12 June 2011
Our team nurse will arrive tomorrow with the large team. Praise the Lord!!!!!
Six young people (4 females and 2 males) from PC 3/4 will attended the evening service at Grace Baptist Church today and at least one has indicataed that she would like to return for the youth service on Monday evening.
Three women were baptized in the village of Ohaba-Lunga today.
We will be able to go to the Placement Center located in the village of Gavojdia starting Tuesday (we have not been there yet).
Didi seems to be handling the culture and customs well and has managed well not being in constant contact with her friends. We've had no phones, sporadic internet, no television, no instant messaging or texting.
The accomodations at Grace Baptist Church were adequate, but tomorrow we move to the Dacia Hotel with the large team.
11 June 2011
Didi appears to be over what she had.
Several of the young people at PC 3/4 will attend the evening service at Grace Baptist Church on Sunday.
Dean and I attended a marriage conference today.
5 June 2011
I was finally able to sleep for more than 5 hours.
Connecting with the young lady at PC 3/4 and establishing a relationship of trust in order to be used to minister to her.
Connecting with the young woman at the other center in town and developing a relationship with her as well.
Dean reconnecting with the young man from last year and he coming to church with us on Sunday evening.
10 year anniversary of Grace Christian School Kindergarten was celebrated on Friday, 3 June 2011.I was able to show Dean and Didi a possible homestead in the village of Susani.
7 April 2010
Didi shared the gospel with a young lady at the nearby placement center and she accepted the Lord.
We had an awesome Evangelistic Service at Biserica Mondial (The Brickyard Church). Five team members shared testimonies we sang Holy is the Lord and Brother Chester delivered an inspired message derived from I Peter 5:7, specific to those living and working in that community.
5 April 2010
The OHC large team, including our daughter Didi, arrived safely today with all of their luggage. They had no issues at all and were treated well by everyone.
Though there was a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in Mexicali on 4 April, Daphne's family in Southern California felt it but report no damage or injuries. We are not aware of any issues with extended family in Mexico either at this time.
The worship service at Biserica Harul this evening was awesome! They have an exceptional orchestra and gifted vocalists. We were also blessed by musical selections from within our own team: Chester sang "Were You There?", Rudy sang "Amazing Grace" and JD sang "How Great is Our God" with Drew accompanying him on guitar.
4 April 2010
Though I was not able to make in back to Lugoj to attend the drama Sunday evening, four young women from PC 3/4 did attend.
The One Heart Church (OHC) large team departs from Atlanta today and are scheduled to arrive in Timisoara at 1:25pm (6:25am ET) on Monday afternoon.
3 April 2010
Five young women and three young men went with me to Biserica Mondial (The Brickyard Church) this evening. Many of them may attend the drama at Biserica Harul tomorrow evening. In attendance was one of the young men that Dean and Tom have been sharing with.
A team from a high school in Colorado arrived today. They will be conducting a VBS for 5 -7 year olds at Scoala Crestina Harul next Tuesday - Friday.
2 April 2010
Last week I was invited to speak at an area youth event at the church in Margina on Saturday, 3 April. I will be talking to them about sexual integriyt/purity (abstinence), pregnancy, abortion, post-abortion and STDs. We are awaiting confirmation of the event and transportation arrangements.
1 April 2010
The sexual integrity talk at PC 3/4 seems to have gone well and the boys are waiting their turn. Unfortunately, we did not have a male translator on Thursday, so I was unable to speak with them then.
31 March 2010
Today I was able to talk to the young women at PC 3/4 about sexual integrity/purity, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, abortion and post-abortion recovery. There were thirteen in attendance (including one young woman who is 4.5 months pregnant) as well as the facility social worker and two translators.
The two young men at PC 3/4 that spoke with Dean and Tom on Monday both accepted Bibles from them today and agreed to start reading them.
There is a little boy in the K6 class as Scoala Crestina Harul that is rather rambunctious and disruptive. Early during the school day I saw him and gave him a hug and told him I loved him and today his classmates voted for him as the most well-behaved student during the English language lesson.
30 March 2010
Today is my birthday. The Lord has blessed me to complete 48 years here and if it is His will I'll be here a while longer.
Dean and Tom shared with a young man at the nearby placement center, while another listened in. He was open and seeking and very much moved to learn that He had a Heavenly Father that loves and cares about him.
29 March 2010
The three of us went to PC 3/4 and Dean and Tom shared their testimonies, testified to the Goodness of God and bore witness to their new life in Christ with two of the twenty-somethings. They listened intently and asked many questions.
Dean and Tom shared with nine young men in the town square.
28 March 2010
Major work performed on the church in Nemesesti 24 -27 March by Tom and a team of local pastors and other brothers. At the beginning of the week there was nothing but walls. Now all the beams, posts and other framing for the roof has been completed. Dean at 54yrs of age and Tom at 63 yrs of age were neither the oldest nor the youngest amongst the ten laborers. Currently this particular village church has just twelve members. This was back breaking work to further the Kingdom of God and it was all for His Glory. What an awesome witness to those in the village that do not know our Lord and Savior.
Today I found out that the shipmet from Atlanta arrived on Friday, 26 March.
I am feeling better... not completely well... but much, much better.
23 March 2010
Lufthansa shows that flight 3504 is ontime , which means it should be boarding at this moment. I have not received a call or email from anyone so I thank God that all seems to be well with Dean and Tom. ---- They arrived in Timisoara 5 minutes early. Prasie be to God!!
Dean and Tom learned how to play Remy and are already building relationships with the young people at PC 3/4. They are planning to play football (soccer) on their next visit (Tuesday of next week
We've worked out our schedule for this week with Brother Ionel and Emanuel.
22 March 2010
I was able to share another testimony with the Grace Baptist Church women's group this afternoon. I shared with them what I have been doing in PC 3/4 and the nearby village over the past 4 years and encouraged them to prayerfully consider how they can get involved in what God is doing in those places and with those children. They requested the names of the specific young people and offered to pray for them and the ministry that serves them.
I was asked to speak at the Grace Baptist Church youth meeting next Monday (29 March) and will once again challenge and offer them encouragement in living out their faith. They are currently studying servanthood and different youth that are mentioned in the Bible. They've also been challenged by their pastor to memorize 100 Bible verses this year. They were assigned their second set of 20 tonight.
20 March 2010
This afternoon Delia and I attended a youth meeting in Susani with about 40+ young people. I talked about Psalm 139:13-18, John 3:16-17, Ephesians 2:8-10 and Romans 10:9-11. Seven young people prayed to receive Christ and many that were already believers accepted the challenge to share the Good News with others and took Romanian language tracts from me after the service. A woman from one of the villages was there and she told a young man to make sure he received tracts to take home to his parents. Please pray for our new brothers and sisters in Christ:
Mihai, Ciprian, Brian, Vasile, Maria, Monica and Madalina
Also, four young ladies from PC 3/4 attended Biserica Mondial with Delia and me this evening. Two of them accepted the Lord with Susan in 2006 and one with me in 2009... the other I have yet to explore religion/spirituality. Four or five other young people said they would go with us next Saturday evening.
18 March 2010
Isvan prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior today. I have been witnessing to this young man since last year. I have spent time with him on every visit to PC 3/4 this trip and we have covered many different topics. I asked him to read the book of 1st John last week and this past Monday he told me that he had read it and that he believed. Praise be to God!
14 March 2010
I successfully completed rounds to three different churches today. The Romanian countryside is beautiful!
13 March 2010
The small team made it to Vienna, Austria safely.
11 March 2010
Haley seems to be feeling better ... at least I heard no complaints and she looked good.
Since we entered rest and rejuvenation as a prayer request, we've gotten in fairly early two nights in a row (9:47pm and 9:00pm).
The young people at the two placement centers we're visiting daily are opening up to us and sharing in a way they never have before. It seems we've built trust.
I've been extended the opportunity to attend the Baptist Union Meeting in Bucharest on 15 March.
I've been invited to go to the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest on 16 March to participate in a prayer team on pro-life issues.
I've been invited to the Baptist Theological Seminary on 16 March.
I've also been invited to speak at both the Baptist and Pentecostal High Schools in Timisoara.
10 March 2010
I may be able to attend the National Convention of the Uniunea Bisericilor Crestine Baptiste din Romania in Arad on 25 & 26 March.
The young people and staff at PC 3/4 seem open and receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
9 March 2010
Aaron is feeling better. He is gaining strength and his appettite is picking up.
I will be able to work with Betel Church in Timisoara that ministers to young adults, including university students.
Betel Church in Timisoara has the Romanian Language discipleship workbooks I was unable to obtain from Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
8 March 2010
I was able to share my testimony at the Grace Baptist Women's meeting this afternoon and have been asked to prepare a Bible study for next week.
We had a great youth meeting at Grace Baptist Church on this evening. It was well attended by approximately 50 teens. We talked about being like Daniel and allowing others to see Christ live through and in you. We also talked about sexual integrity/purity and discussed what kissing is (and isn't) and whether or not and when it is appropriate and or acceptable behavior.
Also, I met a high ranking official of the child welfare and protective services department and after sharing with her what I do at Atlanta Pregnancy Resource Center, she has authorized me to go into any placement center in the county to speak with the young people about sexual integrity/purity, STDs and abortion.
7 March 2010
Due to a mistake on the part of United Airlines in Atlanta, Georgia. I was booked on the wrong flight to Timisoara, Romania (it conflicted with my arrival from Frankfurt, Germany - see Progress Report ). The Lord provided a ticket for me, on an already overbooked flight, so that I could stay with the rest of the team and arrive in Timisoara on Monday morning at 12:40am instead of waiting to fly out the next day and arriving on Monday afternoon at 1:25pm.
6 March 2010
The small team has been reticketed due to mechanical delays on the originating flight out of Chicago. We were going to fly to Washington DC > Vienna, Austria > Timisoara, Romania. Now we will fly to Frankfurt, Germany > Vienna, Austria > Timisoara, Romania.
1 March 2010
The Lord has provided all the funds necessary for our travel expenses (i.e. transportation, food, lodging...) as well as incidentals such as translators, supplies and other resources to accomplish the task and fulfill the purpose He has set before us!
25. "This is why I tell you: Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26. Look at the birds of the sky: they don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? 27. Can any of you add a single cubit to his height 
by worrying? 28. And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don't labor or spin thread. 29. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30. If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't He do much more for you-you of little faith? 31. So don't worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' 32. For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need hem. 33. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34. Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
