Changing Lives in Eastern Europe
Who ever thought that five ordinary women could have such an effect on the most marginalized girls of Eastern Europe? Here is a very brief report of what God did this past May as our team ministered with the MissioLink International Children at Risk Ministries in Timisoara, Romania.A team from Highlands Community Church in Renton, WA served at Deborah House Center in Timisoara May 12-19. They assisted in painting dorm rooms and taught crafts as they shared Christ. The team members were: Renee Lorbeski, DaniKillingsworth, Barbara Smith, Diane Peterson.
Our time working at the Children at Risk ministries began weeks before as we prepared our testimonies, created crafts to teach the girls, and prayed for lives to be changed for God. Our mission was to paint and support the leaders who have their feet on the ground every day serving. Bedrooms painted, we began our second task, teaching girls stitching skills that would help them feel successful and increase their self-esteem, give them skills that they could use in the future to help their own families and develop a trade to support themselves. It was hectic as the girls flooded our work stations, God gave us the patience to teach through language differences and fingersanxious to learn along with varied skill levels.
When the girls were in school we had opportunities to visit the other ministries in action: Back to School were 130 kids who filled the small classroom, to hear the Bible, along with verse memorization and hymns on a weekly basis. Aspirations, a program for young ladies learning to live on their own and staying off the streets. The Young Offenders’ Prison ministry gripped our hearts, as we met with the girls who had been arrested and tried for crimes. Our team members were allowed to share their testimony, it was such a blessing to watch God use them to touch and influence the lives of those hurting so deeply.
Highlands Community Church Team