Missionary Support Letter

As the New Year quickly approaches I am reminded yet again how long I have been trying to adopt Nicolae and Cristian. It has been a little over four years now. The reality of this is almost hard to believe. However, living in a foreign country, learning a foreign language, living far from my friends and family, makes the reality of my journey very clear.
I would have never imagined that one day that I would be living in Romania. In fact, I have asked myself, and God, many times, “why do I have to live in Romania to adopt?” I still don’t have all the answers, but I do know that God has me in Romania for a reason.
I know that living in Romania is the only way I can adopt Nicolae and Cristian. It also gives me the opportunity to work with children in need. I am still working at the hospital and have recently starting teaching Sunday school at Calvary Chapel Bucharest. And possibly the most important thing about living in Romania, is that it has caused me to put my faith and hope in God like I have never done before.

As many of you know, the adoption actually looks like it is going to happen. Praise God! In fact, Nicolae and Cristian should start living with me sometime in late January, early February. And if everything goes as planned, we may actually be home in the states, as a family, sometime during the summer. What a glorious day that will be!

However, in order to continue living in Romania so that I can adopt Nicolae and Cristian, I have had to file for a leave of absence from my teaching job. Which means, that I no longer have an income. I’d be lying, if I didn’t say that it scares me just a bit… ok… more than just a bit. And the whole depending on others thing, I am still working on that too. It is a huge Leap of Faith for sure, but not as scary as it may have been for me in the past. Over these last several years I have learned (and I am still learning) to depend on God, and that it is ok for me to reach out and ask others for help as well. James 4:2...We have not because we ask not.

So I am asking:

• I am asking for you to continue to pray for me and all that I still need to accomplish in adopting Nicolae and Cristian.

• Pray for my family at home. I know this is hard on them too. Please pray that God would keep all of them safe and healthy. I love them so much.

• Pray that God will continue to guide me and give me strength throughout all of this. To rest in the comfort of Him and know that He will meet all of my needs.

• Pray too that I would continue to make progress in learning Romanian and that Nicolae, Cristian and I will bond quickly as a family.

• Pray for the simple everyday things that seem so much harder in Romania.

Beyond your prayers, if you are led to support me financially, I would be forever grateful. I truly believe that this is a journey that God has called me to and I would greatly appreciate any level of support you are able to offer. You can send your donations to:

Beta's Blessings

8412 Siesta Way

Louisville, KY. 40219

Please make sure to designate your gift to Debbie Vaughn’s Missionary Support.

FYI…Beta’s Blessings is a non-profit organization that was started by Karen Barrentine. She started this organization specifically for children of Romania. Beta is the name of her daughter in Romania. Karen is currently living in Romania and is still trying to adopt as well.

You will receive a record of your giving at the end of the 2008 year. For those who want a tax write off for this year 2007, simply post mark your donation before December 31, 2007.

I want to thank you in advance for your prayers and your financial support.

May God bless you and your family!

Love,
Debbie

I am feeling better!

What a difference a day makes...and some antibiotics. I am feeling much better this morning.
Not perfect yet, but I am better for sure.
Thanks for all your prayers!
Love,
Debbie

I nam sic!

I nam sic anb I bon't fel wel!. I hab a colb. Pwease Pway por me. Aaaachooo!

Heading home today!

Today is the day! I am so happy to be coming home for Christmas. I will leave here is a few hours. I can't wait to see my family and hopefully I will see some friends as well.
I spent last night with Nicolae and the day before with Cristian. We had a "pre-Christmas"
Christmas.
Craciun Fericit si La Multi Ani. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

A simple blessing ...zapada

Tonight I went to the Women's Bible Study. It was so tempting to just stay home because it was very cold and rainy outside. Plus, it is an hour trek for me. However, I forced myself to go. I was so glad I did. We spent the time singing and praying. It was nice.
When it was over, I donned all my cold weather garb and my umbrella...ready to trudge on back home....another hour trek.
Dar...zapada afara! It had snowed and what a beautiful sight it was. It made my trip home so enjoyable.
Anyway...just wanted to share. Sometimes the littlest of things can be such great blessing.

Cristian's Christmas performance December 13, 2007

Today was Cristian's school Christmas performance. It was very cute. They sang some songs, all the kids read poems, and of course Mos Craciun(Santa) came too. It lasted just about an hour.














The lady in the picture is Cristian's kindergarten teacher. I love the om de zapada (Frosty the snowman) and the little Mos Craciun was pretty adoable too.
I learned a lot about Cristian during this performance...academically. No, he is not at the top of his class either in height or academically. Watching him perform today was very telling. hmmmm.
However, he was very well behaved and so adorable.
Afterwards we went back to his house and hung out for a while. Ani, his foster mom fed me lunch. Yum...Snitzel and mashed potatoes. I left around 2 this afternoon.

Tomorrow I will see Cristian again for the last time before heading back to the states. I want to give him his Christmas gift. He and his foster family are going to the countryside again this weekend to kill a pig. It is a Romanian tradition. Lots of families from the countryside do this.
I will see Nicolae on Saturday.

3 more days until I head back home... Merry Christmas to me!

The DPC Christmas "party"!?

Today was the DPC Christmas Party. It was interesting to say the least. They had it at a high school in the auditorium.

First, they had a puppet show. They did Little Red Riding Hood. Unfortunately, you couldn't hear the narrator and besides that, ladies were walking around the whole time calling out names and then handing papers to all the foster parents. It was so distracting.

When Santa Claus did come in, he came in from the back and walked up to the front and then up on the stage. Of course all the kids ran to him when they saw him. Such a natural response and so cute. Some of the kids even followed him up on stage. Nicolae was one of those kids. Yee hah. But I did get an adorable picture of him with Santa. Nicolae was so excited. He hugged Santa and even kissed Santa. It was adorable. I am glad I took the picture when I did.


Right after I took the picture of Nicolae, all the kids got sent back to their seats. It was time for the presents. I thought...great they will all get to sit with Santa, I can take pictures of Nicolae and Cristian. Nope!
They, the people who were in charge, simply called the foster mom's names and handed them plastic bags with the unwrapped gifts in them and that was it. The foster moms each left immediately after being called. It was weird.
So Santa was on stage....why? hmmm
Outside the foster moms were all comparing what their foster child got vs. the other kids. Luckily the foster moms themselves all got the same gift. So it did cut down on some of the complaining.
It was just weird.
Oh and then their was the Nicolae and Cristian saga. Yikes. When we first got there Nicolae was not happy to see Cristian at all. He went on and on about how much he didn't like him, that he didn't want to be his brother etc. Nicolae had a melt down. He cried, got mad. It was ugly.

Apparently, Cristian hit Nicolae at the infamous DPC meeting. I think they actually hit each other a few times during their wild moments of running around the house. However, I got Cristian to apologize to Nicolae for hitting him and then things got much better. Thank God. It was awkward to be sitting there with Cristian on one side with his foster mom and Nicolae on the other with his. It is just an odd experience.

Then to add to the moment, Carmen, Nicolae's foster mom, sat forward in her chair and laid her head on the chair in front of her during the puppet show. Like she was sleeping or totally bored with the whole event. Sheeshh...Anyway, I was glad when it was over.

Outside the auditorium there was a Christmas tree. I really wanted to get some pictures of the boys together and I was hoping to get a couple of pictures with all three of us, but that didn't happen. Carmen was more worried about getting outside to smoke and Ani wasn't feeling well. So...I was thrilled with the one picture I did get.

Afterwards, I went with Nicolae to his house. Nicolae and I got to spend lots of time together. I actually spent 7hrs. with him today. We put his new car garage together and we also worked on his Scooby Doo puzzle. It was wonderful getting to spend time together...just the two of us. Carmen hung out in the other room.

Tomorrow I will see Cristian again He has his school performance. Yay.