Christmas Vacation

What did you do during your Christmas vacation?

My sister Rena came to visit us on Christmas Day. We were very glad that she came. The time together has been great. But that is not nearly the whole story.

Rena works with children who have learning disabilities. She has been using that gift here with the children of Galati. Saturday she began her teaching activities with a visit to a family with a 4 year old deaf girl. This valley family was first told the story of Jesus when Donnie was working with Troy, as long as 4 years ago. There are several believers in the home, but there are also some who have not yet placed their trust in Jesus. This family is already being blessed by Mihai and the Ene family (pronounced “N.A.”) who are teaching the whole family sign language. Rena joined in the lesson and learned some new signs herself. We all had a good time there.







The next stop for Rena was a family who includes a 12 year old autistic girl. This family is a mission point of Holy Trinity not far from the center of town. She is a very happy young lady who has trouble communicating with anyone except her mother. This was the first time I was able to see the genius of my sister at work in her profession. I was amazed at the ideas she had that would help this family communicate. They were simple, affordable and effective.

Our next visit was with a family who are friends of Roland, that live near Billa II. Roland not only asked me about getting some help for this families’ 18 month old daughter but told me that “they have everything they want, but they need God.” So please pray for this young couple as we work with their child, that they may come to know Jesus as their personal Savior. Their child is both almost blind and deaf.

We then returned to the valley, on Dogarei street. Bogdan and Troy both know this family, although I had never been in their house as far as I can remember. Bogdan said he has done some Bible studies with them in the past. I don’t know if anyone in this home is a believer in Jesus. The family includes an 8 year old boy who has learning and communication problems. He is not able to go to school but has 3 sisters that do attend school who are eager to help teach him as much as he is able to learn. Rena discussed several way that they could help him learn. On our next visit she will have some simple tools for them to use in this process. When we left there, you could see the change in the faces of the sisters and the mother, they had hope that their brother could learn.

Our next stop was at the home of a member of the Holy Trinity Church. Their family includes a 4 years old boy with CP. This youngster is blessed with an older sister and 2 loving parents. They have been able to get help working with him, but they are eager to learn other ways which he might respond to as well. This mother is not a believer, pray that her heart will be softened by these visits and that she too will know Jesus as her Savior.

One thing all these family have in common is the fact that not all the members of the families follow Jesus. Please be praying for us this week as we get to show God’s love though our actions.

Now when Rena is asked what she did on her Christmas vacation I think her answer may be, “ do you want an hour by hour or day by day description?”

Jam 2:17 So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.
Jam 2:18 But someone will say, "One person has faith, another has actions." My answer is, "Show me how anyone can have faith without actions.

Merry Christmas fron Galati

Still More Christmas Lights

More Christmas Lights

Christmas Lights

Dear Jennifer, Ryan, Peggy, Kelly, Jason, Carissa and Kimber:

Randy and I miss all of you so much this Christmas season. It is very difficult having to spend the holiday apart. The beautiful lights decorating the City of Galati help to brighten our spirits. We wanted to share the lights with you. We hope you enjoy the video clips of our drive through the city with some highlights of my favorite spots. I threw the singing in for free.

We wish you a “Craciun fericit si un An Nou cu multe bucurii!”
(Merry Christmas and a New Year with much joy)

Remember the reason for the season, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love, Mom and Dad

Standing in Lines

On Mission With God In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

As our first year in the field comes to an end , I was reflecting on the past year’s activities and I came to the conclusion that standing in line is an honor. The last several months have been filled with the visa process. This is a confusing and time consuming activity that requires many hours of standing in line. Many times these are the same lines you were in yesterday.
I told our daughter that these lines remind me of the worst day at our local license bureau in Missouri. Every time you get to the front of the line the person at the counter tells you “you need something else”, but they never tell you all of what you will need, so you get to come back and they look very busy.
But now even with those memories very fresh (yesterday as I was writing this) I think of them knowing it is an honor. Teresa and I have been called into His service here in Eastern Europe, where long lines abound. Therefore it is an honor to stand in a line, because we are here on mission with God in CEE.
We are also honored by God’s people who pray for us and finance our being here. Without the support of our SBC churches through the cooperative program (CP) and the Lottie Moon Offerings, we could not be here now.
I want you to read part of a letter we received this week from a member of the International Mission Board (IMB). These are the people that decide where and how the money from the CP and Lottie Moon Offerings are spent. Here is that segment of the letter:

Two lessons stand out.
First, we learned that restricting missionary appointments is not a temporary move with temporary consequences. It takes a long time to regain lost ground — years. The seriousness of the decision to restrict appointments cannot be overstated. Every time a missionary is delayed, a witness among an unreached people group is delayed, new church starts are delayed, baptisms are delayed and salvations are delayed. For the sake of those dying without Christ, we cannot miss that lesson.
Second, we learned Southern Baptists respond to needs when they know about them. As reports of insufficient funding and delayed missionaries began to circulate among our churches, we witnessed an immediate and unprecedented response. Record gifts began to pour in from our churches. In one year’s time, gifts received through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering increased by more than 18 percent!
Why do I share these lessons with you? Because we are on the verge of repeating history. With a record number of missionaries depending on Southern Baptists for financial support and the ongoing worldwide financial crisis, the 2009 IMB budget is now under strain to support growth in our missionary force.
Paul Chitwood is pastor of First Baptist Church, Mt. Washington, Ky., and chairman of trustees for the International Mission Board.

Funding gets us here and takes care of us physically, but this is spiritual warfare and your prayers are our support!
Please pray for us as we are here and not at home this Christmas. Please pray that peace which passeth all understanding will come over us and we will be happy as well as joyful this year.
Please pray with your family, for us and our family, as you gather together this Christmas. We can only stay here as long as you give and pray.
Thank you for all your support, Just two sinners saved by grace, Randy & Teresa Myers

Bernice Holloway

Bernice Holloway
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Bernice Holloway went home for her reward this week.

I have known Bernice over 40 years. My first recollection of her was while she was working for the Neelyville school district as a cook. But I learned that she had known me all my life. Bernice and Frank were friends of my family long before I was born. They became close to me after I returned to Missouri after working in Texas for 3 years in the early 80’s. My daughter Peggy was preschool and “Mrs. Holloway” worked with her in Sunday School, they loved each other. That was over 20 years ago.
When some time would pass between our visits together she would always say “I thought you might have give up on us”, but I never did, nor did she.
In this pass year as Teresa and I prepared for the mission field we made our
last visit to Frank and Bernice. At that time she moved into her most
important role for my life as a Prayer Warrior for us. We depend on the
prayers of others to keep us on our mission. Words cannot express the true
meaning of someone praying for you. Teresa and I as well as the people here
in Galati who have heard the Good News about Jesus this year are eternally
grateful for her prayers. I pray that God will place someone in the gap she
has left in our prayer line. The loss of Bernice is not only personal but also
strategic to this mission. God hears the prayers of people like Bernice.

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.