The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
Psalm 111:10
God, please grant Mia wisdom this week as she leads the children and makes decisions. Give us all a love for the wisdom that comes from your word. Amen.
Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
Deuteronomy 32:2
God bless the teachers this week who are guiding our students. Please help them to encourage and not discourage, and bless their classrooms with justice and wisdom. We pray in particular for Mia’s Children, which tutors kids who are often discriminated against by their educators. Help the children to learn quickly and to grow in a greater understanding of the world through Mia’s Children’s efforts.
Please continue to pray for Mia. She has returned from Italy and is doing fine. The trip went safely and was informative, but now she will need further testing and possibly more medical attention later.
We’re sorry we can’t give more details but we want to wait until we know with more certainty what is afflicting her and what will need to be done.
In the meantime, we ask for your prayers in three ways:
Thank you for your support! If you would like to send a message to Mia or to Mia’s Children and want to make sure it gets to them, just leave a message in the comments and we’ll pass it along.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Lord we ask that you grant Mia your spirit this week, in a way that encourages and renews her. Empower her with strength, and show your might through her accomplishments. Amen.
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.
But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
Luke 5:5
Lord, you created us to be workers, even when work is hard to find. Please provide work for the young people from Mia’s Children who are moving into life on their own. Use them in the Romanian workforce to bless the nations. And show your comfort and provision to those close to us who are also in need of work. Amen.
Mia is flying to Milan today to see a doctor about some problems with her ear that might be very complicated. She has seen numerous doctors in Romania to no avail, and now she has the chance to get a firm diagnosis through a specialist.
Our great thanks to friends from Switzerland who took it upon themselves to find a doctor and fly her to Italy!
Please pray that the doctors will know what to do and how to help her. Please also pray for Costi and Oana – Mia’s son and daughter-in-law – as they temporarily lead the mission while Mia is away.
Mia is in great spirits. She writes, “Through faith we are confident that His plan for us is beyond what we can imagine, and even through pain and suffering His glory is perfect.”
We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love,
and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:3
Lord, this week we thank you for the way your Church has survived in Romania after decades of severe persecution. We thank you for the many saints who endured torture and death without denouncing you. Please use their legacies to continue growing your church in Romania. Teach us by their example how to love you more and how to endure when you ask us to. Amen.
(CNN) — Romania has become a major transit for the sale of people into the European Union. Victims as young as 12 years old are trafficked into Romania from destinations as far-reaching as Honduras, Afghanistan, the Congo, and China. Once they reach Romania, many of these victims are assigned for passage beyond into Western Europe.
While Romanian law officially prohibits all forms of human trafficking, the country’s strategic geographic location — a crossroads between East and West — makes it a source, transit and destination country for the people trade. The country’s 2007 admission into the European Union brought more relaxed border regulations and enhanced its attraction for international human traffickers.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:5
God, please give Romanians the hope that comes from knowing your love. Many people in Eastern Europe are still very affected by half a century under communism. They struggle with despair and cynicism. Make Mia’s Children a place where Romanian young people can break the bonds of communism by learning to trust in you and experience hope for their futures. Amen.
Our winter newsletter is on its way, and in it we’ve included pictures of the new headquarters, along with a few remaining needs for the building.
Many needs have already been met by volunteers in Romania and donors in the United States. One particularly large end-of-year gift went to cover 40 sets of dishes and a video monitoring system for the building!
One of the biggest needs still unmet is a set of fire alarms/smoke detectors. The building is so big that we need 10! Including installation, the cost comes to $700.
Will you consider giving to this effort? We are praying for seven $100 gifts, ten $70 gifts, or twenty $35 gifts. On our right sidebar we’ve added a fundraising thermometer that we’ll keep updated as together we reach this goal!
