Fervent and passionate prayers NEEDED!!!!

July 10^th, 2010

Dear Prayer Partners and Supporters,

We are writing to you on behalf of the River of Life Care Home ministry, in Cornesti, Romania, the mothers and children who live at the home, and also for the staff that work here.

Doug and I have been in some serious prayer for direction from the Lord, in regards to the needs of this ministry. Before we started our staff Bible study and prayer time yesterday morning, I prayed that the Lord would open our eyes and show us how to direct our approach and the steps we need to take.

Cristi spoke on Daniel, chapter 2, and through that study and our discussion after words; we felt the Lord had given us some steps in which to take and the overall attitude in which to proceed.

In Chapter two of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and set before the people an impossible request. He wanted someone to be able to tell him the dream he had and to interpret it for him. If the wise ones of his kingdom didn’t do it, he was going to have them all torn limb from limb and make their houses a heap of rubbish. The captain of the kings’ body guard was quick to go after Daniel and his friends to kill them first. When Daniel asked him what the urgency was all about, he informed him of the situation with the king. Daniel went to the King and asked for some time. Then he went to his house and asked his friends to pray “so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” (verse 18)

Then Daniel went to prayer and saw the vision that revealed the mystery of the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. As Cristi said, this vision is what scholars, studying Bible prophesy study first. This is what then and now is seen clearly as something that is not from men but from God. It is God showing us what will take place in the last days. (Actually it seems to us that it is something we have seen start to take place as we here in Europe have watched the formation over the last few years of the European Union. But that isn’t the main point I’m trying to make here. )

The main point I am trying to make here is that we feel that we are to ask you to be for the River of Life Care Home Ministry, the prayer undergirding that Daniels’ friends were for him, when God revealed His vision to him. No, we’re not expecting to be recipients of major prophesy, but we are serving the Lord in His ministry, and we feel that God is going to move in such a way that He will be revealed as the One who has accomplished it- not anyone else but Him. This is His work, and when everyone sees that it is an impossible situation by human means, God is glorified when He moves in and acts!

These people did not just pray a nice simple prayer; their very lives were at stake! The prayed fervent, passionate prayers!!!!

Now, our lives aren’t at stake here, but the future of this ministry may be. Since Romania has come into the European Union, prices here have skyrocketed as the whole economy of Romania has been overhauled. We’ve struggled with price increases here for many years now, and the fluctuating value of the US dollar.  And so far, we’ve been able to keep our heads above water, but, prices continue to rise. Our sales tax just increased to 24%. As an example, this has just increased our weekly food budget by $50, and in turn raises our monthly food expense by $200!!! Plus, we pay 95% in taxes on our workers wages. Medical fees are skyrocketing. There recently was a huge, government imposed, increase in fees for doctor visits and lab tests. When you have pregnant women, and moms and children like we have at the care home, we make a lot of medical tests and visits to specialists as we intervene to minister to them and to help correct their problems.

Our workers have not had wage increases for several years, even though all the costs have increased here in Romania. And they work very hard, and have loyal, faithful hearts for this work. We’ve needed to hire more staff for a long time, but have not been able to raise our workers wages to keep up, let alone be able to hire on more staff. We are and have been for some time now, operating on a very tight skeleton crew. This is the least amount of workers we can legally and physically operate with. And we are all stretched very tight.

Compounding the problem, 2 years ago, the economic situation in America worsened. And even though our monthly support has remained pretty stable, because of the faithful giving of our longtime supporters, and even though we have cut back as much as we are possibly able to, the River of Life Ministry account has a deficit that has doubled in the last two years, (which has now topped the $50,000 dollar mark) which International Messengers has graciously carried. That means that the costs of operating the River of Life Ministry are more than the amount that is coming through donations each month, and International Messengers has been carrying those cost overruns. But they cannot continue to operate that way anymore.

We have struggled with this over the past few years, and we have been able to manage. But something has to be done soon to stem the tide! We have to call on your fervent prayer undergirding!!!

The River of Life ministry has no mortgages or loans that we own money on, or make monthly payments on. All the property and buildings and even the ministry car, are all paid for free and clear. All that we owe is this deficit to International Messengers. We need to clear up that debt to them and have enough coming in each month so that we can keep going forward in the work God has given us to do, and also, so that we don’t fall back into a deficit again.

We never talk about finances unless someone comes up and openly asks us what our financial needs are. We love proclaiming what we see God doing in people’s lives and encouraging Christians in their faith. We never felt that we were to be those missionaries with their hands out begging for money. We always made our requests known to God and entrusted Him to do what He will do and kept doing what we knew He wanted us to do.

When Doug and I first felt God’s call into ministry, we both had our own businesses. And we had the idea that we could go off and do our ministry work and return to the states and work a few months and earn enough money to return to the mission field. We thought it was a great plan to finance our own way. It made great sense to us. But we realized through prayer that it was not the direction God wanted us to go. He wanted the glory in it- He wanted it to be clearly seen that this was His work- and not Doug and Roberta’s work.  We didn’t (and still don’t) belong to a big denominational church, but a little country community church, and we didn’t have a large support base for prayer or for finances, but God raised up churches and individuals all across America and across continents to be our support base!! Who could’ve done that but God!!! We learned that God’s work is never Lone Ranger work, but He raises people up to work together and support one another.

So, then you may ask, as we sometimes have wondered; why hasn’t God provided?  He is more than able to provide much more than we need for this ministry work. Why hasn’t He provided already? We have always waited in faith, knowing that He would act when He was ready to act. We believe He wants to be seen as He acts on our behalf. It is really His behalf- because this is His work.

Let me give you an example of a need we had and how God answered our prayers, even though it took a few years. I used to teach the Sunday school class here at our church. Sometimes I taught without translation, but I wanted the kids to really understand me, and for me to really understand them, but I had a terrible time trying to get translators willing to come and help. Antonio was a baby and needed a nap during the teaching time, and it became so frustrating, I ended up stopping the program. I just couldn’t do it on my own, even though I really wanted to do it.  Once Antonio stopped taking naps during church time, by then we had Denisa, who did the same thing. We prayed for several years for God to raise up someone to help teach the Sunday school. Ileana also prayed for God to raise up a man who would translate for Doug as he gave the sermons. Ileana like doing the translations, but in this culture, it really is better for a man to be doing it. Finally, a young Romanian couple called us and said they had been praying and seeking Gods will for a way they and their Bible study cell group could serve Him, and now they all come here to our little church in the village three Sunday’s a month, plus they put on special programs for all the village kids. The husband translates for Doug and the wife and her friends teach about 25 kids and teens in the Sunday school!

I  came across this verse in Ezekiel:36:37, where God is giving Ezekiel a prophecy of a restored Israel, and He says, “Thus says the Lord God, “ This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them; I will increase their men like a flock.” Isn’t that an interesting way to put it? This also I will let them ask me to do for them??? Isn’t that what God is allowing us to do here? He is allowing us to be in a position to see Him work, and to know for certain that He is the One who provides.

God wants us to have our hearts united to Him in prayer and also for us to be united with each other in prayer too. This is how He has us work together. And this is how together we will all see His glory and praise Him. And our faith will be strengthened in the process as we wait in hopeful expectation!! And together our praises are raised up before Him as we see Him act and fulfill His promises!

These are the verses that I have always felt depict the heart of the work of the River of Life Care Home Ministry:

“Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked to cover him; and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth; and your righteousness will go before you; the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call and the Lord will answer, you will cry, and He will say, “Here I am.”  If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then you will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday, and the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and a spring whose waters do not fail. Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.” –Isaiah 58:6-12

While we may have fixed and restored, some buildings over the years, the eternal restoration work that has been done through the work of this ministry, has been the restoration that has gone on in the lives and hearts of the many people the Lord has ministered to through this work. It is God who has breathed His life filled Spirit into the hearts and minds of people whom He has drawn here, out of abusive and destructive pasts. God had a plan, and he drew each of us into His plan to be a part of it. He does what only He can do, and He has given all of us the privilege of sharing in His work, in ways that we can.

The prayer and financial supporters who have invested themselves and their resources into this work have been so faithful through the years. We are so appreciative and so amazed that so many people have come alongside us in this work and have stood by us for the long haul! Please understand that we are not laying this financial burden on your shoulders; we appreciate very much all you have done  in support of this work over the years, and the personal sacrifices many of you have made!

We felt that it was time to share our burden with you and to share the steps we need to take:

1.       We felt that we needed to clearly explain the financial situation of the River of Life ministry to our prayer partners and our financial supporters for a passionate undergirding of prayer, as we are doing in this letter to you.

2.       We ask each of you to invite someone who doesn’t yet know about this ministry; a Bible study group, or church group to become involved in this work. Please send copies of this letter to your praying friends.

3.       Pray about creative and fun ways that you, you’re church, Bible study group, or prayer group can raise funds to erase the deficit that River of Life currently has with International Messengers.  A group garage sale, or offering items for sale on the internet and donating the proceeds? Please e-mail us with innovative ideas that we can share with others.

4.       Doug and I are now in the process of planning a trip to the States this fall to speak at supporting churches and Bible study groups around the country. Please let us know as soon as possible if you would like us to speak at your Church or Bible study group, so that we can include you into our schedule.

5.       Please pray about steps that you can take to partner with us and clear up this deficit and to raise the monthly support level for the River of Life Care Home Ministry so that it doesn’t fall into a deficit again.

All of us here at the River of Life Care Home, thank you very much for partnering with us over the years and for your love, friendship, encouragement and support!!!

In His Loving service,

Doug and Roberta Moore,

River of Life Care Home

Nr. 260-261

Sat. Cornesti

Jud. Timis

Cod 307,307

Romania, Eastern Europe

If you received this letter my regular mail, but would also like to be on our e-mail prayer partner list, please e-mail us and let us know at:  dougandroberta@gmail.com

If you would like to donate (tax deductable) funds to this ministry, please send a check made out to International Messengers, but on a separate piece of paper note that you would like your donation to go to the River of Life Care Home's ministry account