he seats them with princes (old version: moldova and romania internship): Dumnezeu ne iubeşte (email update)

Bună Ziua (Good Day) to all,

“Dumnezeu ne iubeşte foarte mult,” I told one of my private English students last week. “God loves us so much.” After our English lesson, she, out of the blue, began asking me my thoughts on faith, God, and church. I listened to her thoughts and shared as much of my own as I could in Romanian. Although I wanted so much to be able to tell of the grace and love of God in English, I also, at the same time, began to see how my struggle to communicate effectively in Romanian is teaching me humility and is teaching me that salvation is entirely God’s work, not mine. “For HE has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1.13-14, NIV). My prayer is that the Holy Spirit would continue to stir in the heart of this student (her name is Mariana) drawing her to Himself, and that I might somehow be willing to be used in the process.

I now have four private English students, two beginners and two who are more advanced. I meet with each of them two to three times a week for lessons, which I am finding that I enjoy very much! I didn’t anticipate teaching as much English as I currently am, but it seems that people here are much more anxious to learn to speak English than they are to play classical music, so I’m willing to serve in whatever way I’m wanted. In addition, my English class meets at the orphanage twice a week on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. It has been going extremely well as the students are very eager to learn. And I have a handful of students from that class who are able to move more quickly than the rest of the students, so I will be meeting with them other afternoons of the week to allow them to learn at a faster pace that is appropriate for them. One request I have is for lesson plan ideas and suggestions. If you can think back to when you were taking foreign language class in middle school or high school, what activities helped you to learn especially well? (Skits, games, listening activities…??) I want my class to be one that is enjoyable for the students so that they will not only have something to look forward to, but so that their enjoyment will also enhance the learning process.

Recently, CERI (Children’s Emergency Relief International) put together a spiritual journal for the students at the orphanage which includes large chunks of Scripture and space for personal response. I handed these journals out to my English students, and we will be working through some of the Scripture passages together as part of the class. At this point, I’m not sure how the students will respond to this, but I hope that the Scriptures will plant seeds of truth in their minds as well as spark discussion. One concern I have, that I actually just became aware of yesterday, is the lack of a modern translation of the Bible into Romanian. I had coffee with an employee at the U.S. Embassy here who is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary (and who also speaks fluent Romanian), and he told me that the Romanian Bible that is read here is even more difficult to understand and has even older, more out-dated language than the King James Version does in English. He said that there is one modern translation, but it is difficult to find and is not entirely true to the biblical Hebrew and Greek. So, my prayer is that the not-so-accessible language would not inhibit the children from thirsting after, reading, and cherishing God’s Word.

Two weeks ago, we had a team of American sponsors here (from Nashville) who each financially support a child or children from the orphanage. Even though sponsors through CERI maintain a relationship with their child(ren) through correspondence throughout the year, many desire to spend time with their child(ren) in person. This is a great opportunity for the sponsors to see where their kids live and go to school and for them to strengthen their relationship with them. Our prayer is that sponsors might not only meet the childrens’ physical needs, but that they would also serve as mentors to the kids as they grow older. This team enjoyed taking the kids on several mission projects (delivering food to a deaf community as well as to an elderly community), playing games, singing, teaching Bible studies, and also taking the kids to the zoo, bowling, and even ice skating. Attached to this email are three pictures from that week.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

1) Praise God for all of the students He has brought me, for the way He has uniquely created each one of them, and for the way He loves them.

2) Pray that each of my students might see, desire, and know Jesus more somehow through English classes and the time we spend together outside of class. The names of my four private students are Mariana, Maria, Slava, and Irina. At the orphanage, I’ve recently been spending a lot of time with Ion, Costel, Colea, Artur, Denis, Dima, and Ilie. Pray that God might work powerfully in these students’ lives and that He might bring a message of hope and healing (even when I am at a loss for the right words in Romanian).

3) Speaking of Romanian, pray that I might continue to learn and progress rapidly. I am now at the point of being able to understand everything when someone speaks to me slowly and with simple words, but I am still lost when I am with people (generally the younger students!) who speak incredibly fast, use lots of slang, and don’t allow time for me to process. I am now taking Romanian lessons three times a week and am still trying to study as much as possible in my free time (which is becoming less and less).

4) Coming up in about 10 days, a team will be coming from the States to deliver shoes to every orphanage in Moldova. I will be helping this team make the deliveries and to help the children find the correct shoe size. This is a huge project as there are many orphanages in Moldova and many children who are in need of shoes for the winter! The weather gets extremely cold here (so I am told), so I am happy to be able to help with this undertaking. Although I won’t be able to make deliveries every day the team is here because of my English classes, I hope to help as much as possible. Pray specifically for the logistics of this project as it has been stressful for the people at the CERI office but is an incredible demonstration of the mercy and compassion of God.

5) Pray for God to build a team of people here in Chişinău who have a heart for the children at the orphanage. Jamey (another American who is serving alongside me) and I have been talking about the importance of having a local team of people who will be invested in the orphanage long-term. As both of us are here short-term, we are overwhelmed by how much we cannot do in the time we have! So, we are working on putting together a team from local churches to teach, mentor, lead seminars, play sports, etc. This will not only benefit the students now, but also in the future as this team will be able to walk with them through the transition into independent living. Pray also for the Grace House as it is still under construction. “[God] saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; He saves them from the clutches of the powerful. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth” (Job 5.15-16, NIV).

6) Praise God that I found a wonderful church here where I have community and a place to worship. Pray also for this church’s financial situation as it is struggling to pay rent as well as to support its pastors.

7) Finally, for those of you who are wondering, praise God that I now have a cello here in Moldova! It has been wonderful to finally play again, and I’ve even been asked to play some Bach the first Sunday in December at my church. Pray that my fingers might get back into shape quickly….

Thank you all for your prayers and support. And thank you to everyone for the encouraging emails. Each one of them is greatly appreciated.

Har şi pace,

John