Thank you so much for praying for my nephew. He is home from the hospital!  We saw God throughout the situation,  from the record time of clot removal (70 minutes from 911 call to surgery) to the strength and peace  my sister had keeping everyone updated. All the tests the doctors did to make sure this 24 year old man was good to go came back wonderful, he will have no permanent damage. We are so grateful for your prayers and for a God who hears and moves on our behalf.

Please pray for my long distance relationship. That the Lord blesses us and leads us into marriage. That He confirms it in our hearts that we are in His will concerning marriage. Thank you.

• Merry Christmas!!!!
  It's been a wonderful week here celebrating Christ's birth! 
• We had our Christmas party at the after-school program and the Lord blessed us with wonderful gifts and great fellowship. Our festivities also included the reading of the Christmas story from the Bible and a devotional about giving that included the gospel message. For the first time, 
  each child gave gifts to everyone else. These gifts were not purchased, they were thoughtful acts of kindness..."I will wash the dishes for you on your assigned day", "I will give you a back 
  massage every Thursday", "I will do what I'm supposed to do without being told to do it", etc. They really put their heart into thinking of ideas of gifts that would be appreciated by the recipient and it was wonderful to witness and be a part of.
• This week we also delivered the gifts we had purchased for the orphanage children on behalf of the church. In addition to yogurt, fruit and snacks they don't usually receive, the children got toys and bath products. We will be caroling for the children on Christmas eve and bringing Christmas baked goods. Please pray that we will be a blessing to them and the workers. We 
  still don't have permission to work with them on a daily basis and would appreciate your prayers for this.
• Praise the Lord I was able to get my flight reservation sorted out and am back on track for a visit to the States this summer. Please pray for travel logistics (especially with covid restrictions) and details during my visit. I sure look forward to seeing many of you!!!
• Another praise...even though it's been freezing outside and snowing off and on and the apartments below and above me are empty, I have not had to turn my heat on in my apartment much (The past three days I didn't turn the heat on at all!). Usually, it's quite cold in my apartment, but miraculously it has been comfortable. This is just another example of God's 
  miraculous provision and I thank you for your prayers!!
• Adi had an important test this week and he told me that when he was studying, God told him what to study and specifically some statistics he needed to remember. And sure enough, that's exactly what was on the test! Adi is praying and reading his new Bible at home and says he 
  really loves his new Bible. Thank you for praying for the kids in the after-school program!
• Raluca will be participating in the Christmas program at church on Christmas Eve.
• Please pray for all the young people participating in the program and that many people will come to the service and respond to the gospel message.