Merry Christmas

Kindergarten class with their parents

What a wonderful time of year. This is by far my favorite time of year. This past month was full of really nice activities with children, youth, and adults. We had our first Christmas program with our kindergarten students this week. It was so nice to see and hear the excitement in the kids faces as we prepared to share our program with friends and family. The parents of our kids we so impressed and really loved to see their kids performing what they had learned. They really did an amazing job. It was so great!

Elvis sharing his poem..He was so nervous and so cute!

Larisa sharing her song

Friday night, we had a very special dinner with youth. It is always nice to hang out with the youth and share what God is doing in our lives and the people He brings he has placed around us. After we ate together we had a Mega Star/American Idol contest. For the most part our singing should only be in the safety of our room. We are not Mega singers, at least not the ones that were singing. lol. Sunday morning we all came together to prepare snacks for the church members. That is always fun!

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Packing snacks for the church members.

Sunday Service

Shepherd boys

Kids song and drama

From all of us to all of you...Merry Christmas!!

Very Thankful

November, a month full of Thanksgiving. First of all, I am very thankful to God for blessing me with His amazing love and for changing my life. Second, I am very thankful for my family and friends and their prayers and support. Third, I am thankful for the work and calling God has placed in my life and the privilege to follow out this calling.

Thanksgiving has always been a special time of year for me. Growing up, I remember going to my grandparents' home and spending the day with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins I had not seen during the year. It was a time of sharing all that had happened that year and the blessings of having family and friends around. Sharing stories from the past year brought us closer and I remember thinking it was the best way to know each other better.

I am so thankful for the ministry in Romania. I want to thank each one of you for your prayers and support for all these areas of ministry. 

Petelea Home Group

Selah Elite Junior

Phoneo Team - the girls

Youth Group-

October in a glance

The month of October has gone by so fast and has been full of great things.

I have the privilege of working with the most amazing kids in kindergarten. They are eager to learn, ready to help, and fun to watch. This past month was our first month doing kindergarten. I am enjoying it so much! I have always loved seeing kids learn and realize that they are smart and that they also know. I love these kids very much and I can imagine just how much more God loves them.

This is Claudiu. He is 6 years old. He is so full of life. He loves cars, horses, and talking. He really likes to talk. So, we are teaching him poetry. At first he said,"I can not learn", but now he says, "Ï know". When he shares his poetry he does it with so much expression. His eyes and smile light up. We are preparing him for our Christmas program to share some special poems. I will make sure and record it so that you can see and hear him also.



I am also very blessed to be working in Petelea. My home group is a nice group of about 40 people. This past Wednesday night I looked into the eyes of faces that are truly searching for more of God and it made me stop and think what God was doing in that place. Here I am teaching them from God's Word. It is an honor.

We have been talking a lot about who God is and who He wants to become in our lives. When I first asked them this they all said, "He is our Father". And what an awesome Father he is for us all. We looked at the many ways God the Father provides for us, loves us, and how he is always with us. We talked about God the son and his sacrifice and  friendship he offers. We talked about God the Spirit that teaches us the understanding of the Word and brings it to remembrance in times of need. We also talked about the seed of His Word that brings life and transformation. God is so good.

This Saturday we will have a special outreach for this village with my youth group. We are very excited for what God will do there Saturday. Please, pray for us.

This past month I learned to trust in God more. Starting a new project with no funding is a step of faith and trust. I am not surprised that He has provided this month the things we needed to get started. I was blessed with money to buy the kids food and some school supplies to start. I also know that God will provide all that I need to make this Kindergarten successful and plentiful. This is where you can be a blessing and be blessed by planting a seed into this project. I believe in sowing and reaping. What seed you sow will be multiplied in time of harvest. I want you to consider the harvest you want to receive and plant a seed accordingly. I am positive that you will reap what you sow! My monthly need is $1,250 for this project. I also need transportation for this project. Just as I am asking you to sow a seed into this project God has asked me to sow a seed for the harvest I need. So, together we can believe for our harvest of plenty! Join me and lets see together the harvest come in.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. God bless you and keep you.

In Christ,
Sandy

Greetings from Romania

Hi! My name is Sandra Garcia, but everyone calls me Sandy. I am the second of six children. I am Mexican-American. I grew up in the Miami, Florida area until I was about 15 and then moved to the Valley of Texas. I lived there for four years. I attended Texas Pan-American for two semesters. My first semester was the season that impacted my life tremendously. During this time I met several young ladies in my dorm that loved God and taught me what they knew. They taught me by example, love, and the Word.

My family were migrant farm workers and traveled to several states to work the fields. During the summer after I received Christ we came to Indiana to work. That is how I met Linda Buckley. She helped me find a two year scholarship and she and her family allowed me to live in their home. So I stayed in Indiana and continued my education. When I finished college, I took my teaching degree to Mexico as a missionary teacher for six months. I then returned to Indiana and took a fourth  grade teaching job in the town of Frankfort. I taught there four years.

But then... God led me to this new phase in my life, Romania! I had made short  missions trips during my vacations as a teacher, and eventually began to sense God would soon send  me out. When I went on my first trip to Romania, I knew this was where God was calling me. I've been here for 5 years this October! The time has flown by so fast. I now understand and speak the Romania language which helps so much! To anyone reading this who feels a serious call to missions, let me tell you, God's plans are so much better than what we leave behind to pursue them!

I cannot imagine life without this place, these people. Walking out my life in obedience to God is the greatest honor.  As far as the future goes, I see myself living here until God calls me elsewhere. In the meantime, my goal is to train and equip the children, youth, and adults that I work with in the Word, in love, and by example.  My vision is to see this people group grow into strong men and woman of God, full of the Holy Spirit and led by  His voice in every area of their lives.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you return again. Please, forward any questions or comments  my way and I will be more than happy to reply.

In Christ,

Sandy Garcia