After building a cottage this summer on our friends (Brian and Cheryl’s) property so we have a place to come and go from, we took October off and jumped in the car for a 6,000 mile trip to visit some of our family and friends.
From Atlanta we took a short trip to Romania to join Jess Parker during a conference in Oradea for pastors from the Federation of Independent Churches in Romania.
What a joy it is to spend some time with some of the amazing young adults there.
Arnies Arts and Crafts in Houghton Lake Michigan sent some needed supplies for the ladies in the sewing project. In addition, we had a great time teaching them to make some fun bags.
Robin and the team at Arnies have volunteered to sell the cards at their store that the ladies in the gypsy village are making. This is just the beginning of different designs the ladies are trying out. They are also embroidering decorator pillows.
What a blessing it is to see the joy they have that they have with their new skills. Two new ladies have been added to the program with other ladies on a waiting list. The size of the building they are presently using limits the number of people in the program until a larger building can be provided.
The team at Arnies have gone beyond just selling the cards. You can see two of them matting and framing some of the embroidery pictures at the store’s expense. If you are interested in ordering any cards or pictures from Arnies, their phone number is 1-800-563-2356. They have a wonderful store filled with great craft ideas and supplies. Words cannot express how much we appreciate the giving hearts at Arnies. They are helping the villagers of Lazareni move out of their poverty and providing hope for a much better quality of life.
Regarding the mens projects with the wood shop, we won’t be able to show pictures of wood projects. Instead of this, they have focused on building a place for the after school tutoring, office and storage space.
Building a house for one of the families involved in the program was the second project. Their old dwelling was falling apart allowing rats entrance. You can see what a nice place the men built with the help of Empower Romania raising funds to buy the materials while the men involved in the training project did the work.
During the next few months, we will be focused on doing some training and ministry here in the states. It is also our hope to find some new markets for the cards and items the Lazareni workers will be producing.
Many thanks again for the giving and prayers from all of you. Many blessings for your holidays with wonderful memories to cherish.