Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27
April, 2023
Dear Friends,
We pray that all of you had a blessed Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We enjoyed being all together as a family for the first time in many years. Easter is a week later in Romania this year so they haven’t celebrated it yet. But, Marcel and Andrada have been practicing a lot on the piano and will play in the Easter program.
Valentina continues to challenge the children and teenagers to learn Bible verses. She had another competition for them. She also continues to teach them how to cook different things. She is so good at being hands on with them. The things that she learned from her mother she is passing down to our children and teenagers. They probably don’t realize it now, but they are learning many life skills that they will need later on as they go out on their own.
One fun activity that they did this past month was to go into the hills near the orphanage and have a barbeque. There are some very beautiful areas around us with open fields, forests, streams and lots of wild flowers starting to bloom. Food seems to taste better outside, too. The children and teenagers had fun playing games and enjoying the beautiful nature. They also went to the theater in Timisoara. Valentina is exposing them to many different things which is great.
Marta, our oldest daughter, has come back to the states from Romania. She is staying with us now until she finds a job and a place of her own. Please pray for her as she settles in here and begins a new chapter of her life. Bianca will be finishing her first year of college soon. She is going on a trip with her college to Japan on May 16. Her desire for many years has been to live and teach in Japan. She will now have an opportunity to see the country and be able to visualize better what it would be like to live there. Please pray for her trip and her safety.
Karen will go on April 27 and 28 to Zion for her three month check-up, including another scan. She feels great and continues to believe for her complete healing. Praise the Lord. We have been asked to be a part of the Unmet Needs organization here in Jacksonville. It helps those in our community who have specific needs that they can’t fulfill themselves. We have been looking for ways to minister and God has directed us here. We are looking forward to becoming involved and helping the less fortunate.
Through your gifts and prayers, you are helping those in need as well. Thank you so much for being a part. You are all blessings for our children, teenagers and many others in Romania.
With our love,
Ruben, Karen & Bianca
Beraca Foundation, P.O. Box 674, Jacksonville, IL 62651; karenpopet@gmail.com