the greatest high...

With a title like "the greatest high"...you might wonder what in the world is she talking about.

The past two months of my life have been filled with working with the Akins family to start a ministry called "WOW Kids OutReach".   In my last post, I talked about a few prayers that changed my life and our family working WOW Kids is due to one of the prayers.  I asked for more training and wisdom for taking teams to Romania, Father's answer was to work with WOW Kids.  So, through prayer, Scott and I obeyed the Father once again and said "Yes" to Him.  We are now 5 weeks into the ministry.  Saturday afternoons are filled with the Music Camp, Tuesday and Thursdays are filled with the afterschool program.

So....my greatest high has come at the end of the days when we are in the projects helping others.  I find that I get tired but am filled with overwhelming joy in the midst of what seems like ciaos at times.  I know that in the ciaos He will make all things calm, if only in my heart.

Prayers that go straight to the heart of the Heavenly Father...

Prayers that go straight to the heart of the Heavenly Father...

At times in my life I have wondered if the Father is hearing my prayers, even thought when I prayed it would take forever for an answer to come or did He even hear me at all.  It is said that "hind sight" is always 20/20.

In hind sight, I will share 5 of my most life changing prayers...mind you they have always been short and to the point when I prayed them.

Age 20 

Prayer: "Lord, get me out of this relationship.  I know I can't be in this and follow You."  

Answer: He gave me strength to get out of the relationship that night.  

Age 22

Prayer: "Lord, if this is real then please don't let this feeling go away tomorrow."

Answer:  Scott showed up at my parents house to pick me up and I felt just as excited to see him the next morning as I did when I went home the night before.  One a side note:  We got engaged 3 months later, married one year to the day from when we started dating and will be married 23 years next month!

Age 41

Prayer:  "Lord, I can't imagine that You are pleased with us living our lives this way.  Going to church on Sunday morning, night and Wed....there has to more to life than the way we are living it?"

Answer:  The answer to this prayer was already in the works...we as a family have always been active in our church in many areas of leadership.  However, through studying the Word of God, my heart had been stirred and I was beginning to not be comfortable to just keep going they way I was going.  Scott and the boys had been going to a weekly prayer meeting....a real prayer meeting...they were really praying weekly and it was changing our lives.  God began "cleaning house" in each life.  When the men in my family prayed....God was listening and He was answering prayers.  These things together caused our hearts to be stirred and the fast track to getting closer to the Father was about to come quickly...he brought us a 15 yr old boy...Jordan Clark.   

Age 42

Prayer:  "Lord, how can him being with our family make a difference over the 15 years of the neglect and lack of Your teaching?"

Answer:  Instant answer in my heart...heard His voice clearly... "You teach him to love Me, teach him My Word,  I(God) can do more in the three and a half years he will be in your home than the 15 years before."

Jordan had been in our children's choirs at church when he was in 4th/5th grades.  We had taken him home several times and knew little of his home life except he had a dad and moved around a lot when there was not enough money for rent. Then his dad passed away, and his mom had left the family 7 years prior.  He was left as an orphan.  Scott and I, through prayer, knew we were to be the ones to take him to live with us.  However, God told us it was to make him a part of our family, to give him a home...not a house.  So many people would say that "oh, you all did a wonderful thing"  in the midst of the battles it didn't feel "Wonderful" at all.  Let me share something with everyone who reads this post...God does not ask you to do something for someone else and leave your heart out of His work...When you surrender to follow Him, no matter the cost, He is going to do a great work in your heart.  You will love Him more, know Him more, trust Him more, depend on Him more, and I will say again....LOVE Him more!  I had never taken in a 15 year old child before and  I probably did numerous things wrong but this I do know... I have taught him that God is great...God is good and He loves Jordan and me more than we can ever imagine.  He never leaves us alone.  He is exactly who His Word says He is...You can trust Him! 

Jordan is now in his first year of college .  He will have been a part of the Daves family for four years on this Nov. 24th....his birthday!  We filed for custody of him on his 15th birthday.   I am very proud of my son and thankful that God saw fit to bring him into our family.  

Age 45

Prayer: "Lord, I need more training for taking mission teams to Romania.  I want to be fearless in sharing Your Word and telling others about You."

Answer:  Go work with the Jack and Kara Akins in the ministry they are starting in the inner city  projects.

So, the ministry of WOW Kids Outreach was born when two families joined together for one purpose...to take the Gospel to a people who are covered in darkness and to share the truth and love of the Father with them.

Let's start with a story....

This is a video our team put together to tell the story of how salvation in Christ came to the Lucaciu family.  Peter Lucaciu, founder of the Romanian Evangelistic Medical Mission (R.E.M.M.), shared this story with our team and we felt it so important to share how God's Word changed the heart of one man, his family and then would eventually grow a ministry that would bring other Believers from the other side of the world to share the Gospel in a country where the name of Jesus could not be spoken not so long ago.

Mission Team Summer 2012

Summer 2012 Mission Team

Romania

This is a photo of our team with R.E.M.M. ministry founders Peter and Ana Lucaciu.  I am very thankful for God allowing us to work with them in Beius, Romania.  It is a true blessing to see how God has worked in their lives and built a ministry through them because they had willing hearts to listen and obey His call in their lives.  Many lives in their country have been changes because of their obedience to Christ.  However, not only in Romania has their obedience effected lives, but here in the USA as well. 

This is a group photo from the last day of Another Day Under the Son Music Camp.

Camp is held on the grounds of the Casa Josef Orphanage which a part of the R.E.M.M. ministry.

Praise God for the provision of translators who came along side us to help run the camp.

After Romania....

Well it is now almost 3 weeks post Romania mission trip.  It was an awesome experience this year!  Everytime really is awesome if you consider the awesome part that God is real and He never leaves us even if our evaluation of the situation is good, stressful, bad, confusing or any label we choose to attach to the day or experience. 
I have to say that this trip was different for me.  I saw the wonder of new experiences in those team members who had never flown or stepped foot into another country.  I found encouragment in their wonder and excitement of meeting the Romanian people, learning the language, trusting that God had brought them there for a reason and what would they learn from it all. 

God was so faithful to our team.  He answered our prayers for peace and patience.  Trust me, the heat this summer was enough to make even the sweetest person not so sweet.  However, I saw each team member willing to extend mercy to each other. 

Children at the camp were great this year.  The first day of camp I couldn't believe how many kids were in my group...they just kept bringing them in!  I thought...how many does everyone else have???? Oh My Goodness!  God doubled the number of children we had from last year!  It was amazing to see them excited about the camp and what we were teaching them.  Teaching the love of the God through music. 

Music Camp

Today was day 3 for the music camp in Beius, Romania.  It has been very encouraging to see what God is doing through the camp.  Last year was the first year and this year the word spread that we were back in Beius...we went from having 37 kids last year to this year....
Monday....64 kids
Tuesday.....68 kids
Wednesday..Today....76 kids!

Wow....is all I can say.  God is doing great things not only in the hearts of the children, but in the parents and teachers lives.  We have teachers who are coming to the camp to watch.  Music is not taught in the school in Romania and they are very interested in how we are keeping control of so many children, teaching them and also having no discipline problems with the gypsy children.  We treat the gypsy children the same as the Romanian children and they have been great!

All the songs we are teaching are about salvation and living out our faith in Christ.  There is a lot of people who just go to church on Sunday and don't understand the relationship that Jesus died to give us with Father.  We are telling them all how much God loves them.  This is a tough field to plough....keep the people in this town in your prayers.  Pray for hearts to be tender to the Word, for the children and their families to understand the Gospel and to accept Jesus into their hearts.

Blessings,
Paula

Does he speak english?

It is now 11:35 pm and we are still up.  We have had an awesome day.  Got to sleep a little late this morning, then breakfast at Casa Josef....then a long walk to the Cabana( not sure if that is spelled correctly). Cabanna is the "Cabin" here in Romania.  It is in a beautiful location right outside of Beius.  Sits on a hill over looking the town.  Sunny, warm day with the Lucaciu family and the girls from Casa Josef orphanage.  Playing with the girls today was fun and interesting.  They have grown up so much since last year.  This is the first time I have really felt that my time with them was at times like being a mother to them.  Opportunity to teach them in situations that arise the same  as I would my own children.  I was talking with them yesterday about Jordan and told them that we had adopted him.  They asked if he speaks English.  I thought it was interesting that they thought if we adopted a child he must be from another country.  Once again today I heard them talking about it, then they asked me again how old he was when he came to our family.  I don't know what is in their minds, but I can't help but wonder if the fact they can not come to live with the American families who want to adopt them until they turn 15 or older, and then only if they can get a visa...it gives them hope that there are people willing to still have a child come into their family as a teenager.

This evening ended with us eating dinner at Casa Josef, then back to our apartment at the coffee house.  We have spent the rest of the evening working out our plans for starting the camp and preparing for worship tomorrow at church.  We are so excited....we are going to a gypsy church tomorrow for worship!

Day 2...a free nation???

Rested and ready for our day....

We slept a little late today and then got up, Ana David met us and walked with us to Casa Josef for breakfast. After breakfast, we went to one of the local schools.  We talked with five classrooms of children. We are able to share the Gospel in the public school here in Beius.  The purpose of the music camp is to share the Gospel through the use of music.  The people of Romania suffered for many years under the oppression of communism.  When you walk down the streets of Beius there are not many smiles on the faces of the older people. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified can change and soften the hearts of these people.  Today we had the privilege of meeting two missionaries staying in the house at Casa Josef.  The are American's who first met Peter and Ana in 1983.  They first came here to smuggle in Bibles and speaking the name of Jesus would get you arrested.  Now this very town where they smuggled Bibles, is  free from communism and the Gospel is able to be spread, even in the public schools.   It made me think of what I was doing in 1983....high school, worrying about how my hair looked that day, what would others think of me, what would I wear for the day.  I know that is "just how it was" for me but it seems that once we know the real truth of the Gospel we MUST as Believers, teach our children what is really important in this life.  Do we teach them to as Paul said...to know only Christ and Him crucified?  Are we really willing to lay down our lives for the sake of our Savior, to share the Gospel with others even if it means we might loose our lives? 

Day One....Beius, Romania

We arrived yesterday evening in Beius after 23 hours of travel.  We were greeted by Ana, who had the welcome soup ready for the team.  Potatoes and meat soup.  It was so good!  After eating we walked to Casa Josef orphanage to greet the girls.  It was great to see them again.  They enjoyed meeting all the team and loved that they are all so young and can play with them.  The played some games with the girls and then we returned back to our apartment to get some rest.  It was a good night sleep and now ready for the next day!

3 Days to departure...

We leave for our mission trip to Beius, Romania in 3 days.  After months of prayer and preparation the time is finally here.  We are packing our bags, checking our list but most of all we need your help with covering us in prayer.  I personally am so excited to be going back to Beius, because one of the biggest blessings from a mission trip is the people you have the privilage of meeting and with whom you develope friendships.  When my mind thinks of returning to Beius, it is almost like going to stay with family...but they are part of God's family...my family!  It will be awesome to see what God is at work doing in the lives of those I love greatly and those who I will meet.
Please consider praying for us daily during our trip. Below is the basic schedule of our trip and will give you an idea of how you can pray for our team and us individually.

Another Day Under the Son Music Camp
“Live It Out!”
Summer 2012

Team Leader: Paula Daves
Team Members:

Elijah Daves, Nehemiah Daves, Josiah Daves, BrittanyNicholas,

Madison Akins, Savannah Climer and Ashley Carpenter

Please remember us in prayer during our mission trip. We are
providing you a schedule to give you an idea of how to pray for us
according to where we are and what we are doing.
Follow our journey on http://www.anotherdayundertheson.blogspot.com/

June 12 – Departure from USA 2:40pm
June 13 – 12:10 pm arrive in Budapest, Hungary (5:10am ET)
We are picked up by REMM, 5.5 hour drive to Beius, RO
Arrive in Beius, dinner, settle in, rest up
June 14 – Prepare for camp, meet with ministry leaders
Meet girls from Casa Josef
Rest from travel and time change
June 15 – team goes to local public school
Visit classes, invite to camp
Prepare for camp
June 16 – Ministry opportunities with REMM
Prepare for church on Sunday
June 17 – Sunday – church and time with girls of Casa Josef
We will be going to church a couple of times
Sharing our testimonies and singing
June 18 – 1st Day of Camp 1:30-4:30Morning: visit school classrooms
Afternoon: Camp, pray for unity among campers
June 19 – 2nd Day of Camp 1:30-4:30Morning: visit school classrooms
Afternoon: Camp, pray for Gospel to be received
June 20 – 3rd Day of Camp 1:30-4:30Morning: visit school classrooms
Afternoon: Camp, renewed strength for team
th Day of Camp 1:30-4:30
June 21 – 4th Day of Camp 1:30-4:30Morning: visit school classrooms
Afternoon: Camp, pray for families of campers to be reached
June 22 – 5th Last Day of Camp 1:30-4:30Morning: visit school with girls of Casa Josef
Afternoon: Camp - final day, parents program
Pray for parents to receive the Gospel
Clean up and pack up camp supplies
June 23rd – Saturday – spend time with girls from Casa Josef
Pray for the girls of Casa Josef, it is always hard when the
Teams leave and they have grown close to everyone.
June 24th – Sunday – Depart for Budapest, Hungary around 8:30am
Travel is 5.5 hours back to Budapest
Pray for peace among our team when we are tired at the end
Of this journey.
June 25th - Monday – Tourist day in Budapest, Hungary
Tour Budapest, rest, team time before returning to USA
June 26th – Tuesday – Flight leaves at 6:20am
Pray all flights are on time
June 26th – Tuesday – Arrive in Atlanta, GA 2:45pm
Thank you for praying for us during this awesome journey God has prepared for
us to do.

Romania in 20 days....

We leave in 20 days for Romania!  We have a full day planned for next week to make signs, buy supplies and pack for the trip.  It is a very fun time, and I am thankful for God allowing me to work with each one of these people.

I will be posting a prayer calendar.  It will have a day by day schedule so those who are praying for us will have an idea of how to pray for us according to what we are doing.

Thank you to everyone for your support!  Please be praying for us!

Blessings
Paula

A Prayer for the team....

A Prayer for the team...

I have been encouraging our mission team to be very prayerful during the planning of our mission trip about the role they will have on the team and in the lives of people we come in contact with.  It is really exciting to see them so ready to go and ready to experience something new in their lives as a Believer.

During our time early in our preparation we have been working thru a short-term missions workbook.  We read through Phil 2:6-11.... then turned it into a prayer for our team.  I encouraged them to pray this Scripture over their lives in preparation for our mission trip.

Praying...
Lord Jesus, Thank you for working in my life.  As I pray for our mission trip to Romania, I ask you to work in the hearts of our team mates and myself.
I pray for:

• encouragement in Christ, to be drawn to His Word, to choose to study the Word, for encouragement comes from Your Word.
• let love fill my heart and be the motivation for all I do
• to be united throught the Holy Spirit with my team mates
• to have a tender heart that is willing to hear first, listen and have compassion and mercy for others on my team and who I meet on the mision field
• fill our team with the joy that comes from being like-minded, having the same love of Christ
• our team to be one, operate as one in the Spirit and in purpose.
• to do nothing out of vain conceit, but in humility to consider others better than ourselves
• to look not to our own interests, but also to the interest of others

Remind us Lord...our attitude Lord should be the same as Yours.  Help us to be the same person when we are with our team in the mission field as we are when we are away from each other.  As our Salvation is worked out in our lives, may we understand fear & trembling before you Lord. 
I praise You, Father, that it is You who works in me to will and act according to His good purpose. 
Take captive my every thought, that I might do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that I may be blameless and pure, a child of God who is faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom You shine like the stars in the world. 
Lord, May the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, guard my heart and mind in Jesus Christ!
Amen!

What if...

Yesterday, while working through my Bible study by Beth Moore on the book of James she wrote this in the last paragraph of this particular day's study.  I have written it out to remind myself how different my life is and can be when I believe His Word is true and He really is who He says He is.

Jeremiah 29:11

"'I know the plans I have for you', Declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

 plans to give you hope and a future.' "

What if...

• ...we understood down to the marrow of our bones that His is the only plan that really ends up prospering us?
• ...we really believe Jesus when He said that those who insist on finding their own lives will lose them and those who lose them for His sake will find them?  Matthew 16:25
• ...we really believed that, if we seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness, everthing else of true value would be gien to us, too?  Matthew 6:33
• ...we really believed that "He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything"?  Romans 8:32
• ...we really believed that "godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come"? 1 Tim. 4:8

What if....we really believed that God is not only great, He IS Good?

4 weeks to departure....Destination...Beius, Romania
June 12-26th, 2012

Preparation for the children's music camp mission trip to Beius, Romania is in progress.  It has been fun getting to know everyone and to watch Father build our relationships. 
Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to prepare for this mission He has called us to do.
Blessings,
Paula

Romania Mission Team June 2012

Pray for our team!

RO Music Camp Summer 2012

I am so thankful that God is opening the door for us as we prepare for our summer missions music camp in Beius, Romania.  Our trip dates are scheduled for June 13-26, 2012.  We are excited to see how God is going to use us this summer.  Please pray for us as we plan, prepare and raise our financial needs to make the trip possible.  Your prayers are needed now and until the day we return....even after for God to take the things He does in our hearts during this time and use it for His Kingdom. 

2012 RO Summer Missions Team Members
Paula Daves
Elijah Daves
Nehemiah Daves
Josiah Daves
Brittany Nicholas
Ashley Carpenter