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From Romania
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October 2024
Dear Friends in Christ,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you to all of you who pray faithfully and have supported this work that Brother Ralph Cheatwood began over 40 years ago.
About 25 years ago, after seeing the number of children abandoned at the hospital, especially among the poorer communities in which we worked, Brother Ralph said in church one Sunday that he believed God wanted us to start a children’s home. He wanted a home where these forsaken children could be raised to God’s glory. He also wanted it to be a place where they could be proud to say they grew up in “The Father’s House”. Now, six years after Brother Ralph went home to be with the Lord, we are continuing the vision the Lord gave him with a new generation of children.
Most of our original children are now grown…some married, some moved out on their own and some still here with us…all of them still a part of our family and most importantly a part of God’s family, having come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.
In our church, on any given Sunday, we may have our older children - some with spouses, some with their own children, some with boyfriends or girlfriends that they bring to church with them – and, of course, the young kids who now have the example of older brothers and sisters to worship with.
We have a “middle” group of young teens who are all saved, still in school and doing well. Creed, who turns 15 this month, has been leading the singing in our church services for a while now and also sings the occasional “special” during the song service.
We hired a private tutor to “homeschool” our three youngest kids. They are 4, 7 and 8 years old, but having grown up virtually homeless, we didn’t feel they were ready to be thrown into the school system here. They are doing wonderfully… catching up very quickly with the basics as well as learning to speak English. They sit attentively in church and usually ask if we can sing “Jesus Loves Me”, which is their favorite.
For those of you who had children and nurtured them, especially if you brought them up in church, it would be hard to imagine how far they had to go to catch up. Being very neglected, they could hardly speak at all and were very fragile and undeveloped both emotionally and socially. Dara has done an amazing job with them. First of all, making them feel safe and loved. Then bringing out their amazing little personalities that had been buried in fear and suspicion. It has been a year-long journey that was an around-the-clock job, but the results are such a blessing to see.
The Romanian and Turkish churches in town that I care for are doing well. One of our older daughters, Sheker, has the Romanian meeting in her home and she has been a great help to me.
There is never a dull moment around here but, Praise God, we see Him working on every hand. We cherish your continued support and prayers and we remember you often in ours.
In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the kids (A printable PDF version is available here)
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Dear Friends in Christ, September 18, 2023
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As I mentioned in my last letter, we made it through a summer filled with some unexpected trials. In hindsight, without having had to face these difficulties, we would have missed experiencing God’s mighty, gentle, strong and kind hand as He guided us through each situation.
At the beginning of summer, when Johnny and Blue were leaving for Germany, I experienced what we feared could be a heart attack…chest pain, difficulty breathing, etc. I wound up in the emergency room of the municipal hospital, which anyone who has had the misfortune of needing medical attention in Romania knows, is usually worse than the ailment that brought you there. Over the next weeks I had numerous tests (heart ultrasound, angiogram, CT scan of lungs, thyroid and abdominal ultrasounds and dozens of blood tests) which, in the end, found nothing that should have caused such symptoms and kept me in bed for about two weeks. The doc said if the symptoms reappear, they will investigate more. Thank the Lord, He raised me up right about the time our next trial would unfold.
After a news story broke about horrible conditions and treatment in a nursing home in Bucharest, the government declared all nursing homes and children’s homes would be investigated. A couple of days later, a van showed up unannounced with officials from 7 or 8 different agencies and raided our Home. Police, Fire Department, Health Department, Consumer Protection, Ministry of Finance, Child Protection and others were all represented. After a day and a half combing through our records, talking with the children and workers, and inspecting the Home, Thank God, they had only a couple of issues. One, we had to install a video security system and, Two, they closed our kitchen until we could remodel it to meet new European Union requirements.
They gave us until September 15th, about 2 ½ weeks, to have everything done. It was going to take a huge amount of work and a huge amount of money that we didn’t have to get it all done. I have to be honest, I had my doubts we could meet the deadline. I told the kids “We don’t have a choice. We are going to start the work and trust the Lord to help us get it done and get the money here to pay for it. It’s God’s house. You are God’s kids. I can’t do it, but He can!”
All the kids who were available helped as we put in new ceilings, light fixtures, stove exhaust fans, an extra sink, new metal shelving in the pantry, new windows in the kitchen, and converted a toy room into a worker’s dressing/bathroom. We also had to close off the kitchen from the living room which had been wide open.
Several of the kids worked with me day and night and the Lord helped in so many ways over this time. It seemed each morning Sandy would come over and tell me about someone who was sending money…one day a precious widow sending $50…the next a church sending $1,000…each day the expenses being taken care of until a couple of days ago, a church in St. Pete, Florida, promising to take care of what was left. The Lord provided exactly what was needed.
On the 15th, the inspector came and was amazed we got everything done and done so well. I thank the Lord for each of you who sent what was needed. I pray you are blessed as much as we are seeing God move mountains for us. I am thankful for Dara, Sandy, our kids and the Home workers who labored tirelessly so that we could have our kitchen back.
Finally, for a week in August we were blessed to host a mission group from First Baptist Church of San Antonio. They are our long-time friends, actually now family, who started visiting after one of their deacons was stationed at the nearby American military base some years back and came to the Children’s Home church. Together we held a 3-day mini VBS with some very poor children in a nearby village and painted the entire downstairs of the Children’s Home. Most of all, they were, as always, a huge blessing and encouragement to all of us here.
As I said at the beginning, it was a summer filled with challenges. Thank the Lord, we didn’t have to face them alone. Our God is faithful. Thank you again to all of you who helped us through your prayers and your giving.
“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.” 2 Chronicles 20:17
In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids (A printable PDF version is available here)
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Dear Friends in Christ, September 2023
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Summer has come to an end… the kids have returned to school. We had an enjoyable summer, but it was not an easy one. Besides what I’ll write below, I had some health issues, we had a major inspection at the Home and we hosted a mission trip. I’ll write another letter this week to tell you about those.
Johnny and Blue have been our kids for seven years, since Johnny was seven and Blue was three. Their grandmother, a believer in our Turkish church, asked us to take them because her daughter, their mother, had gone to Germany to work and left them with her. The grandmother was older and in poor health and wasn’t able to care for them.
Johnny and Blue immediately became part of the family. Johnny bonded with our son, Creed, and they became inseparable. Blue was a bright, sweet little girl and we quickly grew to love them as our own. They both loved the church and, Praise the Lord, both were saved and baptized a few years after we got them.
At the end of this past school year, the mother came back and said she wanted to take them for a visit to Germany. She said she would bring them back after a few weeks. Her being their mother, we could do nothing to stop her even though we didn’t feel good about it, to say the least.
After she got them to Germany, she contacted us and said that she was not bringing them back and that we should forget about them because we would never see them again. You can’t even imagine how deeply this affected Dara and me… they are our kids! They call us Mommy and Daddy and, having gotten them that young, we were now the only family they really knew. This was their life and that life had been stolen away from them.
Everyone knows me as someone who can fix problems and find ways to work things out. Everyone asked “What are you going to do? How are you going to get them back?” I was lost. There was nothing I could do that would bring them home.
I prayed “Lord, you are the only one who can bring our kids home. You sent plagues to change Pharaoh’s heart and I know you can do something if it is Your will.” I decided I was going to beg God to intervene and then put my trust in Him to hear my prayer and to answer it the best way… Maybe not the way I was hoping, but I was trusting in His goodness and knowing that His way would be best.
Over the summer, we were able to talk to Johnny and Blue a little bit through messages. They were devastated, homesick, and losing hope of ever seeing us again. Their mother and some other relatives there in Germany tried to pressure them not to believe in Jesus, but to convert to Islam. Johnny told them he would not give up his faith in Jesus Christ and refused to go into the mosque with them. He even testified to the hoja (Moslem priest) through a translator about what he believed.
I told them to keep trusting God…. we were all praying. A couple of weeks ago, Johnny wrote that his mother, seeing that they were so unhappy, said she would be willing to bring them back, but she didn’t have any money for the trip. I told Johnny I would gladly pay for their bus tickets if she would bring them. After a heart wrenching week of “yes, she would, no, she wouldn’t”, they boarded the bus and came home.
Johnny and Blue are back home and just started back to school. You can’t imagine the impact on our family seeing God intervene in an impossible situation when we helplessly cried out to Him in prayer. How can we ever doubt His goodness? Praise His Holy Name!
“The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles” Psalm 34:17
In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids (A printable PDF version is available here)
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Dear Friends in Christ, June 2023
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are all doing well and we appreciate the prayers of the saints for our family and for the work.
I generally do not make a prayer request the entire focus of an update letter. Brother Ralph used to tell about a church business meeting where one of the deacons was explaining how every possible option had been tried, but they still could not find a solution for some big need in the church. The deacon finished by saying ‘All we can do now is pray!’ Another of the deacons at the meeting said ‘Has it really come to that?!’
Well, for us, it has come to that and so I am asking all of the saints who care about our family and our work to pray with us.
Seven years ago, when Johnny was seven and Blue was just three, a homeless mother asked us to take her two children who had been living on the street with her. Her mother was a faithful member of our Turkish church and she knew the kind of people we are. This woman said she wanted her kids to have a better life than she could offer – a good education, a stable home life, and a loving faith-based upbringing. She was going to Germany to look for work and said she would leave them with us until they were 18 years old.
Even though there was no time to go through the normal channels which would give us at least some legal footing, we prayed about it and got peace to take them into our home. These years have been wonderful with them. They instantly became as much of the family as any of the rest of us. Johnny was the same age as our biological son, Creed, and they became, and still are, inseparable. Both Johnny and Blue got saved in our Children’s Home church and were baptized. In school, they both have excellent grades, many friends and the praise of their teachers. They are warm and loving children…our children...who see Dara as Mommy and me as Daddy.
Recently, the mother came back from Germany. She wanted to see the kids and spend some time with them. We have been taking them for visits on the weekends when they were out of school.
In the time she has been here, she secretly got passports for the two kids. She told them she wants to take them for a visit to Germany during the summer vacation…only a few weeks or maybe a month. When we found out, I talked to her and she assures me they will be back. I have no legal right to stop her. I have a sickening feeling that she intends to leave with them and not come back.
I know God gave them to us and, therefore, they can’t be taken unless He allows. Thank the Lord, they are already saved!! I can’t imagine how much worse this would be without that assurance.
Twenty years ago, when Brother Ralph said we should start a children’s home, he told us that these children are not ours...God was only allowing us to raise them for Him. Brother Ralph said we should expect some heartache. But, to be honest, we are not at all prepared for this.
I just found out today the mother is planning to leave with them in three days. By the time you see this, if the Lord hasn’t already stepped in, they will be gone. Please help us pray that they will indeed return. If they don’t, I cannot imagine the hole that will be left in our hearts, Creed’s heart, their hearts.
We appreciate all of your prayers.
In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids A printable PDF of this letter is available here.
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Dear Friends in Christ, March 2023
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;” Song of Solomon 2:11-12. Well, I haven’t heard any turtles yet, but, Praise God, spring has finally come to Romania! The sun is shining. The mud is drying up in the villages. The trees are budding out and everything is turning from gray to green. As the Lord renews His creation, our spirits are renewed, as well.
I thank the Lord for seeing us through another winter and for allowing us to help so many others this year. From the coats, socks and food we were able to distribute in the poorest of villages; to the food, clothing, diapers, and many other basic necessities we delivered to be distributed to war-affected churches in Ukraine; to the tents, sleeping bags, winter wear and rations we delivered to the Ukrainian military, God helped so many survive the long winter.
We were able to include Gospel tracts in each pair of socks…in each pair of gloves…in each sleeping bag we sent to those fighting on the front lines. In our villages, we were blessed to hold meetings and tell folks about a loving God who cares for them and sent His only begotten Son to save them. A special thank you goes out to all of you who helped to make this possible.
Our children are growing so fast! Some are working. Some are in school. Our youngest just turned 10 in February. Well, that was true until a couple of days ago.
A young woman called and told Dara that she was living on the street with three little kids and that she had no way to feed or take care of them. The woman said she had heard how we take in poor children and raise them. She begged Dara to take her children. Dara told all of us and I said we should pray before Dara talked to her again. Before we could get back with the woman, our 20-year-old daughter, Sevgi, said she would like to take these three kids. Sevgi lives here on the Children’s Home property with her husband, Clay.
Sevgi and Clay had talked and they wanted to have the little ones move in with them. So after meeting again with the mother, we brought home three children: a 3-year-old girl, a 4 ½-year-old boy and a 5 ½-year-old girl. A good scrubbing, haircuts and clean clothes revealed three precious children who, thank the Lord, seem to be adjusting beautifully. We have told the Lord all along that when He wants to send new children into our family, we are willing. I am thankful that Sevgi, who we got when she was only a few days old, is now helping us in this blessed calling.
Sandy and our oldest son, Grayson, just got back from a short trip to the States. Sandy wanted to visit some churches, reconnect with some old friends and see her best friend of 66 years whose health was failing. Thank the Lord, they had a good trip and Sandy was able to spend some precious time with her friend before she went home to be with the Lord. Sandy said several folks asked her if and when we would be getting more children. We are so glad God has now answered that question! She also said many people asked if we were safe considering the many recent earthquakes in this part of the world. Again, thank the Lord, they have not been close enough to affect us. Thank you for your concern and prayers.
Please continue to pray for us. We greatly appreciate the love and support that you have faithfully shown us over the years. May God bless you all.
In Christ, Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids (A printable PDF of this letter is available here)
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Dear Friends in Christ, December 2022
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we come to the end of another year, I want to thank the Lord for letting us continue to serve Him. He has been more than faithful. This year has not been without its trials but we have seen the Lord do great things in spite of the storms…maybe even because of the storms.
I was talking to the kids in church last Sunday about the foundation on which we build our lives. I said that if we build our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ, we may face storms but our foundation cannot be shaken. I told them that the storms we have been through in these 30 years on the field, rather than discourage us or cause us to doubt, have revealed to us the worth of our foundation.
One of the first Turkish meetings Brother Ralph started after we moved to Romania was in the home of a dear, Godly woman named Cadrie. She has been faithful over the years to open her home to anyone who wanted to come to the meetings. Many have come to Christ through the prayers and faithfulness of this precious lady who has always been willing to share her faith, her testimony, her love and her home to anyone who would come.
Over the last few years, the landlord where she was staying became more and more opposed to the church. She would argue about all the coming and going and the noise of the singing and praying. The crowd fell considerably due to her constant harassment. Praise the Lord, we were able to find a larger, nicer home in a better part of town for Cadrie to move into. Since the word got out, every week has seen more and more people coming. Some new folks…some folks we haven’t seen in years. Yesterday a little widow woman who cares for her handicapped daughter and grandchildren showed up after no one had seen her for years. There was much crying and rejoicing as she rejoined the fold. God is so good! Sister Cadrie feels like she is in Heaven! I thank the Lord for blessing her faithfulness.
I want to thank everyone who has been so gracious to give extra so that we may have a bountiful Christmas with our kids and those to whom we minister. I know it is not always easy. We truly appreciate it. This afternoon, Dara, Sandy, the kids and I are putting together packets of food to take out to the poorest families in and around our churches here in town. I am glad our kids get a blessing from sharing what the Lord has given them.
A little while back, our 13-year-old son, Creed, started asking from time to time if he could walk by himself to the neighborhood store about a quarter mile from our house. He said he just likes to go for walks. We said, “Sure, be careful”. When he would come back, I’d ask if he got anything from the store. He’d say, “No, Sir”. We found out recently he has been using his own money to buy things at the store for a homeless man and his son who shelter beside the store. Can you imagine what a blessing that is for us?
I am putting together another shipment of food, clothes, Gospel tracts and other necessities that I plan to take into Ukraine in the coming days. The Ukrainian pastor who distributes these to his churches in the war torn areas says these things continue to be desperately needed. Thank you to those who have sent funds to make this possible.
Thanks to Larry and Carrie Leach’s “Coats for Kids” ministry, we were able to fit 35 children with very nice coats and socks. These are children whose families live beside the municipal garbage dump in a nearby town. They are, as the saying goes, ‘poor as Job’s turkey’. (I’m not sure where the saying comes from…I can’t find one mention of a turkey in the entire King James Bible, much less in the Book of Job) Anyway, we have been able to hold church meetings and minister to these families for some years now. Putting coats on those precious kids has become a highlight of our Christmas season each year.
One last testimony before I close…. We have two boys in the Children’s Home, Billy and Gabriel, who are “special needs” kids. I say kids, but they are now 20 and 19 years old. They are both precious, sweet boys who, even though they have always been way behind mentally, have always been just part of the family like everyone else. Brother Ralph used to say that, even though they maybe would never understand all there is to know about salvation, he believed they were “safe” in God’s love like any other little child. We were so blessed a few weeks ago as we were sitting around talking about how thankful we are for our kids that are saved, when Billy chimed in “I know I am saved! I know Jesus saved me!” I believe he is. Billy and Gabriel have never missed a church service in their lives. They sing the hymns the best they can. They sit quietly and listen to the preaching. You never know what God is doing.
I am so thankful for what the Lord has let us be a part of all of these years. We are blessed much more than I have words to express. This holiday season, I pray you can truly see how blessed we all are by our Saviour, the Lamb of God, Emmanuel, Christ the Lord! Our best wishes, sincere prayers and heartfelt thanks go out to you all.
In Christ, Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids (A two page printable PDF version is available here)
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Dear Friends in Christ, September 2022
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. First of all, I want to thank God for how good He has been to us here. The 3rd of September marked 30 years since Dara and I arrived in Bulgaria to work with her parents, Ralph and Sandy Cheatwood. We arrived eager and willing to serve the Lord, having no idea what that would mean. The Lord allowed us to grow and learn and be a part of a wonderful ministry where we have seen thousands saved and churches planted all over Eastern Bulgaria and Romania.
More than 20 years ago, the Lord let us build Casa Julia Children’s Home in Romania… not only to run, but to be the parents of a wonderful group of children. Praise God, almost all of the children we have had the privilege to raise have been saved. Last week we had a baptism service for two of our own children, our son-in-law and the girlfriend of one of our boys. The Lord gave us beautiful weather and we had a wonderful service and then baptized them in the Black Sea.
The war in nearby Ukraine continues. Even though this tragedy has been replaced in the news, and probably in many people’s minds, with more exciting stories; there are so many still displaced and suffering from the continued fighting…homes destroyed; loved ones lost, injured or killed; jobs lost; lack of food, electricity and basic supplies. Regardless of how you feel about the war, there are many thousands of lost people who need to know that there is a loving heavenly Father who wants to help and heal them. A Father who loves them so much He spared not His own Son to save them.
In the last month I was blessed to be able to make two trips across the border to take supplies into Ukraine. We have been working with a Ukrainian pastor, Brother Alex, who is travelling to the war torn areas to take these supplies to the families and Ukrainian soldiers who are suffering the most. He is also preaching as he goes from town to town to distribute food, clothing and other much needed supplies. Brother Alex is declaring and showing the love of Christ as He shares the Gospel.
Together with another missionary brother here in Romania, we were able to buy Brother Alex a van to distribute these supplies. On my last trip, I took clothes and socks because, Brother Alex said that many of the soldiers in the hospitals do not have even a change of clothes when they are brought in bloody and injured.
I thank the Lord for opening the doors and protecting me as I travelled inside Ukraine. If you have never crossed the border in one of these Eastern European countries, you can’t imagine how tense it can be and how many things can go wrong, especially carrying a ton of valuable supplies. So many times the Lord opened doors and cleared the way for me. Several times I had to cross through military checkpoints, show my documents and have the contents of my vehicle searched. One of these times, I was able to witness to the soldier who was inspecting my vehicle. I gave him and his fellow soldiers some camouflage winter hats, some Gospel tracts, and pointed them to the church I was going to in the nearby town. They were thankful and seemed to appreciate that others were praying for them and their country. They are fighting a war of flesh and blood, but are unaware of the battle for men’s souls that is raging all around them. I thank the Lord for protecting His soldiers as we endeavor to fight the good fight.
School is back in session. One of our girls started high school and we have three in middle school (one homeschooling with Dara) and our youngest in 3rd grade. Our two “special needs” boys got into a very nice vocational high school.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and your support. If the Lord lays it on your heart to help the folks in Ukraine, I will be sure it gets into the hands of those who truly need it.
In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids (a printable PDF version of this letter is available here)
"If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be..." John 12:26
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Dear Friends in Christ, May 2022
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord we are all safe and healthy here in Romania. It is hard to believe that a couple of hours away in the Ukraine, lives and homes are being destroyed by war. Shortly after the war began, American missionary Casey Kline and his family fled the bombing that had begun in their town in Eastern Ukraine. After three days in the van with their six kids, they arrived here at the Children’s Home, literally shell-shocked and exhausted from their treacherous escape.
They stayed and recovered with us for about 10 days during which Casey and I found ways to transfer money to Ukrainian national pastors to help the families who were not able to flee. Since then, we have hosted other missionaries and Ukrainian families who have been working tirelessly to get Bibles, Gospel literature, food, water, medical supplies, etc. to the families who have been stranded in the areas where fighting has taken place. Many of these families have been without electricity for weeks and these necessities have been increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to obtain.
While missionary brothers Richard Maher and Paul Gray stayed with us, we had 50,000 Gospel tracts printed in both the Ukrainian and Russian languages. They drove a part of these into Bulgaria to help the efforts of the missionaries working there. Another part, these men took to distribute to preachers and pastors along the many Romanian and Polish border crossings into Ukraine.
We have learned from these missionaries to Ukraine that one of the biggest obstacles they face is having someone, a Ukrainian, who can cross the border into Ukraine and take literature and aid directly into the areas where it is needed. Alex Kamnev is a Ukrainian pastor who escaped the bombing in Mikolayiv. He and his family are staying with another American missionary family near us. He has been making trips into the heart of the war torn areas to take supplies to his churches and families who have not been able to get out. We were able to help him fill a van with medical supplies and he left yesterday on the perilous journey back across the border.
We are grateful to have someone who is willing and able to get supplies, money, and Gospel literature directly into the hands of those who so desperately need it. Please pray for this pastor and the many others who are literally risking their lives to try and help their people. If you are able to supply funds to help in these efforts, I will ensure they get to these brave men who love their brothers and sisters more than their own selves.
As soon as the weather warms up a bit more, we are going to have a baptism service at the Black Sea for the new believers, including some of our Home kids. Thank the Lord for that!
We appreciate all the prayers and support. We love you.
In Christ, Dave, Dara, Sandy and the Kids
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Dear Friends in Christ,
May 2021
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope this finds all
of you doing well, healthy and enjoying God’s many blessings. I do not know how
things have been where you are, but here in Romania and Bulgaria, this past year
has been a difficult time for us.
The virus infection rates are beginning to fall but most of our Home kids have
been forced to do school on-line for about a year now. Just this week they are
returning to in-person schooling. Please pray for our children. It seems to me
that Romania’s on-line schooling did not work very well and the kid’s learning
has suffered terribly.
For us, the biggest hardships have been the ban on gatherings and the
restrictions on travel for Americans between Bulgaria and Romania. Until the
virus hit last year, the missionaries in our group living in Bulgaria were
meeting weekly for an English church service. I was driving down from Romania as
often as I could to be there. For the better part of a year, the missionaries
have not been able to openly meet and, even if they could, I would have had to
quarantine 2 weeks had I crossed the border.
Because of the restrictions, most of our Turkish work has been meeting with the
believers and their families in their homes. A few weeks ago, we felt led to
gather the Turkish believers in this area at the Children’s Home for a meeting.
We had been doing this weekly before the pandemic hit last year. Even though we
were not supposed to be meeting in this way, Bro. Nathan Reed, his son Jacob,
and I gathered around 50 believers and had a meal and then a three-hour service.
The Turks were thrilled to get together and many testified how much strength
there was in getting together again to worship. A couple of weeks later we did
it again and plan to continue, Lord willing, every couple of weeks or so. Pray
that we will not have trouble with the authorities.
Praise the Lord, we have been able to continue to have English church services
here at the Children’s Home on Sundays and Wednesdays. Some of our teenagers
have been inviting their friends to church and several have been coming
regularly. I just preached recently about how it seems, with each passing
generation, fewer and fewer people are choosing to follow and serve the Lord. It
is encouraging seeing these kids showing a desire to share their faith and
getting a burden for their lost friends.
With vacation coming soon, the older kids are hoping things open up enough that
they can get summer jobs. I am already teaching the younger ones to use the
lawnmower so they can take over yardwork.
We thank all of you for your continued prayers and support. May the Lord protect
you and bless you and your families.
UPDATE: Before I had a chance to send this letter out, two of the girls in the
Home got saved! Melek (14) and Blue (8) got saved at a very good Mother’s Day
service on May 9th. They have both been coming to the altar and praying a lot
over the last couple of months and we knew the Lord was dealing with them.
During the song service, the Lord moved in and they hit the altar with tears
flowing. Praise God, they said afterward, each in a different way, how the Lord
touched them and they knew they were now saved. Can you imagine what a Mother’s
Day blessing that was for Sandy and Dara! Thank you again, Lord, and Bless Your
Holy Name!
In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the kids
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Dear Friends in Christ, May/June 2020
In 1859 Charles Dickens wrote “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” This seems more appropriate these days than ever. Our country, even our world, is in turmoil such as I haven’t seen in my lifetime. Many souls are in darkness and despair.
In the midst of this gloom there is still a spring of hope, an eternal light for those who seek the truth. Jesus Christ is still working to gather in souls unto salvation. He is still comforting the hurt and the heartbroken. He is still spreading His wings to protect and provide for His children.
Romania declared a state of emergency that has kept everyone largely confined for more than two months now. Because we answer to the state regarding our Children’s Home, it has been even more strictly applied to us. Dara, Sandy and all the kids didn’t leave the confines of the Children Home property during all this time. I was only able to go out occasionally to stock up on essentials for the Home. As of June 1st, the restrictions are easing somewhat, but not entirely.
Thank the Lord, since we are all here together at the Home, we have been able to have our church services on Sundays and Wednesdays. We have had some really good services and have prayed much for you who maybe have not been able to meet regularly and for our national believers here who also have not been allowed.
We have kept in touch with our national pastors and many believers. Bread has been delivered daily to the poor families we normally help. Even though we have not been able to hold regular meetings among the nationals, some of the missionaries have held “virtual” meetings joined by believers who were able to gather their families around a telephone to worship. I know many of the believers have continued to meet in their homes to sing and pray, waiting for the time when we can all worship together again. Please pray for these folks.
As I said, in the middle of all this, the Lord has continued to bless. After the shock wore off of not going to school, not seeing their friends and not even going to the little village store down the road, the kids adjusted well. A few of the kids are older and only the Lord knows where they will be in the near future. We have spent a lot of time “reconnecting” in the family and in the church. We have had wonderful fellowship, prayer and worship that I believe they sorely needed at this time in their lives. In many ways, this quarantine has been a great blessing.
I
know many of you continue to pray for us. We thank you and are trying to do the
same for you. We give God all the glory for what He is doing.
In Christ, Dave, Dara, Sandy and the kids
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Dear Friends in Christ,
January 2020
I pray that you have had a good year in the Lord and, as the Romanians say, that
the next year will be at least as good as the last.
This
is Johnny. He grew up homeless with his mother and little sister. Almost 3 years
ago now, when his grandmother died while his mother was away in Germany looking
for work, he and his sister, Blue, became a part of our family. He was 7 years
old and had never been to kindergarten or school. He told us stories of how he
and Blue and his mother would go around with an old shopping cart to gather
plastic bottles and pieces of metal to sell so they could buy some food. At
night, Blue, who was still a baby, would sleep in the shopping cart in the park
or wherever else they could find a little shelter. I was able to get Johnny
enrolled in school. He is now in second grade and has been at the top of his
class since day one. Most kids who have grown up on the street, by the age of 7
or 8 years old, have already had to turn to stealing to get by. Many have
already done drugs, even if it is inhaling a narcotic, toxic stove pipe paint.
For so many, this cruel, uncaring world has already crushed their innocent
spirit. Somehow, the Lord protected Johnny. He is the kindest, sweetest and most
tenderhearted child you will ever meet. He has brought so much joy into our
lives. He is almost the same age as our biological son, Creed. They are
inseparable. Earlier this past year, in one of our church services at the
Children’s Home, Johnny asked God to save him and accepted Jesus Christ as his
Savior. This past summer, I had the privilege to baptize Johnny, Creed and two
other of our kids, Sully and Kelebek, who were all saved around the same time.
If you were to ask what kind of year we had in 2019,
I would have to say, like most years, we had our ups and downs. But to see God
save the children He has given us to raise makes everything worthwhile. I say we
had a wonderful year, Praise His Holy Name!
Our thanks to all of you who have been faithful in your support of our ministry
and our family. I hope that seeing the fruit of your prayers and financial
sacrifices is a blessing to you.
In Christ,
Dave, Dara, Sandy and the kids
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Dear Friends in
Christ,
April 2019
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord has been so
good to us and blessed us so much lately that I don’t know where to begin to
tell you and surely cannot even scratch the surface. But I have to tell you what
I can…..”Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His
wonderful works to the children of men!” Psalms 107:21.
Sunday night we had a wedding in the Children’s Home church. I had the privilege
of both giving away and marrying our daughter Sevgi. She married a fine young
man, Clay Croll, whom we have known for years and spent a lot of time over the
last few years here with us. Dara has known his parents, Jeremi and Angel Hayes,
since she was a teenager playing piano for the Brookside Children’s Home choir.
We thank the Lord He let us take Sevgi as a newborn baby and raise her up in our
Home and in our church. Pray for Clay and Sevgi as they begin their new life
together.
The wedding was on the last night of a 5-day campmeeting here at the Children’s
Home. Our missionary families living in Bulgaria had come up to worship with us.
In every service, there were also personnel from the nearby American military
base. We started on Wednesday and our missionary men, Nathan Reed, Zachary
LeFevre, Larry Leach, William LeFevre and Mitko Stefanov preached some of the
best messages I ever heard. The Holy Spirit could be felt moving in every one of
the services. Saturday morning we didn’t even have any preaching as many started
testifying and crying. The altar filled. No one wanted Jesus to pass by without
them having a chance to touch His garment. Praise the Lord, our 17 year-old son,
Sully, who for more than a year had been wrestling with salvation, said he
wanted to proclaim that the Lord saved him! Dara’s mom Sandy gave Sully a note
from a dear saint that has been praying for Sully for many years. Sandy said
“Miss Lavinia gave me this note three years ago to give you when you got saved.
I’ve been bringing this with me to every church service for three years”. After
the “Praise the Lords” and “Halleluiahs” died down, we spent another half an
hour with one after another telling about how they got saved. Clay, then Sevgi’s
fiancée, stood up toward the end of the service and said that a few weeks
before, alone in the garden at the back of our property; he asked the Lord into
his heart and was saved. Talk about a wonderful service!
We give all the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ! Over the five days of this
meeting, there were many prayers answered. Many were encouraged and helped.
Everyone left with a rekindled desire to draw closer to the Lord and a renewed
assurance of God’s desire to hear and answer our prayers.
In June, it will be one year since the Lord took Brother Ralph home. We continue
on with the work here the way he taught us. Before the end of last summer, we
completed the church in Avren, Bulgaria, that he had started building. We have
been having Turkish meetings there and all of us missionaries who are able meet
with our families for English church every Friday night. As I mentioned in
earlier letters, by God’s grace, we will take care of what Bro. Ralph
founded…preaching and starting churches, printing the Bible in Turkish that he
translated, and feeding, clothing and helping those in need through the
churches.
I feel compelled to mention a couple of needs that we have. Praise God, the
Avren church is completed; but we still need to complete the Bible
printing/binding shop and the storage area for coats donated for distribution.
We lack the necessary funds for this work. Also, the Turkish pastor, Alish, who
for years drove Brother Ralph to meetings and then cared for him through most of
his final months, is in need of a vehicle. His current vehicle is beginning to
have problems due to the countless miles going to village meetings. A nice, used
vehicle that would get him to the villages for many years to come can be found
for about $5,000. Please pray about these needs. We thank all of you for your
prayers and continued support.
In Christ, The Turners
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Dear Friends in Christ, February 2019
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. First and foremost, I want to thank the Lord for being so good to us and taking such good care of us. He is merciful, kind, faithful and many, many other things. He is worthy of all our praise and thanks.
The Lord just brought us through a trial that could have shattered all we have built here in the Children’s Home. Our Children’s Home building is wood-framed with lots of interior wood as well. The laws here changed recently and we had to do major fire-proofing or risk not being able to use this building. This would have meant having to move out of the only place our children have known as home and the church where they have always worshipped and many were saved. Without the Home, the children could have been taken by authorities and scattered among other placement centers, tearing apart their family and their world. It would have been awful! The work required involved weeks and weeks of our labor as well as having several specialists come in to do their part, not to mention a great expense which was unexpected. Praise God we had many of the saints praying, some donating money to cover the expense. The kids helped tremendously and even the Chaplain at the nearby American military base sent teams on several occasions to help with the incredible amount of work involved. To add insult to injury, the inspectors called one morning and said they would be here in an hour – weeks earlier than we expected. We didn’t quite have the house “back together” after all the work….there were smoke alarms not remounted, fire extinguishers not back in their places and so forth.
The whole time, we could only think, “This is God’s work. These are His children. He called us to do this. Surely He won’t let us lose it all.” I have to admit there were times when my faith was shaken. But Praise God, Jesus Christ is the Rock on which we have anchored our hearts and our Home and He would not be moved. When the inspector came, he was very nice (very unusual) and did not appear to be ‘trying’ to find something wrong (almost unheard of). He only cited us for a couple of minor infractions which it seems they must do to justify their visit. In the end, I can only believe that God worked everything out, even down to softening the heart of the inspector. I know He heard and answered all of the prayers that were sent up on our behalf. Our prayers do matter and we thank all of you who prayed.
We are about halfway through the winter now. Thank the Lord it has been quite a mild winter thus far. Many people in the villages we minister to though struggle without adequate heat and clothing. We were blessed to be able to provide hundreds of winter coats and socks to children in our part of Romania. Brother Larry Leach and his wife Carrie, through their ministry “Coats for Kids”, gave us hundreds of like-new coats to distribute to some of the most destitute families in villages where we have churches. Our kids and I gave out over 40 in a terribly needy community about 45 minutes outside of Constanta. Brother Nathan Reed, his wife Teresa and their son Jacob gave out hundreds more in a number of villages where they hold weekly church meetings.
God has been so good to us. We continue to have great church meetings in our little church here at the Children’s Home. Today we had five Army and five Air Force personnel from the American base in church with us. We thank our Heavenly Father that He has let us have a part in His work and is always watching over and taking care of us.
In a recent service, one of the other missionaries said that God doesn’t call us to do something for Him, but He calls us to follow Him and see what He does. That is so true. We give Him all the glory!
In Christ, The Turners
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Dear Friends in Christ, November 2018
Greetings in the name of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. We hope you are all doing well. We thank the Lord for the
prayers that go up on our behalf of which I am sure there are many.
When I last wrote, I told you about the dedication service that we held in Avren,
Bulgaria, which was the realization of Brother Ralph’s dream to have a church
and a printing facility in that village. All the missionary families gathered to
honor Brother Ralph and to dedicate the new building to the Lord by having a
service to praise and worship Him. It was a very good service – some tears, some
laughs – as we remembered Brother Ralph’s many years following God and then
leading us in the way we should go. Again, we want to thank everyone who either
prayed or sent in the support that was needed to complete the church.
On the 2nd of October, we held the first Turkish meeting in the new facility.
One of Brother Ralph’s oldest friends, Brother Gary Armstrong, a pastor from
Massachusetts with his wife, came to celebrate with us the birth of this new
church. Brother Gary told the Turks about working with Brother Ralph more than
40 years ago and reminded us all of how our faithfulness is rewarded with much
fruit. God has surely been faithful to us and has blessed us beyond measure. One
of our Turkish national pastors, Brother Alish, who was saved under Brother
Ralph’s preaching many years ago, also preached. We had a great meeting and are
excited about what the Lord will do in Avren.
Several weeks ago, a young mother who comes occasionally to the Romanian church
I lead, came to the meeting and asked us to pray for her child. I had known this
woman as a beggar who only came to the church when she wanted to ask me for
money. I rarely gave her anything, not believing the stories she would tell
about why she needed money. This time something was different. She didn’t ask
for money, she asked for prayer. Seems her 1 year-old son, David, had been born
with a place in his spine that leaked spinal fluid. There was an open place on
his back where this fluid seeped out constantly and never healed. She had been
told by a doctor that if the child did not have an operation to close up the
place on his spine, he would likely soon be paralyzed from that point down. We
prayed for her child in the service. She told me after the service she had been
getting money together to have the operation done but was afraid it would be too
late. I had a little money with me and I gave her what would be about enough for
the train trip to Bucharest where there operation would be done.
Last week at the Romanian meeting she was there again…this time testifying about
how the Lord had saved her child. Apparently, when she got to the hospital in
Bucharest and checked in, she was told that the operation would cost her twice
what she had understood. She said she broke down crying in the room knowing she
must return to Constanta with her child not having the operation. She said a
woman staying with her own child in the same room had overheard her conversation
with the doctor and told her that they needed to pray. She said this woman
prayed with her in the hospital room. As she was on her way out of the hospital
a nurse stopped her and told her the doctor would do the operation for the
amount of money she had. The operation was very successful and her little boy
was with her at our meeting. She was beaming as she testified about how the Lord
had helped her. I was reminded how the lame beggar went into the temple leaping
and praising God. I am glad this woman saw the Lord has something much better
than silver and gold! I thank Him for answering our prayers, strengthening the
church and putting faith in the heart of this woman. As always, we thank you for
remembering us in your prayers.
In Christ, The Turners
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Dear Friends in Christ, September 2018
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So much has happened since I last wrote that I hardly know where to begin. We have had everything from wonderful experiences seeing the Lord work miracles in the lives of those around us to heartbreaking loss that shook us to our foundations.
We have a ‘campmeeting’ here at the Children’s Home three times a year. All the missionaries in our group, both in Romania and Bulgaria, meet for five days of preaching, praying and fellowship. We always hope to see the Lord really move in and do great things. In our meeting in March, He certainly did! Three of our children (two in the Home and one biological) got saved! Johnny 9, Kelebek 10 and Creed 8. Sometimes, when young children get saved, you might wonder “Did they really get it? Did they really understand?” In the months since the campmeeting, it has been evident that they REALLY got it. They pray every night and almost always ask the Lord to save the other kids that are still lost. We recently had a mission group from Texas visit. After they had been here only a little while, one of the men said “I really like this place. I wasn’t here five minutes and your boy (Johnny) asked me if I was saved!” The salvation of our children is something that we have certainly prayed much about and we want to thank and glorify our Savior, Jesus Christ that He would do that for us.
In June, we had the bittersweet home going of Dara’s dad, Ralph Cheatwood. He served as a foreign missionary for over 40 years before going to take up residence in his eternal home. Brother Ralph was the driving force behind the great work that we are part of here in Romania and Bulgaria. We learned so much from watching him seek the Lord and not being afraid to follow wherever that might lead. He blazed the trail that we and the other families involved with us are following and, by God’s grace, will continue on. About reaching the Turks he said, “Love them and learn their language”. He preached to them in Turkish and translated the Bible for them into the Turkish language. We certainly miss him now. There were, however, already many believers, whom he called his ‘crowns’, who had gone ahead and were waiting for him as he entered that Eternal City. Even our own little Noah Cross was waiting for his Granddad. We thank the Lord for Brother Ralph’s leadership and example for us to follow as we continue on in this work.
Before Brother Ralph became ill, he bought an old house with a small cheese factory attached. He had begun working on converting it into a church and facility to print and bind Bibles and hymnbooks. In his last weeks, Brother Ralph asked us to finish this project for him after his passing. We, along with the other missionaries, raised the money and the work was done this summer on the building. On Sept. 23rd, we had a wonderful dedication service in the new building with all the missionary families attending. The church is finished and we have made much progress on the other parts of the building. This is a fitting monument for a remembrance of Brother Ralph. He was all about the local church and getting God’s Word out to the people. We praise the Lord we were able to see this done and thank all of you who offered prayers and financial support that this vision could be realized.
Thanks to all of you for your continued support of our family and this work. May the Lord bless you richly.
In Christ, The Turners
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Dear Friends in Christ, January 2018
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope all of you enjoyed the holiday season. Dara and I have been saying that it seems like this has been one of the best holidays ever for us. After our Sunday service on New Year’s Eve, I think we can say for sure it is the best. I’ll tell you more about that in a minute.
First of all, I want to thank everyone who sent money and gifts for all of our kids for Christmas. It could not have worked out more perfectly. We were able to get the children all we had hoped for and even more. More importantly, we had several family prayer meetings during the time the kids have been out of school and it felt like we really drew together around Christ. It’s hard to explain-- you want your children to enjoy the presents and yet you want there to be a spirit of thankfulness and worship toward Jesus Christ and the salvation we have through Him – the most important gift! This year, more than any I can remember, we have had that spirit here in our Home. I want to thank the Lord for that…it really has been wonderful!
Our fellow missionaries working in Bulgaria, Larry and Carrie Leach, once again raised money and bought winter coats for the children in one of our poorest villages. Not long before Christmas they brought the coats; and we took most of our kids with us out to this village to fit every child (over 30 in total) with a beautiful warm coat, each with a pair of socks in the pocket. Our kids took turns fitting a coat to a village child, many of whom came with no coat at all, even though the weather was quite cold. The village children were beaming proudly when we left and our kids were warmed with that feeling that comes from being able to show Christ’s love to someone else.
We were able to pray for two families we know who each lost a newborn child right around Christmas. Of course, learning of these terrible losses brought back many of the emotions we felt losing our own Noah Cross. We missed having him here with us for Christmas. But, thank the Lord, we were also reminded of that wonderful flood of grace that God poured out on us during that time, now 5 ½ years ago. All of our children here at the Home went through that loss with us and we were all able to pray together for these families in a way that many will never know. Paul said to the Romans “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” I think our short separation from Noah Cross will not compare to the glory we will share together with him for an eternity in Heaven.
Over the last several weeks we have had some really good church services, and it seemed the Lord had been stirring our hearts. On several occasions over these weeks we had young military men and women visit for the first time. We heard that 6 or 7 would be coming to church on Sunday the 31st, the last day of the year. Everyone was feeling the Lord might do something great. My mother-in-law, Sandy, said she prayed the night before that someone would be saved. One of the military men who is a Christian and has been coming regularly told me when he got here on Sunday morning that he believed someone would be saved. We had a very good service. The Lord really blessed as Dara and the kids sang during the service and then afterward when Dara gave a beautiful testimony of God’s goodness to all of us.
After the service, a few of us were able to sit down with two of the young men who came and discuss salvation. One of the men, who had been saved years before, was afraid he had drifted so far that he had lost his salvation. We were able to show him from the Bible that it is God, not he himself, who is the keeper of his soul. He now has the Lord’s full assurance of his salvation and he made a commitment to get back to that walk with the Lord that had been missing in his life for so long.
The other young man had not been saved; but as we talked with him and prayed with him, he asked the Lord to save him and to come into his heart and life. Praise the Lord!! This was the answer for which we had been praying. Afterward, we sat around singing hymns and testifying until late in the evening. Someone said to this young soldier, “Aren’t you excited the Lord did this for you today?”, it being New Year’s Eve. He said “I am more excited for every day in the next year!” We thank the Lord for saving this young man and for everything He let us have a part in – not just on that day but every day. We are certainly going into the New Year with a renewed excitement for serving our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ.
We pray a blessed new year for each of you. Thank you again for all your prayers and support.
In Christ, The Turners