A newsletter from CBF field personnel Keith Holmes and Mary van Rheehen:
Dear friends,
When we were kids, we had a pony named Willie. My dad, being the helpful parent that he was, always saddled and bridled Willie for us. As a parent myself, I understand. If a saddle is not put on correctly, it–and the rider–can fall off. But I also see that in the long run, it would have been more helpful (though more painful for all concerned) to teach us to saddle and bridle the pony ourselves. As it was, Willie did not get ridden very much.
The Willie-lesson is one we continue to learn as a parents and also as a resource coordinators. One of the resources we coordinate with the Moldovan Baptist Union is a home missionary to the Romany in that country. Petru Ciochina works at this with all his heart and soul. We have been raising the funds for his $500/month salary (+ benefits, bank fees, etc.). Helping the Moldovans saddle this horse themselves will be infinitely more helpful in the long run. The Union is entirely in agreement. Our mutual vision is setting up successful businesses which will give 10% of their profits to missions. This sort of help costs a lot more in time, effort, and errors. Someone with business and development savvy needs to be in Moldova, scouting out and encouraging such businesses. That someone is not me. Is it you?
The Nisporeni Baptist Church in Moldova is eager to start saddling their own horse, so to speak. They have a strategically located piece of ground where they hope to build a community center. Rent from businesses on the ground floor (pizza parlor, fitness center, shoe repair shop, hair salon, etc.) would help pay the ministry expenses of the church which would move to the second floor. The current church building, in an industrial area, would be converted back to industrial use. They are asking for people to pray with them, from now until Christmas, to see what God will do. Will you join them in praying?
This past Friday we were hosted by someone who has already started saddling and bridling. Matt is a Farsi-speaker here in the Netherlands involved in media production. He has made a number of things in Farsi for TV broadcast.
He was enthused to learn about the Testament series which Keith has dubbed in several different languages. He can do the dubbing into Farsi himself, but asked Keith to help with the copyright negotiations.
The current Sinti Romani media project is a different situation all together. Wycliffe Bible translators have finished the New Testament in the Sinti Romani language. Faith Comes by Hearing is willing to record it. They would both like Keith to do the recording. Keith would like to hand off a bit of the saddling and have someone else take responsibility for finding and scheduling speakers as well as suitable places to record. This is a matter of prayer and perseverance.
Helping people help themselves generally turns out to require generous quantities of both prayer and perseverance. School just started again for Ellen (last year) and Rebecca (second-to-last year). There’s a lot they still need to learn before they ride off on their own ponies. Do I really want them to be able to saddle up by themselves? How much am I willing to let them fall off in the process? These are questions that, as parents and as resource coordinators, we continue to ask.
Praying for wisdom,
Mary van Rheenen, Keith, Ellen, & Rebecca Holmes