Well today I made my one vote count.  Yea!!!  It's quite the interesting process when one lives overseas and it varies for people depending on what state you live in.  I had some interesting conversations with people in line at the US Embassy today as I waited to turn in my ballot.  Today only UPS was offering to ship all ballots received at the US Embassy by end of the day today for free.  They will ship to one location in the states and from there be put in the USPS.  I like free!  Anyways, back to my conversations in line.  One guy from Mississippi was explaining how he had to swear in front of a notary that he was who he says he was.  Another business guy really had no clue what he was doing.  He hadn't expected to even be out of the country and didn't even apply for an absentee ballot yet.  I gave him some suggestions based on what I knew how to expedite it.  For me I was able to download an application to receive an absentee ballot and mail it in.  Because I was a bit uncertain about the postal service from here to there I used DHL and unfortuantely cost me a lot.  Two weeks later I got my absentee ballot.  Anyways, it's done and I did my part.  It's in God's hands. 

It's interesting here how interested Romanians are about the elections.  Does make for interesting conversations though.  Many in the states don't realize the impact this election has for the rest of the world.  

We need to pray.  Many here have said that they believe the elections have been decided and it's pretty much over.  I say it's not over until every vote is counted.  I have to believe that my vote will make a difference and if everyone understood that there should be no excuse for anyone not to vote.  For us to vote is a right and a responsibility.  I would encourage everyone to do their part to get their voice heard. 

Blessings

Tamara

www.henkes.ministryhome.org  

   I wish I could say that every day we are part of a big evangelistic outreach, training seminar or something of that sort but the reality is that behind every evangelistic outreach, training seminar, team from the states etc... is alot of administrative and grunt work.  Must be done.  These past couple weeks I've been playing catch up on financial reports, newsletters (mine will go out very soon), preparing for next events etc.  Not a whole lot to report on those so I'm going to show some "Just for fun" pics of life around here behind the scenes.....enjoy!

These colors are amazing and this picture does it no justice.

guard outside bathroom door

Bucharest is full of block apartments covered with advertisements

 This has to be the cutest outhouse I've ever seen

Now I'm not an electrician but I know this can't be good

Our missionary associate, Amanda.  You know the saying you are what you eat.  This evening we ate bear

   Here is Amanda driving my car while I had to drive another.

So what is is worse than receiving this message?   receiving it while driving late at night on the freeway and a long ways away from a gas station  (fyi - yes my car - but I was not driving   )

Amanda looking a little guilty after nearly getting stranded on the freeway

This is Toby our guard dog... are you scared?

Jan and I were very fortunate to have a hair stylist on this last team.  Jan and I got a cut and color.

So wouldn't you know it... all the water goes out.  So what's a girl to do with color treatment on her hair?  Ice cold bottled water will do.  Okay LOTS of ice cold bottled water will do.

  After bottle number 3 we are making progress. 

Romania is home to some amazing desserts

Unfortunately Romania is also home to lots of street dogs.  These guys and gals seem to enjoy the front of my colleague's home.  So we can't bring them all home so we try to make them comfortable. 

Okay looks can be deceiving.  One thing that people will notice when buying things in Romania that sometimes if the cashier doesn't have enough change they'll give you little things like gum but this is a first.  I actually received a can of NON alcohol beer because the gas station attendent didn't have enough coins to give me change.  This will make a great drama prop for our drug/alcohol Prevention program

Well I am currently resting after a team of 17 women from Bethel Church in Witchita Kansas has recently left after a weeks worth of ministry.  I want to shout out a huge thank you to these women and the church for their support and investment into this ministry.  They were phenomenal and so much fun.  So what did we do you may ask?  I'm giving the details here in case anyone is interested what takes place when a team comes.  This is not what every team does, we custom tailor it to the skills and desires of the team coming.  This is what the Kansas team did.  (I'll have pics later)

Wednesday 9/24

• Team arrives.  It takes a 9 passanger field van and 3 other cars to bring everyone and luggage home.  We stop for dinner and have orientation, head home and get settled.  The ladies stay in my colleagues home and our ministry center

Thursday 9/25

• AM and afternoon team does some painting to help spruce up our ministry center which is old and falling apart. 
• later afternoon we load all vehicles and head out towards the Carpathian Mountain region and enter into Sinaia.  Check into hotel located on Palace grounds and have dinner and go to bed.

Friday 9/26

• This is a free day for the team (normally their free day is later in the week but the schedule didn't permit it so they have their free day first thing.  They take tour of Pelesi Palace, go shopping, visit a glass factory and buy lots of beautiful glassware and head home for dinner at a Turkish restaurant.

Saturday 9/27

• AM continue painting projects at ministry center. 
• Afternoon we load up vehicles and head to various villages. 
• We split into 2 groups.  Jan's group does a children's evangelistic outreach at Fonduri Parulul (a Gypsy, Romanian village) and does a ladies tea at Crovu (a Gypsy Romanian village)
• My group does both a children's evangelistic outreach and a ladies tea in Miulesi (a Gypsy Romanian village) 
• We had an incredible prayer time after the service and were able to bless the pastors and their families tremendously.
• Head home and rest for evening

Sunday 9/28

• My team leaves early for Cobadin (a Turkish, Gypsy, Romanian Muslim village) to attend church service.  The ladies give testimonies and sing for church. 
• After the church service we have lunch and begin decorating for our party.  We are giving a party to the children who have been attending the church to receive tutoring.  Many of the gypsy children receive no education and it is not encouraged by their parents.  We wanted to tell the kids we were proud of them for studying and to continue their education.  The team provided educational games and tools for the teachers.
• Jan's team goes to Glina, a Gypsy village nearby Bucharest and does a children's outreach during the church service.

Monday 9/29

• We leave very early for Babadag (Turkish Muslim village) to visit a preschool.  Children must know Romanian language in order to continue into school.  However, many Turkish gypsy children do not speak Romanian and therefore typically cannot continue on past 1st grade.  This preschool helps them and gives them an opportunity to succeed. 
• We put on a ladies tea for the mother's of the preschoolers who, in some cases, are children themselves.  Here girls as young as 12 get married off (arranged marriages) and have children young.  It was an incredible ministry opportunity to the women.
• Part of the team leaves during the program and heads to Insuratei (a Romanian village) for a ladies tea. 
• Mine and Jan's tea, after Babadag, we head to Brailia for a ladies tea. 
• After the tea we meet up with the other team and we split up and stay in homes of people from the church. 

Tuesday 9/30

• After staying in church member's homes we meet up with team and head to a Leprosy/retirement colony to visit with the residents and pray over them.  We bring them bags of food and gifts. 
• We then head back home to Bucharest

Wednesday 10/1 Team leaves bright and early.

Pretty exhausted now but very blessed and it was an incredible week.  Please pray for these ministries and the seeds that have been planted.

Blessings

Tamara

www.henkes.ministryhome.org

On this 9/11 my heart and prayers go out to the many families who lost their loved ones.  It was on this day two years ago that we held the memorial service for my little brother.  I miss you bro!

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Happy Birthday to my niece Isabel!!!  It's a day late but I wasn't able to get a post in yesterday.  I woke up very early this morning so that I could talk to her the evening of her birthday (10th)  She turned 8.  However when I called and asked how it felt to be 8 - her response ~ "Aunt Tami, I'm not 8 yet.  I don't turn 8 until 8:14 tonight."  Oh my!  Can't wait to see her next summer.  Miss her lots.        

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After a long day at the office, my two colleagues and myself decided we would check out a new Turkish restaurant down the street from our office.  It's quite late and we are famished.  Parked our cars and made our way into the restaurant.   We hadn't even made it into the door when J turns around and points out that there are no women.  Oh wait there's one - over there.  Hmm that's the waitress.   Well we're here let's try it.  At first we found it odd that everyone came pouring into the restaurant at nearly the same time.  We enter and get a few glances and our first thought is that we crashed a private party.  A very nice gentleman comes over and we ask if they have room so he sits us down.  We are served bread and water but then we are not quite sure what to do next.  We sit and observe for a few minutes and then it dawns on us - all these men are breaking fast from Ramadan.  We do spot another woman and then realize she is the owner's wife.  Yea - we are obviously sticking out in this crowd.  We finally figure out that it's buffet style so we serve ourself.  The large screen t.v. is right next to us and it's all in Arabic however some of the major news stories are obvious, including the 9/11 memorial services.

So what are 3 Christian Americans, living in Romania, sitting in the middle of a room at a very authentic Turkish restaurant full of men breaking fast from Ramadan and chain smoking (the men - not us) to do?   We pray for our meal and that we can be a light here and then have one of the best Turkish meals I've had in a long time!!!  The owner was amazing and he went out of his way to serve us and make sure we were taken care of.  This is definitely a repeat. 

Oh the adventures.  We just never know what we may get into.

My devotional this morning brought me to Proverbs 3:5-6  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path." 

 How can I trust someone if I do not know them?  How can I trust the Lord in the big areas of my life if I don't trust Him in the little areas of my life?  This verse says "in ALL your ways".   I have had to learn to trust the Lord on a whole new level than I had to in the past.  The little things I could do on  my own I took for granted and didn't trust God to help me.  But thrown into a new culture, new language, new way of living and the little things are now huge.  I am, more and more, realizing my dependence upon Him.  Which for me, (a bit of a control freak and independent minded) has been difficult as I am continually being humbled.  That's a word so many have challenges with, myself included.  This past weekend I co-taught at a seminar for children's ministry.  I have taught many seminars here in Romania but this was the first without a translator.  I stumbled through it a little (okay alot), had to keep it simple, was nervous beyond anything I ever imagined but still managed to get through it.... No I take that back, God got me through it.  While I was excited to accomplish this huge task of teaching in Romanian I couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated.  There was more I wanted to say but didn't know the words, did I sound stupid?  Did I say the wrong thing?   It would have been so much easier to just speak in my heart language and have a translator help me.  But then God doesn't always call us to do the "easy".  Had I taken the easy road I would not have grown as much has I have this past week just in the preparation and actually teaching in a foreign language but most of all my dependence and trust in the Lord to help me through it all.   Are you dependent on God in all your ways?  Do you trust Him in the little things as well as the big things? 

Tamara

www.henkes.ministryhome.org

Tomorrow (saturday 9/6) my colleague, Jan, and I are teaching at a children's ministry seminar.  I've taught at several seminars before but this will be my first in total Romanian.  Today I'm finalizing my notes and writing things out and practicing.  I'm a bit, no I'm a lot nervous.    thank you for your prayers

Tamara

www.henkes.ministryhome.org

I don’t need to turn the pages on the calendar to know what day is today.  My heart knew this day was coming weeks before its arrival.  Each day closer became harder and harder to bear and now it’s here.   The explicit details of September 3^rd 2006 and the week following will be etched in my heart and mind for always.   Those moments that keep flashing into my mind playing over and over again.  I barely remember the entire sequence of events but rather bits and pieces and even 2 years later some of these still flash into my mind: 

The piercing scream of my mother after the phone rang,

the long flight back to Oregon still in complete shock,

the news interviews,

the look on each of my family member’s faces,

the plane pulling onto the tarmac with the fireman’s salute greeting my brother’s casket,

the flag draped over the casket as it came out of the airplane,

the long line of Patriot Guard Rider’s escorting us along I-5,

the American flag flown at half mass,

my niece crying her little eyes out and saying how much she misses her daddy,

my brother laying in the casket,

 the 21 gun salute

hearing taps

the deafening silence at his memorial service during “the final roll call”

the outpouring of love and support from so many,

so many flowers

the tree planted in memory of Rich

So what am I doing on this two year anniversary of Rich’s death in Iraq?

 I’m living my life! 

I haven’t forgotten,

 I still have a deep pain beyond anything I have ever experienced,

I still cry,

 I still miss him….

But I am doing exactly what he would want….

 While I still can I will live this life to the fullest. 

I will value and cherish life more than ever,

I will reach people with the love of Jesus,

I will cry with those who are crying,

I will hug those who hurt,

 I will share my experience so that those who are living without hope, may see hope in Jesus Christ lived out in my life….

We are never guarenteed a tomorrow, our loved ones are not guarenteed a tomorrow.  How are you living your life today?  Does life matter or is it taken for granted?   God help me to never take it for granted.  My prayer for today. 

"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.  He who goes out weeping carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."  Psalm 126:5-6

To see pictures on the life of SFC Rich Henkes please go to my website at www.henkes.ministryhome.org and click on "In memory of my brother".

Blessings to you all,

Tamara Henkes

I've seen this sign many times during our trip into the mountains of Sinaia and even heard many reports of bear encounters and attacks but never imagined I would encounter them myself.

However, in one day, not just once but twice we encountered these.  Do not fear we were okay and not in danger(yea easier to say that when one is safely inside a car)

I read somewhere that Romania is home to the most number of black bears in all of Europe. 

Blessings to you all. 

Tamara

www.henkes.ministryhome.org

  Yesterday I had to make the inevitable airport run to send my sister back to the states.  These past 2 weeks have been amazing.  Of course the first week we worked our tails off but it was an incredible experience for her.   The week of camp consisted of 3 children's VBS outreaches, a women's tea, church service and 3 evening evangelistic outreaches for all.  Overall it was an incredible but exhausting week.  We went there to encourage and lift up the Romanian missionaries who serve there, Vasile and Dorina and I pray they were encouraged. 

The beginning of our journey was a bit rough as we had serious car problems.  we spent an entire afternoon and evening putting everything in our field van.  The next morning we finished and were on our way.  I climb in to start the van and to our surprise it's completely dead.  We push it out of the gate to try to jump start it and it begins after about an 1/2 hour later.  We take it to the shop and the long list of problems begin There is no possible way to drive this vehicle the 4 hours we need to and expect to make it there or return.  Rick and Jan were so gracious to allow us to use their Land Cruiser.  So at the repair shop we make the transfer from a large 9 passenger van to a much smaller Land Cruiser. 

Debbie, me and sister Linda all packed and ready to go in field van

After cramming most everything into the Land Cruiser after field van dies on us.  The picture does not do it justice but that little space where Debbie and puppet are is very little and the rest is packed from bottom to top.

 Me with a group of kids who came back for the evening evangelistic service.

       The look on their faces are amazing!!!!

Kids having fun during game time

playing a memory verse game

Teaching the Good Samaritan lesson

We had a couple special visitors during VBS

                                                                                               can't resist these bring brown eyes

they loved tug-a-war

       Friday evening ladies tea event - before

ladies tea - full and they kept on coming throughout the evening.

Debbie (Klamath Falls Oregon) gave her testimony in front of the women.

My sister, Linda gives her testimony to the women.

The women reacting to a funny skit we did.

Some from the team from Timisoara I had the privilege to work with.

The most important thing though is that so many got to hear the gospel message.  We got to work with an amazing youth team from Timisoara who really made this whole thing happen.  These pictures are just a few of so many.  I will post more on my website at www.henkes.ministryhome.org. 

Here are a couple of short videos.  

First video ~ special guests make a grand entrance only to nearly lose his head by the tent ropes.  The kids loved them

This video is of the kids learning a new song with a little help from some special friends.  Please excuse the sideways action.  You can turn your computer screen sideways to see it better:

This final video is the missionary family and some of the leaders we went to work with.  The programs were all held in their yard and they were incredible hosts for us. 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support to allow this weeks event take place.

Tamara

www.henkes.ministryhome.org

As of this writing my sister is on a plane heading over here.  Sunday Debbie from Klamath Falls arrived.  We have all been very busy preparing for this week long outreach down in a small village near the Bulgarian border.  In 4 days (from thursday 8/14 thru sunday 8/17 with 13th arrival and set up and 18th clean up and leave) we will have 3 day VBS for kids, Ladies tea, youth outreach, all village/community evangelistic outreach and sunday church and street ministry. 

Please pray for:

•  health,
• open hearts to the gospel,
• each of the ministry programs,
• unity in teams,
• any opposition that may occur,
• travel safety

won't have internet access so I will give update later next week.

Tamara

www.henkes.ministryhome.org