local churches, we've continually seen God raise up new workers and leaders among us.  It's been a joy to watch as our desires have unfolded: the discipleship of new believers and the development of new leaders in our churches.

In fact, we have seen so much growth in the programs that we are a part of, that in the last several months, we have sought God's guidance once again about what our roles will be in the future of the local ministry.  We now feel with confidence that there are several people who are now ready to take on some of the responsibilities that have been ours.  Praise God!

Of course, that leaves us asking, "What do we do next?" Our work in Romania has confirmed our passion for education and for working with those who find themselves on the outskirts of society.  After much prayer and seeking wise counsel, we've decided to make a transition back to the States to pursue these passions at home.  We feel so thankful for the opportunity to have lived in Romania and to have been a part of this ministry.  God has blessed our time here so much.  Now we are ready to follow Him into the next stage of our life, trusting that He is faithful and has a purpose for our lives no matter where we are.

We will be transitioning to Charleston, South Carolina at the beginning of April.  We are pursuing teaching jobs in public schools for next school year, and Paul will be starting graduate school this summer.  We are looking forward to being closer to family and also to being able to attend Katie's brother's wedding in Atlanta at the end of April!

We will always have a home in Romania, and we are excited to imagine how God might allow us to continue being a part of the ministry here even in our new life in the States.  There is still much work to be done, and God has knit our hearts together forever with the believers here.  What a blessing it is to have homes on both sides of the ocean.

Thank you again for your faithful encouragement, support and care.

Love,
Paul and Katie

Best of Instagram: "On the Road" Edition

Here's the latest installment in our Best of Instagram series: On the Road!  Here are a few of the sights we've seen while driving around this sometimes-crazy country!

Ahh yes... the classic "Just for clarification" Romanian road sign

I took this photo the week I moved here.  I thought it was hilarious.  Now it makes sense!  No use of horns allowed here!

A daily occurrence: horse carts and hay wagons! 

Another daily occurrence: the sheep (or cows!) have got to cross somewhere!  At least stray dogs have the decency to use crosswalks (it's true!).

Gorgeous roadside sunflowers in sunflower season (July)

These roadside alters are everywhere, each one uniquely handcrafted

Yep.

Another "just for clarification" sign: you can park anywhere, I guess!

Thank you, Romania, for forcing me teaching me to be a braver driver than I ever thought I could be!

Love,
Katie

Who's Who in After-School, Part 3

We've been back in school for almost a month now, so I thought it would be good to share about another one of my students. Before I do that though, let me tell you a little about what happened in the final weeks before the winter break. We were in the States, but the after school program continued for three weeks. Claudiu and Cristina approached me in November about doing some sort of Christmas performance for the families of our students. I was excited about the enthusiasm they had for wanting to take on something special with the kids. We worked out a plan for them to practice during the second hour of the school day for this program. On December 17th, they invited families and friends to the church to perform what they had been working on. It was great to get the pictures while we were in the States.

Now, we've been hard at work getting back to the grind of learning to read and write. One of my students, Cristina, is doing an excellent job! She is one of the poorest kids in my group, and she has struggled with reading since I've known her. She's now in the 6th grade and still far behind. At the beginning of the school year, she did not attend regularly, and didn't show much interest in committing to learn to read. Over the last few months, something changed. I wish I could say that there was something special that we did to encourage her, but I think she really came to this decision on her own. Since we started back to school in January, she has come everyday, and her reading is getting stronger! She no longer has to "sound out" all of the words. She is recognizing words and using comprehension to make sense of what she is reading. She is even able to tell me what she's read after reading it! On top of all that, Cristina smiles now more than I've ever seen her smile before. She's just happy! I'm really proud of her decision to take learning seriously. Now, I'm encouraging her to help those around her when they struggle. She seems to take on this new role with excitement. It also gives her more confidence in her own growth and ability. Congratulations Cristina!

Until next time, 

Paul

Winter in Romania

There's a couple who lives at the trash dumpsters behind our apartment building.  Actually, I'm not sure exactly where they sleep, but during daylight hours you can find them there, waiting for the residents of these buildings to decide it's time to take out the trash.  Then, the couple diligently digs through each bag or box, looking for anything edible, usable or sellable.  Usually, only one of them at a time stands by the dumpster.  I assume the other one is combing through another dumpster somewhere else in the area.  That's what winter is like in Romania.

In Apalina, some of the homes are nicer than others.  Some are made of sturdy concrete bricks and red clay roof tiles.  Other homes are molded out of mud and spare pieces of wood and metal scrapped together.  Many homes have just one room where all the members of the family sleep together - parents, kids, babies, even grandparents or cousins.  I don't know of any homes that have an indoor bathroom, but some homes do have running water and electricity.  These homes are popular meeting places.  But when temperatures drop into sub-freezing temperatures, as they've been the last several weeks, the water in the wells and pipes freeze.  Even the homes that have water hooked up lose their water source when it's cold enough.  That's what winter is like in Romania.

There are a few places along the main roads where women wait to be picked up.  They're nicknamed "butterflies" in Hungarian, slang for "prostitute." Throughout the year, we see the same women standing in their spots day after day, month after month.  In one place in Reghin, one women usually stands alone.  She's stood there, alone, almost every day that I've passed by since we've moved here.  On Saturday when I passed her, she was joined by at least three other women.  In the colder months, other kinds of work are scarce.  This is how they survive.  That's what winter is like in Romania.

Many Roma (or Gypsies, as they are more commonly called) famously make their way through life by surviving off of stealing from others.  Others get involved in other dishonest schemes, hence their reputation for being cheats and liars.  If you've talked with us at all about our ministry, you'll know how 1. how damaging this reputation can be; 2. that this reputation is frequently well-earned; and 3. how many Gypsies earn their living honestly and with integrity and tend to be some of the most generous people we know.  When many of the Gypsies in Apalina encounter the gospel, they're faced with a choice: accept Christ and forego all dishonest work or deny Christ and lose out on the life and spiritual abundance He offers.  We've witnessed new believers make incredibly huge sacrifices for their faith, and those commitments are tested the most in winter.  Honest work like construction, tending crops, and taking care of animals is extremely hard to find.  People are hungry and desperate to provide for their families.  We get daily requests for money, food and diapers.  That's what winter is like in Romania.

Please keep Romania in your prayers this winter.  We trust that He is faithful to provide.

Love,
Katie

Ready for 2016

We're back!  We're back to Romania AND back to blogging!  We hope you had a great holiday season with your families and friends.  We had a fantastic time in the States catching up with our families and friends, but as many other missionaries will tell you, it was extremely busy and very exhausting at the same time!  We were happy to cross the threshold of our Romanian apartment on Saturday afternoon... finally back in the home we've built together.

While we were gone, the ministry had one of its busiest seasons: Christmas!  Not only were there many more services and events than usual, there were also big tasks like shoebox and food box distribution!  In the children's meetings, leaders helped the kids prepare skits, poems and songs for the special season.  Attendance at these children's meetings swelled to over 100 kids in Apalina!  All of the local leaders did an amazing job.  They even sent us some photos and videos of the kids so we could get in on the action from far away.  Awesome!

Attila sent us this photo of a children's meeting in Apalina with the Romanian-speaking kids!

To catch you up on our time in the States, I thought I'd share some photos of what we were up to in the States.  In addition to what you see here, we also met with churches, had about a hundred doctor's appointments (or so it seemed!), ran tons of errands, and lived out of our suitcases for five weeks straight!  Phew!

When we arrived to Paul's parents' house, look what was waiting for me, courtesy of my super thoughtful father-in-law!!  Yes!!  Best welcome ever!!

We drove up to Charlotte to see Paul's sister, her husband, and their three precious children (one of them brand new!!!!!).  We even got to drive around on the Nascar Speedway and look at their drive-through Christmas lights display!

We drove over to Knoxville to visit my Grandad.  We took a field trip to the Museum of Appalachia, where there is a McClung house exhibit :) The entire property was decorated for Christmas in the old pioneer style.  We loved every minute of this special time with Grandad!

Back in Charleston, we had Crook Family Christmas, including a family bowling trip!  Paul got to help teach his nephew how to bowl for the first time!  Such great memories!

Here are all the Crooks and Fulginitis together in one photo!

We flew to San Antonio just before Christmas and connected with my parents, my brother and his brand-new FIANCÉ, Nancy!  We are so excited to have a new family member join us in 2016!  And of course, we had to stop by our favorite Tex-Mex place on the way home from the airport!  YUM!

We went to a Spurs game together!  Spurs are 22-0 at home!

On New Year's Day, Paul and I ran a 5k with my parents!  I am so proud of everyone in this picture!!

We drove up to Austin to spend the weekend with friends, and then met some more friends in Waco!  While we were in Waco, of course we had to stop by the Magnolia Market property (which was sadly closed on a Sunday!).  We got to snap this photo of their bakery-in-progress.  Any Fixer Upper fans out there??

We flew back to Romania on Jan 8-9 and this was our view from the plane, descending to Cluj.  Now winter is fully upon us!

This week, school started back up, as did the After-school program in Apalina.  I'm starting up English classes again tonight, and off we go!  Thank you for your prayers for us while we were away.  Please be praying for our ministry and for those we work with here during these winter months.  Work is much more difficult to find for our Gypsy friends during the winter, and their already harsh living conditions become pretty unbearable when the temperatures drop and the dampness of rain, snow and ice permeates practically everything.  

Since most of the migrant work in Western Europe that attracts Romanians happens only in the spring and summer, many of our church meetings are really crowded now, which is great!  Almost everyone is home.  We have several teams lined up to come here in February and March, so we'll be preparing for that as well.  There's a lot going on!  Stay tuned for more from Romania!

Love,
Katie

P.S. In case you missed it, you can check out our 2015 Year-End letter in the archives over on the sidebar to the right ------->

Happy New Year...a little early

Katie and I would like to say HAPPY NEW YEAR from San Antonio, Texas. We have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season with our families. We have also been able to visit and share with many people along the way. We are appreciative of the opportunity to spend this time in the States even during a very busy time of ministry in Romania. Thank you for praying for us and for those who are continuing the work while we are here.

As we come to the close of one year and the start of another, we are thankful that God has always provided what we have needed. We are now just $1,500 short of our goal for the start of 2016. Thank you to those who have helped us get to this point. We trust that God will continue to provide for us in the coming weeks. If you are feeling led to give toward our needs or to the work in Romania, you can follow this link.

To all of you and your families, the Crooks wish you a peaceful and blessed 2016!

Love, Paul

Merry Christmas!

Home for a bit

We're so thankful to be back in the States now for our traditional time with our families at Christmas!  Thank you for praying for our safe travel.  It's been non-stop so far, and we expect that to continue, but we are thankful to be here and are looking forward to hopefully seeing many of YOU in the weeks to come!  There may be a bit of silence here on the blog in the next few weeks as we focus on family time, connecting with our supporters, and preparing for a very special Christmas celebrating the Reason for all that we have and all that we do!  Thanks for following along with us!

Love,
Katie

Who's Who, Take 2

It’s been a few weeks since I shared about a student in our after-school program. Daniel, whom you can read about here, stopped coming for about three weeks. I found out later he had been sick, and then he needed to help his family with some work and they did not allow him to go to school. That happens a lot here. He has since come back and has learned all of his new vocabulary!

This week I want to write about Daria. She is in the 5^th grade this year. Daria is another of my most faithful students. In our last attendance promotion, she didn’t miss a single day of school. She has a great attitude and a lot of spirit! Sometimes I have to ask her to give the other students a chance to respond. She knows all of the letters, but she has a hard time putting them together to make words. However, this is already a big improvement from where she was at the beginning of the year. Lately, I have been asking Daria to help some of the other students as they work to master all the letters and sounds of the alphabet. She seems to really thrive with this positive attention! It’s my hope that in the next few months, her ability to read will really take off.

Daniel is next to me on the right and Daria is on the far right

Thank you for keeping up with what’s going on in our life and work in Romania. Thanks also for your prayers as we work to accomplish what God wants for our community.

-Paul

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Crooks!

We are so THANKFUL for your love, prayers and support!

Love,

Paul and Katie

Reghin Speech Competition

Native English speakers can have somewhat of a celebrity status in schools around Romania. Many times, the students in these schools have only ever heard the English language from native speakers on television or in movies. Katie and I have had several opportunities to speak about holidays or what schools are like in America since we've been here. On November 9th, we had a very special opportunity: we were asked to judge an English speech competition!

I have to admit that I was a little excited to be a judge of something like this! (I was imagining myself among TV talent competitions and their judges!) The competition itself is a Romanian national competition in which there are local, county, and national levels. The Romanian winner actually gets to compete at an international competition and cultural exchange in London. 

We were asked to be judges of the speeches in our city of Reghin. There were students from all three of the high schools in the city. I judged the 11th and 12th grade group, while Katie was with the 9th and 10th graders. Each student gave a prepared speech on the topic of, "Integrity has no need of rules." The speeches were two-and-a-half (for 9th and 10th graders) or five-and-a-half (for 11th and 12th graders) minutes long. After each speech, the audience asked two questions that the speaker had to answer (and be judged on). After hearing all of the speeches, we met to decide on first, second, and third places as well as honorable mentions. We were also able to give feedback to the students about what we observed and how they can work on their speeches for the next level of competition.

Katie and I were very impressed by the abilities of these students. Preparing a speech on integrity would be hard enough in one's first language! These young people were able to put together thought-provoking speeches and answer questions on the spot. Congratulations not just to those who won, but also to all those who participated! Congratulations, also, to the teachers who have worked so hard to prepare these kids for this competition. Not only did they do a great job with public speaking, it's also obvious that they are communicating well in English! Bravo and good luck as you go on to represent Reghin at the regional competition in Targu-Mures!

One of the speakers presents as Katie judges

Sharing feedback with the 11th and 12th graders

Katie sharing her thoughts with the 9th and 10th graders

11th and 12th grade participants and teachers

9th and 10th grade participants and teachers (we are on the far left)

-Paul

Our Favorite Pecan Pie Substitute

This week, our American friends in the States are preparing for their Thanksgiving feasts.  Meanwhile, all over the world, Americans who work overseas are preparing their lists of favorites and substitute-favorites of traditional foods we love but have to adapt a bit to what our grocery stores can offer :) I thought it would be fun to share one of our very favorite desserts, a take on a Southern Thanksgiving classic: Pecan Pie!

Most Pecan Pie recipes I've seen call for Karo syrup, but we can't buy that here.  So, I went on a quest to find a recipe using another kind of syrup or honey to hold it all together.  This Pecan Pie Bar recipe is quick and easy and delicious enough to be made year-round!  I'm making some of these today, along with an easy pumpkin-pie substitute, to take to our English classes this week for our Thanksgiving parties :) Enjoy!

Pecan Pie Bars
Originally found at Table for Two
http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/pecan-pie-bars/

Ingredients

For crust:
2 sticks / 200 g softened butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 2/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

For topping:
1 stick / 100 g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp heavy or sweetened whipping cream
2 cups chopped pecans

Directions: 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 175 degrees C.  Line a 9 x 13 in. (or similar size) baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on the sides.  (You'll eventually be lifting the bars out of the pan using the foil)

First, make the crust.  Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.  Then, add the flour and salt, and mix until crumbles appear.  Pour the crumbles into the baking pan and use your hands to press it all down flat.  Be sure to get it as even as possible, and don't forget the corners!  Bake for 20 minutes.  It will begin to turn golden-brown.

While the crust is baking, put the butter, brown sugar, honey and cream into a saucepan and get it boiling over medium heat.  Only let it simmer for about a minute (I wait to start timing until there are bubbles all the way across the top). Then add the pecans.  Set aside until the crust finishes baking.

When the crust is ready, take it out of the oven and pour the pecan mixture over it.  Spread it out so it covers the crust evenly.  Bake for another 20 minutes and then let it cool!  Don't try to take the bars out until they are completely cool!  When it's time, use the foil to lift the bars out of the pan.  I place the bars on top of a large cutting board and slice them into squares.

Enjoy!!!

PS One of our friends here compared these bars to Snickers bars, which got me thinking... what would happen if I added chocolate somehow??  YUM!!

Love,
Katie

Mystery Skype

Have you ever heard of a mystery Skype? Several schools that I know of in the United States are participating in this new form of “pen pals”. While the focus is different, in that it isn’t so much focused on a continuous relationship, it is a way of connecting students from different places. The idea is that two teachers arrange a time for their classes to Skype with one another.  The teachers do not provide any information for their students about the other class. The students then ask questions that can be answered with a 'yes' or 'no' in order to determine where the other class is located. Then, there is time to ask questions about what life is like or share other information about the location.

Two weeks ago, we participated in one of these mystery Skype sessions with a class in Summerville, South Carolina. In the days leading up to our call, I talked with our After-School kids about maps and geography. We had some really fun lessons learning about other parts of the world. Our kids were very curious about what life is like in some of the other countries. We also talked about what kinds of questions would help us get to the answer the most quickly. On Friday, we had all of the kids in front of the computer as we talked with a 4^th grade class in the States. Each class took turns asking questions of the other group. They were so excited as they got closer and closer to guessing the correct place. Afterwards, it was fun to exchange information about where we live. We even got to walk the computer outside and show those 4^th graders the horses, sheep, and chickens that were hanging out outside our building!

A big thanks to Nicole R. for planning this. It was great fun. Our kids couldn’t stop talking about it even into the next week! Below are some pictures I took on the day we had our mystery Skype. The quality is not very good because the internet signal that we were using was coming from my phone and I couldn't get very far away from the computer :) I hope you'll still enjoy seeing the kids.

Some of our girls checking the Atlases

This was our view of Nicole's class on the screen

Our "selfie" as we Skyped from Romania to South Carolina

- Paul

Stories with Sticks

We had such a great day at our Apalina children's meeting yesterday that we wanted to share all about it with you! First of all, we have to say a big thank you to Orsi, Ildiko and Judit for being such great partners in our work in Apalina. It is great to be involved in the work right alongside our Romanian friends.

A few weeks ago, Katie and I had the opportunity to attend a conference for those who work with children and youth in the church. We left feeling very excited about a few of the resources that we heard about during the weekend. One of these resources is FreeBibleImages.org. This website has excellent pictures to use in telling Bible stories to children. It's also (as the name tells) FREE! You can download the PowerPoint version of the pictures along with a script (in English, Hungarian or Romanian for most stories) and you have vivid, readymade visuals to accompany your story. We have already used this site several times in our children's meetings!

Yesterday, we were able to use another idea we've been so excited about! I don't know the official name, but I'm calling them story-telling sticks. It's really just four pieces of heavy cardboard cut into equal lengths and attached with brads. You can then use these "sticks" to make many different shapes. We used them to tell the story of the paralyzed man being brought to Jesus by his friends from Mark 2:1-12. With this visual, the kids were much more engaged than if we had simply told them the story! They watched carefully to see what shape I'd make next.  The best part was after I told the story, when we had a couple of the children use the sticks to re-tell the story themselves! Even those who didn't use the sticks were helping tell what happened next because they were better able to remember the story.  And the kids loved using the sticks!

For an activity after the story, we went outside and had relay races in which four friends had to carry one of their teammates on a blanket (to mimic the paralytic and his four friends). There was so much laughter that many of the teams couldn't even make it back to the start without having to put their blanket down and regroup! We found this brilliant idea over on Mission Bible Class, another wonderful free resource brought to us by some very hard-working folks down in New Zealand!

We are very thankful to Angus Cleaver and his friends at the Cleaford Trust for sharing these resources with us. Thanks also to those of you who are faithfully praying for us as we share God's love with the children in Romania. Enjoy the photos and video below!

Using the story-telling sticks

Blanket relay races!

Enjoy the laughter and cheers!

- Paul

Unrest in Romania

Whether you catch your news from the evening broadcast or from any major news network online, you may have been following some big news from Romania in the past couple of weeks.  On October 30, a massive fire in a Bucharest nightclub resulted in the deaths of 54 people and well over 100 injured.  There's widespread speculation that the main reason this large club was able to operate and secure permits for this high-attendance event was due to bribery and corruption, likely on several key levels.  Paul and I have been witnesses to bribery and corruption even in our small town in Reghin, and as far back as 2003, large government task forces have been set up to try to 'clean house' in a country fraught with political controversy since the fall of communism in 1989.

Recent protests following the nightclub fire have sprung up not only in Bucharest, where over 35,000 people have taken to the streets, but also in the other major cities of Romania like Cluj and Sibiu.  Following the first night of protests after the fire, our criminally corrupt Prime Minister, Victor Ponta, resigned, as well as two other high-ranking officials tied to the fire.  It's a time of great unrest.

Politics aside, the nightclub fire is a huge tragedy for our country.  While only about 30 people died at the actual fire, the last two weeks have seen the death toll steadily climb as victims succumb to their injuries and the dangerous toxins released by the fire.  The nightclub had no fire sprinklers or evacuation plan, and there was only one exit door unlocked for the more than 400 people to escape through once everyone realized what was happening.  It must have been a terrifying ordeal for all.

Several helpful articles have been published in the wake of all these events.  I invite you to take a closer look at the political turmoil here and to commit to prayer the victims and their families.  Please also pray for wise men and women of integrity to be appointed to lead this nation as it struggles to move forward.

Here's the very informative Wikipedia article about the Colectiv nightclub fire.

Here's a Vox article explaining the Romanian protests.

Here's an article from EUROPP that dives deeper into the resignation of the Prime Minister and what it means for our country.

Love,
Katie

Catching You Up

We've been keeping busy with lots of tasks, big and small, here in Romania during the last couple of weeks.  Sorry for our short silence!  Here's a peek at what we've been up to:

Children's Ministry Conference, October 16-17
Paul and I had the opportunity to attend a short conference for youth and children's ministry workers just down the road in Targu-Mures.  The presenters for the weekend were Evódia Budai and a team from the UK with the Cleaford Christian Trust.  We had a great time with some old friends and new ones too, and we especially enjoyed the presentation by Angus Cleaver about some fun, new strategies for engaging kids in Bible instruction.  It was so creative!  We're excited to hold our next meeting with the children's workers in our churches to share what we learned.  That will happen later this month. Thank you to the Baptist church in Targu-Mures for hosting this great event!

Evódia Budai sharing about working with teenagers

Angus Cleaver sharing a fun teaching tool for kids

We look a little tired here... but we had just filled up on a delicious dinner! Yum!  

After-School and English Classes Update

The After-school teachers are working hard getting their kids up to speed on grade-level skills and curriculum. This week, Cristina, one of the teachers, has been in the hospital in Targu-Mures following a scare regarding some kind of infection.  Please pray for quick healing for her.  Melinda, our new cook, has been doing a wonderful job feeding the kids, and she's always ready to help Paul with his kids as soon as she's done in the kitchen! She's a woman of many talents!  Paul's still doing a great job teaching his kids (in Romanian!).  This month, there's a special attendance challenge.  For kids who don't miss a single day of after-school, there will be a big reward at the end!  Stay tuned!

A Romanian "Word Wall" at After-school

English classes are still moving along well in Gornesti and Reghin, constantly giving us more and more opportunities for connecting with new people in our community.  There's been a little dip in attendance following the time change (which happened for us one week before it happened in the U.S.).  We've heard people are less likely to go out at night once it gets dark, but we're hoping the early sunset won't keep anyone away for too long!

Gornesti English class

Crook House Church

We are really blessed to have several different churches here to call 'home.'  Each week, we attend 3-5 church services (Sundays as well as evening meetings during the week), and they are either held in Hungarian or Romanian.  So, even though we don't have a shortage of church meetings, it's also very special to get to worship and learn in our 'heart' language, our native language of English.  In order to be able to do this, Paul and I really enjoy putting together a little mini 'house church' with just the two of us!  We usually sing some songs, pray, and listen to an English sermon on the internet.  Not only do we get to experience English worship, prayer and teaching this way, we also get to have that time to grow together spiritually and to come to God together in a really intimate way.  We're blessed by it every time we get the chance.

Music is so important to us during this 'church' time, and in the last couple of weeks, we have been really encouraged by finding some new English worship music to listen to, thanks to a sweet friend from one of the UK groups that visited us this summer (shout-out to Beth!  Hi!  And thank you!!!).  She sent along some recommendations that have made a huge impact on Paul and me, reenergizing us and getting us really excited about worship again.  Here are a couple of our favorites!

You Make Me Brave - Bethel

It Is Well - Bethel

Prayers for Health
For the last 11 months, I've struggled with some severe back pain, especially at night when I'd like to be sleeping! I finally saw a doctor back in June to try to get some answers, and since then we've spent some significant time traveling to doctor's appointments, pharmacies, x-rays, tests, massage therapy, and, most recently, to physical therapy.  We've been really blessed with great doctor's-office experiences, and I'm thankful for my husband who has been such a huge help with translating and making sure I get wherever I need to be.  He's been an amazing support, always willing to do whatever is needed.  I'm so grateful for him!  Currently, I'm driving to Targu-Mures twice a week for physical therapy when Paul is at After-school.  Please pray for safe travel for me (two-hour round trip  drive each time) and for continued improvement with my back pain.  It's been quite a ride, but I'm starting to see some relief!

Phew!  That's a lot to take in!  Thanks for praying for us and for keeping up with our blog.  We love sharing our life with you, and we hope you can see the many ways God's working and moving to grow his community of believers here in Romania.

Love,
Katie

Who's who in the after school

For a while now I’ve wanted to start something new on our blog. I want to write about each of my students in the after school program in Apalina so that you will get to know them better. I hope that through this, you will feel even more a part of what’s going on here in Romania.

First up is my most faithful student, Daniel. He is in the eighth grade, and until this year hasn’t come regularly to our after school. I knew him, of course, but I honestly thought he would be one to just drop out once the year really started. I was wrong! He has only missed one day since the start of school this year. Just as a reminder, the group I work with is students who have the hardest time with reading, writing, and basic math. It may be surprising to think that there are students in the eighth grade who struggle with this, but Daniel is not the only one. From the beginning, he was already one of the stronger readers in the group, but that said, he still struggled. He knows the alphabet, but he doesn’t know how to use what he knows to help him read. Since the start of the year, he has improved to the point where he is now helping me teach other students in the class. Sometimes I have to tell him not to answer because he is so much faster than the other students now. He has made great improvements, and mainly because he wanted to. That is one of the biggest battles here. Many of the children have decided (either because they were told or because of many failures) that they cannot be successful no matter how hard they try. With Daniel, that is being proven wrong!

Someone recently mentioned to me that it must be so hard to do what I’m doing. My response was that it is hard, but the rewards are great. When I see a student like Daniel achieve success after success, it makes it all worth it!

Stay tuned for more updates about the students in my class and for a picture of Daniel.

- Paul

Very Special Visitors

Paul and I had the privilege of hosting my parents here in Romania last week!  They came all the way from Texas, USA to be with us and to see the world in which we live.  We had a fantastic visit, and Paul and I treasured every moment we got to spend with my parents!  My dad, a budding amateur photographer, took so many great pictures of Reghin, Targu-Mures, Sighisoara, and places in between, and we're happy to have some great photo memories to share with all of you!

My parents out at dinner at our favorite restaurant in Ernei

The town hall and cultural palace in Targu-Mures

Medieval town of Sighisoara

Birthplace of Vlad Dracul ("Dracula") in Sighisoara

Outside Reghin church on Sunday morning

Our little church in Reghin

Reghin Mayor's office and central city park

English poster up in the center of town!

Our church in Apalina

English classes in Gornesti and Reghin are going well!  We have about 10 students in Reghin, and a whopping 20-25 in Gornesti!  As always, it's been great getting to know some new faces in the community as well as to get to spend some more time with church members who are also coming to the classes.  We've even got several children joining us!  Here's a quick photo I snagged last night in Reghin:

Thank you again to my parents for being a big blessing to us on their visit!  And thank you to all of you for following along with us on this blog and in prayer.

Love,

Katie