Then the angel showed me the river of
the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of
God and of the Lamb. Rev 22:1
“Behold, the Lord God will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”
-Isaiah 40:10,11
An article about the Care Home written by Roberta Moore was recently published in a Romanian magazine. Click here to read it.
October 2006
Ministry Prayer Letter
“..for such a time as this”- Esther 4:14
Dear Friends and Family,
The times, they are a changin’! Definitely changing. Rapidly changing. A few years ago we were at someone's house for New Years Eve and on TV we saw the introduction of the Euro dollar. It was a big splash with musical numbers and giant Euro dollars with legs dancing with ladies in skimpy costumes. Now here we are on the brink of Romania's entrance into the EU and with it Romania's 3rd world status becomes EU status. WOW! Prosperity! Everything they ever wanted and more! Spain beckons Romanians to come to work in their country with promises of citizenship in one year and great incentives to be able to buy a house! Italy beckons Romanians with great jobs and subsidized prices on nicer apartments than they can find here. The EU’s Christmas present to Romanians is visa-less travel throughout the EU before the end of the year! They are estimating that when that happens Romania's population of 23 million will drop by approximately 1/3 rd to about 16 million people!
Everyone receives and welcomes the promise of prosperity with open arms and anticipation. Almost everyone. Some of us read the end of the book and know what lies behind the promises of peace and prosperity; some of us know what comes next. I asked our staff, who will be left in this country? First they replied, “The people we work with”. The elderly and the socially disadvantaged people we work with in the care home and villages and also the kids who grew up in orphanages. Then they said, “and the Chinese.” What Chinese?! The EU is bringing Chinese workers here to Romania for cheap labor in factories! They're coming into Hungary and other countries too! The sleeping giant, China is waking up and is walking hand in hand with the EU! Interesting.
Never in the history of the world has there been such a political takeover of such magnitude! So many countries changing their constitutions and giving themselves over with no resistance, but with open arms ready to receive the promises of prosperity! Peace and Prosperity for all! What could be better than that! The way is paved and ready for the One World Government and the One World Religion. And Jesus, the Bible and Christianity are the only faith and the only belief system that will not be tolerated in this New World Order. And God's True Word says that this that is being ushered in with the great promises of peace and prosperity will end with one of the most devastatingly brutal tribulations this world has ever seen. Because the Deceiver, The Father of Lies is behind this movement and His ultimate goal is still the same as it always was; to kill and destroy.
This morning as I woke up, my first thought was this verse from Esther, “for such a time as this.” In the book of Esther in the Old Testament of the Bible, Esther’s uncle Mordecai basically tells Esther that perhaps she was in the position of Queen at that particular time in history as an instrument to help her people, the Jews to be delivered. What he told her was this, “Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” –Esther 4:13, 14
Esther had a very difficult choice to make. It would clearly be much easier for her to stay out of it and not to do anything, to remain safe in her life of luxury in the palace, and ignore the plight of her people. But as Mordecai reminded her- if she remained silent at this time and didn't do what she could do to help them, the Jews would still be delivered another way, but she and her family would perish. Esther chose to risk death for herself and take a stand to do what she could, instead of remaining “safe” and she was used by God to help deliver her people.
God's work will be done whether we participate or not. We may not be in the position of being queen like Esther or for doing great things, but God is giving us all an opportunity to join Him in His work anyway! Like Esther we have a choice to be safe and “remain silent” or to step out of our comfort zones, take a risk and take action. God revealed this truth to me about 20 years ago, even before I realized my own sin or my need for Christ's forgiveness. I was not yet a Christian but I had just started reading the Bible, in my own skeptical way, searching not only for whatever truth I could glean from it (if there was any) but also for what contradictions and untruths I could find. The more I read the more impressed I was. (I still haven't found any untruths or contradictions.) I had just started home schooling my kids, after taking them out of the public school system because I didn't like what I saw in the new teaching techniques that were being implemented, “values clarification” and all that. I was labeled a Christian by the school district because of my opposition even though I clearly was not. But regardless, I started helping out an art teacher in the high school who was undergoing cancer treatment but still had to continue working to keep her insurance. She was weak and some days were better than others. Sometimes during the day she would rest on a cot in an adjacent room. One day the Lord put it on my heart to tell her to cast her burdens on Jesus and he will give her rest. Yea, right. I wasn't even so sure I believed this Jesus stuff yet, and I'm supposed to tell her that? The classroom was busy and I didn't see a chance to talk to her, and just as well. But the Lord used this to teach me a lesson I’ll never forget. The next day, the teacher was all excited to get me aside and talk. She told me how the day before was a very hard day for her she was so overwhelmed and tired, but when she arrived home, a mutual friend called her and told her to cast her burdens on Jesus and He would give her rest! And she did! Then she felt so much just lift from her! She had such renewed energy! She felt great! I knew those two ladies, intellectual arty types, not Christians! What a surprise! God showed me then and there that His work would get done with or without me. I could, like Esther take that risk and join Him in His work, or I could choose the safe and easy way and remain silent. But I would miss out.
“For such a time as this…” The world will embrace and welcome with open arms this promise of peace and prosperity, this One World Government and One World Religion. It will look so good, and seem so right at first, but will end in the worst tribulation and slaughter this world will have ever seen. Unbelievable changes are taking place in the world so quickly. American is not immune, even though it seems as if America is isolated from so much of the struggles the rest of the world faces. The dollar is weak against the euro on the world market. We are definitely affected negatively by that here and Americans will eventually feel the effect in America. Christians in America (and everywhere) have the same choice to make as Esther did. This is not the time for Christians to shrink back, remain safe and silent and comfortable. It is a time to risk and act and to join Our Savior in His work! At our September staff conference the President of IM, our ministry organization, said that up until last spring we had the most short-termers ever seriously interested in missions- until March 1st, and then the rise in gas prices in America knocked out over 100 people from choosing to come on a short term mission with our organization this past year! This is not a time to shrink back, to remain safe and silent, but to be prepared and to take action. This is a time to fill our lamps with oil and be ready and waiting for our Bridegroom! Waiting in faith is not passive, but actively waiting with hopeful expectation requires actively seeking God's will and responding in faith, obedience and action like never before!
Romania has changed so much since we arrived here in July of 1998. There were hardly any cars on the road back then and they were mostly 25 year old Dacias. One missionary told us a story. He was waiting in his car for a light to change and as he waited he watched a man pushing a Dacia across the intersection. That was not an unusual site back then. Everyday we saw people pushing Dacias. But as he watched he noticed the trunk was open and inside the trunk was a big fat pig. And the missionary said to himself, “that's a good idea, putting the pig in the trunk of the Dacia to haul him.” Then he said he realized that he had been in Romania too long! Those days are long gone.
Now, we hardly ever see anyone pushing a Dacia, there aren't that many old ones on the road anymore. There are new cars imported from all over, and nice new Dacias, too. The roads were never built for so much traffic and the congestion and air pollution is terrible. It takes over an hour to get across town now in constant traffic. Gasoline costs over $5.20 per gallon. All prices are skyrocketing. Costs have quadrupled in the past four years and continue to escalate!
Back then, there was very little hope for most Romanians of ever leaving the country. Visas were hard to get and quite costly. There wasn't much available in the stores to buy, often shops were vacant and store shelves were empty. If we saw something we needed we bought it because we might not see that item again. Sometimes none of the stores had milk or some other item you needed. And you waited and kept checking till it was back on the store shelves. Now there is so much stuff in the stores it is like living in America! (although everything is more expensive!) The main opportunity for advancement back then came by way of the foreign missionaries working here. We brought opportunities, supplies, money, and work. And that is ok, we were happy to be able to provide Romanians with work in ministry. Sadly, there were a few that used us for selfish gain but God always revealed the hearts of those who were in it for themselves and not for Him. We had so many young people wanting to come along side us in this work! It was great! It was exciting! We always had so many young people willing and available to help translate at camps and help us in the work. It is very different now. Even the young people go off to Spain or Italy as soon as school is out for the summer. They have more opportunities available for them than ministry. We had a very difficult time getting translators for our summer teams and kids camps this past summer, and most of those that helped weren't very good translators. Those that speak English well have the best chances of leaving the country for work. There was a survey of high school students and 100% of them wanted to go to university in another country. Some of our employees have left Romania for work elsewhere. I prayed for years for a Romanian who was good with children who would teach them using hands on learning activities. I knew just what I wanted and when Loredana came here to work, she proved to be exactly right for the job! I was so excited! She was so good with the kids! But she worked here only two months. And now she is in England. I mentioned to Darwin how difficult it is, but how I couldn't blame her, and he shot back “I can! I can blame her!”. I was startled by his response. He said he could make a lot of money working as a dairy consultant, but he doesn't, he chose to work in ministry, and they have the same choice. Doug and I both had good jobs and together could have done well financially also, but chose instead to serve God. We each make a choice; we each have priorities, we each have to follow our hearts.
We have a friend we've known since 1999. She volunteered off and on, helping us with the work for many years and has a real heart for God and serving Him. When she graduated from university it was hard for her to get a job in her field. So she came to work with us here, at the care home, thinking she would be here for a month or so until she would get a job in the field she worked so hard studying for 5 years for. As month after month went by and she prayed for God's wisdom and direction, He gave her this passage of scripture: “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” -Matthew 10:39. I thought God was inviting her to serve Him with her life, and there she would find her true purpose. Its hard to accept after working so hard for a degree in a field to just drop all you've worked so hard for and follow a different path, in ministry yet. Hard work, low pay, its not so glamorous, its not something so impressive. Worldly thinking is in sharp contrast to a godly perspective. Hard choices. After six months, she ended up leaving here for a job outside of her field, selling cell phones. Maybe she needed to see for herself by experience what is truly of value. We've had a number of workers over the years who's hearts were not fully in this work and it was very difficult and painful for all. I wasn't about to convince someone who's heart was not fully committed to stay. But its sad and frustrating because we are always so short of help. At least once a month we don't have translators for our worship service. I stopped having Sunday school for the children because of a lack of a translator and also because Antonio is currently taking naps during that time. It got too frustrating for me, I felt like I was pushing against the grain trying to make something happen, so I just stopped the program. I had six women staff, now we have four and Rodica will be leaving at the end of the year to have her baby. We are stretched thin. For the first time since we've been here, we don't have anyone to go to the school and teach on Fridays, or an after school kids program. We had hoped to start an AWANA program, but there are no translators or people willing to help. Please pray for more committed Romanians to become involved with us in this work. It was always our desire to help facilitate Romanians to be involved in ministry and our purpose has always been for this to be a Romanian ministry not an American ministry. But people's hearts are focused in a different direction now. Please pray for God to raise up people with a wholehearted devotion to serve Him and to come alongside us in this work.
There are those with education who now have opportunities they never had before in this culture. Freedom to be able to make all kinds of life choices. This is new here. But there is a segment of society that is outside of this new realm of possibilities. God placed us here to minister to those people. “For such a time as this” I suppose. Right now we have two children living in our home who's fathers’ left the country when their mothers were pregnant with them, and never gave them another thought. One man was notified by phone that she was pregnant and his response was, “why didn't you take care of it!?” Its not his problem. Have an abortion. It makes you sick to look at that beautiful child and think of his remark.
Despite all the hoopla about new opportunities, Romania is faced with some very real social problems that won't go away, but only get worse, after such a huge segment of the working population leaves the country. Who's going to pay the taxes? How will this country function? Romania is still one of the countries with the highest per capita rates of abortion. The orphanages are receiving record numbers of children when there is no one else that can care for them when their parents leave the country for work. Its a huge crisis in the poorer areas of Romania. After years with a declining birthrate, due to abortion and people leaving the country, Romania started a program of giving financial incentives to working women who have babies. But there is a huge segment of society, including the women we work with, that don't qualify for that money, because they didn't have work contract jobs that paid for health insurance and all that. Elderly people cannot survive on their pensions and if they do have children, many have left the country and there is no one to care for them. It is very hard to see the painful look on their faces, concerned about how they will survive. Their pensions are basically worth nothing now with the rising costs. Its so hard for them not to have family here helping them.
The segment of society that we minister to is socially handicapped. They come from dysfunctional abusive families or were raised in the orphanage system. They don't have a healthy family support system to help them. They have little or no financial resources. When they first arrive at the care home, they usually don't have proper paperwork, ID, birth certificates, etc., and so don't have medical insurance. They usually have medical problems that were neglected to be taken care of, usually they are pregnant, have a sexually transmitted disease, long term dental infections, etc., and their children's health hasn't been taken care of either. Their children are at risk of abuse or neglect. The women we work with are socially and emotionally handicapped due to abuse which causes much anger and difficulty relating to people properly, so its hard for them to build healthy supportive and trusting relationships or to get and hold a job, because of their immature mechanisms of dealing with stress in their lives and relating to other people. They don't have job training or skills and have a low educational level, some are mentally handicapped. This is the basic profile of the women we accept into the care home. They are socially and medically vulnerable and have no other options for a place to stay. This segment of the population is outside the realm of the great new prospects of prosperity and great new life choices. Unless of course, they receive Christ!
We recently admitted into the home a pregnant Mom who is in her thirties, with a two year old boy. When she was pregnant with Victor, her son, his father left to go to work in another country and never was heard from again. The father of the baby she is carrying now is abusive and she almost miscarried this baby, because of his beatings. Before she had any children, Mihaela left a good job to care for her elderly mother during her last years of life. She sold her mother's apartment to pay the medical bills she incurred during those final years of illness. Left with nothing, she fell into some bad relationships. She ended up here after having one child, one miscarriage and another pregnancy, and no husband. Her baby will be born around Thanksgiving. She has no one else to help her. Most of the women who come here don't even have any friends that contact them. Today we are going to bring into the home another elderly woman, Victoria's mother. They are neighbors of ours. Victoria's alcoholic husband left her last winter and she is trying to survive on a medical disability pension of about $60 per month. Her mother is nearly blind and has many health problems, one of them being an asthmatic problem that forbids her from breathing smoke. During the winter she must be in another room of the house so as to not breathe the wood stove smoke and so Victoria heated her mother's room with an electric heater. The electricity costs are so high that she can't afford to pay the bills, so we offered to bring her mother here to live.
Now we see more clearly the reason we see the Lord moving so quickly to get this elderly care home going. “For such a time as this.” God has placed us in this position at this particular time in history as instruments for His purpose, ministering to people that society doesn't care about, but God does. If there is anything that I have learned since becoming a Christian it is an appreciation for the value of human life that God has placed on every person. No matter how young, or how old, or how “useless” to society, or how broken; God values human life.
About 3 1/2 years ago, while talking to a social worker with the orphanage system about Ildi’s family problems she told me that the only solution to Ildi’s families problems was to put all her kids in an orphanage. I responded by saying that I thought God had a better plan. Andrei is now 4 years old and a delight to all of us! He is a bright eyed little love, a happy healthy little boy. His sister, Simona, at age 12, had some huge obstacles to overcome; effects from much abuse she suffered, but now she is growing up into a little lady of character, a lovely, personable and helpful little girl. She is mentally handicapped and may never be able to read, but we are working with therapists and trying to get the best care for her that we can. Ildi has found meaningful work, caring for the elderly. Its a labor of love for her. She just loves the elderly women we've had here. She is starting a course this month that will give her certification for caring for the elderly. We want to hire her to help take care of the elderly the Lord is entrusting in our care. God had a better plan than putting those kids in an orphanage.
God has a better plan for all of our lives!
In His Love,
Doug, Roberta and Antonio
P.S. Terry is making us a web site that should be done soon. (As soon as we write some more information for it.) He is doing a real nice job on it and he will keep it updated. The web site address will be: www.rol.internationalmessengers.org
Also check out Terry and Sue's web site at www.mayberry.internationalmessengers.org and the IM web site at www.internationalmessengers.org
Our UK ministry partner, Janz Team has also has a web site which includes the care home ministry. www.janzteamuk.org
Our mailing address is:
River of Life Care Home
Nr. 261
Sat. Cornesti
Jud. Timis
307,307
Romania
If you would like to be on our e-mail prayer partner list, please e-mail us and let us know. We send e-mail prayer requests whenever we need prayer support fast! And they keep you more informed as to what our day to day life around here is like! carehome@mail.dnttm.ro
How to contribute towards this work:
In the States:
If you would like to contribute financially towards this work, please send a check made out to International Messengers, but on a separate piece of paper, write that the donation is either for Doug and Roberta Moore’s ministry or the River of Life Care Home (ROL). And send to International Messengers, PO Box 618, Clear Lake, IA, 50428 Donations are tax deductible. THANK YOU! If you would be interested on coming on a short term team please contact the IM office at 1-800-243-6763
In the UK:
For further information about how you could get involved in the ministry of River of Life by joining a short-term team or making a financial donation please contact our UK ministry partner Janz Team UK, 129 Whippendell Road, Watford, Herts, WD18 7NH Tel: 0208 123 5174 Email: rsanderson@janzteam.com www.janzteamuk.org
We appreciate all of you who have come alongside us and partnered with us in this work! We really couldn't do it without your help! THANKS!