Feb. 1, 2007

February 2007 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

For those of you keeping score at home, this is the 57th prayer letter I have written in a row without missing a month.  Granted those letters have varied quite a bit in length and content, but I've written consistently all the same.  Why do I point this out?  Better yet, why didn't I mention it back on my 50th letter?  Well, I just now thought of it.

Our Christmas celebration went really well.  Thank you so much for all of your prayers.  We had a lot more kids this year than last, but somehow we still all fit at the center.  We started the evening in the chapel.  We worshiped and prayed together and we listened as the Christmas story was read.  Then we spent two full hours laughing and playing games with the kids.  Each adult was responsible for leading a game or two.  It was tons of fun and the time passed very quickly.

At 11pm we had our big Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.  For those of you who have had the pleasure of eating sarmale (a traditional Romanian food), we had a ton of them and they were delicious.  I think I ate about twenty.  No, seriously, I did.  All of the kids said their stomachs hurt after we ate, so that's a good sign.

After dinner, we did something new this year.  Each of the staff members were given two or three children to speak about.  We took turns speaking encouraging words about and to the kids.  We tried to stay somewhat concrete in our praise, talking about specific things the children do well and positive ways in which they have grown this past year.  It was very cool.  Each of the children either beamed or blushed when they were being spoken about.  Plus it took so long that many of the younger children were falling asleep before we even got to the gifts!

As in years past, each child received one gift.  Well, actually they received several gifts wrapped up in one.  They were each given a present the size of a large shoe box.  Inside the box they found toys, clothes, and school supplies.  I know I say this every year, but it sure is fun to see kids excited about t-shirts and pens.  One of the biggest hits, as it was last year, was the stocking caps, scarves, and mittens.  I think some of the kids slept in those all night.

Finally, after the presents, we spent the entire night watching movies.  Again, as in years past, the majority of the kids crashed (sooner rather than later), but a few troopers made it through all three films.  The first movie we watched was an English film called "Nanny McPhee."  It was pretty good, but there was one scene in particular that we have been reminded of again and again since.  In the scene, a group of children who don't want to go to school paint themselves with red spots in an attempt to fool the new nanny.  No, the nanny isn't fooled and hilariousness ensues.

Well, the week after Christmas when the kids returned to the drop-in center, a whole bunch of them had chicken pox for real.  However, unlike the kids in the movie, they cried when we told them they had to go home and rest.  And as you can guess, the outbreak has been slowly spreading around to all the kids at the center… and their brothers and sisters… and so on.  Oh well, better to get them all sick at once and get it over with I say.

Before I close, I have two prayer requests for you.  David Chronic (another of our staff members here) will be traveling to Africa on the 10th of February.  He'll be visiting the WMF community in Sierra Leone as well as helping to discern the possibility of starting new WMF fields in Africa.  Please hold him and those he will be with in your prayers.

Secondly, we have two new staff members coming to join us from the U.S. on the 13th of February.  Josh and Robin Fowler are a married couple who will be with us for at least the next three years.  Robin was on a servant team here in Galati a couple years back and we met Josh last year when they both came for a visit.  We are excited for them to come and join in with all that is happening here.  Please keep them in your prayers, as well; especially these next couple of months as they adjust to life in Romania.

Until next month, do good…

Love,
Paul

paul.rase@wordmadeflesh.com