Here is a copy of my support letter, and summery of what I did over the last nine months and also a letter from Two of the people that I was working with.
Dear Friends and Family,
“I thank God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3
I wrote this letter is to serve 3 different purposes. The first purpose is this, I wish to tell you is how important it is/was for your prayer and financial support. The second is to inform everyone that I’m planning on returning to Romania, and making the switch from short term to long term missions in Romania. When I go to Romania I plan to stay for a year at a time, and go from there I don’t know how long I will be doing this for. The third purpose of my letter is to sum up what I have done for the last nine months in Romania and what I plan to continue to do.
Okay, to cover my first point, You! I can’t mention all the times that I was doing something like washing dishes, playing with kids, helping kids with homework, preparing a Sunday School lesson, or laughing with new friends, when the simple thought of how dependent I was on all of you overwhelmed me. How dependent I was, first of all on your prayers and secondly on the money, without both of these elements I would be completely ineffective and unproductive in every way. The fact is, I would not be able to be in Romania because I could not afforded the plane ticket or monthly rent to be there; secondly once I was there I would not be able to do anything because I would not have the passion and strength to do anything without all of the prayers that were being prayed. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 “Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.” It is faithful partners in giving and praying like yourself that make it possible for people like me that feel called to be in the ministry of foreign missions.
The reality is we are all called to missions, and in this call there are three parts: 1) Goers, the ones that go long or short term to other countries or states 2) Senders, the ones that provide the spiritual and financial support 3) Ignorers, the ones that hear the call to go and to send, but say “Leave that for someone else to do.”
My second point, over the course of the last nine months I realized God is calling me to be involved in Missions in Romania working alongside the ministry of Outstretched Hands of Romania for possibly the next 5 or more years. For this to be possible I need Senders to stand behind me and help me go. I need people to pray, that I will be in God’s purpose for my life and when he wants me to go somewhere else or do something else that I would do it with a willing and faithful heart. I also need financial support. If I have 45 people that are willing to support me for $12.00 a month, $144.00 a year, I will have enough money to continue to doing the things that I have been. This leads me to my third point of this letter
What have I been doing in Romania? I’m involved in fulltime ministry, mainly in two villages. The first village is Caramidari where I spend Tuesday through Thursday, and sometimes Mondays and Fridays depending on what is going on… There I wash dishes, make breakfast (jam sandwiches and tea for the kindergarten kids) and cereal and some other foods for the school kids, various cleaning such as moping and sweeping, washing walls and tables, helping kids with homework when the language barrier is not too hard, and during the summer I help with a kids program every day for about 3 to 4 hours. The second village I work in is Chiselet where I spend almost every weekend. I help with the girls program; we talk with the girls, play volley ball or soccer, or we watch a movie with them. I also go to the church service on Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons, I do a Sunday school program with kids ages 4 to about 10. I’m there the whole day and spend time with the people in the village. I also help some with the Jr. High and High School programs that are also on Sundays. Spending the night in Chiselet has really helped me work on learning how to speak Romanian, I also have plans on getting more serious with learning Romanian and also learn the grammar. Every Saturday I help with a girls craft program in Calarasi, the city that I live. Every Friday there are team meetings that I must attend. I take pictures in almost every location, even the ones that I’m not regularly involved in, and I also take them for teams that come and visit Outstreched Hands, in doing this it helps document the different events with photos.
With some of the support money I had that I did not need for rent or my plane ticket I was able to help out with buying candy for the Sunday School kids in Chiselet. I also gave to buy food for the school kids lunch and breakfast in Caramidari. I was able to print and give the people of the villages some pictures I took of their kids and families. This was a huge blessing! I also had a fund raisor in April of this last year and with all of that money we were able to take 23 girls to the black sea Thank you!
To follow what I’m doing and what is happening in Romania while I’m there go to my blog at www.amberinromania.blogspot.com
To contact me in the states call
(717) 644-2627 or (717) 933-5598
“But whatever you do, find the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated passion of your life, and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it. And you will make a difference that lasts. You will not waste your life.”
― John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life
― John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life
Dear family, friends and all it may concern
For the past 9 months, we were privileged to have Amber serve with us as part of the team of Outstretched Hands of Romania. Amber became part of the team straight away, and right from the beginning the feeling was: "What would we have done without Amber!?"
She is such a wonderful person who loves Jesus Christ dearly, and demonstrates that love to the people around her.
Amber never hesitated to take initiative in meeting needs and helping out wherever or whatever the need might have been. She never stood back when it came to working long, hard hours. She is a very self-motivated and diligent person, doing everything as if unto the Lord.
At the Hope Center in Caramidari/Obor (where we are mainly involved) Amber worked in the following areas:
- Teaching and assisting with the kindergarten program
- Helping 1st graders with their homework in the afternoons
- Helping and presenting children's clubs during the summer
- Cooking breakfasts and lunches for the children at the Hope Center
- General cleaning (which included A LOT of dishes!!) in and around the Hope Center
- Photography of daily happenings and other events
We will really miss having Amber with us, as part of the OH team, and we are sincerely hoping that she would be able to make a speedy return!!
Yours in Christ
Terence and Nelia van Niekerk
