Throughout the years our family has been so incredibly blessed to go on both domestic and foreign mission trips. When I say WE have been blessed that is what I mean...although our purpose has always been to share the Gospel of Christ and encourage believers at the end of every trip, it is always us who walks away changed, blessed and refreshed...every time.
We have gone to Mexico, Hungary, Texas, New Mexico, and Zimbabwe. We have done construction, VBS, sang, worked in churches and schools, worked with special needs persons, and much more. It truly has been an experience that we are so very thankful to have and to share with our children. It is our belief that not only are we to minister to our community, we are to reach our state, our country and the world with the Gospel message and the hope that comes only from a real relationship with Jesus Christ.
Before I go into the specifics of our upcoming opportunity in the country of Romania...I want to share with you the circumstances of our going. Last June, Joel accepted a position with First Baptist Church Levelland as their children pastor. We knew that this particular church had a partnership with a church in Romania from Facebook posts from a friend who had gone as well as from conversations with their staff. We also knew that in starting a ministry we would be very busy and would not necessarily have the opportunity to go for a year or more - we were good with that.
When I came home from Zimbabwe Africa in the fall of 2010 - my life was literally changed forever. I fell in love with a country and the people there and I knew that from that point on I would always go on short term mission trips when the door was open. I had thought that would mean returning to Zimbabwe on a regular basis...I still pray that is an option. The other thing I knew was that I wanted to share that experience with Joel.
In the fall of 2012, Joel also had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Zimbabwe Africa...however it was not a trip nor the time that I could join him. Joel went with a different group, to a different part of Zimbabwe and yet had a very similar experience to mine. He came home saying this is something we need to do together!!!
For several years, Hannah has prayed about and asked for the opportunity to go on an overseas mission trip. She was supposed to go to the Dominican Republic with my parents but that trip didn't happen due to several circumstances, she wanted to go to Asia with our church in Borger but again the timing and circumstances didn't work out. This year, knowing that next spring she would graduate and then be preparing for college...we asked her to choose a fun trip. We told her it could be a vacation type trip or it could be a mission trip...she chose the Romania mission trip.
After prayer and some discussion we thought it would be a unique opportunity - not only would Joel and I get to go together, we could go with Hannah and share this wonderful experience with her. So...Joel, Hannah and myself will all be traveling to Romania with our church July 14-23.
All three of us are very excited about this opportunity and are looking forward to what God will do not only in our own lives but also in the lives of those we will be ministering to.
Here are just a few facts about Romania:
* 87% are Orthodox Christians; 5% are Roman Catholic; 5% are Protestant
* They fear the Russians and the Russian Mafia
* All Romanian men serve in the army from 19-21 and normally do not marry until after then
* More than 80,000 children live in institutions or substitute families with little parental care
* Anemia affects over half of the Romanian population
* The understaffed education system is in need of dramatic resources and modernization
Here are a few of the things that our team will be doing while in Romania:
* Delivering Groceries to families in need
* Sports Camp for the children
* Host an evangelistic "Texas" party at two locations
* Mentoring and encouraging the local church leadership
* Hosting sessions for both men and women and teaching on relevant topics to each group
Here are a few ways in which you can help and be a part of our trip:
* Pray for us throughout the next four months as we all three prepare mentally, physically,
emotionally and spiritually
* Pray for our team of 20...good health, good relationships, rest, and flight connections
* The total that we still owe for the three of us is $2,120 - pray for financial provision
* Donate towards the cost of our trip:
Checks can be made out to First Baptist Church and mailed to:
Joel and Ronnie Arrington
PO Box 1296
Levelland Tx 79336
They are tax deductible - just put Romania Missions in the memo.
* Host a Thirty One party or order from www.mythirtyone.com/arringtonmom - all profits
are going towards mission trips.
* Commit to praying specifically and intentionally for one of us each day while we are gone.
We are each looking for 5 individuals to commit to praying for us individually - this is a
spiritual warfare type prayer. If God lays on your heart to pray for either Joel, Hannah or
myself while we are in Romania please let us know so we can give you further information.
We are all anxiously awaiting to see what God is going to do during this trip...we know that the finances, the details, and plans for our other three kids are all going to come together in God's perfect time.
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