Staff
Ana Rase
- ana.rase@wordmadeflesh.org
- Country
- Romania
Ana was born in 1987 as the youngest in a family of six children. With four older brothers and one sister, Ana learned to be tough and self-sufficient, but eventually learned to move from self-sufficiency to dependence on God. During her conversion, God began to speak to Ana's hurts, confusion, pride and fear. He also began to break her heart for the things that break His. At the age of 16, she heard Him ask, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And she responded, "Here I am Lord, send me" (Is. 6:8). Shortly after that, Ana began to work with Word Made Flesh Romania among the poor in her city.
In community, Ana found a place for giving life, for maturing and for listening to the voice of the poor calling out for love and communion. Through service in community, Ana began to understand her call to be a voice for the voiceless, to walk alongside the suffering and to identify with their needs as a sign of the presence of God in the midst of a hurting world.
Ana served as a volunteer for three years at the WMF drop-in center. After her graduation from high school in 2006, she came on staff as an intern, serving as an educator for school children, in particular for the older school girls.
Paul was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. In March of 1996, while living in Dallas, Texas, Paul was radically born again. He immediately felt called to the nations, and in the spring of 1998 took a four-month exploratory journey to the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Throughout this time, the Lord was planting seeds in Paul's heart concerning His love for the poor.
Upon his return, Paul had the opportunity to serve in a youth center ministering among at-risk children and teens in the inner city of Omaha. The Lord began pouring out His heart for the poor of the earth and specifically invited Paul to minister among them.
Paul then journeyed to South India in the fall of 1999 for two weeks and returned there for four months in the spring of 2000. It was a time of deeper intimacy with Jesus, and a time of living in real relationship with the poor.
In 2001, Paul spent a year in the Trinity School of Ministry and also had the opportunity to help start a tutoring and mentoring program for Sudanese refugee children living in Omaha's inner city.
In 2002, God called Paul to serve with WMF in Thailand, and later in Romania, where he has been living since 2003.
Paul devotes his time and energy to mentoring and tutoring the middle-school-aged children at the community center in Galati. He also keeps the staff and children healthy through his work in the medical clinic and has stepped into the role of Community Care Coordinator and Field Director.
Ana and Paul married March 2009 in Galati, surrounded by their friends and the children of the community.