Dearest Friends,
Land of Dracula
We are in Romania, the land best known to many as the home of Count Dracula. In reality, Dracula was a King and his real name was Vlad Tepes. His last name actually means "to put you on a stick." The real King often impaled people who committed crimes. The King told people that he loved justice, but his punishments were quite brutal. In Romanian, "drac" means demon and perhaps this is how his make believe name was created.
Please know that there is so much more to Romania that this legend. It is an amazing country with high mountains and large forests. The beautyof God’s creation proclains His existence. Still, for 50 years the communists denied God’s reality to these people. Many of your brtohers and sisters suffered terribly for their faith during the years of communism because they would not believe the lie. Please read "Tortured for Christ" by Richard Wurmbrand if you want to know more about these times.
Please pray for us as we seek to share Jesus with children who are much changed by 20 years of exposure to the west. Now, the young people want the materialism that they see displayed on the internet. Beg God to give them a hunger for Himself.
Our First Show
Today, Saturday, was our first show. A public school brought chidren to an afternoon children’s Bible Club. It was the first time that this group of children had ever attended a club. Their teacher brought them, but he was not a believer. Still, he listened as well as the children. All of them were so thrilled to receive Christmas boxes supplied by Samaitan’s Purse. One little girl was wearing a pink coat and a pink hat. She opened her box and squealed with delight. The first thing she saw was a pair of bright pink gloves. God is so good! Best of all, each child received a brochure in their own lanuage that told them about Jesus.
Most of the children prayed out loud with us, calling on Jesus to save them. This was a wonderful beginning to our time in Romania. We are so excited to be here working with our friend Juan Siles and Alin Muntean. Tomorrow, we will tell you about where we are working. Tonight our need to sleep is great!
Hold us in your prayers!
In Jesus,
Linda for
Sam Shaw – Assistant Director
Silvana Shaw
Toby Simmons
Calah Sager
Naomi Armstrong