Monday, April 25, 2011

New blog posts for April, 2011

Just a note regarding the post on our blog for this month. I have made several entries. I know you realize the last entry is on the top, so please go down to the post titled "April 2011 Updates" for the beginning of these new posts. You can also click 'April' under the Blog Archive on the right side of the screen to see all the April post.

We hope you enjoy seeing a little glimpse of our work and ministry here in Romania. May God bless each of your for your part in it through your prayers and financial support.

In His Love and Service,
Buddy & Barbara Braswell

Easter Blessings, April 24, 2011

Normally Easter is not celebrated in Romania the same time as it is in the U.S. It is usually at least one week or more later. But this year it was celebrated the same week.
We had a wonderful Easter Sunday. We visited the church we attended when we first came to Romania. It was good to visit with them and celebrate the Resurrection Sunday. We also enjoyed a delicious meal with them afterwards.

In the afternoon, we attended our church in Vinga. The children did a skit and it was really good. Many people in the church recited poems or sung songs or quoted scripture. It was a good service.

They asked if Buddy or I wanted to share something. We were not prepared because we didn't know they were going to ask us to share, but I shared briefly about 3 important celebrations in the life of a Christian. First we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, second we celebrate the death and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior and third we celebrate the acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our salvation experience.
This is our purpose as missionaries to share with others how they too can personally celebrate the acceptance of Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

April 22, 2011 - Bible Club - Ministry of Osana Church

The older youth of Osana Church in Arad held a week long Bible club for the children in that area. The children were out of school for Easter break. We joined them on the last day, Friday evening, for a special time of fun for the children and took the space walk.
Pictured here is Anna, going over the Bible verse with the children. She did a wonderful job teaching the children.

Now for the FUN TIME! We lined the children up by ages with the youngest first. We allowed each group to jump for five minutes at the time, with each group having two opportunities to jump. They had a ball. The little children, ages 2-4, enjoyed it as much and the older children. See the pictures below and look at the smiles on the faces of the children. I think we had as much fun watching as they did jumping.




























Helping a family in Vinga

We were told by the deacon in our church of a family in Vinga who needed some assistance. The lady needed a wheelchair and we gave them 7 boxes of clothes. Pictured here are 2 men in our church who went with Buddy to deliver the items. The lady in the red shirt is the sister of the woman who needs the wheelchair. We were grateful for the wheelchairs that were sent in this container. Most all of them have been distributed. In this picture is the lady's daughter and sister. We were glad to be able to help this family with the help of the generosity of others from the U.S.





April 20 - Container Distributions

On Tuesday, April 20, we made a trip to Bozovici to deliver 45 boxes from the container for the people in this area. Bozovici is a three and one-half to four hour drive south of here. This town is at the base of the mountains. We work with a pastor there and his family. He pastors 2 churches in the area. They are pictured here with the boxes. Daniel, Raluca and Andrei.

Bible Club, April 18, 2011

April 18, we went to help Emma with the Bible Club in Arad. This week our story was on the crucifixion of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. We shared with the children how Jesus willingly died to pay the penalty for our sins, even though He was sinless. He died for us, because He loves us so very much, that he bore the pain and suffering instead us making us do it even though we are the guilty ones, not Him.




After the Bible story we went outside and colored Easter eggs and also had a craft activity.


As you can see above and below, the activity was sand art on a cross. You peeled off the paper and it left a sticky surface and the children put colored sand on it and decorated them. They did a very good job.

Afterwards we gave them a small gift bag and refreshments. They loved the sugar cookies.









Space Walks

We are grateful for the donations in this container of the spacewalks. There were 5 sent to Romania. Many children will be blessed with hours of fun jumping in these. The other 4 will go to other missionaries to use in their ministries in different areas of Romania. I know some of these missionaries will use them for the children in summer camps and other activities.

Buddy blew each of them up to make sure they would hold the air. Our neighborhood kids came to try them out. They loved it.





April 8, 2011 - Unloading Container

Romania is blessed to have a group of people in Louisiana who want to bless them with their love and efforts of donated goods. We work with Johnny Huffman who is responsible, along with the help of many volunteers, for collecting, sorting and shipping the goods to Romania. We work on this end to receive and distribute the goods to missionaries, churches and individuals to help the less fortunate in this area.
Below are pictures of the unloading of the container on April 8, at our facility in Vinga. We had helpers of all ages to help with the unloading.















We praise God for all who were involved in this endeavor. Thank you very much. You are a blessing!


A funny story to go along with this container. The Hungarian truck driver brought the container and was preparing to back it into our property. He said "I have only been driving a truck for a few months. I am not able to back it inside the gate, you will have to unload it out here on the street." Buddy said "No, No, if you will allow me to, I can back it in through the gates." So he hopped into the truck and backed it inside. The trucker driver said "Thank you". Buddy was right at home since his previous job before coming on the mission field was truck driving. Then the unloading began as you see above!







Our New Grandaughter - Claudia Diane Braswell

On April 17, 2011 our son Lee, and his wife Robin, gave us our 6th granddaughter, Claudia Diane. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long. She is healthy and dearly loved by her 2 sisters who are in the picture down below Claudia's. They want to hug and kiss her all the time. We enjoy seeing them on Skype with her.



This is Clara and Chloe. This picture was made on April 23, 2011 at an Easter Egg Hunt.


We have 3 other granddaughters, Kaylee, 16 yrs and Kellee 12 years. They are older siblings to Clara, Chloe and Claudia who all belong to our youngest son, Lee. Ashleigh who is also 12 yrs. is the daughter of our oldest son, Mike and his wife Amy.


We thank God for these many blessings of grandchildren. Buddy always wanted a girl, now he has six of them who call him Paw Paw!















Ladies Bible Study

A few years ago, I began a monthly Bible Study group with the ladies at the church here in Vinga. This group has grown and continued to meet each month. They are in the middle of their third book to study. The book they are presently reading and studying is by Joanna Weaver, titled "Having a Mary Spirit". This book is about allowing God to change us from the inside out.. It is a sequel to "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World". I highly recommend both of these books. They have been a blessing to me and the other ladies. They are English written Bible Study books which have been translated into Romanian and I'm sure other languages as well.

On April 9, we met here in our home for the Bible Study. They normally meet at the church, but sometimes its good to have a change. We had 16 ladies in attendance. We had a wonderful time together studying the word, a time of prayer and food and fellowship.

April 4, 2011 Bible Club in Arad

We have started working with a new Bible Club in Arad. Emma, the daughter of one of the pastors we work with, started a Bible Club in their home. She asked us to help her with it. We go 2 times each month and tell the story and do activities with the children. They are a sweet group. The group averages around 15-18 each week.

Below are a few pictures of the children. Here they are inside as we are sharing the Bible Story on April 4, of the Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. They were very attentive but also wanted to ask questions, which is good.
Of course Buddy loves to play with the little ones.



After the Bible story we went outside to play games and sing songs.










After the games and songs were finished, we gave them chocolate cupcakes and Kool-aid. They loved them.










April 2011 Updates

Hello, Since our return to Romania on March 2, we have been quite busy. It is hard to believe almost 2 months have passed since our return. March was very busy with getting settled back in and cleaning up after the winter. As you saw the pictures on the previous entry we returned to beautiful snow. It did not last but a few days and then it was gone. March was still a very chilly month. The rest of March was busy getting utility bills , taxes and insurance paid.

In the next few entries I will be posting pictures of our activities for the month of April. April has also been very busy. I'm not sure where the time has gone, but God has blessed our time.

God bless,
Buddy & Barbara