Nieuwsbrief van Norman en Linda Patterson

Vanavond ontving ik de nieuwsbrief van Norman en Linda Patterson. Het is een voorgangersechtpaar uit Belfast (Noord- Ierland). De helft van het jaar zijn zij in Noord- Ierland om hun zendingswerk in Roemenië te promoten en de andere helft van het jaar wonen zij in Sighisoara, waar zij samen met teams die overkomen uit Ierland en Engeland heel veel werk verrichten.

Wij kennen hun al vanaf 2005 en staan ook achter hun werk. Vanaf nu wil ik graag hun nieuwsbrieven op deze blog zetten, om de lezers een nog betere indruk te geven van wat zich in Roemenië afspeelt. 

De nieuwsbrieven zijn in het Engels, maar wie moeite heeft met het lezen kan hulp krijgen via Google vertaalmachine. Kijk daarvoor hier: http://translate.google.nl/#
Ook is het mogelijk om de browser Google Chrome te downloaden. Deze browser is in staat om sites in een diverse taal op redelijk niveau direct om te zetten in andere talen. Waaronder natuurlijk het Nederlands. Je kunt Google Chrome hier downloaden

Hieronder is de nieuwsbrief te lezen:

Dear friends,

As we write our last update for 2011 we give God worship and praise for all that He has done over this past year.  Christmas has passed, the celebrations for Jesus’ birth is over for another year but the desperate need for people to realize their need of Jesus is greater than ever.  May we continue to seek to present Jesus to our world by pouring out His Love,  Grace,  Mercy, and  His Compassion praying that lives will be transformed and reconciled to God.

We returned home on the 15^th of December.  It was eight weeks of highs and lows, joy and sadness, a roller coaster of many experiences some comfortable but many very challenging.  In our last update we shared how we had a break-in at the store in Laslea.  We had to attend a court hearing in Medias, the county town of Sibiu about 25 kilometres from Laslea.  The two men caught for the break-in were found guilty but there was some debate over the amount of material stolen.  We have just heard that both men have received a two year sentence.  The sad thing is that five other people were involved but the two caught are in danger of their lives if they divulge their names.  We can only pray for these men and trust that through this they will discover a God who sees their actions but still loves them deeply.

We began to build two houses in October –one for Nicolene and her family and one for Eciou   (Crocodile Dundee)—a pensioner in Laslea village.  These were finished and it was a joy to furnish both homes and see them settled.   Raluca is eleven and the daughter of Nicolene.  She never had the chance to go to school.  One of the requirements for the families who live in the houses  we build is that the children must attend school.  We  contacted  Miahaela a social worker  and after two weeks of planning and various meetings Raluca spent her first day at school in the kindergarten with three to six  year olds.  It was strange going to her new home with new clothes and shoes, stationery and food to get her ready for her first day.  The following Monday Raluca started mainstream school in P1 with seven year olds.  On that particular day we were at Laslea school distributing the Christmas shoe boxes to all the children—we even had one extra for Raluca.  What a joy it was to see her walking up the street with her new school bag on her back and her Christmas shoebox under her arm.  So many of our teams had been involved within the life of this family.  God had brought a miracle of new hope to this family who once lived in a mud house and is now secure in a new brick home, furnished with love and a new hope for these children who would now have education.

Christmas boxes, 3600 shoeboxes were distributed in schools, church groups and Christian organisations.  We had opportunities to share the gospel with every class and group we visited.  Not only did each child get their shoebox, they also got a children’s gospel tract.  It was so encouraging to see many children reading the gospel tract before they opened their gift.  Our policy has always been that if a group is getting shoeboxes from another source then we will not do that group but go to one that receives nothing.  This year when we didn’t do a kindergarten in Nades village the director became very abusive and threatened to tell the police, go to the newspapers and the television and report us for being racist against the poor people in the village.  It is amazing how so often God steps into these situations and uses them as an opportunity for us to share the gospel.  We contacted the director and we told him we would come with shoeboxes but that he must be there.  What an opportunity to not only explain to him our policy but also to present to him the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The result was he asked us for a bundle of gospel tracts before we left.  He was also made aware that since the 1^st of July we had built nine new homes for poor families, run a series of summer camps for gipsy children and were at present doing daily feeding programs and giving out food parcels. We told him that the child from the palace and the child from the mud house stand equal at the foot of the cross and he was totally wrong to make any such remarks of racism against us.  After an apology and a hand shake we left after sowing God’s word into his heart.

We discovered this winter that life in Romania has been severely hit by the global economic crisis.  The price of food has soared and more people than ever are starving.  We found ourselves doing daily feeding programs up where we were building the two houses.  It was strange because one of the families we were feeding belonged to one of the men in prison who had broken in to our store.  People asked why—our answer remains the same—Jesus loves them.  Because of the generosity of God’s people this year we were able to give out 560 food parcels to individual families, supply food to Laslea hospital and to domestic violence organisations in Sighisoara and Tirgu Mures and to Happy Days organisation which works with old age pensioners.  Five villages were visited over the last week as we not only shared physical bread for the body but also the Bread of Life Jesus Christ. Sad to say even as we distributed food parcels some individuals were stealing bags of food from one of the  vans.

  When we left Romania this winter it was with mixed emotions.  This last term was probably one of our hardest.  We were attacked by Satan physically, mentally and emotionally but we were still standing.  Jesus is Lord and all things, all things work for good.  The vehicles were attacked but not destroyed, the property was attacked but the culprits caught, we were physically attacked but unharmed and our policy for giving was attacked but opened another door to share the wonderful gospel of Jesus.  It has been busy, exhausting, challenging but also rewarding, fruitful and satisfying as we have sought to present the gospel in practical ways.  Over the last 10 days of distribution we had Darrel and Darlene from Washington State and Walter, Iris and Rosslyn from N. Ireland.  We were really glad of their help as that can be one of the busiest weeks of the winter time.  Over the whole year we had 145 people with us on the mission field.   Our stores with the bounty of provision from God’s people were now emptying and lots of people and many groups were now blessed with the gift of warmth and provisions.  Food and wood were left with Gary and David to distribute to those in need as we are away. What a blessing to have brothers and sisters coming to share, work and spread the gospel of Jesus with us in the beautiful land of Romania.  We are indebted to everyone and especially to God who has given us this opportunity to serve Him by serving others. 

In closing may God bless you all in 2012.    None of us know what challenges this year will bring but our God is great and our God is bigger than any problems that will confront us.  We look forward with that glorious hope of Jesus return and we serve Him who is worthy of all our worship and praise.

With love and sincere thanks to all who share together,

Norman and Linda Patterson   Project Romania.