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July 2015 Prayer Letter
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![Healing Hearts Ministries Internaional [LOGO]](https://www.healinghearts.org/nimages/HHLetterhead_Web700.png) Dear Friend,  One of our leaders, Lesley Swanson, recently answered the call to carry the ministry of Healing Hearts to Romania. It is thrilling to see how God is using your gifts to change lives throughout the world......one heart at a time.  In May, I had the opportunity to go to Romania and introduce the freshly printed Romanian translation of our "Binding Up the Brokenhearted" study. I traveled with Carol & Bill Nielsen, who faithfully visit Timisoara bi-annually to love on and encourage missionaries, Doug & Diane Markesbery and to help them as they train Pastors and others in Biblical Counseling at the Areopagus school. As I prepared for my trip, I was heartbroken to learn about the current conditions facing many of the women across Romania. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, "The average Romanian woman will have three or four abortions in her life, compared with no more than one for women in the West. Romania has the highest abortion rate in Europe, and also has the highest rate of deaths in women caused by abortion. Around 20% per cent of Romanian women who have multiple abortions are left infertile as a result."[1] Under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceauşescu, population growth was important so he banned all contraceptives, sex education, and abortion. When Ceauşescu was executed and the ban was overturned, abortion was the only solution that women knew of as a means of birth control. It is not unlikely for a Romanian woman to have upwards of 20 or more abortions.The good news is that today's liberated Romania can openly worship Jesus and is hungry for God's Word. While abortion is not openly talked about, there are many opportunities to minister to these brokenhearted women. Carol's connection to Doug and Diane has opened up the opportunity for Healing Hearts' study to get into the hands of hurting women across Romania.  Carol, Bill and I arrived in Romania on Wednesday, May 6th and we jumped right into presenting "Binding Up the Brokenhearted" on Thursday morning. I was able to share my abortion testimony with several Pastors wives and leaders of the Areopagus school first. What a delight it was to be with them and see their hearts for women in their churches and at the school. At noon on Thursday, Lacrisa, the Director of Biblical Counseling at Areopagus, invited several women and a husband-wife team who currently minister to women in and around the Timisoara area to come hear my story. They each received a copy of our Romanian study which Carol and I encouraged them to go through themselves, or go through with a post-abortive woman they knew that was hurting. They were amazing! Their love for God and for women was so very evident! They were very grateful for a solid Biblical resource and were eager to know when we would come back to train them.On Friday, Lacrisa was able to line up a radio interview for me with Nelu Ciobota at Voice of the Gospel Radio (Radio Vocea Evangheliei). This was another amazing opportunity to speak openly about my abortion story, Healing Hearts Ministries and our new Romanian "Binding Up" study. Nelu asked the best questions! As I spoke about the lessons in our study, Nelu beautifully lead me into being able to share how the 'mommy's' of the aborted babies could be with them in heaven one day. What a thrill it was to share the Gospel to whomever God had listening! While each of these opportunities to speak about our study was amazing, the highlight for me was the last evening in Timisoara. Diane set up a one-on-one meeting so that I could share my story with a young woman who had aborted her first child just 4 years ago. This young woman could not understand why they did not tell her that it was truly a baby. She wondered how she could ever tell a husband or children someday. What an honor and privilege it was to be able to share with her some answers to those questions. This young woman is in love with Jesus and believes that God will use her story one day. She and Diane will be going through "Binding Up the Brokenhearted". Carol said I would fall in love with the people of Romanian and she was right! It is a country where some say they are only "25 years old" because it's been 25 years since they were set free from Communism. It is a country that needs Jesus' healing touch in many ways. Thank you for being a part of doing God's work through Healing Hearts Ministries! In Christ's Love,  PLEASE PRAY FOR ROMANIA: for the hurting women; for the country's healing; for the Markesbery's as they teach, train and counsel hurting Romanians; for Lacrisa, the 'keeper' of our "Binding Up" studies; for women to respond to the radio interview; for the group of Romanian ministers Lesley spoke with – that they will lead women through the study, that we could return for further training as they requested, and that women who are healed would desire to become Romanian Healing Hearts leaders! Were you encouraged by this report from the mission field? Please consider becoming a monthly supporter of Healing Hearts and sharing Healing Hearts' mission with your friends, family, and colleagues. A one-time or monthly gift of $25, $50, $100 or more can change a life forever! As always, thank you for supporting Healing Hearts Ministries as we go into all the world to share the good news with a broken world in need of hope. (And a huge "Thank You!" to Grace Fellowship Church for funding the Romanian translation revisions and printing!)  All For His Glory,  Sue Liljenberg International Coordinator |
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To Make a DonationYou may use the donation form on our website to make a donation, or you may also submit your check to the address provided below. Healing Hearts Ministries is a federally registered non-profit corporation, all contributions are tax deductible. One hundred percent of all contributions made to Healing Hearts go directly toward supporting the various aspects of our ministry no "administrative fee" is collected by a fund-raising service. All donations and expenditures are internally and independently monitored and audited. Annual financial statements are available upon request. We thank you for considering contributing to our ministry. Your contribution will enable us to reach out and touch individuals who need the hope and healing message that only Jesus has to offer. To donate online click this link: https://www.healinghearts.org/donate Send checks to: Healing Hearts Ministries PO Box 44670 Rio Rancho, NM 87174 phone (505) 355-6922 |