rothwellsmission: FAST - WEEK 2

James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds

Hi all

I think we all agree this has been a week of contrasts -

TRIALS

A very angry man confronted Liz outside the Mission House threatening violence - Liz very bravely (or as she said, foolishly) stood up to him and told him that real men don't hit women - fortunately he went away although he continues to hang around with a couple of cronies.
10 year old Conutz was picked up by his father in full view of us all, held up in the air, tossed to the ground and then kicked.
Young Joseph was set upon as he was being walked home with his brother and badly beaten, Liz powerless to help.

Liz says this is one of the worst weeks she has known in her 4+ years of being here, a good lesson that we need to be kind but vigilant. When we are surrounded by this violence we cannot be surprised that the smallest disagreement inside the Mission House results in fists being used.

Not in the same league as the above, but still a 'first' for all of us, the family next door to the mission house decided to kill their pig which consisted of the whole family sitting on it, terrible squealing then eventually, silence. Within the hour it was divided up and the villagers came with black bags to collect their portion. A way of life here which could mean eating or not, but a shock for us sheltered souls.

And although it's under 'trials' this probably made us laugh this week more than anything - last week the lovely men from Glasgow installed a panic button to use in situations such as the ones mentioned above. A couple of slight flaws however - we realised on testing it that no one close by takes any notice of it, and when we went to the police station to explain they were completely disinterested. Still - we have a panic button!

JOYS

Not one child was ejected from any of the English classes this week. OK so we finished one or two classes a little early, but even so consider this to be a great success.

Realization that singing and dancing is the way to keep them focused - all of our lessons have now become musical ones (amazing how many of our sentences you can fit to the tune of 'Our God is a great big God' and 'Happy Birthday', both of which they know.

They still continue to come, and the class sizes are increasing!

The mums class - they are amazing - picking things up so quickly.

TGI Thursday - Tarlungeni branch - has been hugely encouraging. Lots of discussion on the topic of Hopes and Dreams, and a realization that there are things they can do to change their lives, with God's help. Seventeen of them this week eating pancakes (made by Stan) and drinking hot chocolate, brilliant.

For 'Stan's experiment slot' in Liz and Alina's group - firing a rocket balloon to illustrate how God fills us up with His spirit - it worked!

The Womens Group on Thursday morning - around 30 of them drinking tea and eating cake - great fellowship. Sue talked about how special we all are in God's eyes, even if we are different, and read them 'You are Special' by Max Lucado (with Ema translating). A great morning.

And to round off the week of trials and joys a great Saturday afternoon in Brasov with Liz and Masih who gave us a guided tour in glorious sunshine, coffee at a pavement cafe and a great time of laughs and fellowship - just what was needed. (See the photos).

And thanks that we found a small snippet of Stan doing 'Our God is a great big God' in Romanian - Celia, Susie and Johnny, this is for you.

Prayer points this week

Please continue to pray for Daniel and Ema - Daniel still away with his father and Ema is waiting for the phone call telling her to go.

For protection for all of us, in particular for Liz that she doesn't become despondent with the 'trials' and remembers how many 'joys' she has been instrumental in.