New Beginnings

We will start by apologizing that it has been so long since our last post. We have had our hands full with our new little blessing from God.  On May 6, 2014 God added to the Lorona family a healthy 8lb 4oz baby boy Benaiah Aurel Lorona (who happened to come 3 weeks early like his sister who came 2 weeks early.) His first name means Yahweh has built and comes from the Old Testament.  Benaiah was one of King David’s mighty men of valour. He is known for many things such as killing a lion in a snowy pit and being a great warrior but also for being a faithful, loyal and reliable man of God.  These are some attributes we hope to instill in our son as he grows up. That he would be a great warrior for Christ in the spiritual realm and that he would be a faithful, loyal and reliable man of God. We decided to give him a Romanian middle name since he was born here.  Aurel means gold and it is a name that comes from this region of Romania because in the past there was a lot of gold mined here.  We also wanted to give him something that would always remind him of where he comes from no matter where he goes in life.

We have had a lot of changes in the last three months.  It has not all been easy but God has been giving us the strength to press through it. Two of our team members have moved back to the states.  Matt had been here one year and Amy had been here from the beginning (almost two and half years). It was very bitter sweet for us to see them go.  We could clearly see that God was moving them on to different works and was closing the doors for them here.  It was amazing to see what God did in and through them in their time here.  Both of them drastically changed and we can confidently say that the light of Christ shines more brightly through both of them.  It was also heart breaking to see them leave because they had become a part of our family and we will greatly miss them.   Although Amy is the same age as us she was like a daughter to us and like a sister to Kylie.  We all love her in that way and we will always be eternally grateful for the time we got to spend with her. Even though our family grew to four, with Amy gone, it feels like we are missing one.

As people move on God has opened new doors for us as He frees up time that we were spending investing and discipling our team. First obviously being our new boy who consumes a lot of time and energy and has a knack for keeping his mom and dad up during the night (but he is worth it, he is pretty cute).

Matt has continued to invest in the community at our church.  He is one of the teaching leaders who preaches every month and leads a men’s bible study once a week. He has also been blessed with a position of influence at the church as one of the leaders helping to stir the church to be more active in their faith and to begin discipling the people in their lives. 

We also put on a Soccer camp in the gypsie village our church serves in called Lazeren.  We tried to focus on a teenage group of boys that we have not been able to reach in the past.  None of them go to school, church or any other event that we put on in the village. Many of them have never been to school and have no education or ability to read, write etc.  So their opportunities in life are very few and far between. They are heavily influenced by the older generation who are not doing much. We were not sure how many would show up because they can be very unpredictable but we were happily surprised to see 20-25 of them show up. We made a field to play on in a pasture where livestock graze with some wood poles and some spray paint. We would play for a few hours and when they were all worn out we would share some lunch with them along with some inspiring Bible stories and they ate both right up. By then end of the week we could see a change happening in some of the hearts of the boys and when we asked if they were interested in growing closer to God almost all them raised their hands.  When we asked if they wanted us to come on a weekly basis to teach them about God and how to live according to His commands they were all extremely excited.  So from now on we will be meeting with them every Friday night. We are expecting to see God do something glorious and draw out a Joshua generation to lead their people to God’s will.

Just so you all know God has used each of you to do an amazing work in our lives out here to provide the means to press forward. So as we move on we do it with you into the great works that He has prepared for us. So as one season ends and a new one begins we hope to continue on with your loving financial and spiritual support.