I’ll start this letter with something that Leroy Barber, WMF new Executive Director, shared when he visited Romania. Isaiah 61:1-4, 6-9 NIV:
1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
6 And you will be called priests of the LORD;
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.
8 “For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
These are the verses that spoke to Leroy’s heart when God called him to minister in the neighborhood he was born in but was eager to leave. Listening to Leroy talk about his call I was reminded of my own call, now reaffirmed in my life. God spoke to me again. This passage speaks about me from verse 1 to verse 3. It describes the service I am called to fulfill. From verse 4 the passage speaks about them…it says “they shall build, they shall raise up, they shall repair. It goes on to saying that they will be the future leaders of tomorrow’s church, the church they will build: they are the seed which the Lord has blessed.
I am called to bring the good news, to heal, to bring freedom and justice, to comfort and bring hope where God placed me. It is in doing this that I partake in building His church.
It is my prayer that I fulfill God’s will. It is my prayer that God would uplift the people from this part of my city, called “The Valey”.
In terms of the latest events in this part of the world and as I mentioned before, Leroy Barber came to visit WMF Romania field, after visiting Moldova. He is the new WMF Executive Director.
Every year, December is a time full of events for us. Our timetable looks something like this:
– December 14th – Celebration with the children from the Hidden Treasures club.
– December 18th – celebration with all the children who attend the “La Vale” Community Center. Their families are invited to join us.
– December 18th and 19th – are two days of Christmas caroling for our community. We will go to a number of companies who have been part of our work here.
– December 20th – Celebration with a group of children who attend the same school – their teachers are invited.
– December 23rd – Christmas caroling at the children’s families here in “The Valey”
– December 24th – Christmas caroling at our financial supporters
– December 25th – That’s when the big celebration takes place at our Community Center. We choose to spend Christmas Eve with the children as we want for them to feel loved and valued.
Pray that we would receive all the gift boxes we need for all these events in December.
Pray that all the participants would experience God’s presence among us.
Pray with me so that God’s blessing would be upon us and our ministry.
Please pray that by the end of this year we would receive a grant from the City Hall of Galati and that we would benefit from that in the year to come.
Thankful for your support and prayers,
Bogdan Chelariu