Mid-December Update

I'm back in the saddle again! I had a compulsory week off of any fundraising efforts because I mislaid some materials I am particularly dependent on and then I got sick for a day. So today I am back to work contacting people and writing updates.

I have a month in which to raise about $900 in monthly support. This will take an act of God, because in my two months of fundraising $300 in monthly pledges have come in. But to be commissioned by God means to be dependent on acts of God, so I'm expecting him to act while also realizing the part that I have to act in all of this.

I'm asking for prayer today for

• God's provision as I prepare to move to Romania
• Courage and perseverance on my part
• That potential supporters would catch the vision of what I'm a part of in Romania
• For the team I will be rejoining, unity and effectiveness in bringing the Word of God and the Love of Christ to the people
• For the people of Calarasi that they will respond to the call of Christ to follow Him

If you are interested in giving financially, all the necessary information can be found towards the end of my "October Update" post which is featured above.

Vision Night Q&A Time

I've finished the Fall semester at Moody Bible Institute Distance Learning! I've been pretty busy with babysitting, meeting with people and fundraising, attending Bible studies, visiting churches in the area, and drawing for people who have commissioned my work. I was privileged to attend Outstretched Hands' annual Vision Night and see a lot of my friends and other familiar faces that I know from years of OH events

At the end of November I had an art sale to raise funds for Romania. It went well, I was able to raise approximately $1,000 through the sale and through purchases that took place after the sale. Below you can see one shot from the art sale and a photo of my handmade business cards.

Artist Trading Cards used as Business Cards

Art Sale

With Christmas coming we all have much to anticipate and extra things in our calendars, but I'm enjoying this season and I hope you will too! Merry Christmas, and God bless!

--Rachel Richardson

Update on this Last Day of November

I was just noticing today that it is already the very end of November and as I write this December begins in only an hour and a half. Time flies!

As some of you may know already, I am planning to leave for Romania in February in order to work with Outstretched Hands of Romania for a year, but I hope and fully expect to stay as a long term missionary.

As I'm writing this, I have raised most of my needed one-time expenses like the cost of a plane ticket to Romania, a Romanian Visa, and enough to buy a plane ticket in the case of an emergency. For this I am very thankful, but I still need to raise $920 of monthly support. This covers living expenses as well as school tuition as I am working towards my Associates Degree in Biblical Studies through Moody Bible Institute -Distance Learning.

If you are interested in knowing how you can be a part of this mission in Romania, please leave a comment so I can conact you!

I have been asked often what I will be doing in Romania, and I want to make sure to answer all your questions here.

My main focus will be Children's ministry.  This includes teaching kids from the Bible, helping them with their homework, and playing games and other activities with them.  I look forward to this since I really enjoy being with kids and investing in them, helping them to become the people that God has created them to be.  Children's minsitry ties directly into the work that Outstretched Hands, or OH, does with planting churches in this largely un-reached part of Romania.  The vision of OH is to raise a generation of people for Christ who will take the gospel to yet others, and that begins with the children. Here is a picture of kids from the village of Caramidari graduating from kindergarten at the Hope Centre in June of 2014.

I also want to be involved in Pro-Life ministry through OH.  They are in the process of beginning a mobile pregnancy center in a van with an ultrasound machine and a nurse who is certified in ultrasounds, etc. This way we can go to villages and counsil people, help them understand that abortion is the destruction of a human life, and stand alongside them in keeping their babies and raising them to adult-hood.  This is a very important issue because 3 out of 4 pregnancies in Romania end in abortion.  People don't talk about abortion much in Romania, and that needs to change.  This link will show you a video about a woman who had an abortion and her story:
Pro-Life Video, Adriana's Story

I look forward to being in Romania again. I was just reminded this weekend of how many close friendships I have with the OH team and how much I love being there and using the Romanian language to communicate and interact with people. I still have much Romanian to learn, but Lord willing I will get there soon!

Lastly, I want to say that I know it is God who has put this wonderful and unique country on my heart.  In March of 2012 the Lord began to stir my heart for this place, he has given me a love for the people and the culture, and he continues to put it on my heart.  Not all of my experiences in Romania have been good or easy. The last trip I took in 2014 was especially hard for me because of some discouragement I experienced and some of the hard situations that friends of mine found themselves in.  But I know that this is what God has placed before me, and I want to follow him in this.

October 19th, 2015

God works in mysterious ways.

It's really awesome to see how God can use one thing to lead to another and how the family and community of Christians locally and globally can be used to bring the body of Christ into closer unity.

For many years my mom has received missions updates from the church where she used to attend, a Lutheran Brethren church, in Montana. For many years she prayed for the people who work in other parts of the world to bring the good news of Christ. One family in particular lived among and reached out to people in China and has long since retired, but their daughter almost 20 years ago went to do the same. My mom found out that this lady and her husband were going to be at a Chinese church in Milwaukee this past weekend and so she, my sister and I went to this event. We knew very little about what was going on, we knew nobody there at all, and yet everyone welcomed us in and made sure we weren't wondering where to go or what to do. They had a meal before the service and they directed us right away to the food and seats around the tables. Several came and introduced themselves asking how we found out about the church and why we had come. When they found out my mom "knew" the missionary lady, they told her right away and she came and sat with us at our table.

My mom had brought a photo album of pictures my great grandfather took in China and Taiwan probably back in the 50's or 60's all in black and white and meticulously labeled, which she showed the missionary lady. It was awesome to see her reaction to this little artifact. It was also awesome to hear about her and my mom's common connection with the Lutheran Bretheren church and to see how they've never met, but that there has been a type of connection that existed between them for many years.

Now maybe I'm just obsessed with all things foreign, but I loved sitting through a service where they translated into Chinese (whether Mandarin or Cantonese, I know not), singing the songs together in two or three languages at once, and to see the Chinese characters all over everything. Of course most of us have been exposed to Chinese culture even it the full extent of that is having a meal at a Chinese restaurant.

As it turns out, we were visiting this church during their missions festival and the missionaries that we were there to see were only a few of the several that were visiting this weekend. I was looking through the bulletin and found out that there were also missionaries to Nothern Africa, Japan and Thailand visiting. The missionaries to Northern Africa I know already, and the missionaries to Japan were the same couple my friend stayed with when she went to Japan for three months about two years ago and they also know some friends of ours who have been in Japan over the years. So I was priveleged to meet the people my friend had talked so much about, and made it a point to see the lady who I know since she was coming on Sunday morning.

As I have said, I was so welcomed there, it was amazing! When the people heard I have known this woman, they made sure I got to eat lunch with her. (They have a meal after every service at this church) This lady I got to see again (I hadn't seen her in almost two years) has been through a lot of hardships, losing her husband to cancer was one of them, and now she and her three teen-aged children have to cope without him. They have been very busy, but they are back in the States now to get some rest, to take the time to grieve, and to find ministries and outreaches to be a part of locally.

Another lady came and invited me to their young adults Bible study on Friday evenings and even suggested that we could carpool together. She made sure to introduce me to a few other people and I began talking to them as well. The church service had ended at 11:30 and by the time I left it was already 2:00! I hardly knew what had happened to the time.

I love to see churches with this kind of a heart for missions and for being intentional about reaching people around them for Christ. I have a hope that somehow there will be some very good and worthwhile relationships formed with this body of believers and that these would be blessed and wonderful friendships.

October Update

I now find myself poised to return to Romania for the fourth time, this time for a long term duration rather than just a few weeks. Many have asked me when I'm heading back, and my aim is to return in February.  My ambition as The Lord has given it to me, is to be more invested in the ministries of Outstretched Hands, especially in children’s ministries, girl’s ministries, church plants, and pro-life ministry. I have three more online classes to complete my Associates degree in Biblical Studies, which I can complete while in Romania. I also hope to continue deepening the friendships and relationships I have already formed. Through your prayers, financial backing, and your encouragement you can also invest into this ministry!

My budget of $1,240 per month can be attained easily with as few as 24 generous individuals:

Number of People Monthly Commitment
2 People                 $100
3 People                 $80
7 People                 $60
7 People                 $40
5 People                 $20
24 Sponsors Total $1240 Total Donations

Your tax deductible support can be sent to me in care of Outstretched Hands in either of the following means:

• Checks made out to
Outstretched Hands of Romania
PO Box 510052
New Berlin, WI 53151
Please write on a separate piece of paper that your gift is for Rachel Richardson.

• PayPal at www.handsofromania.org (click on the Donate Now button and indicate that funds are for Rachel Richardson.) Monthly automatic withdrawal is available through this option

Please contact me and let me know if this is something you're considering and how much you're able to commit to so that I know how much support I've raised and how much I still need to raise. It would also be nice to hear from you to know how you're doing and how I can be praying for you.

Please also be praying that God will continue to give me his direction and that I will have the perseverance to do all that is required of me in order to continue missions work in Calarasi.

Thank you, and God bless!

Rachel Richardson