It was on May 23, 1996 that the Lord spoke to
me as I was sharing with my first co-worker about the
vision God gave me. As I looked out over the field in
front of our house, God spoke to me and said, "And
even this field will belong to Casa Shalom."
At that
time we were just managing the house for another
organization. I had so many problems with the house
there was little time to think about the vision God
showed me that spring morning. Now, two and a half
years later our house problems are solved and once
again God is reminding me of the vision.
I already saw the house which we are getting
ready to build this coming year. The vision had several
big three-story dorms in it for younger and older
children. There was even a home for some
handicapped children. Then there was a little
kindergarten and a Christian school for the children.
In one of the buildings, the children were learning
to play instruments, sing and participate in Bible
theater.
There were beautiful gardens and fruit trees
everywhere. The older girls were being taught life
skills. There was a building where the girls were
learning to cook and sew. I saw things being sold out
of this building. Then the same for the boys. They were
learning construction and working with wood. There
were also things being sold from this building. There
was even a staff house where the workers could relax
a bit. I thought that's quite amusing. Then for me, the
most beautiful thing
was the church right in the middle of all the other
buildings. Everything seemed to lead to the church, even
the little streets circled the church. The children
were putting on performances at the church and the
public was coming to see and hear from the little ones
at the Casa Shalom Village.
It seemed so real, but at that time, in reality, we
owned only 400 square meters of land. Since Nov. 1997,
we have bought three little parcels of the
land I saw in the vision. Now we have over 9,000 square
meters of land. Right now we have almost one third of
the land I saw in the Vision. This year we will begin
construction on the first house which will be for the
abandoned babies.
This brings so much joy to my
heart to see God moving and using people that I have
never met before to help fulfill the vision He put within
my heart. This vision is so much bigger than me.
Sometimes I feel so inadequate for such a task. Then I
think about all the children here in Romania that have
no future and have no hope. I believe God has been
preparing me for such a time as this. My husband
Joseph has been such a tremendous help this past
year.
Our Casa Shalom girls are starting to play the
Mandolin quite well. In a few years, if the Lord, tarries
they'll be playing in that new church in the middle of
the field. There are times I think, can God trust me?
Then there are times I ask, can I trust God? Well,
every day we are learning to trust Him for the 14
children, and we will trust Him the same for the 50, and
the 100, and 200, and build as big as God wants us to.
I realize more and more that money is something we
can only use on earth. It doesn't have any value in
heaven. How we need to invest it wisely! How
beautiful it will be to take a stroll on the streets of gold,
hand in hand with some children you helped to reach
for eternity. Let's build where neither moth nor rust
can destroy. Help us invest in the life of a child.