HANDS ...

It was great to get together for our first OFFICIAL team meeting yesterday! I'm very excited to see all the returning faces, new faces and the variety of faces! I went on YouTube to look up some Romania videos and found the girls! I found some clips that the Tulsa team had taken and it was so great to see the girls singing and having fun. Daria has a beautiful voice and Gabi ... I can't wait to see her. She stole my heart when I was there and can't wait until I get to give her the biggest hug ever!

Something that has just been tugging at my heart lately is ... our hands. God has been showing me alot of "hands" lately. I saw a beautiful painting of a beautiful hand on Easter Sunday and it brought me back to some great memories of that hand. "You remember to ALWAYS love Jesus and remember that I love you very much, I really do". Knowing that that hand was connected to a heart that lived for Jesus and had a passion for missions makes me all the more convinced that God has great plans for my hands in Romania (and probably someplace African, yikes!). But wherever He takes me ... I will go. When Satin tries to hold me back and discourage me ... I will remember ...

They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed."

But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands." Nehemiah 6:9

Here's a few songs & verses that have been on my heart lately ...

I will praise you as long as I live,

and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:4

* * * * *

"Hands" by Jewel

My hands are small, I know

But they're not yours, they are my own

~

In the end only kindness matters

I will get down on my knees, and I will pray

~

We are God's eyes

God's hands

We are God's hands

* * * * *

"Love Them Like Jesus" by Casting Crowns

Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands

The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands

The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands

He cares for them just as He cares for you

So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus

So ... until next time ... please pray for our team and keep an eye out for upcoming fundraising events. I'll keep you posted.

Love ~ Alma :-)

Romania ... Chapter 2: Verse 1

God just continues to amaze me. His greatness, His love, His outstretched arms. I have been so consumed these last few days with the Holy Spirit that I can't contain it. On my way to church Sunday, I felt like every breath I took was filled with His presence. Like I was inhaling a heavenly vapor. How stinking' cool is that! During worship, I felt like He was sitting on every side of me ... every infinate side of me. It was that powerful.

What made that day different from any other? ... Romania! God not only whispered for me to be there last year ~ He cleared my path, held my hand and walked with me ALL THE WAY! And now getting ready for my second trip ... it's a little different. I have been blessed with a new found confidence and security. My direction is to put His teaching into practice with a boldness and genuine desire to please Him. I have learned so many things over the last few months about myself, about God's love for me and about obedience. This is so crazy, but when I think about how God loves me I get that giddy feeling inside. Like I can't wait to see him ... can't believe he loves me ... and I'm so happy that He is FIRST in my life.

So ... for now ... please pray for our team, pray for our team leader, Sarah and for my finances & fundraising to be successful. We are still in the planning stage, but it's a go for August 8th to 17th. To you all ~ Welcome back and I look forward to your comments and words of encouragement. I'll share with you my verse that just reassures me of my salvation and that He does love me ... unconditionally and for eternity.

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 8:12

I WILL follow Him, I will NEVER again walk (or wallow) in darkness ... and I will have the light of life.

Until next time ... God BLESS!

Home Sweet Home

I finally arrived home last night (Mon) at about 10pm. I was tired and weary, but very willing to wait up for my girls to get home. They rolled in from Funtown about 11pm and jumped in bed with me and asked me questions until the last thing I heard was "I think she's asleep" ... I was wonderful.

I know it's going to take weeks to process and I'm sure the effects will last a lifetime. I have learned so much about myself these last 10 days. Most of all I've learned that "I CAN!" with the guidance and support of Christ, I can do anything that He places on my heart to do. I have no need to fear or be anxious. He will clear my path and light my way.

One of the biggest things that I have brought back is not to have expectations or concrete plans when God sends you on a mission. Sarah was great in preparing me for what I will do while there ... ANYTHING! She helped me to keep my mind open to whatever God has planned and to just let Him lead the way. We all have different gifts but the gifts that we 'think' we will give to the people isn't always the gift that we use. We discover different gifts and talents that we didn't know we had. It's wonderful. Honestly, I really expected to try to teach the girls a little dance while we were there, but it didn't happen and I'm happy just the same. I found myself giving in ways that I didn't expect or plan for, but were so joyful! I feel that I have expanded myself beyond what I ever thought I had the confidence to do. It is wonderful.

I am bringing home a greater knowledge of cultures, worlds that I didn't know exsisted and a strength that I never thought I would have. As I stated in an earlier post, that family on the agape visit was so emotional and close to home that I will never forget her pain. I feel it every morning when I wake to face the day alone with noone to lean on but the Savior. This trip has shown me a direction that my life as been missing. I am so thankful to God for tugging at my heart and clearing my path. Otherwise, I never would have gone.

Another very wonderful and teaching moment was making a connection with a very wonderful spirit on our team. She showed me so much that I didn't know about myself, so much that I had to offer and so much that God wants for me. I can't thank you enough, Tara, for what you have shown me.

Well ... it's just an update for now. As I process more, I'll fill you in more.

Thanks for all the support and comments.

All my love ~ Alma :-)

Thursday/Friday Update

Hey everyone ... Just a quick update for you ... Thursday we went to market in the morning. That was definately an experience in itself. I got some cool things, but they don't really have 'Romania' momentos so I just got handcrafted stuff. We just walked around market for a couple hours and then came back for lunch. After lunch a group went to visit the rehab facility for handicapped children but were unable to so they went to visit a gypsy village outside of town where a pastor was making a huge impact on the community by providing lunch to gypsy children every other day. I ended up helping Ana & Sarah with decorations ... the tent look incredible. Ana is such an amazing woman. For dinner, we all went to the family camp to BBQ and listen to Peter's testimony and his vision for REMM. Truely amazing. We ended the night with a 'interesting' game of spoons. ... more a little later .....

Love you all!

Hitting HOME

Hi everyone ... thanks for all the comments ~ I love reading them. It keeps me close to home while I'm away. Today was a very impacting day for me. I got to go on an agape run this morning. The first home we went to was so hard to see. When we first got there it was only children and as we started talking to them more started coming out of the woodwork. I think there were 8 at home and a total of 11 people living in the house. While we were talking to the kids about Jesus, mom came home. We gave the kids a goodie bag with toothbrush, toothpaste, bubbles, toys and etc. They were so exited. One little boy ran in the house and brushed his teeth and was so proud to come back outside to show us what he had done. The hardest part for me was when we asked the mom how we could pray for her ... she had such a hard time telling us. She got really emotional and started crying. She said she was so thankful that her family still had their health but she is having a really tough time getting food. She is having to choose between electricity or food ... way too close to home. I almost lost it. We prayed for her and her family and said our goodbyes. It was so hard to see. Next we visited a family with 14 children ... most of them were home, but a few were grown and working the fields. One of them had medical issues and it was very difficult for the family to cover the medical expenses. Next we went to another house with only two children, but one was blind & looked like maybe he had some retardation issues. The family's out here really struggle and I can't believe that walking around Beius you don't see it all ... but literally 5 min's down the road is such poverty. The work that REMM does is so incredible. We spent the rest of the afternoon with the girls at the orphanage doing VBS and playing.

We have the rest of the night off and we are relaxing at the coffee shop for a bit and heading back to play spoons. Check out the church blog for more pictures.

Cassie ~ I can't take any of the girls home, but I would love to. I will be giving the bears to Sarah to take on an agape run tomorrow (Thur) and she will get pictures.

Brittany ~ I hope you are doing okay ... Love you/Miss you too ... Have fun in Six Flags

Dad ~ I'm okay ... REALLY! ... Don't worry.

Love you all and please leave your comments, it's great to read and stay in touch with everyone.

Chocolate Kisses to you ALL!

Hi everyone one ... we are at the coffee house again ... that's the best place for us to get on the internet. Last night we worked at the coffee house making tarts, sorting chocolate kisses (and by the way ~ they don't travel well) unloading tents, adding everyones photos. We were all pretty tired so when we headed back most of us all went right to bed ... BUT some of us splurged and had a Nix party in the girls bathroom in preparation for the gypsy village visit.

Today, we are doing wedding preparations for Sat's wedding and cleaning up outside the coffee house. We went to the orphanage this morning and played with the kids and worked more on sorting all the clothing donations. We are making great progress but there is still alot to do. A few people went w/Peter to minister to a couple of gypsy villages. We will be going to do VBS at a gypsy village this evening at 7:30 for about 50 children.

The culture is very different but does have some similarities. They eat losts of carbs, not much for sweet and LOTS of fresh veggies. I will try my best to get all the pictures on the blog a little better, having a few difficulties, but there are a few pictures.

Miss you all ... but this place is really great and has many needs. I feel very blessed to be here and will do my best to serve God in whatever way is needed.

God Bless ~ Alma :-)

Bundles of Joy

Hi everyone ... I'm at the Bridge again. We've had a very full day and it isn't over. This morning we all arrived at the table for devotions suffering from extreme jet lag! ... Noone could fall asleep last night and felt it this morning, but we've all managed to get through the day and I'm sure we will all sleep well tonite.

* Anita shared devotions this morning. This was new for me because I've never really done devotions in a group, but everyone is wonderful and very supportive. I don't think we could have found a more diverse group that works so well together.

* A group of 5 went on an agape run to some outskirt villages to deliver food and clothing. Here's a couple of pictures ...

* The rest of us stayed at the orphanage to play with the girls. OH MY! ~ Nothing could have physically prepared me for their energy except training for the ironman! Gabriella took my hand immediately and showed me around everywhere and played, and played ... and played. Between all 8 of them, My upper body strength has tripled. I carried two of them back to the house after taking them outside to play on the swings & slid. It was precious. What was very heartbreaking is the greatness and emptiness of the building. So much space is not able to be used due to lack of funding and the orphanage is HUGE! Here's a few pictures ...



Me and Dalia ... they had a blast taking pictures with everyone's cameras.

This is Sanda ... she is so precious. If I could, she's be coming home with me!

They enjoyed getting new hats & scarves for the winter.


* After visiting with the kids, we went back to the clinic for lunch while they napped. We came back after lunch and worked with Anca to sort TONS of clothes that were brought in ... an entire room for the foster families and another room for agape families. Tons & Tons of clothes ~ It is truely amazing the work that Peter & Ana are doing with R.E.M.M.

* Now we are at the Bridge setting up some stuff & doing some baking for the wedding and taking turns checking out emails. Check out the church blog for more pictures and stories.

Miss you all & Lots of Love!