I just wanted to give you all a final update as we wrap up this whirlwind of a trip. We spent yesterday driving the eight hour round trip back and forth to Brancoveanca. We only had five hours to spend with Pastor Ionel and his team, but it was an amazingly productive time. We found the site for the new community center and church, and worked out the final phase for the child sponsorship program in that village. We spent much of the day today back in Turnu Severin making arrangements to purchase the property and meeting with Chris, who oversaw the renovation in Danceau, about the new building project that we would like him to manage. We’re hoping that the building will be under roof by December. Please pray with us that the Lord would prepare the way for all to go smoothly with the purchase of the land and the approval for construction. This center will immediately impact Brancoveanca for the kingdom of heaven…. It will be a house of prayer and worship and discipleship, a tutoring center through the week, a food bank, and a demonstration of God’s favor and provision for the born-again believers in the village. They have struggled for so long that the opinion of the community is that they must be cursed. We know that God wants to bless them so that through them He can bless the entire village and region and, prayerfully, reconcile hundreds or even thousands of souls to Himself.

Tomorrow we will be meeting with the board of the Romanian arm of For Mercy’s Sake. We’ll be praying for the Lord’s heart and direction for the works we’re doing throughout Romania, as well as for the future of ministry in and around the city of Timisoara. Please pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation for all of us. We will need to wake up at 3:30 on Wednesday morning for our 6:00 AM flights home. Thank you for laboring with us in prayer during our time here in Eastern Europe. May God bless you abundantly in all He calls you to do….

Well, we just completed our second day in Danceu. It was an absolutely amazing day. The community center now has a fully furnished playground: two slides, six swings,climbing ropes, see-saws, rocking horses, forts, and a full soccer field. The villagers are using the washing machines 7 days a week, and the children – once they got over their fear of drowning – now wait in line for their showers on Saturday. Over 75 people came to join us for a worship service ending with a ceremony to honor those who labored to construct and continue to work in the community center. For those of you who were with us last summer I want you to know that we saw baby Gabriel again. He was the newborn whose arm was broken in three places due to a forceful forceps delivery. The doctors here claimed that his nonfunctioning arm was due to idiopathic paralysis. We had the mother undress him, and saw the bruise and wound where the forceps were used. We asked the mother to bring us his medical records and we could clearly see the three breaks in his bones. For Mercy’s Sake sent him to the Children’s Hospital in Timisoara. After surgery and therapy and much prayer, his arm is fully functioning and his mother dedicated him to God in the center tonight. The villagers brought tomatoes and cucumbers from their gardens, baked bread, killed their chickens and cooked them over open fires and prepared a feast for us to enjoy. We let them know in the service that this is not charity work; this is what the family of God is supposed to look like. We bring the gifts the Lord has given us, they bring theirs, we encourage one another, and the kingdom of God is expanded.

Those of you who’ve been with us before to Danceu will remember Nicolai. He has struggled with severe ulcers on his feet for 24 years. He is 82 years old and has led a very difficult life. He has come to our medical outreaches on every visit. The first time Cristi and Sorina and I brought him to the hospital in Timisoara. We stayed in the emergency room and watched as the doctors treated him badly because he is so poor, even though we were paying for his care. He asked that we take him out of the hospital so that he would not be further humiliated. We contacted his daughter, provided wound care, and brought him to his son-in-law. Every trip we have prayed for him, and last July as we cleaned his wounds, Vali Strubert led him to his salvation. He asked for Scriptures to read and she made a list of 20 verses. When we saw him the next time, he had all 20 verses memorized. His foot was looking so much better the last trip. This time, we saw him waiting on the stairs of the Center for our arrival. As always, he had a gift in his hand – this time tomatoes and cauliflower from his garden. Then we saw that he couldn’t make it up the stairs. Pastor Mitika and Fane almost carried him in. When we unwrapped his foot we saw that the ulcers were more than half an inch deep. His foot was extremely swollen, and then we rolled up his pant leg. His leg was dark gray and hard up to his knee. His pain is excruciating. He asked that we pray that God would come and take him to heaven. . . so we did. He said that he wanted to write a card to thank whoever sent me and the teams to the village. . . for the kindness, and the relief, for the love and mercy, and most of all, for his salvation. I told him there wasn’t one church to thank – that God has sent the teams from many places over the years . . . but I wanted to pass on his words of thanks to you. Your prayers and support changed his life here and for eternity. Thank you.

Well, I’m going to try to communicate in words how amazing the last couple of days have been for us. In Turka, Ukraine, Tom and Debbie and I were able to celebrate the opening of the new house built for Joshua’s House Ministries. The house will be used as the new home for Jim and Sandy McCann and their 15 adopted children. We were amazed when the mayor and the assistant director of the entire region – similar to a lieutenant governor in the states – attended the opening ceremonies. Jim and Sandy and their team prepared sandwiches, drinks, and desserts for the entire village. There were over 100 people who came. Some were there out of curiosity, and some out of support of the work the McCanns are doing in Turka. The mayor of Turka had initially given Tom and the construction team a difficult time about every decision they were making in the construction of the house. After seeing the completed project, the mayor declared to the entire village and the assistant director of the region that this house should be an example for how all homes should be built in their area. Those in charge of orphans and children in foster care came to see the home a couple of weeks ago. They told Jim and Sandy that any child raised in such a house was a blessed child indeed. The Ukrainian officials are now calling Jim and Sandy for immediate placement of children in crisis. Before the ceremony, we were able to share communion with the entire McCann family. Jim and Sandy thanked us, and the children came and prayed with us and gave us gifts to thank us for their new home. I wish you all could have been there to see children who were once fatherless enjoying a mother and a father and sisters and brothers reaching out to those who have supported them, and reaching out in love in the name of Christ to an entire village.

Thank you all for your prayers for this project and for our trip. We left Ukraine early this morning, and arrived in Romania this afternoon. We just had a wonderful dinner and time of fellowship with Pastor Daniel and Sister Doina along with Cristi and Sorina Popa and Vali Strubert – the president and vice president of the nonprofit organization founded by For Mercy’s Sake in Romania. We leave early tomorrow morning for Turnu Severin to visit the community center we built in that village and to see the completed playground. We are looking forward to celebrating the finished work there with Pastor Geru and his family and all the believers in Danceau who are believing God to work powerfully in their midst. Please continue to pray for us. We are all doing well in spite of the 100° weather. We’ll update you again soon with news of all the Lord is doing in Romania. Thank you for your prayers . . .

Well, we arrived safely in L’viv, Ukraine and drove the 2 hours to Turka. We will be celebrating the Grand Opening of the new Joshua House in a couple of hours and wanted you all to know that so many children are having their lives changed through the work the McCanns have done here. For Mercy’s Sake is so blessed to be a part of the rescue of children and the ministry to the poor here in the Ukraine as well as Romania. We’ll try to upload pictures of the new house tomorrow. Thank you for all your prayers. We all slept well and are feeling good. God is faithful.

Today we delivered food and had a clinic in Danceau, a village we have been returning to now for around four years.  The people are starting to predict when we will come next.  There is a noticeable difference in this gypsy village compared to the last one we visited yesterday.  This difference can be seen in the behavior of the people, they are more cooperative and grateful.  They are also proud of their renovated community center building, with new bathrooms, classrooms, washing machines, and a shower!  They take great care of it, people are definitely using their new facility to the fullest.  At the clinic we were able to treat around three hundred people.  We saw God work some incredible miracles, including Nicoli’s foot healing.  When we first saw Nicoli he had five huge craters in his foot all the way up to his knee and every time we come we apply wound care and give him cream and gauze.  Over the winter he read over the Bible twice and now has hope in Jesus.  Today we did the same this and saw his flesh turn pink and healthy!  That is just a SHORT glimpse into God’s work in Danceau…

Greetings from Turnu Severin!

Our first day of ministry in Geru Vaii and Cernet was incredible, God allowed us to serve over 350 people.  In Geru Vaii, an extremely poor tenement complex, we did a medical clinic where we saw God work miracles.  First, there was a boy who was only able to speak five words because when he was young he fell out of a window.  After praying for him, he was declaring his belief in Jesus as God’s Son!  Second, there was a young girl who traveled to three countries in order to get her sight fixed because she was practically blind.  After praying, she did not need her glasses anymore and her mother ran into the streets sobbing because she couldn’t believe her blind daughter could now see.  There was also a girl who said her heart hurt her all the time, and you could actually feel it beating abnormally and sort of above her rib cage. Of course, after praying she was completely healed and you could literally feel her hear beating regular! We also provided food for four families in desperate need, two bags of rice, beans, oil, sugar, tomato sauce and meat for each family and we will be giving out food to over 100 more families today!  Next we headed to a gypsy village, Cernet.  The people were already waiting in line for the medical clinic.  We were able to serve these people and pour God’s love on them through providing for their deepest needs.  Just think how many people are going to sleep without a headache tonight!  After the clinic we attended their powerful church service, in six weeks the congregation has grown from six to sixty!  Today we are headed to another gypsy village, Danceau, to do another medical clinic.  Keep praying, God is doing awesome things.

Dear Friends,

It’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of our time in Romania, this trip has been filled with opportunities to give and receive the love of Christ.  We know that God has directed each step and we stand amazed at the leading of His Spirit!  It is exciting to share the people that God has grafted into our hearts, and some of their stories with you.

We flew into Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday afternoon, November 17, and spent the evening getting to know each other.  Our team consists of 3 people from Alabama, 5 from Pennsylvania, 1 from North Carolina, 5 from New York, and 3 from Romania.  There is such a willingness to be real with one another- sharing life stories, encouragement, and laughter.  Bonds have been made on this trip that will continue to grow outside of Romania.

Wednesday morning we left our hotel bright and early, traveling across the border from Hungary into Romania, and on to Turnu Severin.  We spent 10 hours driving through the beautiful countryside, over the mountains and along the Danube RIver.  We traveled in anticipation of that evening, our first clinic in Danceau, with the gypsy people.  Not only were we eager to meet the people and pour out the tangible love of Christ, but the community center was recently completed and we were excited to see the fruit of much labor!  The clinic started around 8 pm and lasted until after midnight.  Mac was reunited with his girls – Maria and Madelina.  Their hearts were knit together several years ago.  The look of delight on their faces and the overwhelming love that is given and received was both heart warming and heart breaking.  Our hearts and feelings toward the people seemed equally matched; it was like looking into a mirror – as much as we were anxious to give, they were anxious to receive.  The community center that For Mercy’s Sake has completed is a beautiful building that will be the heart of the ongoing love that is extended from Pastor Matika’s church.  It contains many things that are unfamiliar to the village people: warm classrooms for education, indoor bathrooms (one for boys and one for girls), laundry facilities and most importantly, a place where their spiritual needs can be met with love and physical needs can be met in effective ways.  We left the clinic in the early morning hours, not tired, but filled with the joy of the Lord and saturated in his love for every single one of HIS children!  It was about 2 am when we were making our way back from the village, we had to stop frequently for road and bridge construction, many bridges are only one lane and have traffic lights at either end to control the flow of traffic.  The lead van made it across one of the bridges, but the other 2 vehicles had to stop and wait for almost 10 minutes.  Everyone in the first van pulled off to wait along the side of the road several hundred yards away from the bridge.  We got out to stretch our legs and gaze at the sky.  Directly above our heads, glowing in all it’s glory was the Milky Way.  In direct contrast to the beauty of nature was a single airplane, with it’s red light flashing in comparison to the constant splendor of the stars and constellations.  It brought the focus back to the limitations of man and the fact that we are made for God’s glory and pleasure.  Habit or habitat, spiritual, mental and physical needs do not define a person, people or nation.  The desire of creation is to seek, and praise it’s creator on the earth below and heavens above does not change; the glory of the Lord surrounded us in all forms!

Thursday morning and afternoon we spent in the rural village of Cirnet, another gypsy village where our hearts were broken and then knit together with our brothers and sisters of Romania.  Our group had 2 separate tasks that day, half worked in the clinic and half went on a mercy mission outside the village walls.  The mercy mission included a trip to the grocery store, where food for over 15 families was purchased.  We bought rice, beans, tomatoes, corn flour, oil, and sugar.  Many families are starving – one of the most desperate families splits one banana between their four children each day and that is all they eat.  Each box of food contained enough to sustain each family for several months.  We also spent some time in a suburban gypsy village, visiting with Denisa (a 7 year old girl) and her extended family.  We met her on the last trip and our hearts were broken by the story of her life.  Four years ago her father killed her mother, and Denisa was covered in her blood.  She lives with her grandparents, aunts/uncles and cousins, all together there are 9 people living in a 10×10 foot room.  In July they didn’t have a refrigerator or stove, and were also going without food many days each week.  Since that time, through a family’s partnership with For Mercy’s Sake, their need for a refrigerator and stove has been met, along with regular food deliveries.  Most importantly, they now know that God’s heart is for them and that He is providing for them.  There has been a significant change in Denisa.  There is a lightness that has come with the realization that she is loved by God and He will never leave her.  We brought them food, clothing and new sneakers for everyone in the household.  The time in their home was beautiful, it ended with a time of prayer for God’s covering and healing touch over them; again we found our hearts broken and knit.  During the clinic that day God’s healing touch was released for physical, emotional and mental needs, and some of the most touching stories were shared in this place.  A young man in his early 20‘s came in (for medical help) but as he was talking it became evident that his need was spiritual.  He was bound by anger, rage and hatred.  It consumed him to the point that he had been in jail, was cutting himself and had violently attacked the last Christian that reached out to him.  Our team wanted to pray for him, but he was embarrassed, so everyone agreed to pray with their eyes open and without a translator.  Although his ears did not recognize the words they were speaking, his spirit understood something that his mind could not comprehend.  When the prayer was over, he was crying, and although he didn’t give his life to Jesus, he said that he would keep our team in his heart and wanted them to come back to see him again. One couple, probably in their late 30’s came in and the woman could hardly walk.  Several years earlier she was in need of surgery- an amputation of her leg.  When she awoke from the surgery she was beyond heartbroken to learn that there was a mistake and the wrong leg was removed.  There is no way to comprehend how devastating that was on her life, and there was no restitution or help offered.  She has had horrible medical experiences several times during her life, surgeries and procedures that were done completely wrong and she continues to suffer because of it.  The nurse on our team was ministering to this woman and felt compelled to ask for forgiveness on behalf of the doctors and nurses that had wounded her instead of bringing healing.  When this time of ministry was over, they were both crying, the healing of the Father was tangible.  Her husband was being treated by our team doctor at the same time.  He was an insulin dependent diabetic suffering from long term complications (kidney disease, foot sores and eye deterioration).  He hadn’t been taking insulin for months because they didn’t have the money to purchase the medication needed; a similar problem for many that we treated..  While there wasn’t anything that we could give him (in medical prescription form) we were able to share the Great Physician with him.  That was the heart of what we came with for these people, beyond giving medication we came to give something that won’t run out, and can never be replaced – the transforming Love of GOD!  Wednesday evening we went back to Danceau for a second round of clinic there.  All together we treated approximately 500 people from Tuesday evening’s first clinic through the second clinic in Danceau which finished early Thursday morning.  We also visited a couple of the poorest village families to distribute some of the food and diapers that were desperately needed, building on friendships that have been growing over the past few years.  After visiting with them in their homes (made from mud bricks and straw) it was  time for us to return to the clinic.  One of the women was completely broken and, knowing that her friend was leaving, she began to cry.  She faces a reality of violent physical abuse from her husband and the inability to provide food for her children on a daily basis.  She was overwhelmed with sadness, knowing that the kindness, the love given to her, the warmth and softness she felt in her heart – she felt the the only friend she had was leaving her – it was heart wrenching for us all.  We left the clinic impacted by our new friends, changed by the reality of two distinctly different worlds that have collided inside of us.  Sometimes it’s hard to comprehend the chasm that exists between our lives in America and the reality of life for the people that we now love so much.

After a couple hours of sleep we packed back into our vehicles (2 vans and a taxi) for a journey to the south eastern corner of Romania, an area that is relatively untouched by evangelical Christians.  This region is one of the darkest places in Europe, as the pastor told us it is the center for witchcraft on the continent.  We learned that whenever a pastor or team is preparing to come to Branco Vianca, something happens that keeps them from bringing the love of God to the village.  Pastor Ionel said that their church had been praying for years for someone to come to them, and that when you come to Branco Vianca you have to want to be there!  It is down a long road, there aren’t other towns nearby, it seems almost isolated in an older time.  You will find very few cars there, most people walk or have horses and wagons.  We spent Friday and Saturday with them, and found that as we ministered to them, God touched us in profound ways as well . . . He brought dreams to members of our team that confirmed what he placed in the hearts of others on the team.  These dreams not only spoke to us, but also to Pastor Ionel and his family.  The dreams told some of the stories that have been his life in the past few years, stories that we could never have known!  We were welcomed so warmly by the people of the church, they fed us many wonderful Romanian meals, and gave back to us the love that we came to pour into them.

There were many conversations between the people of the church and the people on our team; each person sharing the threads of their life and being woven into each other like a tapestry.  We believe that God will call For Mercy’s Sake back to Branco Vianca and continue what he started on this trip.  They have such a hunger for the Lord and a desire to bring God to the desperate people of their village.  It was beautiful to hear of the way the Spirit has led them through some extremely difficult times and into an intimate relationship with Him.  Pastor Ionel’s daughter, Anna Marie, shared some amazing stories with us over mealtimes.  She spoke of a time, 10 years ago, when their ministry was compromised by the previous pastor, and all the problems that followed.  The adults had a difficult time talking about the love of God, they couldn’t continue reaching out to the people in the village, and there wasn’t any growth.  As a teenager she longed for teaching, for the depth and richness of God’s love to permeate their village again, but all they had was each other.  It was very difficult for her and her other siblings to endure the pain their parents faced and the hopelessness that seemed overwhelming.  In the years since, they have continued to work with the people, and have seen tremendous growth among the youth.  At a recent youth conference (in their village) there were over 100 teens in attendance!  Even with the bright spots, it has been a discouraging time for the pastor and others in the church.  They have had to scale back and discontinue programs, including one that has made a difference in the lives of kids ages 7-12.  The “Timothy Project” reached children that were struggling in school, and coming from the poorest village families.  It enabled them to improve their education, build strong character, become good role models, and most importantly reach their families for Christ.  Pastor Ionel’s heart longs to bring this program back, to expand it and to continue reaching each family in the village.  One of the most touching moments came when he shared that he felt so encouraged by our work.  He wept as He thanked God that this ministry was drawn to his village and that we came to be a part of what they are doing there.  In addition to the clinic, we were able to leave them with food for 150 village families, medication to continue treating the sick, and a knowledge that although we’re far away, they are in our hearts and prayers.  Pastor Ionel’s desire, and he is making a real difference.

Part of what continues to wreck us to the core of who we are is that God uses us, in the weakness of our humanity, through the pain our lives have seen, to be instruments of healing – bringing him glory in the midst of it all.  The greatest redemption for the personal pain that life brings is found in reaching beyond yourself to others.  It’s found in being willing to bare the truth of who you are, the reality of who you are without him, and the amazing beauty and life that is only found in him.  There were many times when we, as a team, were broken and poured out before our Romanian brothers and sisters.   As our tears flowed together they became oil poured out, a fragrant offering, bringing glory to the One who gives us life and fills us with His very breath.  The people of Romania are beautiful: the old ladies and men are precious, it’s humbling to see and know the reality of their desperate need mixed with the heartfelt sincerity of their appreciation for that which we offered them.  God has truly given us back even more than we gave to them, and they will forever be a part of our lives, continuing to touch our hearts and make us come alive – full of desire to impact the kingdom of God on earth.  They’ve changed our destiny, and given us the eyes to see beyond ourselves, to recognize the meagerness of who we are apart from Christ and the bountiful way that He meets our needs as we look to Him.

The Team