SUBJECT: Thanksgiving letter home from an SM

AUTHOR: Marius Asaftei, a Student Missionary of Romanian heritage from Southern Adventist University, spent 10 months as an ADRA volunteer teacher in the jungles of Guyana, South America.

Dear family,

It's Thanksgiving Day here in Paruima, and since I have some free time and some battery in the computer, I want to let you know how I'm doing. David Gates is flying into Paruima in about two weeks, but I will be in the final exams week, so I won't have that much time to write.

It was good to hear your voice on the radio. We were praying for a successful trip to Romania, and I know that your trip was more than successful. I've been thinking about the family there, and the many friends that I have in Romania. I was kind of melancholic about it for a while, but then gave it to the Lord, because it was distracting me from my work. Please send me detailed news from Romania, and how everybody is doing. It will really make me happy!

Our group of volunteers--our family for one year.

The Lord is very good to me. I have never been this happy in my entire life. I enjoy the beauty of nature, the good fruits, having long devotions in the morning, falling asleep to the sound of rain, teaching class, playing soccer and volleyball with the students, teaching the young adult Sabbath School, and many other things. I'm very thankful to God for bringing me here. It is a tremendous learning experience. Being the Boy's dean teaches me many leadership skills. Teaching makes me more responsible. Devotions increase my love for Christ, and make me see His love for me. Prayer brings me closer to God and to my fellow missionaries. Preaching helps me depend on God for discernment and knowledge about the Bible. Teaching Sabbath School, and giving worships improves my communications skills, and helps me be more creative in reaching the youths of the church. This is a "hands-on" training for the ministry, and I'm enjoying every opportunity to grow and learn more.

I have really experienced God in my life for the past two months. God gave me a special conformation, that He wants me to be a pastor. I've studied about the Sanctuary, the Day of Atonement, and I most of the doctrines of our church. As I'm discovering more and more truth for myself, I become more excited about sharing it, and it brings me a peace and a joy that I cannot describe in words. Every morning at 5:00 am, Billy Gager, Dr. Sheila, and I have prayer meeting. We read from the Great Controversy, share our prayer requests, and pray. I have never experienced more joy, and more peace like I do after praying early in the morning with these two best friends of mine.

My classes are going very well. Science class is very interesting, and the students are excited to learn about space, earth, and physics concepts. In the beginning I was really worried, because many of them didn't understand, put I improved a lot in my style of teaching, and I'm very thankful for taking a class at Southern called " Intro. To Education". This Monday we are having our second test of the semester, and the students are studying really hard. For PE, we run to the soccer field and play soccer for about 30 minutes. On Sunday's we play other local teams, and enjoy fellowship with the villagers.

The kids are really doing well. We've had to discipline some of them for misbehavior, but many of them are taking it very seriously, and they have repented for their mistakes. The Lord is changing their lives tremendously, and one of our students decided to be baptized. We are studying the "Amazing Facts" bible studies every night for worship, and once every three nights we are watching the televised presentation. I'm studying those bible studies for myself, and they have really been a blessing. Next semester, Dr. Sheila is starting a school for volunteer bible workers, and she would really appreciate those sets of bible studies that we have asked for. You can get in touch with Doug Bachelor on Sabbath, and explain to him the situation. I'm sure he will more than happy to help us. Also I know the son of one of the "Amazing Facts" evangelists- Steve Delong. If you talk to him mention that Billy Gager and I are in very much need of these bible studies, and he will help you. His son Trent is at Southern now, and we know each other well. These people are in need of these bible studies, and they treated them as water in the desert.

This Sabbath, I'm preaching my first sermon at the local church. The Lord impressed me to speak about repentance: " The deeper the repentance, the deeper the cleansing". I'll forward a copy of it at the end of my message, so you can see it. I also accepted the responsibility to teach the youth Sabbath School, and it's a joy to see 30-35 young people come and enjoy fellowship, the lesson, and nature every Sabbath.

My health is perfect right now. My diet is simple, nutritious, delicious, and healthy (vegetarian). I have never eaten this much peanut butter in my entire life!

Last week I had a thorn in my right hand, and it really hurt for about two days. I used hot and cold treatments recommended by our own Dr. Sheila, and the Lord healed. There were some cases of malaria, and chicken pox, but it did not affect us.

This week the boy's deans had the weekend off, and we went camping. Friday we went up on the mountain, built a shelter for the night, gathered some firewood, and prepared the place for camping. We then came down from the mountain, and spent Sabbath morning at church. My sermon went really well. God really blessed, and it's now the Holy Spirit's job to work on their hearts. After the divine service Billy and I went to a Sabbath School council, and after that we went up the mountain. We really had a blast! We took our hammocks with us and enjoyed some real comfortable time. At night we went out to the rock overlooking the village and we built a huge fire. It was kind of late, so the village was very dark. We started to flash our flashlights, and within a minute or two people from the village were shining their flashlights at us. It was awesome!

My funds are getting low, but I will survive until David Gates comes back. Billy received some food from home, and his dad said that half is for me. Can you believe it? I really appreciated that gesture.

It was great talking with all of you last night. Thank you for sending the packet and all the packets. Next time you might want to stay in contact with David Gates, and he will bring your next packet into the interior. You'll just have to send it to him in Illinois by FedEx or UPS. I received the package, and the letters today. I really thank you for it. I was very happy to hear news from romania, and to see those beautifull pictures of you, my cousins. Tonight, I don't really feel good. Yesterday I paddled in a canoe for about two hours, and I really worked hard. I think my body is not taking the effort so well. My brain is not thinking straight, so I will write a detailed letter after I get well. I'm praying for you everyday!

Well my battery is running out, so I'll say bye for now. Hopefully I'll get to talk to you on the radio again before Christmas. Until them, may God bless you and keep you safe! I love you and miss you all very much. Say Hi to Rich and my friends on campus.

Your son,

Marius

You may send E-mail to Marius at: masaftei@hotmail.com

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