We just wanted to send a quick update letting you know that we've made it through the first 4 weeks of the Spring Mission Bible School!!
Family Update:
We wanted to show you what the first few weeks of Bible School has looked like, so enjoy the photos at the end of this update. The first 4 weeks of Bible School has been an incredibly busy time complete with helping the students settle in, doing introductory sessions, team building activities, high ropes course, introducing the students to the nearby community of Rasnov and the PdF staff team, beginning the first few weeks of lectures, starting our Prayer and Share Groups and Family Groups, local outreaches in Rasnov and other nearby towns, and developing relationships with the students. The last few weeks have been VERY full for our family and but we are enjoying our time very much.
Thankfully, we've had a bit of help these first few weeks - our faithful friend Mary from Bucharest stayed with us for the first week of Bible School to help with the girls and around the house so Chrissie could be available to help Jerry. She's the 17-year-old daughter of the family with whom we lived in Bucharest when we first arrived in Romania, so we know each other well and she's become like a part of our family.
And now Chrissie's mom is here for 2 and a half weeks as well! We're so excited she's here and we're enjoying spending time with her, especially since our summer weather has officially arrived!
The girls absolutely love riding their bikes and we go on walks/bike rides almost every day. Living at PdF is so wonderful for the kids as they get to spend so much time outside enjoying God's creation.
Bible School Update:
At the end of their first week of Bible School the students helped lead an Easter outreach in Rasnov (the town closest to PdF) and we had hundreds of people turn out to hear the students sing children's songs, watch a puppet show, participate in an Easter Egg Hunt, and hear a message of the love of Jesus Christ for all people. The students led music, supervised the Easter Egg Hunt and the inflatable bouncy slide, and painted the children's faces. It was a wonderful day of fellowship and working together as a team. And the event even made it onto the national news in Romania that weekend!
We had several missionaries from WEC International visit the center to present their ministries to the students. One Korean/Romanian couple who run a pottery studio as a ministry in Brasov taught the students how to work with clay and shared about their ministry and how they use pottery to share the gospel. Several of the other WEC International Missionaries shared about their ministries in New Zealand, the Philippines, Chad, and China. It was both a day of refreshment and learning for the students and the Bible School staff.
So far the students have had a week of lectures on Ministry Tools, a week on Contagious Discipleship, a week on the History of Missions with Ebbe Beck, the director of PdF (pictured below), and a week of lectures on Ethics.
Since the weather has been so amazing these last few weeks, we had a traditional Romanian Barbecue outside together as a group using PdF's outdoor grill. Ebbe and Jerry did the grilling and everyone enjoyed the fruits of their labour.
The students have engaged in team building games and activities, both to strengthen them as a team but also to learn the importance of team building in a missions setting.
Despite their busy schedule the students have had time for walks in nature to enjoy God's creation, playing volleyball in PdF's beach volleyball court, mountain biking, and personal and spiritual reflection.
We'll be back in a few more weeks with another update to share more of what the Bible School students are up to!
Upcoming Needs:
We are planning to return to Canada for a visit in December and January. In order to do this, we need to raise several thousand dollars to pay for our flights to Canada. We are trusting God to provide for this need so we are able to go home to visit our families, friends and supporters and reconnect with our church family.If you are able to help us out with this need, please email jerry.baker@pdf.ro or make a donation HERE.
Please pray:
- For us to find time to spend as a family during this hectic ministry season and for Jerry to be able to take at least one day off each week.- For lots of energy for Jerry, Chrissie and the Bible School RAs (Andi and Marianna) as they continue ministering to the students on a daily basis.
- For the students to continue building relationships with one another and growing together as a team despite their differences; that they'd have an abundance of patience with one another and courage to deal with challenging situations.
- For the students as they prepare for their big Mission Outreach Challenge happening in 4 weeks.
- For God to provide the finances for us to return to Canada to visit our family, friends and supporters this December!
If you'd like to join our Facebook Group for more regular updates, request to join HERE.
If you'd like to become a member of our Prayer Network and receive more regular prayer requests via email or Facebook Messenger, please send Jerry an email (jerry.baker@pdf.ro).
If you'd like to make a financial donation to our ministry, please click here.
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