Miniature Snow Man! We enjoyed a nice dusting of snow today which delighted our kids. There wasn't much on the ground but our kids were able to scrounge enough together for a nice little snowman.

Special Christmas Gift! Thank you to a Woman of Worth Chapter in SC. These fleece throws are keeping our children warm. God bless!

Merry Christmas! Thank you to all of our friends and family for your support of us. Thank you for the extra little things during Christmas time. We thank you for your generous gifts during the Christmas season. Cards, emails, extra financial gifts and prayers are very much appreciated. The tree was a gift from some friends in TN. Family, friends and even some we've never met have sent us gifts and oh how the children get delighted when we go to the city to pick up the boxes at the post office. You all have helped to make our childrens Christmas even better, and we thank you. I also thank you for each of your prayers. It is so encouraging to get an email or card and have someone tell you they are praying for you. Without your prayers, God's kingdom can't be advanced.

May Jesus show himself real to each of you. The greatest gift that we ever could receive is free. All you must do is receive God's free gift of salvation by repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour. He doesn't want to live in a stable but He wants to live in your heart. It will be the greatest decision you ever make for it will bring peace that can only come through Jesus Christ.

Christmas in Romania! Here's a little glimpse into our Christmas Weekend! Sunday, was the Lord's Day and so we went to church both in the Morning and Evening. Daryl skipped the band concert that he was too play in during the afternoon, since he was recovering from being sick all week. Sunday evening was when Sally Sebo had the children and youth's Christmas program. After the service the youth went carolling. It is customery here for the youth to go caroling on Christmas Eve and so we brought our whole family to enjoy in the fun. They carol until around 2 a.m. and if they don't finish caroling to all of the people on the list, then we go on Christmas Night. Well, we didn't make it the whole time, since Bryan fell asleep and so around 11:00 p.m. we headed for the house. Oh yeah, you walk everywhere you go, no cars, and there's church on Christmas Day at 10:00 a.m. The band concert is in Talpos Christmas night followed by more carolling. Many of the people invite you in to their homes for candy, cakes, soda and a light snack. We also had the wonderful priviledge of being invited over to 2 different families houses during this weekend and enjoyed the "delicious" food and fellowship. The day after Christmas there are services as well. So while many of you are going back to work, taking something back to the store due to a wrong size or "it doesn't work". We will be sitting down for our Christmas dinner and opening gifts on Dec. 26th. There simply wasn't any time in the day! Don't feel sorry for us, we'll enjoy our Christmas as much as anyone else, maybe even more.

Our family has totally enjoyed having special Holidays like Christmas in a foreign country. It has been WONDERFUL to step back from the intense commercialism and liberalism of Christmas in the states. I've probably heard more truly Christmas songs in Russia and Romania than I did in public places in the states. Even as a follower of Jesus, we are affected by our culture and it's easy to get "pressed into the worlds' mold". Living in a foreign country has given us a better understanding and appreciation for Christmas as well as learn new ways that people celebrate Christ' birth.

I am thankful that God has called me to a foreign field and feel very blessed by Him. He is so good to us, more than we ever deserve.

Sharing the Love of Jesus! Oh what a joy to be able to see the delights on the faces of young and old as we delivered some of the Christmas packs to the poor and needy in Talpos.

We went along with Sally to deliver about 1/2 of the packs that were made. The joy on people's faces, as they received the bags of basic grocery & health items, was priceless.

I can't emphasize enough how much we (Sally Sebo along with the Hausmans) appreciate your generous giving. We were just the ones who were able to see the joy that it brought to people. You were the ones who helped to make it all possible. Without your help we would never be able to be in a position to share the Love of Jesus with the needy. God bless each of you!

Preparing more Christmas Packs! What a joy it is to be able to share with the very needy in our world. Sally has been doing this for several years and so we were able to get in on the fun this year. She has been preparing Christmas packs for the needy in Talpos.

Sally and Laura went to the city to shop for all of these goodies and Laura said, they received quite a few stares. After loading up the van and heading back to Talpos, Sally unloaded all of this into her kitchen. We came along later to help load up the 2 bags of goodies to be given out to 50 different needy families and things went fast. The Lord willing all of these will be given out on Saturday. Thank you for your generous support of this project, Sally Sebo, and The Hausman Clan. It is through your generous support that we are able to share the love of Christ to a needy world.

Lots 0f Goodies! Sally's kitchen was loaded with items to put in the bags. Things like: cooking oil, salt, noodles, flour, fruit, salami, cookies, candy, soap, detergent, toothpaste, and probably a few other items I'm forgetting. These gift packs will be handed out to around 50 needy homes in the village of Talpos.

Everyone got involved! It went very quick since everyone got involved in filling bags. Well, almost everyone got involved. Our son was having too much fun playing with the toys at Sally's. We hope to deliver the packs on Saturday!

Our wonderful Ukrainian friends! Here's a picture of Stephan and some of his family members. The accomodations were wonderful, the food was fabulous but most importantly of all the fellowship with some more of God's people was uplifting and encouraging. We ate and ate until we thought we would "pop" and anjoyed every last bite.

(Read a little more about this in the other post, below)

Gypsy children with their gifts! In these packs there are things like: toothpaste, toothbrush, laundry detergent, soap, comb, brush, lotion, candy, cookies, & fruit. These people are very poor and needy so these gifts are of great value to them.

As you can see, Sally is a blurrrr in this picture! Those of you who know her, know this is normal for she's constantly on the go!

Once again we thank you for your generous giving for it is through your giving that we are able to assist with these needs.

Christmas gifts to the Gypsies! Each year Sally Sebo makes out Christmas packs to give to many, many, people. One of these groups is the gypsies. She holds a service for the gypsy children each Sunday in a nearby village. There were over 125 children crowded into a small church eagerly awaiting their Christmas gifts. We were not all allowed to attend because our attendance would have brought even more chaos. Sally must sneak into the church the night before and put the gifts in the church and make sure no one sees or hears. The reason for this is because if someone sees, then all of the gypsies will come the next day for the gifts and we would have major problems, one being, not enough gifts. Also, if they were to hear our diesel van or see it, they would know what was happening and so only one of us could go, preferably one of the children. Natasha jumped at the chance and she was able to go help hand out the gifts to these children.

Thank you Sally for your labors with these children and we thank you who support Sally Sebo, this project, and us. If it wasn't for your generous support we would not be able to link up with Sally and help spread the love of Christ to some desperately needy gypsy children.

A Christmas Gift! Thanks to some special friends in TN, we are enjoying a Christmas Tree! God is so good that we feel spoiled at times. I had just been pricing some trees, but didnt' feel like we had the money to spend on a tree right then. We came home from the city and I got an email that some friends of ours wanted to give some money to us for Christmas! I used it as a wonderful opportunity to show our family how good God is and how He cares about our needs and desires. Thanks to all of you for your cards, packages and generosity to us during this Christmas season. May the world see that the REASON for the season is CHRIST!

An unexpected treat! Since we were blessed with beautiful weather, we decided to take a picnic in one of the lovely little parks in town. We had a little time between our Romanian lesson and the girls violin lessons so we enjoyed the wonderful day God had given us.

God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!

Daryl and Stephan; We at H.I.M. are trying to be proactive in our desire to reach the most amount of people in the least amount of time. Since early 2006, H.I.M. has been interested in ministering in Western Ukraine to plant Holiness Churches.

The Boyds plan to move to this area in mid-summer and so we took a short drive up to the Ukraine to meet with Stephan. He is interested in working with H.I.M. Pray that God would have His divine will accomplished as we at Hope International Missions seek to follow the Lord's leadership.

I just thought I would put a couple more pics so you could see a little more of what has gone on. This is the man in charge of the overall building. I believe he is 72 years old and I just hope I'm that agile at his age. You can see him here working on the steps, making sure they are perfectly straight. He then put in the rest of the forms and the steps were poured.

FYI: Thank you for your prayers when all of the concrete was being poured. Guess where I was? Well as you saw earlier, there we polls ever 3 feet holding up the form for the floor. Well, while all 4 truckloads were being poured, it was my job to be under all of that and making sure the bottom of the support polls didn't kick out. Well, what would I have done, if they had kicked out? It was a little eary knowing all of this concrete is being poured up over top of your head, but God protected, even though I got wet with concrete as it seeped through the cracks in the boards.

The big winners in the "guess who" contest in the look back was all of you! So each of you can give a 1000 dollars to the Mission or Missionary of your choice. Being in God's will brings peace, which allows us have joy and then we can share the most blessed news in all of the world....that Jesus can save us from our sins. Praise God!

With the building of Hope Chrisian Fellowship Center we are trying to be agressive in reaching out to our needy world. The Center will be used for children, youth and even the "not so young" to try to share the good news that Jesus can save them from their sins. Continue to pray for God's leadership and the necessary funds for Phase II of the project.


Those 2 adoreable children in the "Look Back" section are none other than your's truly and my older sister Doreen. They look a little like our 2 youngest and hence the reason for the photo. Aren't you glad your not related to me, or you might have had your picture on the blog.

A Look Back! I wanted to pay tribute to a special person! This dear lady is almost 99 years & 5 Months old. She's our oldest supporter and has been a faithful prayer warrior for us. She has supported missions for many decades giving generously from her meager pension. God has blessed her for her generosity and faithfulness in giving and praying. She has just recently fallen and broken her hip, but is recoving slowly. Praise God! This wonderful lady is Laura's Grandma, Ruth Bryan! She's a dear saint and has passed along to her children, grandchildren, & great Grandchildren a great Christian Heritage. Would you send up a short prayer for her, that God would touch her physically!

This picture was taken last Christmas and you can see some of the beautiful stitch work that she does. It was a gift for the Great Grandkids to play with when they came to visit.

Fortunately for me, I'm thousands of miles away and she can't stick me with her needles that she still sews with. She doesn't like much praise and attention. Sorry, Grandma Bryan, but we want to honor you and let you know, we love you and thank you for your prayers and financial support!

The answer to the grand prize of naming the 2 children in the picture a week or so ago was none other than yours truly and my sister. Doreen & Daryl. You all won, so please feel free to send those 1000 dollar checks to the Mission of your choice. Smile a little! The world needs to see that we actually love Jesus! I've been in some stores and looked at people and thought, whatever they have, I don't want, because they looked miserable. Let the world see Jesus in you and it can start with a pleasant look, smile or nice words. God bless!

Ready to Eat! Laura and all of her helpers had the tables splendidly decorated and the food was delicious. Sorry you missed out on Laura's homemade rolls! They are the best! Homemade rolls, apple butter, grape jam, was just the start of this wonderful meal.

God blessed in a mighty way and the 4 days of preparation by Laura were well worth it. It was something very special for the children and staff of the Orphanage.

Happy Thanksgiving! We went to the Orphanage and invited the children, staff, as well as our co-laborer, Sally Sebo to celebrate the American Holiday. There were about 25 of us and it was wonderful. While many of you were sitting down to eat, so were we. It's an American Holiday so things went on as normal here in Romania. Therefore, we waited until in the evening at around 7 p.m. Laura worked hard to prepare the meal and we were rewarded with the wonderful appreciation by the children and staff. You could see the appreciation in the childrens eyes as they looked at all of the decorations and food. Laura worked hard and God blessed her efforts as she used the talents God has given to her. Thank you for making this all possible. It was worth the effort!

Two Little Indian girls! Each of the little girls got an Indian hat and the boys a Pilgrim hat. I just mentioned briefly how after God had given the Pilgrims a bountiful harvest, they got together with the Indians and gave thanks to God for His blessings. Then I gave them a few things to be thankful for and we followed that with prayer.

BTW Our modern liberal Historians are continuing to re-write History. There is enough written facts to support our Christian heritage and that it was perfectly constitutional to practice Christianity not only in the home and church but also was a very real part of our government. There are no such words as "separation of church and state" found in our constitution. Go look and you won't find them there! Not unless the liberal historians went back and added them.

Our country was founded on Biblical Principles and those were implimented into the home, church, government, and society as a whole. I am so thankful for that Biblical heritage that we have. Just visit some other countries that haven't had that heritage and you'll see that we have a lot to be thankful for. However, it also challenges me that I need to live holy and share the good news about Jesus, so that other generations that come along behind me will enjoy the same freedoms and liberties that I have.

Praise the Lord and thank you for your prayers! God answered prayer! They were calling for showers this morning and we were planning on pouring at 8:00 a.m. Well, it rained some during the night and in the early morning hours but by 7:30 the light rain had stopped. The weather has been beautiful today with even the sun coming out at times and temps. in the high 50's. The temperatures are to stay above freezing through the weekend, with some rain possibly tomorrow. However, as long as the sun stays out today, we won't need to cover it with plastic. Thank you so much for your prayers and we saw the answer to those prayers. May God bless you for your faithfulness in helping lift the load. Slava Domnului! (Praise God)

The beginning stages of pouring! The man with his back to the camera, in grey and red, is the man in charge of operating the pump. He operates it all via remote control.

Almost finished with the pouring of the second floor. We had 4 trucks of concrete with over 30 Cubic Meters of concrete. The extra is being used to finish the stairs and a side entrance. The men worked real hard and we praise God for all of His help!

Here's another picture of the re bar that had to be laid, tied, etc.

This picture is for those of you who could care less about building details! :) Here's my kids with Rita, our faithful "guard dog"!

Here's a picture of the re-bar where one of the large beams will be.

Tuesday! Well, we didn't get the work done to pour the concrete. There's just too much prep. work. You can see the re bar that has been started. The rest will be completed today! Lord willing! The men have been working through occasional showers and misty rain. The weather forecast is calling for showers in the morning on Wednesday. Please pray that God holds off the showers on Wednesday! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Here's Papa's big helper! He's been wanting to go with me to help at the work site for a long time. I told him I'd take him to help one day and so today was the day. We bought him some toy tools for his great accomplishment of potty training, so he was my big helper today.

Saturday morning! Here's the metal specialist working with the rebar. Correction on the size of these beams. They are at least 24" rather than what I mentioned some time ago.

• Saturday Morning - Day 24 As you can see, we will not be able to pour the concrete this week. The decking you see is almost finished as of Sat. afternoon. The men are finishing up the last of the columns, the decking is almost finished and the rebar beams are made. Monday, Lord willing we will do the finishing touches on the forms, lay the metal rebar and get ready to pour concrete Tuesday morning.
• Please pray for good weather without rain for Monday and Tuesday! This is critical! Thank you so much for your interest, prayers and support. May God bless each of you!
  

We are still working on the forms for the second floor. Progress is being made only it just takes time. We will not be able to pour the concrete by tomorrow. It takes many many hours to build the forms and support posts. Some of the remaining columns and small areas were poured by hand today. Tomorrow, we hope to be able to finish the decking and continue with the rebar that will be laid and tied. The boss has said that we will pour Tuesday.

• Please pray for good weather next week. The temperatures are supposed to be above freezing the whole week but they are calling for rain. Please pray not only that it stays above freezing but that the Lord will hold off the rain, the day that we pour.

• Praise the Lord that the authorizations are going much better and we are making progress in this area. This is a huge answer to prayer and pray that there aren't any setbacks with the authorizations.

Lord willing I will try to upload some pics tomorrow of where we are at by the end of the day Sat. God bless and thank you for your prayers. Continue to live for Christ, be Holy, and share your faith with others!

A Look Back! In my look back section, I have a special reward for the person who can guess the names of these 2 kids. This is my blog and we have 4 kids, so that should give you a little hint. If you can name 1 of these adoreable kids, you will receive a free coupon to donate 100 dollars to the Romanian/Fellowship Center. If you can name both of them, you will win the grand prize of donating 1000 dollars to the Romanian/Fellowship Center. Simply email me and I'll let you know who the winners are as well as the correct answers.

By the way, who said Missionaries don't have fun!

Yes, Yes, My Love! Actually those words are from our wedding song that was written by Laura's Father, Edgar Bryan I.

Do you remember all of those grapes we had growing outside our house. If not check back in the Sept. or Oct. archives. Well, Laura wanted me to make her some wreaths from the vines. So I used my God given creativity and made her a heart shaped wreath. This is the first I've ever made. Not bad for a novice! By the way, I didn't do any of the bows or things like that. If I would have tried that, you'd all be laughing. You can put in your order for next Christmas if you'd like one, since the grape season is over.
I am so thankful for the wonderful wife God has given me. One of the talents God has given her is that she is a wonderful homemaker. I know I'm a little prejudice but she's the best cook around and I've told her many times the same thing. Many people have been touched by her acts of kindness through cooking. Almost every day she's made a homemade treat for the men who work at the job sight. I've stood there and watched how those homemade treats are the first to go. If you don't politely grab one, you won't get any. Not only is she a great cook, but she teaches 3 different grades and has a daycare of 1 child, that's our little boy. There are many other qualities that I admire about my wife, but I'll pass for now. However, the most important attribute of my wife is that she loves God with all of her heart, soul, mind, strength and lives a Holy Life! May God help us in our realationship with Him and with our family.

Here's another view of the forms. The "channels" will be where the beams are with rebar approximately 1 inch thick running through the beam. You can also see the men laying the decking for the concrete floor/ceiling.

Wednesday - Day 21 Wow, I was actually able to get this picture uploaded. I had to make it even smaller to have any success. This was taken at the end of the day Wednesday.

The forms for the concrete are being made as well as the decking is just now being laid. There is one more main beam that has to be framed in, all of the support posts must be put in and then rebar over the entire area. Please pray that God will help us to get all of the work for this area done this week. There's a lot to be done yet and it looks like it won't get done this week. Please pray for God's help with the workers and with the weather.

Saturday - Day 18 This is the large multi-purpose room that we will be building the concrete forms to pour the ceiling. We must build an entire wooden form for this area. You can see where one of the 18 inch thick beams will be poured as well. Lots of wood, rebar and work needs to be done to get ready.

Please pray for good weather, no rain and above freezing, in order to pour the concrete.

Saturday - Day 18 Here's the concrete that was poured for this section.

Almost finished with the job.....for now! The stairs to the right were also poured and the extra concrete was used to pour several columns as well as several headers.

Here are the men working hard to get the concrete poured.

Day 15 - Wednesday Here's one of the cement trucks with the pump to pump the concrete. We needed 2 cement trucks to pour this particular floor.

Thank you for your prayers. We had wonderful weather today. You can see the beautiful clear skies as well as good temperatures. Continue to pray for the authorizations that are needed.

Monday - Day 13 The decking of the second floor on this side of the building is being laid. However this is the decking for the forms. Metal rebar will be inserted and then concrete will be poured, Lord willing, this week. Continue to pray for good weather and proper authorizations. God helped today by giving us very good weather. Praise God!

Monday - Day 13 Here is where the wood beams go to support all of that concrete. After the concrete is poured we must wait 21 days before these can be removed.

Saturday - Day 12 Here's the load of wood that was delivered on Saturday. These are the poles that will be used to hold up the second floor. They range in length from 3 Meters to 6 Meters. Oh yeah, most of the world uses the Metric System which is actually easier than our version where you have to deal with 12's, 36's, 5260 or whatever ft., etc. Just a bunch of crazy Americans!

Saturday - Day 12 Here's a picture of the interior of the building where forms are being built. I am standing on the platform for the stairs, 1/2 way between the 1st and 2nd floor. The forms for the windows, doors, columns, & the 2nd floor itself have to be built. By the end of the day Sat., 1/3 of the floor form for this side of the building was built and the wooden posts used to support the concrete flooring were installed.

Saturday - Day 12 Thank you for your continue prayers. We still need prayer for the approvals for certain authorizations. Thursday we were told that "the problem" would be resolved. Then Friday, we were told there was a new law that required signature by the neighbors to give their approval. This was new to all of us for no one ever mentioned it before. That was taken care of on Friday and Sat. and so now we pray that we can go and get the necessary authorizations. Many of these matters are not small matters and every seemingly little thing that has to be done is a major answer to prayer. You'll just have to trust us for we can't go into great detail on many of these matters. Continue to pray, God is helping!

Friday and Saturday amidst cold weather and some snow, work continued. The men are continuing to pour columns, build forms and lay the metal rebar in place. A load of wood was brought for the support poles to hold up the second floor concrete. When this is poured, we will have to keep the support poles there for 21 days before they can be removed. So although there appears to be little visible work done, there is a lot of preparatory work that has to be done in order to pour the stairs and second floor.

It was cold Saturday, about 18 - 20 degrees F as we began work. The man whose expertise is metal was there working with the metal rebar without gloves. I lived 2 years in Russia but that got my attention. The men have worked real hard and we thank God for the Contractor who we were able to get. He is doing a great job.

Sorry about not having pictures. I tried 3 times and was not able to upload any onto the web. Normal living in a foreign country. God bless and have a great Lord's Day!

Happy Birthday Sally! This past week was Sally's birthday and we wish her a Happy Birthday! Laura prepared the meal and we "barged in" with our tribe for a nice little celebration. Our children enjoyed playing with the children from the Orphanage and we all had a good time together.

Here's a picture of some of the rebar used in the stairs that will be poured. You can also see some of the snowflakes in the picture.

Thursday - Day 10 Here's a picture of 2 men preparing the metal rebar. They are tying the various pieces together, bending the necessary ones and cutting some as well. We'll have used almost 7 tons of rebar by the time the job is done. That's 14,000 lbs!

We had a nice morning of weather but snow, rain, & snow in the afternoon. Thank the Lord though we were able to get almost a full days work in.

Thursday - Day 10 Thank you for your prayers! Keep praying! We had a pretty good day today. The morning was nice, in the low to mid 30's but then snow and rain came in the afternoon. We had to shut down about 45 minutes early after working through the snow and rain for quite a while. Please continue to pray for good weather so the work that needs to be done over the next week to 10 days can be finished.

All of the block for the first floor walls are finished. We are continuing to make the forms for the concrete pillars as well as the door headers. Most of the pillars have been poured on the first floor and quite a few of the door / window headers. All of the forms are built by hand as well as all concrete is poured by using a mixer, wheelbarells, shovels and man power. Rebar is also tied together to put into the pillars, over the windows / doors and also in the stairs. The stairs will be poured with concrete and lots of rebar. This takes lots of time to do all of this but God has been helping and we are very pleased with the progress that has been made.

• Continue to pray for the proper approvals and signatures. Sally went today to the city to meet with some of the necessary people to see if we could make any headway and it appears like we will be given the ok tomorrow. For those of you who know about foreign countries, please don't get to excited, for things can change in a moments notice. Our enemy is fighting because he wants to stop anything that will bring glory and honor to God. So continue to pray for these men, that God will soften their hearts and give the necessary approvals.

Tuesday - Day 8 Some of you must really be praying! We had beautiful blue skies again only it was down in the 20's. That's better than the alternative so we are happy and with the clear skies the sun started at least warming things up a little. Thank the Lord for the sun but more importantly, thank the Lord for The Son who paid it all for your sins and mine. Hallelujah what a Saviour!

Today, the 3 interior walls that you can see in the picture were completed and rebar was tied together for more of the columns. There were 3 block layers today, so the walls went even quicker.

• Please pray for the proper paperwork and approvals. Please pray because if we do not get these approvals we can't continue with the project. We ask for urgent prayer! Sally will be going Thursday to talk with some of the people who give such approval. Please pray that their hearts will be softened and they will give proper consent. Anyone who knows about foreign countries knows this is no small matter.

Caught Working? Who is this imposter anyway? Sally, actually caught me working this past week! By the way, the contraption in the back of the picture is our special guest bathroom. Come and visit and we'll make sure you get your very own private bathroom. Just a little twisted humor.

Monday, Day 7 Today, more forms had to be built and installed so that the concrete could be poured into the columns. Several Columns were poured today as well. Thank you for your prayers, early in the morning the wind came and blew the rain away. It was cold but than the Lord for the clear skies, the sun and no rain.