Hello my friends and family!
I wanted to write you this month specifically about the Internship/Discipleship Program (FFRDP)
that I started and manage here in Romania. We are 6 months into the
program for this year and it is so incredibly amazing to see how God is
working in lives of my interns Izzy and Sarah. They have truly grown so
much in their relationship with God and have matured as young women.
Seeing their giving hearts as they work in the hospital with the sick
babies and in the orphanage for disabled children is amazing. They work
very hard managing our volunteer apartment and our donations program.
Both of which are a lot of hard, tedious work, that is not as much fun
as working with the kids, and yet they do it with a smile on their
faces.
|
|
|
I wanted to share a bit about what we do in
the FFRDP because I am currently accepting applications for the
2016-2017 Program. The program is for young ladies, between 18 and 27
who are really interested in being stretched and growing in their
relationship with the Lord. It is a time of being able to be involved
in ministry about 30 hours a week while having accountability,
discipleship and mentorship. It’s not for everyone, but for the young
lady who is ready to really grow in her walk with the Lord it is an
amazing opportunity!
|
|
|
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..."
Matthew 28:19
|
|
|
Discipleship is the most important part of
the program for me. Seeing these young ladies grow in their
relationship with God is what this year is all about. This is done in a
couple of ways. Each week we meet for a time of Bible study, prayer
and worship. It is our ‘church’ time together, but it is also our
prayer time where we are able to lift up each other and our needs. We
also pray for a different country around the world during this time that
the name of Jesus would be known there and that hearts and lives would
be transformed. We usually watch a video from www.prayercast.com
to help guide us in what to pray for. Our Bible studies are watched
online and are from teachers such Louie Giglio or Tim Chaddick. The
interns are required to take notes and at the end we discuss what stuck
out to us.
|
|
There is also homework! The interns are
reading through 3 books this year. The Knowledge of the Holy by AW
Tozer, On Being a Servant of God by Warrant W. Wiersbe and The
Autobiography of George Muller. Each week a certain number of chapters
are assigned and homework in some form regarding the reading of those
chapters is given. Once a week we meet to go over our homework and
discuss what we have read. The books have really challenged the interns
(and myself) to grow so much in our spiritual lives.
On top of the book reading, we are on a schedule to read through the
Bible in a year. So each day we have a portion of Bible reading to do
and devotional reading. The idea of the Bible and devotional reading is
not to have the “accomplishment” of reading through the Bible in a
year, but to get the interns in the habit of daily Bible reading, of
daily spending time with the Lord, seeking Him, and having a real
relationship with Him. In order to have a relationship with someone you
need to spend time with them and that is the goal of this portion of
the program.
|
|
|
We also have a Friday Intern Day. We spend
all of Friday meeting together. We begin our day with “checking the
pulse” to see how everyone is doing personally and how things are going
in the various programs the girls work in. We go on to our Romanian
lesson that I lead and then break for lunch. After lunch we begin with a
devotional that we take turns leading and a prayer. This shifts us
into the Discipleship and Mentorship part of the day. During this time
we review our homework and book reading, talk about anything that we
have been learning in our Bible and devotional reading time during the
week and go over any mentorship items that will encourage the girls in
becoming mature young women in Christ.
|
|
|
An individual meeting with each intern takes
place one time a month to check in on them on a personal level, offer
specific mentorship and discipleship for what they are personally going
through and to challenge them in how they can grow more. This is a time
of accountability and encouragement that can be offered only in this
time of meeting one on one.
|
|
The next main part of the program is
ministry! The girls spend about 30 hours, Monday - Thursday involved in
various ministries with Firm Foundations Romania. Izzy primarily
spends half of her time at the orphanage for disabled children, while
Sarah spends half of her time at the hospital with the sick babies.
They both manage our donations program, which helps sort the loads of
donations we receive so they can be distributed for our various
programs, and they also help manage our Volunteer Apartment. Once a
week they plan a gathering for our short term volunteers, and they do a
monthly meeting with our teens! They help from time to time in our Kids
Club and After School Program in the village as well!
This allows the girls to see what it is really like to live day to day
as a missionary on the misson field. They are a huge support and help
to our ministries here!
|
|
|
This month the girls came out to the Village
with me where they helped with preparing the snacks and we washed the
hands and feet of my kids. It was a very dirty but fun experience for
the kids! Some of the kids were a little shy and didn't want their feet
cleaned so we washed their hands and cut their nails. There was lots of
laughing and we were blessed to help love on these kids in such a
practical way.
|
|
|
Once a month we do have a craft time just to
be creative, and we have a monthly Internship Adventure, that allows us
to explore our city and other parts of Romania. I want the girls to
have fun in the program and to fall in love more with the culture and
people of this beautiful country. These adventures (including my costs)
are budgeted into the Program Fee the girls pay when they are accepted
into the program. We have had a lot of fun in our various adventures.
This month, the girls got all dressed up for Valentine’s Day and went to
the Ballet! (I was unfortunately too sick and couldn’t make it.)
|
|
The program is amazing, and the results are
truly from the Lord! Each month when we meet individually the interns
and I just sit there in awe at what God has done in the last month and
how much they are growing. They are getting out what they are putting
in and God is blessing their desire to take a year and truly focus on
Him.
If you know a young lady who might be interested in this program or
would be a good fit for it, please forward on this email and the link to
our website: FFR Discipleship Program
|
|
After School Program
Of course I have to tell one quick story about my kids in the Village.
This month the kids had a week off as it was the end of their semester.
So I wanted to do some fun stuff with them. We learned about continents
which was sort of fun, but the most fun part was COCONUTS! The kids
had never seen a real coconut in person before and we have been talking
about it since the beginning of the school year. So finally the grocery
store had some coconuts and what perfect timing with it being their
week off and me not having to worry about homework!
|
|
|
We began by reading a very short version of
The Jungle Book (anytime I can read to them I do!) I was joined my
second class by my Romanian friend Lidia who read the story during this
class, it's so nice to have a real Romanian read the story!
|
|
|
I brought a coconut into my 2 classes. I
first had them feel in a bag without looking at it to describe what they
felt. I teased by boys that it was the head of a monkey. HA! It was
pretty funny.
|
|
|
Then we took it out and looked at it,
smelled it, described what we saw and felt. We shook it so they could
heard the water inside and then we poked a hole to drain out the water.
We first tasted the water and described that. I was so impressed with
how fearless most of my kids were to try it. Even the couple that were
timid at first, jumped in once everyone else had tried it.
|
|
|
Then I hammered it open and we described
what we saw on the inside, the color and the smell. I cut it up and
everyone tried it. They loved it! We colored a picture of a coconut
tree and wrote the different things we felt, saw and tasted underneath.
It was such a fun lesson, probably one of the most fun times I have had
thus far with my kids. I love sharing new experiences with them,
letting them know there is a world out there of new exciting things they
can explore someday!
|
|
Prayer
Please keep my health in your prayer, this has been a rough month for
me, I have been pretty sick for at least half the month and am still not
100% better.
I am applying for my residency visa this week, so prayers that it all goes smoothly.
Prayers for the Lord to bring along the right young lady (ladies) for the Internship/Discipleship Program.
My lease for my apartment is up at the end of March so I need to see if I will be staying in this apartment or moving….
Wisdom, as always! And for everything!
Much love,
Rachel
|
|
|
|
