Hello from way over here!

Firstly, thank you for your faithful love, support and prayers!

Being flexible is one of the most important things we have learned and experienced serving on the mission field.  A new season has dawned for us over here in Eastern Europe.

Our initial step on the mission field

When we stepped out on the mission field, we made a two-year commitment to serve Him here in Romania.  As we sought the Lord each month for ministry opportunities, He has done some great and amazing things through our efforts.  It has truly been a blessing to serve with the Gypsy church, the orphan kids and our neighborhood Bible study.  We know the Lord will use all of what we have learned during this season in our next season of service to Him.

The Lord stirring our hearts

As we have been praying, seeking the Lord, and seeking counsel from leadership in the US and over here regarding our next ministry step.  The Lord has made it clear to us that it is time to move on from serving with Pathway to Joy Ministries (PTJM).  The director of PTJM has agreed to release us early from our two-year commitment; after prayer, we choose May 15 to be our last day with this ministry.

In addition, the pastor who oversees Calvary Chapel church plants in E. Europe has given us opportunities to pray about and seek the Lord’s leading.  We are very excited about what the Lord has for us next! Please pray with us and we will keep you informed, step by step.

Praise the Lord with us!  Our landlord has agreed to let us out of our two-year rental agreement.  He said that he is going to miss us but is really excited about what God is doing in our lives.  He said he doesn’t want to stand in the way of what God is doing and we can stay in his home until the Lord shows us His plan.

New missionary support option

Due to our new season of serving, we now have a new missionary support ministry handling His support for us.

We are blessed to have God’s provisions for our missionary support handled by Ripe for Harvest which is a member of EFCA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability).

ECFA is committed to helping Christ-centered organizations earn the public’s trust through developing and maintaining standards of accountability that convey God-honoring ethical practices.

One-time Gift Option

If you are led to give a one-time gift then make your check payable to Ripe for Harvest and mail it to the address below.  Please be sure to write, on a separate piece of paper, our missionary support number (#374) next to our name.

Ripe For Harvest World Outreach
P.O. Box 487
Monument, CO 80132

Monthly Option

If the Lord leads you to support us monthly, then click this link Monthly Support – Haines Family which will download the  monthly support form.  Complete it and mail it to:

Ripe For Harvest World Outreach
P.O. Box 487
Monument, CO 80132

* Please be sure to write our missionary support number (#374) next to our name on the form.

To support us monthly by check, please make the check payable to “Ripe For Harvest” and mail to the address above.  Please do not write anything on the memo line, but include a separate piece of paper with our name and missionary support number (#374).

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Embarking on a transition anywhere is difficult.  In our situation, we have great peace; the Lord has been so faithful in leading and confirming each step of the way.  Please pray with us as we venture out in faith once again.

We are looking forward to the next opportunity to Skype you and see you face to face via technology!

Prayer Requests:

* The Holy Spirit would speak to us when we visit serving opportunities
* His leading and confirmation as to where He wants us to serve Him, long-term
* One-time support donations toward moving expenses
* Added monthly supporters to provide consistently each month.  Faithful monthly supporters are the foundation for us to continue on the mission field
* A time of refreshing as we see Tiffiny’s mom and family in England, and have Elijah and Abigail visit the doctor at the end of May.  We planned this trip a while back, God’s timing is amazing!  We have free lodging and transportation via Tiffiny’s family and were able to get really inexpensive tickets for all 6 of us…Praise the Lord!

Lots of love from over here,
Steve, Tiffiny, Joshua, Jonathan, Elijah and Abigail Haines

Click HERE to view Ripe for Harvest’s website.

“Contributions are solicited with the understanding that Ripe For Harvest has complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds.”  Ripe For Harvest is a Member of ECFA.

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Wow! They all smiled at the same time!

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Praying your time in the Bible over this past Easter was rich and full of life, Jesus did it all!

Thank you for love and support in our efforts to serve Him here in Romania. Be sure to join us in prayer over our current prayer requests at the bottom of this post.

Lord bless you,
Steve, Tiffiny, Joshua, Jonathan, Elijah and Abigail

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Isus a înviat! Jesus is Risen!

The depth of someone’s character and heart can be clearly seen when we slow down, take notice and ask questions.

You may remember Ica, she is the elderly single Roma (Gypsy) woman who invited us to have church in her one-room home when the church building was too cold.  Now that the weather is warming up, we will move back into the church building, but we will miss the fellowship in her humble home.  One of the sweetest memories was when one of our team members gave Ica a little money for the wood she was using to keep us warm every Sunday.   The following week, Ica had her home warmed with saw dust (much cheaper than wood) and she prepared a simple meal for us.  We all had a piece of bread and enjoyed her potato, water and parsley soup.  As I was eating, this scripture came to my mind and heart, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.” Proverbs 15:17.

Everyone has a story.   I wanted to hear Ica’s story and how she had become this amazing godly woman.   Her story begins with a beautiful picture of her and her husband of 23 years giving their lives to Jesus on the same day.  They prayed together, served in their church together and they wanted to go to heaven together when Jesus returned.  However, Ica’s story went the other direction when she found out that she couldn’t have children (a village woman’s value is based upon having children).   On top of that, she became very ill and was in the hospital, close to death, when her husband told her that he was with someone else now and gave her divorce papers.   If we were to stop there with her story, it would be quite a downer.

But God can do great things and bring beauty from ashes.  That is exactly what He did! Ica recovered from her illness in the hospital and moved back to the village.  The Lord has given her such a heart for the village kids. Whenever possible, she reads Bible stories to them and prays with them, and a handful of the kids help her in the garden and fill up her water bottles from the well.  With every child she sees an opportunity to share the knowledge of Jesus.   It was inspiring to see the excitement in her eyes when she talked about “her village kids”.   She told us that this is what Jesus would like her to do with the rest of her life.
I asked Ica if we could record the audio of her sharing her life story.  She said, “Sure!”

If you would like to hear the full talk with Ica, Dan Iozsa (Romanian missionary from Calvary Costa Mesa) and me, then click the play button on the below image.

Prayer Requests:
* Pray for Steve as he teaches every other week in the Roma village.
* Pray for wisdom and stamina as Steve continues to oversee logistics of visiting US teams.
* Pray for Steve as he devlops and oversees the PTJM Summer Internship Program.
* Pray for Tiffiny as she homeschools.
* Pray for the health of our family.
* Pray for His heart and vision for our family.
* Pray we see His plan for our furlough break later this year.

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