Our Week In Romania

It has been an amazing week.  One filled with joy, tears, laughter, frustration, prayer, and most of all love, His love.  I have so much to share with all of you and so much to 'talk' to the Lord about. In the weeks ahead I will share stories and photos.  So stay tuned!

Thank you for praying for us, Kim

Glory to God

Glory to God

Where can one go and completely surrender to the love and mercy of God?

Where can one go that just being there causes them to tear down walls that they have been building on the inside for years?

Where can one go and let go of all of their doubts and fears and go all out for God?

No fear, No barriers, No insecurities, No giants to face. Just be in the presence of the Lord, totally and completely.

Where is this place that one can go that is like no other?

The Mission field.

The word Mission is defined as: a sending or being sent for some duty or purpose; those sent.
Think about the magnitude of that….those sent are actually the definition of Mission. They are sent to perform a duty or purpose that has been placed in their heart by God. I like to think of “those sent” being synonymous with the phrase “those chosen.” You must first be chosen to go before you are sent. So these missionaries, whether they are going to perform a duty around the corner from where they live for a few hours, or they are off to a foreign country for a few days…or even if they pick up their entire family and move to a new land, they all are obeying God’s call—The chosen. They have a burning desire to bring His grace and mercy where it is needed most. And most of the time, the missionaries go to save souls, and their souls get saved all over again in the process. God provides them with the strength and love it will take to perform His Mission of love.

Their hearts are forever changed as they embark on the journey to find the lost, weep for the hurting, love the unloved, bring joy to the sad-hearted, heal the sick, all the while being the example that God wants them to be. One of his grace and mercy. One like His son, Jesus. They are to act, talk and walk like Jesus. If Jesus were where they are going, what would he do? They will be the heart, soul, hands, eyes, ears, feet, and mouth of Jesus.

I have the personal privilege of knowing 3 amazing women that are currently fulfilling His call of love to the children and adults of Romania.

I feel deep within my heart that they are going there to do the obvious—hold babies, bring supplies, pray over children, etc….But what is so amazing about hearing the Lord’s voice and obeying, is that He will do things in you that you never thought possible…so beyond the obvious-Way down deep in my spirit man, I know that I know that these women will see miracles from God first-hand. Not only will they see them, but they will perform them. He tells us in His word over and over again that one’s faith is so powerful, it can heal. Even in the midst of doubt and unbelief that we all have from time to time in our natural mind, obedience will reign. These women are following their hearts and traveling to an unknown place to fulfill what I know is only the beginning of God’s purpose for their lives. They will see and do in a very short period of time what most of us will not see in our lifetimes. I am honored to be praying for their journey, but even more so to be a witness to the act of love, grace, courage, and obedience to the lord they are about to complete. They will come home doing only one thing-giving all of the glory of the fruits of their labor to God.

“Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. …I planted the seed…But God is the One who made it grow. So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God, who makes things grow, is important.” (1Corinthians 3:5-7.)



...Please be in prayer for our friends, Kim, Barb and Wendy as they are in their final days in Romania...

Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy.Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. She is also a contributing author at www.mommiesmagazine.com.
Maria's first published work is in Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade's Women of Passion's anthology, "Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God". Both Kim and Maria have been selected to have their work tentatively included in Lori Wagner,s upcoming book, Quilting Patches of Life, Volume 2.

A Call Back To Romania

The dates are set and the tickets have been purchased . . . it is time to return to Romania. A country with a past, a future, and a hope.

Many years ago the Lord called me to Romania through a documentary on 20/20. Years later I traveled for the first time to bring home my son. Then in 2007 I traveled again as part of a missions team. And now he is calling me to lead a small team to a remote village and I can't wait!

So I thought I would share a few links during this time of preparation and ask you to join us in prayer as we prepare for the work the Lord is calling us to do:

Children in the Son (The ministry we will be working with and under.)

Billy Graham crusades/Festival of Hope

Stay tuned, Kim

Kim is a woman who loves the Lord and has a burden for the abandoned, the orphaned, and the forgotten. She has been called to minister to the people and children of Romania and will be traveling internationally in the days ahead. At home she cares for her three children and her husband John. She also loves prophetic worship and writing for the Lord. Her work can also be found at Take Root and Write where she wrties with fellow Narrow Gate Girls Julie Arduini & Maria Spencer, among other Christian writers. Kim also maintains her blog http://divingintohisgrace.blogspot.com/

The Romania Connection

I'm still in awe over this and feel I'm meant to share.

Saturday I was invited to a brunch. The hostess is a dear lady who is in music ministry with my husband. The other ladies invited were involved as well. I'd been battling depression most of the week so I was looking forward to going, even though my plan was to blend in the background.

The brunch started with the hostess thanking each person for what they bring to that ministry. She started with me, thanking me for allowing my husband to work as hard as he does, because she realizes to do as well as he does, something has to give. Honestly, that something is usually being home and/or focused. He is a tremendous husband and dad but like me, he can be an all or nothing personality. Our marital struggles aren't usually finances, they are over church.

I worked so hard to make sure everyone fit in when we moved I left one person out: me! I've let the enemy really divide us as we were always "TomnJulie" and now, we are "Tom and Julie." It's been a transition and when I'm frustrated, I don't throw out the divorce word, no I hit as low with the "I'm leaving the church" threat. The last 6 weeks I've really pressed in on my attitude so for this brunch to start out that way, I had tears. That God would care so much to bless me that way and help me get to know these ladies better is so much more than I deserve. So much.

God wasn't done! We shared our hearts, got to know each other better, and really opened up in a way that only God could orchestrate. At one point one friend said three words that spun my head to her direction.

Reagan. Romania. Missions.

See Romania is really Kim's passion, so I thought. What I didn't know is she brought to the forefront something I never really thought about---my heart has been on Romanian children since our church had a missionary named Reagan visit. I can't remember half her sharing because I was sobbing so. My heart absolutely broke at the time for these children dumped in streets, living in trash heaps, and often part of the gypsy culture.

Yet when Kim started pressing in on a return trip, I did not feel led to travel with her. What the Holy Spirit kept saying to me when I thought maybe I should try was a resounding no. For me, I was meant to one day make a missions trip under the covering of my church. I was obedient and let Kim know, but wondered how would this ever happen. Currently our church travels to Sierra Leone on a regular basis. Recent additional trips were El Salvador (my husband went) and Turkey. None of these rang right for me, beyond praying for them.

As soon as my friend said those words, I asked what she just said. She repeated the words. I asked if our church had a trip to Romania planned that I didn't know about. She started to cry. She confessed no, but that the ladies here have felt since Reagan visited years ago that they were one day meant to go.

I shared my story with them and together we all cried. We don't know the time, the season, or the way. But we now see the plan. We believe one day we will head to Romania and love on those kids and help in any way we can. We are already hoping Kim can visit with us and share her heart so we have additional wisdom on the matter. And we're praying on the how and when to go to leadership and share our heart and vision.

The food was delicious, the fellowship fabulous. The new friendships a gift I can't put in words. The Romania connection? Priceless. And a story that I believe is just beginning...

Please visit Take Root and Write's Open House Monday, July 14! Maria, Kim and Julie will be just a few of the writers participating in this amazing site. Maria will encourage special need families. Kim will ignite those with a stirring for adoption. Julie will journey with readers as they claim victory and freedom through surrender. Do sign up for the e-mail subscription service so you don't miss a column!

http://www. takerootandwrite.com

Julie Arduini is a surrendered writer with her own blog, http://thesurrenderedscribe.blogspot.com/. A graduate of the Christian Writers Guild, she blogs for the Christian Writers Forum Sundays as the mommy blogger. She is active with FaithWriters and has several writings ready to publish in different books and anthologies in 2008-09.

To get to know her better, read her interview by Lynda Schab at:http://www.faithreaders.com/featured-author-details.php?id=33%20To contact Julie, please use the e mail provided in our profile.