Thursday, April 9, 2009
YAHWEH Yireh
I know that many of us go through times in our lives where we need the Lord to provide for us. Whether we need for Him to provide for us physically, spiritually, mentally, or financially. Many of us have at one time or another come to Him asking for Him to provide.
We are told in Genesis that the Lord is the Lord who will provide. How great is that! I have been pretty sick this past week, and finally today was feeling up to spending some time really in the Word and studying. I have found myself in a place today where I am in need, of many things actually, and I was coming to the Lord asking Him to provide for me.
I came across some wonderful verses that remind us of how the Lord wants to take care of us, how He DOES take care of us, and how we need to trust Him. I'm sure you've read many of the verses below, but do you really believe them? When it comes down to that need that you are asking the Lord to provide for, do you have faith that He will provide?
My prayer for me today, is that I truly have faith in Him, that it is more than just words, but that my actions and heart will follow my words and that I will truly believe and trust in Him to be
YAHWEH Yireh in my life.
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"And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:19
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
-Matthew 6:25-34
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, gaccording to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all enerations, forever and ever. Amen."
-Ephesians 3:20-21
"Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed."
-Psalm 22:4-5
Friday, March 6, 2009
Rachel's Missionary Update - February 2009
-Philippians 4:6-7
Hello everyone! Well with the end of February comes the end of my first month back in Romania, and the end of my time in Oradea. I actually am leaving for Brasov this evening. This month has been a time of goodbyes and a time of fellowship with my dear friends here. I visited the hospital and say goodbye to my little ones and give some gifts for them I had bought when I was in the states. It has also been a time of watching the Lord work and prepare the way for me to move to Brasov.
I want to share a little story with you, to give God the glory for what He has done this past month. In Romania it can be difficult to find an apartment because of the way things are set up here. Basically, if you find a place that you like, you need to write up a contract right away or it will be snatched up by someone else. Landlords don’t wait until the 1st or the 15th of the month, they expect you to take it right then and there. This has proved a little difficult for me this past month, in that Oradea is 10 hours by train from Brasov. The other “difficult” part in this situation was that Brasov is so much more expensive than Oradea. My friend Sarah who I will be working with in Brasov, did not think that I would be able to find a place for under 300 euro even for a studio! (I was paying 140 euro here in Oradea for my studio.) The entire month we spent calling agencies and looking for a place, only to find the places either more than I could afford, they were already taken, or they were so far away I would have to travel by bus over 40 minutes to get to the hospital. I told Sarah that 300 euro was just too much and that the Lord would have to provide something for less than that.
Well this past Sunday came, and knowing that I would be moving today, I was starting to say to the Lord, “Ok Lord, I leave in a week and I don’t have anything yet!” He reminded me of the verse above and that He has taken care of me thus far. So I did my best to not be anxious and to trust in Him. On Monday afternoon Sarah calls me all excited that she has found the perfect place for me, that it is everything I wrote I wanted and that it is 280 euro. This seemed like a bit much for a studio, even though she said it was really large and only a 5 minute walk to the hospital and a 20 minute walk to the center of town (PERFECT LOCATION!), so she sent me some pictures and I realized that it wasn’t a studio apartment at all but a 1 bedroom! The Landlord was so nice and agreed to not show the place to anyone else until I saw it the next morning. So I took a night train out to Brasov that night to go see the apartment. The place is beautiful and big enough for me to have guests come over and even stay over (You’re all invited!). It is a great ministry apartment. I spoke with the Landlord to see if she would come down in price (knowing that 1 bedroom apartments like this, in this area can go for 400 euro!) and she said she would take it down to 270 euro, and I wouldn’t have to pay for my gas until May! Which is perfect cause Brasov is in the mountains and by May it will be warmer and my heating will be significantly less! The apartment is also fully furnished!
The next testament to the fact that this apartment was a gift from the Lord came when the Landlord asked me if I was ok with her writing a different amount on the lease for rent than what I was actually paying. You see in Romania, pretty much everyone who rents writes a different amount on their lease because taxes for the landlords are 60% of the rent. So they will for instance write 100 euro rent when you are really paying 300 euro. Well I believe that we are supposed to be above reproach and to obey the laws of the land, and so I told her that I was not comfortable doing this, knowing very well that she may decide to not give me the place, she made a couple of comments and huffed and puffed and then said OK! This was truly a miracle and another confirmation that the Lord was in control.
Even though my rent is now almost double what I was paying Oradea, I know that the Lord will provide. He already provided the ‘impossible’ by giving me such a great apartment in the perfect location at an unbelievable price in that city! It has been great to see Him work. I know that sometimes we don’t really ‘feel’ God in our lives or we wonder if He cares about the little things in life, but I want to assure all of you that He does! That He loves us, and even cares about where we will live!
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
-Matthew 6:25-33
So I leave tonight for Brasov. I’m so excited and blessed. The Lord’s hand has been on this move every step of the way. I was able to visit the hospital I will be working at when I took my trip out to get the apartment, and I met a lot of wonderful missionaries and volunteers I will be working with. Sarah also let me know about other organizations in town I can volunteer with if I wanted to. It is so great to know that Sarah was encouraging me to work with other organizations and that she just wanted me to do the Lord’s will. What a blessing!
I know this update has been a bit longer than I usually write, but I was so excited to share with you all how the Lord has provided for me.
Prayer Requests:
1. That the Lord will go before me in the work He has for me to be a part of in Brasov
2. That the Lord will continue to provide for all my needs
3. That I will be a light and an example to everyone I come in contact with
4. For the work in the hospital and the dear little ones I will be working with
I will send pics of my apartment next month! May the Lord bless you all!
Grace and Peace,
Rachel
Mia, Maria and Marinela. The girls I used to work with at the hospital. I will miss them!
Kevin and I
Levi and I
Ioana and I
Kevin and I
The “Missionettes” Sue, Kelly and I in Budapest, Hungary. We had to make a trip there to get pages in our passports at the US Embassy for our Romanian Visas. It’s only 4 hours away! We also were able to go to Calvary Chapel Budapest while we were there, it was amazing!
Kelly and I. I was so blessed to be able to stay with Kelly this month while I was in Oradea. She was a great hostess, and is a good friend here. I’ll miss her a lot!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Great Bible Study
I hope you will take the hour to listen to it.
Be blessed my sweet friends.
love always
rachel
Monday, January 26, 2009
Rachel's Missionary Update - January 2009
Psalm 119:105
Hello everyone!
I am so sorry it has taken me so long to write you all. I have had a wonderful time here in California. I was able to see so many people, and spent a good deal of time with my family. It was nice to have the holidays at home and to see my nieces and nephews as they have all grown so much in the past year.
I leave tomorrow to begin my journey back to Romania. I will be flying through Germany again. I am very excited for my week in Germany. I will be able to spend time with my friend Jennifer, I will be attending a Calvary Chapel while I am there, and Jennifer is helping me sign up to volunteer a couple of days with the wounded US soldiers stationed at the military base where Jennifer works. Please keep this in prayer, as I am really looking forward to seeing the soldiers and I want to be a witness and a blessing to them.
When I return to Romania there will be some exciting things happening. I will be moving to a new city. During my time home, some circumstances occurred that have contributed to my decision to move. I am very excited to be moving to a city called Brasov. For those of you who have supported me through the years, you may remember me mentioning this city. It is one of my favorite places in Romania. Brasov was one of the first cities I visited in Romania in 1997 on my first trip to Romania. Since then I have visited Brasov several times. I will be working in a hospital setting again, with a ministry called Hope for the Nations. I am really excited about this, as there are many children in need in the hospital in Brasov. I have spent some time in Brasov working in the hospital with Hope for the Nations before, and really enjoyed their program and how it was set up. I also have some missionary friends who live in Brasov and a Calvary Chapel church there.
Please keep all the details of my move in your prayers. Brasov is in the middle of the country in the mountains and it is over 5 hours away from Oradea. I will need to move my belongings. Please pray that this will go smoothly. Also please pray that the Lord will provide an apartment for me at a good price. From what I understand and have heard from my friends in Brasov, it is much more expensive to live in Brasov then it is to live in Oradea. But I know that the Lord has always provided me with the money I need to live and that He can even provide a good deal on an apartment. Transitions can always be a little stressful so please just pray that the Lord will guide me and be with me through every step of the move and beginning of the new ministry.
I hope you are all doing great. I will miss you my friends and family. I enjoy receiving your emails so please feel free to write anytime they are always a blessing to me.
Grace and Peace,
Rachel
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Rachel's Missionary Update - November 2008
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Psalm 100:4-5
Dear family and friends
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for. It was really wonderful to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year, as I was in
My last few weeks in
I was even able to visit my “other family” in
And I spent my last 2 nights with my good friend Kelly, who is also a missionary in
My time in
I ask that you all will continue to pray for me, as I am seeking the Him during this furlough. Please also keep my back in your prayers, it has been hurting so much since I have been home. I guess lugging around my suitcases aggravated it again.
I pray you will all be blessed over this holiday season.
Grace and Peace
Rachel