"More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."-- Tennyson
Dear all,
I'm sorry this update has been so long in coming! I have returned to England. In fact, somehow-- I really don't know how-- it will have been a month this Thursday since leaving Romania.... in body, anyway.
Classes have picked right back up and the weeks pass by ever so quickly. I'm still in training for my job in social care here in Gloucester working with vulnerable adults. I still have reams of essays staring me in the face every waking moment :) But, somehow they'll all get done in time-- they always do.
Leaving Romania was... strange. So so so so so hard to leave my babies. But somehow my goodbye with the country itself did not seem final. So, I await His move.
In regards to the urgent prayer email I sent out just a few days before I left-- we ended up complying with their demands. Kari (the young missionary from CA) was blessed with more financial support that month than she necessarily needed (and she's coming to the end of her time there) so she was able to buy the Romanian ROCK workers the uniforms they would need but couldn't afford. We did have to move all the cupboards with our supplies out into the hallway but we were still able to lock them under the condition that the head-nurse had a spare key. So far as I know, nothing has yet been stolen! They started taking inventory of all the diapers and things each night just to be sure... Things did seem to reach a plateau, thank the Lord! So thank you so much for all your prayers...
As far as my babies go, would you believe one of our boys was adopted a few weeks after I left??!! He was declared unadoptable for the first 9 months of his life because he didn't have a birth certificate but one day the hospital social worker walked in and said his case was being opened for emergency adoption!! He has now been moved into foster care for a month as the adoption process begins. They hope he'll be with his adoptive parents in a few weeks' time, even though the adoption will take at least a year to go through... This is so tremendously hopeful! There is so much hopelessness in that nation, so many cases that remain unopened or hindered somehow which means so many children left forgotten without a future... For one to go through successfully is a very encouraging thing for all to see...
Of course, Mario was the one blond-haired, blue-eyed baby. The average Romanian has an ingrown disdain for gypsies so if he had black hair and eyes he mightn't have been snatched up so quickly...
Florica and Emil remain the babies of my heart with their raven black curls and snapping black eyes and God uses this ache to move me to intercede for Romania in all its discord...
God taught me more about life than I may ever know in those 6 intense weeks. I want to thank you all with my whole heart for your support for my time there-- for your generosity in finance and prayers!! I wish I could describe my gratitude in words...
I really wish for every one of us to follow Him into our own varied Romanias-- our own intense experience of brushing up against His vastly beautiful broken heart and reaching out to stroke it even while being wrapped up within it and peering at the world from inside its hold... I don't believe we have to go anywhere for this. I think He brings it to us if we're willing. May we run out to meet Him!
It is possible to change the world.
And you are loved.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for caring!!
Leah <><
"For the Lord your God is the God of Gods and Lord of Lords, the great God, mighty and awesome... He defends the cause of the fatherless." -- Deuteronomy 10:18
