Seasons Come and Seasons Go
Fall has arrived in Romania and we are excited to see the leaves changes as well as the weather. We have always been the type of peope who love to experience the change in the seasons even though the thought of living on a carribean island with our feet in the sand all day sounds very nice. Anyways, the change of seasons means different weather (maybe some future snow), new coffee flavors, school festivals/parties, but also seasonal allergies and other sicknesses. This sounds similar to seasons of life and all the experiences and feelings those bring. Boy have we felt them in our time here.
Our lives went through a change of season 16 months ago when we moved to Romania; which brought all types of feelings, emotions, and experiences. One feeling we experienced was the sadness of leaving family in America. It has been 16 months since we saw any family until two weeks ago. It was a wonderful moment when Brooke's mother arrived in Bucharest and Emerson ran into her arms at the airport. The time went by so fast. It seemed like she was here one day and gone the next. It was great to see the kids play with one of their grandmother's. Unfortuantely, all three of our children became sick while she was here; however, it was great to have her to help with two of our children while we took baby Claira to the hospital. Croup struck our family once again with the first time being last April. We almost had to take Lydia back to the hospital because of this due to her struggles with breathing. (Thank you to all of those who were praying for her and our entire family.) This was a stressful week for us as we cared for all three children. Although we are sad that Brooke's mother had to leave Bucharest, we look forward to the arrival of Drew's parents in a few weeks.
Ministry here in Bucharest is going well along with language learning. Drew has taken on a new roll here in Bucharest on top of being a church planter. Within the Southern Baptist Convention is a branch called Send Relief which responds to crisis and strengthens vulnerable communities around the world by meeting physical and spiritual needs in Jesus’ name". Drew has been working with a church here in Bucharest who has been heavily involved in Ukrainian refugee work as well as doing a lot of ministry with Romanians. We would call them a "key player" in the evangelical world here in Bucharest. Drew has been working with them to help secure funding on several projects for both disaster relief and community development. These are several projects that our Bucharest team is excited about. Please be praying that God provides the funds and man power for these projects to be completed.
Finally, we'd love to share a quick update on our children. Emerson is doing very well in school so far this year. Some of the blessings of his school include parties/festivals and field trips. Emerson is 4 years old now and is in pre-school at Bucharest Christian Academy. This past month his class went on a field trip to a Romanian Post Office where they learned about the postal system. His class had a second field trip planned to go to a fire department; however, Emerson was sick during that time and missed the trip. He was able to return to school in time for the school's fall festival. Last year parents could not attend due to Covid regulations; however, this year Drew attended the festival with Emerson. Emerson was able to play several games and win prizes as well as make crafts at the festival. Emerson also received his first pair of glasses this month after a routine trip to the eye doctor revealed that Emerson has amblyopia (or a lazy eye) in his left eye. The doctor is hopeful and confident that wearing the glasses now will help strengthen and correct his vision. Emerson loves his glasses and is doing very well with them. We ask that you would pray for the healing of Emerson's eye. Lydia and Claira are also doing well. Aside from having croup last week, both girls are healthy and growing quickly! Claira is smiling and cooing at everyone and is such a happy baby. She is such a blessing to our family. Lydia is such a brilliant two year old and keeps us on our toes! She keeps us laughing and brings so much joy to our lives.
Thank you so much for following along with our journey here in Romania. We are so thankful for all the prayers and messages we receive from you weekly. They offer us so much encouragment and we know we could not carry out the misison here in Bucharest without your support. Below are some specific ways you can be praying for us this month as we enter the holiday season. We love you all and thank you again!
Prayer Requests:
Please pray for good health for our family. We are barely into the cold/sick season and all three of our kids have been sick. Please specifically pray for Lydia who seems to be prone to getting the croup very easily.
Continue to pray for our language learning. We will begin meeting with a language partner who will work strictly on helping us improve our conversation skills a few hours a week starting this month.
Please pray that we would continue to form relationships with pastors in and around Bucharest. One local church is discussing planting a church in the near future. Please pray with us as we seek the Lord's guidance in how to best assist them.
Pray that Emerson's eye will strengthen