1. Praise God for a special Easter celebration on April 8th, complete with a reading of the Easter story, singing, poems, a puppet show, huge meal and smashing a piñata (which is not a Romanian tradition, but the kids loved it and will probably ask for a piñata again next year!) This year the families of many of the children joined us for the celebration. We were also joined by two young men who came off the streets during the past year. Christ is risen!
2. Praise God for providing a property to purchase for the job creation project! The location is perfect – only 50 yards down the street from the Community Center, Casa la Vale. We've already begun to prepare the plot for construction by uprooting some trees and replanting them in the garden at Casa la Vale.
3. Pray for the families who live next door to us. They have been given a court order to leave the property. Pray that God will provide for these families in their time of need, and pray also for three of the children from these families who attend Casa la Vale daily and bring us much joy with their radiant smiles.
4. Continue to pray for Moise who has been in and out of host families, a state shelter, on the street and with his family during the past months. Pray for God to provide a stable place for him to stay where he can continue to grow in a healthy environment.
5. Pray for our annual WMF Romania staff retreat. We will be gone from the 21st to the 28th of April, traveling to a retreat center in the mountains of central Romania. Our desire is for this to be a time of rest and renewal, but also a time of going deeper in our relationships with each other. We will spend time worshiping and praying together and also spend a lot of time in solitary reflection followed by discussion. Please pray that the Lord will lead us during this week together. Pray that He will give us ears to hear His voice and that He will soften our hearts to beat in rhythm with His.
6. Pray for us as we host many visitors. We have at least one group of visitors constantly from mid-March until mid-June. We love having people come to be with us and the visitors that will be coming are all people we know well and love. Pray that each visitor will be blessed during their time here with us. Pray that they will fall deeper in love with the children and the boys living on the streets. Pray that we will have wisdom in knowing how to best serve each of our friends during their time here.
