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December 2003 Pastor’s Help: As the end of the year approaches it is hard to imagine that another year has come and gone. However, this year as I look back at everything God has blessed us with, I can truly say that His blessings have been extraordinary. He has opened the windows of heaven and poured immeasurable blessings upon us as a family and upon the ministry. This past month was just one of those blessings. For years now, I have been asking God to send pastors to help us in some of the villages to minister the Word of God to the adults. We have seen the need for adult outreaches but knew that because of the Romanian culture the message would be received more from a man rather than ladies. This month the Lord has answered a private prayer of mine. I have long desired my pastor to come and see the work here in Romania and someone from my own family. God brought the answer the first of November. I was very proud that my step-father pastor Morris Horton of New Life Assembly of God and my pastor Randy Reid of Clanton First Assembly answered the call to come and minister the Word of God to many who do not have a chance to hear HIS Word on a regular base. God used these two men of God in a mighty way. They broke the Bread of Life with Truth and tenderness. There were four events of their ministry that were very special to me. Ø First, 3 souls (that we know for sure) came to know Jesus as Savior.Ø Secondly, while we were in Ileanda gathering information for the December team, Morris and Pastor Randy were going door to door with us looking at some of the roofs that had been replaced and watching us as we worked. One lady asked if we had a Bible that she could have. Usually we do not take Bibles with us when we are fact-finding, but a man in Pastor Morris’ church had felt led to give Pastor Morris money to purchase Bibles for his trip to Romania. Thanks to Mr. David Lucas, Morris was able to witness the lady receiving her Bible. She was so excited and radiant as she stood for some time reading the Word to Pastor Morris and Pastor Randy. Words cannot express the joy that I experienced when I saw such gratefulness in receiving a Bible.Ø And then there was the time when Pastor Randy decided he no longer liked bread! I’m sure that his sudden dislike for bread had nothing to do with the fact that bread isn’t wrapped here, and as he put it, “Everyone has fingered that bread and you expect me to eat it,” nor was it the fact that the Mayor of Ileanda who in his own way of being a servant had rushed out to purchase us the best bread and had run back down the street with the bread cradled under his arm like a football. I am quite sure that the sight of the mayor sprinting toward us with that pone of bread in no wise triggered his sudden dislike for Romanian bread.Ø Last but definitely not least, I was totally amazed at the supernatural anointing that was upon these two pastors as they ministered the Word of God with boldness. All of us here at Calea were proud of the extraordinary messages that touched the very depth of many of the hearers’ hearts. Their words were truly ordered of God and they touched many at the very root of their situations and brought rays of hope to many of the Romania people. God bless you both is Calea’s prayer. We were very proud of you both!Roof Project: I was delighted during our day in Ileanda to find that a lot more families had completed their roofs. When I went the time before, there were many houses that had received the materials, but no work had been done on the roofs. Not the case this time! The families had been working and were very excited for us to be there to see their finished work. There are still many that must be repaired and we are hopeful that before the hard cold winter sets in that many of the children and families will be able to rest a little easier without the rain and snow coming into their homes. Winter has set in already with the cold and rainy days; but that’s nothing compared to what the weather will be like in another month. Our desire is to see as many homes as possible fixed before the snow comes so that families will be warmer and safer this winter than last. Please pray with us that in the next few weeks more of the men, women and older children can work toward finishing some of the work on their houses. Pray that the snow will hold off until they are finished. We know that there are still others that are in need of repair, but because of the lack of funds earlier in the year for this project, some will have to wait and be completed next spring. So pray for those families. Our Proposal: I mentioned last month that I would be meeting with some of the government officials with a proposal regarding a “Foster Care – Day Care Center.” The Mayor of Ileanda was in fact thrilled to hear of our interest in collaborating with his office on this project. I have made some suggestions regarding his locating Romanian volunteers that would be willing to work with us to make the needed repairs on his building. Even though Ileanda is in dire need of such a facility, no work can begin until we see how and when God will choose to provide for this need. The cost of renovating the building for the center (if we hire people to do the work) would cost us around $10,000.00 dollars. However, I am thinking that if we can get Christian volunteers to come to Romania and donate their construction talents and their time then we can cut out the cost of labor. That would save a large amount of money. If we think about the large amount of money for one person to take on this project, it would definitely be overwhelming. However, if we look at the project in the sense that many join together to accomplish this task, the work does not seem so over-powering. I do know that there is increasing need for adequate care so many of Romania’s littlest citizens (whether it’s foster care for handicapped children or good day-care programs for struggling families), and I am persuaded that God wants to use us more and more in these areas of ministry. I know that our job as humanitarian missionaries is to help the country of Romania help itself. It is not for us to be foster parents for a few children, but rather to assist Romanian individuals or organizations in setting up adequate child care facilities and / or teaching them how to accomplish the work themselves so that many children will be saved. Please pray with us that God will provide the funds to help meet this great need for a “Foster Care / Day Care Center” in Ileanda. We at Calea are praying that if the project is God’s will that He will speak to men and women to volunteer to come and help remodel this center. Whether it is volunteering or helping financially everybody is needed. If you could see the families of Ileanda with scantily clad-children running around in the cold of winter, or if you could see the lack of centers to house children that have been abandoned by their parents or are handicapped (which few people want to keep in their homes), or children that are in need of a hot meal and a place to stay while their parents are out trying to work, then you would know why our hearts are pressed each month to ask for your help. Please remember to pray for us that God will rain down upon us His Divine Wisdom. Many of You: Many of you have often asked us what are your biggest needs! I have responded by pointing out smaller things because of not wanting you to think that I am begging for your money. I seldom mention our needs because of the simple fact that when I am home I too get letters from lots of different ministries that ask and ask and ask for money. I pray that you will never think that I take you for granted. I understand that many of you have fixed incomes and your only help is to pray and intercede for this ministry. Please know that we honor you as our prayer warriors for we truly know that prayer can accomplish more than we could ever think or imagine and your prayers can and have moved mountains. Likewise, we truly appreciate all of you who faithfully help financially when you have the means. We at Calea daily take the supporter files down from the shelf, place our hands on the file, and pray for you all. Your financial help is never gone unnoticed to this office for we know that God has faithfully blessed us so that we can help the people of Romania. I wish I had the time and space to relay to you all the different ministerial works that flow through this office, but such is not the case. However, the financial demands on the foundation increases daily. Then too the requests for assistance from the foundation have increased tremendously over the past 5 years as people in Romania have learned our foundation as one that will take time to help them in their time of need. As we look back over the last 5 years we can see how God has opened so many doors for us so that HE could accomplish what HE called us to do. We often think of when we first came to Romania and how we could run the ministry on around $400.00 a month. But over the years as volunteers have come to help, babies have been taken on board, and the hiring of Calea office staff, our expenses have skyrocketed. Nevertheless, God has with each new move in the foundation raised up more and more supporters to help us in the work. We stand in awe of how God has provided for each and every task that He has led us to set our hands to. Every month He has brought increase into the ministry. I have said all this because I have noticed that there are many of you that we have never met personally yet you are faithful to support this work each month. Others of you we know as family and friends and you have been faithful to help us when we are in need. Let me just say that all of you are a blessing to us. We see you as co-laborers in HIS work as we continue to serve HIM in Romania. We are truly grateful to you for your willingness to give. God bless! Merry Christmas! Yours in Christ, Freddy and Rita
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