Check out my photo video montage of 2006 ministry @ http://www.christruax.org/chris.truax/yearinreview/
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
Wow, already another update...I'm on a role...
Hello Ministry Partners,
Thanks so much for your prayers and support! I thank God every time I remember you and get the privilege to call you a friend. Thanks for the encouraging emails in response to my last post.
Even though it has only been 11 days since my last post, my mission schedule for next year has grown and been shuffled around. I thought I would post again to get you all updated so that you could be praying specifically for each trip. I added a trip in March to Costa Rica. March 10-17 I will take a group of students from Dallas Bible Church during their Spring Break. I am still going to Panama May 25 - June 2. Recruiting still seems to be going well among the Liberty students. We have gotten a lot of inquiries, but none have actually signed up yet. I know now that I will be working in the city of David. David is the hometown of our main national coordinators the Vegas. I look forward to working with the whole Vega family. I will probably be traveling to Panama in April for a setup trip
Now onto Romania where the big explosion of campaigns happened :-). In my last post I told you I was doing two trips back-to-back in July. Well now I am going to do four trips back-to-back-to-back-to-back in July! I better keep working on my Romanian! I will start by helping Joe Barron lead a trip to Lugoj/Resita on July 6-14. I will lead the part of the team working in Resita. Then I will help out Craig Poston in Galati on July 13-22. Like the last two years I will lead the part of the team working with Emanuel Church. I will still be leading a student team to Bocsa, but it has been shifted back a week to July 20-28. I will finish off my excursion to Romania by co-leading a trip to Botosani on July 26 - August 5 with Gary Pettet. This will be my third time spending a month in Romania, but first time with four trips to help lead. To help me lead these trips I will probably travel to Romania in May for a setup trip. The dates above are the full dates of the campaign including travel days that is why they overlap.
I put the full dates because I want you to join me on one of my trips. So while you are praying about me and my trips, pray specifically about if God wants to use you on one of them. You might not feel adequate, but Christ in you is the hope of glory! You might be afraid to share your faith, but Christ in you is the hope of glory! You might not feel worthy, but Christ in you is the hope of glory!
The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. ~Colossians 1:26-29
Agape,
Chris Truax
Thanks so much for your prayers and support! I thank God every time I remember you and get the privilege to call you a friend. Thanks for the encouraging emails in response to my last post.
Even though it has only been 11 days since my last post, my mission schedule for next year has grown and been shuffled around. I thought I would post again to get you all updated so that you could be praying specifically for each trip. I added a trip in March to Costa Rica. March 10-17 I will take a group of students from Dallas Bible Church during their Spring Break. I am still going to Panama May 25 - June 2. Recruiting still seems to be going well among the Liberty students. We have gotten a lot of inquiries, but none have actually signed up yet. I know now that I will be working in the city of David. David is the hometown of our main national coordinators the Vegas. I look forward to working with the whole Vega family. I will probably be traveling to Panama in April for a setup trip
Now onto Romania where the big explosion of campaigns happened :-). In my last post I told you I was doing two trips back-to-back in July. Well now I am going to do four trips back-to-back-to-back-to-back in July! I better keep working on my Romanian! I will start by helping Joe Barron lead a trip to Lugoj/Resita on July 6-14. I will lead the part of the team working in Resita. Then I will help out Craig Poston in Galati on July 13-22. Like the last two years I will lead the part of the team working with Emanuel Church. I will still be leading a student team to Bocsa, but it has been shifted back a week to July 20-28. I will finish off my excursion to Romania by co-leading a trip to Botosani on July 26 - August 5 with Gary Pettet. This will be my third time spending a month in Romania, but first time with four trips to help lead. To help me lead these trips I will probably travel to Romania in May for a setup trip. The dates above are the full dates of the campaign including travel days that is why they overlap.
I put the full dates because I want you to join me on one of my trips. So while you are praying about me and my trips, pray specifically about if God wants to use you on one of them. You might not feel adequate, but Christ in you is the hope of glory! You might be afraid to share your faith, but Christ in you is the hope of glory! You might not feel worthy, but Christ in you is the hope of glory!
The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. ~Colossians 1:26-29
Agape,
Chris Truax
Monday, October 02, 2006
Monday Ministry Mupdate...er...Update
Hello Ministry Partners!
Sorry it has been a little while since I have posted an update. Let me try to catch you up on what I have been doing...
As you know I got back from Romania August 3. At that time I was still thinking I had one more trip to end the year, but that trip was postponed a few weeks ago because our national workers were bogged down and could not handle a mission team at this time. That has given me some extra time to prepare for next year's trips. As you may or may not know I am still working on my recruiting skills for trips, I have had to cancel a few trips in the past because of lack of recruiting. So I ask that you pray that I allow God to build me into a better recruiter and also ask that you pray Matthew 9:37-38 as Jesus told us to pray for more workers for the harvest fields.
As of right now I have three trips planned for next year all during the summer months. At the beginning of the summer I am taking a team from Liberty University to Panama, May 25 - June 2. I am excited to say that with very little publicity and still being months away we have already had 19 people express interest. Please pray with me for a team of 30.
In July I will be leading two trips to Romania back-to-back. First I will be taking a team to Bocsa (this is the second city I worked in this summer near Resita) July 13 - 22. For this team I will be focusing on recruiting youth (high schoolers). We have just started running trips that are geared toward youth called 'epic journeys'. These trips will have the same ministry objective but we will spend more time discipling the youth before, during, and after the trip.
The second trip will be to Botosani July 26 - Aug 4. This is the city I visited after my mountain camp this summer. It is also the first city I did a trip to in Romania. The Christians we work with there are on fire and great to work with. Although in the past this has been a hard trip to recruit I believe God wants to raise up a large team this year. Please pray with me for a team of 30 or more. Another way you can help me recruit is to actually come with me yourself, and this is the trip I would encourage you to join me on.
In addition to planning next year's trips I have had a few other things to keep me busy. I and a few others have been assisting David Kaufmann who is heading up our 'epic' ministry with strategic planning and launching this ministry. Along with that I was 'hired' (because of my web design skills) to design a website for epic. As I got into the designing I decided I wanted to use a lot of Flash elements, but did not have a lot of knowledge in Flash. So for the past few months I have been learning Flash while designing in Flash for the new e3 epic website. Please check it out @ www.e3epic.org and let me know what you think.
Also one last and important thing to pray with me about, I have been looking over my support account and see that I have been pulling out more than I am putting in each month. Thankfully, I have enough saved up to continue like I am for a few months, but I need to raise some more ministry partners so I can continue my ministry into next year and beyond. I ask that you all pray that the Lord speak to the hearts of those He desires to fund this ministry, and He directs me to them.
I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. [Eph 1:16-19a]
Agape,
Chris Truax
Sorry it has been a little while since I have posted an update. Let me try to catch you up on what I have been doing...
As you know I got back from Romania August 3. At that time I was still thinking I had one more trip to end the year, but that trip was postponed a few weeks ago because our national workers were bogged down and could not handle a mission team at this time. That has given me some extra time to prepare for next year's trips. As you may or may not know I am still working on my recruiting skills for trips, I have had to cancel a few trips in the past because of lack of recruiting. So I ask that you pray that I allow God to build me into a better recruiter and also ask that you pray Matthew 9:37-38 as Jesus told us to pray for more workers for the harvest fields.
As of right now I have three trips planned for next year all during the summer months. At the beginning of the summer I am taking a team from Liberty University to Panama, May 25 - June 2. I am excited to say that with very little publicity and still being months away we have already had 19 people express interest. Please pray with me for a team of 30.
In July I will be leading two trips to Romania back-to-back. First I will be taking a team to Bocsa (this is the second city I worked in this summer near Resita) July 13 - 22. For this team I will be focusing on recruiting youth (high schoolers). We have just started running trips that are geared toward youth called 'epic journeys'. These trips will have the same ministry objective but we will spend more time discipling the youth before, during, and after the trip.
The second trip will be to Botosani July 26 - Aug 4. This is the city I visited after my mountain camp this summer. It is also the first city I did a trip to in Romania. The Christians we work with there are on fire and great to work with. Although in the past this has been a hard trip to recruit I believe God wants to raise up a large team this year. Please pray with me for a team of 30 or more. Another way you can help me recruit is to actually come with me yourself, and this is the trip I would encourage you to join me on.
In addition to planning next year's trips I have had a few other things to keep me busy. I and a few others have been assisting David Kaufmann who is heading up our 'epic' ministry with strategic planning and launching this ministry. Along with that I was 'hired' (because of my web design skills) to design a website for epic. As I got into the designing I decided I wanted to use a lot of Flash elements, but did not have a lot of knowledge in Flash. So for the past few months I have been learning Flash while designing in Flash for the new e3 epic website. Please check it out @ www.e3epic.org and let me know what you think.
Also one last and important thing to pray with me about, I have been looking over my support account and see that I have been pulling out more than I am putting in each month. Thankfully, I have enough saved up to continue like I am for a few months, but I need to raise some more ministry partners so I can continue my ministry into next year and beyond. I ask that you all pray that the Lord speak to the hearts of those He desires to fund this ministry, and He directs me to them.
I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. [Eph 1:16-19a]
Agape,
Chris Truax
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Timisoara the town of Revolution
Hello Prayer Team,
The past two days in Timisoara have been very nice and relaxing (although a little lonely). I have enjoyed touring around Timisoara and seeing its sites. One of the coolest sites is the Opera House because this is where the revolution started in Romania. Pastors and others who wanted freedom from communist reign spoke from the balcony of the Opera House and people filled the courtyard to support the revolution. It was very cool to stand in this courtyard where the people cried out to God to save their country. It gave me goosebumps.
As you look the other direction away from the Opera House you see the beautiful Victory Walkway leading to the Mitropolitan Cathedral.
One of the other big tourist sites that is much more recently built is the Iulius Mall which I visited today. That's right I said 'mall'. And this mall was quite something, a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers New York this mall made many of the malls I have been to in America look pitiful. Here is a pic of the outside.
It has 4 levels and over 200 stores many you have not heard of, but many you have like Levi, Nike, Guess, Adidas, KFC, and Swatch. It has indoor waterfalls and fountains, a rock climbing wall, a swimming pool, ice skating rink, casino, and they will be installing a movie theater. It made me feel like I was in the US. It gets about 10 million clients a year.
So pray for me as I 'rough it' :-)! Actually do pray for safe travel for me. I start flying tomorrow morning at 6am which is actually 10pm Central Time on Wednesday for you guys. I am looking forward to being home but I am also sad to leave Romania. Lord willing I will return here next summer and be able to see the Glory of God reflected again through His people here in Romania. Until then I hope my life in the USA continues to reflect the Light of Christ in everything I do.
Agape,
Chris Truax
The past two days in Timisoara have been very nice and relaxing (although a little lonely). I have enjoyed touring around Timisoara and seeing its sites. One of the coolest sites is the Opera House because this is where the revolution started in Romania. Pastors and others who wanted freedom from communist reign spoke from the balcony of the Opera House and people filled the courtyard to support the revolution. It was very cool to stand in this courtyard where the people cried out to God to save their country. It gave me goosebumps.
As you look the other direction away from the Opera House you see the beautiful Victory Walkway leading to the Mitropolitan Cathedral.
One of the other big tourist sites that is much more recently built is the Iulius Mall which I visited today. That's right I said 'mall'. And this mall was quite something, a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers New York this mall made many of the malls I have been to in America look pitiful. Here is a pic of the outside.
It has 4 levels and over 200 stores many you have not heard of, but many you have like Levi, Nike, Guess, Adidas, KFC, and Swatch. It has indoor waterfalls and fountains, a rock climbing wall, a swimming pool, ice skating rink, casino, and they will be installing a movie theater. It made me feel like I was in the US. It gets about 10 million clients a year.
So pray for me as I 'rough it' :-)! Actually do pray for safe travel for me. I start flying tomorrow morning at 6am which is actually 10pm Central Time on Wednesday for you guys. I am looking forward to being home but I am also sad to leave Romania. Lord willing I will return here next summer and be able to see the Glory of God reflected again through His people here in Romania. Until then I hope my life in the USA continues to reflect the Light of Christ in everything I do.
Agape,
Chris Truax
Monday, July 31, 2006
Heading on...
Hello Prayer Team,
Saturday I attended a Romanian wedding. It was very beautiful. A lot like a American wedding accept the wedding lasts about 2 hours with multiple sermons, but the bride and groom get to sit on stage throughout the ceremony. Weddings always remind me of Christ relationship with the church. How He loves us and protects us, but also how He desires that we hear His voice and follow His direction.
Yesterday I enjoyed worshiping in the Brethern church in Botosani. During the morning service 9:30 until 12:00 I gave a short sermon and sang the old Hymn "Where You There". We also had an evening service from 6 -8. I love worshiping in another language it gives me a glimpse of what heaven will be like with every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation, crying out "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb!"
Multumesc (Thank you) to the Cojocariu family that allowed me to stay at their house and eat their food here in Botosani. It has been a blessing! This is a great family that really tries to seek the Lord in all they do.
Today I will meet with the Baptist pastor in town and invite him to join the e3 and Brethern team next year for a Church Planting mission trip. Then I will head to Suceava (about an hour drive) to meet with Dan Boingeanu another Baptist pastor but also one of e3's Romanian coordinators. Tonight I will take a train bound for Timisoara and have a little bit of time there to tour around before I get up early Thursday to fly home via Vienna and Frankfurt.
Thank you so much for your prayers that fuel my ministry!
Agape,
Chris Truax
Saturday I attended a Romanian wedding. It was very beautiful. A lot like a American wedding accept the wedding lasts about 2 hours with multiple sermons, but the bride and groom get to sit on stage throughout the ceremony. Weddings always remind me of Christ relationship with the church. How He loves us and protects us, but also how He desires that we hear His voice and follow His direction.
Yesterday I enjoyed worshiping in the Brethern church in Botosani. During the morning service 9:30 until 12:00 I gave a short sermon and sang the old Hymn "Where You There". We also had an evening service from 6 -8. I love worshiping in another language it gives me a glimpse of what heaven will be like with every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation, crying out "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb!"
Multumesc (Thank you) to the Cojocariu family that allowed me to stay at their house and eat their food here in Botosani. It has been a blessing! This is a great family that really tries to seek the Lord in all they do.
Today I will meet with the Baptist pastor in town and invite him to join the e3 and Brethern team next year for a Church Planting mission trip. Then I will head to Suceava (about an hour drive) to meet with Dan Boingeanu another Baptist pastor but also one of e3's Romanian coordinators. Tonight I will take a train bound for Timisoara and have a little bit of time there to tour around before I get up early Thursday to fly home via Vienna and Frankfurt.
Thank you so much for your prayers that fuel my ministry!
Agape,
Chris Truax
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Botosani Blessings
Hello Prayer Team,
Thanks for continuing to lift me up while I am in Romania! Yesterday I got the unexpected blessing of going and worshipping in two small village churches that my ministry got to help plant in 2001 and 2002. I was able to encourage them to live for Christ and be a light in their community. I also gave them the challenge of praying Matt 9:35-38. Where Jesus tells us we need to pray for more workers for the harvest. I challenged them to pray for more Romanian workers but also to pray for the recruiting of the team I will be bringing next year to this area. We always have great ministry here but the American teams have always been on the small side. The harvest is plentiful here and a bigger team would be a blessing. So join with the Romanians in these two villages and pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He would raise up more (American) workers for His harvest. I would love to see a team of 30 or 40 raised up.
I finally got some of the pictures of the mountain survival camp downloaded. It was a great time to build each other up in the love of Christ as we faced the struggles of survival in the mountains. I am looking into the possibilities of making this camp an add-on to my mission trip next year, allowing more Americans to experience God's majesty in the Romanian mountains.
Left: Camping under a tarp.
Below: My team on the top of Moldoveanu the highest peak in Romania (2544 m).
Above: Hiking through the fog. Above: a small taste of the beauty I saw.
Please continue to pray for me, I fly home on Aug 3. Also if you could please pray for an 'unspoken request', I have someone close to me that needs to know God's peace and hope.
Agape,
Chris Truax
Thanks for continuing to lift me up while I am in Romania! Yesterday I got the unexpected blessing of going and worshipping in two small village churches that my ministry got to help plant in 2001 and 2002. I was able to encourage them to live for Christ and be a light in their community. I also gave them the challenge of praying Matt 9:35-38. Where Jesus tells us we need to pray for more workers for the harvest. I challenged them to pray for more Romanian workers but also to pray for the recruiting of the team I will be bringing next year to this area. We always have great ministry here but the American teams have always been on the small side. The harvest is plentiful here and a bigger team would be a blessing. So join with the Romanians in these two villages and pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He would raise up more (American) workers for His harvest. I would love to see a team of 30 or 40 raised up.
I finally got some of the pictures of the mountain survival camp downloaded. It was a great time to build each other up in the love of Christ as we faced the struggles of survival in the mountains. I am looking into the possibilities of making this camp an add-on to my mission trip next year, allowing more Americans to experience God's majesty in the Romanian mountains.
Left: Camping under a tarp.Below: My team on the top of Moldoveanu the highest peak in Romania (2544 m).
Above: Hiking through the fog. Above: a small taste of the beauty I saw.
Please continue to pray for me, I fly home on Aug 3. Also if you could please pray for an 'unspoken request', I have someone close to me that needs to know God's peace and hope.
Agape,
Chris Truax
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
I survived the Mountain Survival camp!
Hello Prayer Partners,
I Survived! Thanks for your prayers! I am still in Romania until Aug 3, but I just finished the Romanian (and German) led Christian Mountain Survival Camp. It was a lot of fun, but also very exhausting. I got to see the majestic Romanian mountains and climb the tallest mountian in Romania Moldoveanu. I became very close to 16 Romanians and 1 German even though most did not speak English. We were all a family in Christ, and even through the language barrier worked as a team to survive 5 days in the mountains. Soon I will post a few pics.
This next week I will be in Botosani, Romania visiting old friends and setting up a mission trip for next year. Please continue to keep me in your prayers! May God be glorified in everything you do!
Agape,
Chris Truax
I Survived! Thanks for your prayers! I am still in Romania until Aug 3, but I just finished the Romanian (and German) led Christian Mountain Survival Camp. It was a lot of fun, but also very exhausting. I got to see the majestic Romanian mountains and climb the tallest mountian in Romania Moldoveanu. I became very close to 16 Romanians and 1 German even though most did not speak English. We were all a family in Christ, and even through the language barrier worked as a team to survive 5 days in the mountains. Soon I will post a few pics.
This next week I will be in Botosani, Romania visiting old friends and setting up a mission trip for next year. Please continue to keep me in your prayers! May God be glorified in everything you do!
Agape,
Chris Truax
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Update On end of ministry in Resita
Buna (hello),
The ministry is Resita is over and it was a great week. It was great to minister for God's Glory. On the Bocsa team we worked in two sites, Izgar and Ezeris, and we presented the Gospel to 176 people and of those God added 45 to His Kingdom! For the whole team that worked in the Resita area we had 412 presentations of the Gospel and 128 people prayed to recieve Christ as their Savior! God is good! Your prayers were answered!
I am traveling to the Christian Survival Camp in tomorrow. Please pray for me for strength (I am a little tired after two weeks of ministry). I will be out of email contact for about a week and a half, but will try to update you on my condition when I get back to civilization.
Agape,
Chris Truax
The ministry is Resita is over and it was a great week. It was great to minister for God's Glory. On the Bocsa team we worked in two sites, Izgar and Ezeris, and we presented the Gospel to 176 people and of those God added 45 to His Kingdom! For the whole team that worked in the Resita area we had 412 presentations of the Gospel and 128 people prayed to recieve Christ as their Savior! God is good! Your prayers were answered!
I am traveling to the Christian Survival Camp in tomorrow. Please pray for me for strength (I am a little tired after two weeks of ministry). I will be out of email contact for about a week and a half, but will try to update you on my condition when I get back to civilization.
Agape,
Chris Truax
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Catch-up Update
Buna Ziua (Good Day),
Sorry it has been awhile since I last updated you on my ministry here in Romania. It has been great but also busy and tiring (so internet has been a lower priority than sleep). I am in Resita now with a new team (some stayed over from the first week). We all made it here safely with all bags but one and it got here the next day. But before I get into updating you on Resita let me finish telling you about Galati.
Thursday ministry was great in Tecuci. It actually started out really hard. We had two team members join our group that dressed up as clowns with the idea of them drawing a crowd and the rest of us being able to share the Gospel with them.
We went to what we thought was the perfect spot, the public park where many were gathered, but the grounds keepers kicked us out. Yes they kicked us out of a 'public park'. We tried to walk down the street but it did not seem to be working. We went back to the church for lunch and were trying to decide if we would even use the clowns in the afternoon. We prayed for awhile before we went back out. We decided to take the clowns but only send two groups with them (instead of the whole team) so as not to look like an army invading. The Lord blessed, while I was witnessing (talking in circles) to a very knowledgeable lost man, the two teams with the clowns were swamped with people to talk to and many prayed to receive Christ!
I do not have the stats in front of me for Galati but I believe we planted or revived about 6 churches!
In Resita we are working with three mother churches. My team's mother church is actually based out of a neighboring smaller city named Bocsa. We worked for the past two days in a village named Izgar and saw about 20 pray to receive Christ as their savior! We start in a new village tomorrow, please pray for open doors and open hearts. We got to go back to houses today of individuals who prayed yesterday and do some discipleship. It was very cool to show someone how to use the Bible for the first time. Most of us forget that someone had to show us how to use the Book, Chapter, and Verse system of reference in the Bible, but that is the first step needed to feeling comfortable reading the Bible on your own.
Hopefully I will be able to update you again tomorrow or Thursday!
La Revedere (Good Bye),
Chris Truax
Sorry it has been awhile since I last updated you on my ministry here in Romania. It has been great but also busy and tiring (so internet has been a lower priority than sleep). I am in Resita now with a new team (some stayed over from the first week). We all made it here safely with all bags but one and it got here the next day. But before I get into updating you on Resita let me finish telling you about Galati.
Thursday ministry was great in Tecuci. It actually started out really hard. We had two team members join our group that dressed up as clowns with the idea of them drawing a crowd and the rest of us being able to share the Gospel with them.
We went to what we thought was the perfect spot, the public park where many were gathered, but the grounds keepers kicked us out. Yes they kicked us out of a 'public park'. We tried to walk down the street but it did not seem to be working. We went back to the church for lunch and were trying to decide if we would even use the clowns in the afternoon. We prayed for awhile before we went back out. We decided to take the clowns but only send two groups with them (instead of the whole team) so as not to look like an army invading. The Lord blessed, while I was witnessing (talking in circles) to a very knowledgeable lost man, the two teams with the clowns were swamped with people to talk to and many prayed to receive Christ!I do not have the stats in front of me for Galati but I believe we planted or revived about 6 churches!
In Resita we are working with three mother churches. My team's mother church is actually based out of a neighboring smaller city named Bocsa. We worked for the past two days in a village named Izgar and saw about 20 pray to receive Christ as their savior! We start in a new village tomorrow, please pray for open doors and open hearts. We got to go back to houses today of individuals who prayed yesterday and do some discipleship. It was very cool to show someone how to use the Bible for the first time. Most of us forget that someone had to show us how to use the Book, Chapter, and Verse system of reference in the Bible, but that is the first step needed to feeling comfortable reading the Bible on your own.
Hopefully I will be able to update you again tomorrow or Thursday!
La Revedere (Good Bye),
Chris Truax
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Wednesday Update...
Hello Pray Team,
Thanks so much for praying for me (and thanks to those that sent me notes of encouragement). Tuesday and Wednesday were good. Tuesday was our second and last day in Culdabi. I got to share with a lady named Marianne. She is the mother of some of the kids that came to our children's service. She was very receptive and looked like the Lord was really working on breaking all the barriers in her heart. She did not pray with us but I feel with follow up she might pray soon. Her she is...
After visiting Marianne we had a few minutes before lunch so I suggested to my small team of two that we stop and pray for the rest of the day. My Romania friend Nicolai suggested we go just down the street to a lady's house who has been a Christian since 1953 and would love to pray with us. I thought that was a great idea so we went to her house. We found her studying her bible! We asked her to pray for her neighbors and country and I felt like I was going to explode with the power of God being called on from her prayer, and I could not even understand a word she said. My translator afterwards told me he shivered and the power of her prayer also. I felt blessed being in the presence of a real Prayer Warrior so passionate about God's Glory and her lost neighbors. Her name was Tinka and her is a pick (she is the one in the middle she is 91 years old)
Please pray for us in Tecuci for Thursday. Wednesday was good there but harder ministry because we are doing park and street evangelism in a larger town. Pray for divine appointments and boldness!
Agape,
Chris Truax
Thanks so much for praying for me (and thanks to those that sent me notes of encouragement). Tuesday and Wednesday were good. Tuesday was our second and last day in Culdabi. I got to share with a lady named Marianne. She is the mother of some of the kids that came to our children's service. She was very receptive and looked like the Lord was really working on breaking all the barriers in her heart. She did not pray with us but I feel with follow up she might pray soon. Her she is...
After visiting Marianne we had a few minutes before lunch so I suggested to my small team of two that we stop and pray for the rest of the day. My Romania friend Nicolai suggested we go just down the street to a lady's house who has been a Christian since 1953 and would love to pray with us. I thought that was a great idea so we went to her house. We found her studying her bible! We asked her to pray for her neighbors and country and I felt like I was going to explode with the power of God being called on from her prayer, and I could not even understand a word she said. My translator afterwards told me he shivered and the power of her prayer also. I felt blessed being in the presence of a real Prayer Warrior so passionate about God's Glory and her lost neighbors. Her name was Tinka and her is a pick (she is the one in the middle she is 91 years old)
Please pray for us in Tecuci for Thursday. Wednesday was good there but harder ministry because we are doing park and street evangelism in a larger town. Pray for divine appointments and boldness!
Agape,
Chris Truax
Monday, July 03, 2006
A great day of ministry...
Hello Pray-ers,
It was a great first day of ministry. Thanks for praying! We did have a few glitches along the way but that is typical for a first day. My team enjoyed ministering in Culdabi today. We presented the Gospel to over 50 people and 18 accepted Christ as their savior!
On the way out to the village our van stopped and we were able to admire God's beauty. Sunflowers! This is me with my teammate Ashwin.
This afternoon I got to help lead a children's service. It was a lot of fun and 15 children got to hear the gospel. Here is a pic of some of the kids...
Continue to pray against the spiritual forces at work in these villages. These people are in bondage thinking they are Christians (Orthodox) but their twisted knowledge of scripture only seems to confuse the Gospel message in their minds. Please pray that the Lord gives the villagers wisdom and clarity to understand His simple message of Hope.
Agape,
Chris Truax
It was a great first day of ministry. Thanks for praying! We did have a few glitches along the way but that is typical for a first day. My team enjoyed ministering in Culdabi today. We presented the Gospel to over 50 people and 18 accepted Christ as their savior!
On the way out to the village our van stopped and we were able to admire God's beauty. Sunflowers! This is me with my teammate Ashwin.
This afternoon I got to help lead a children's service. It was a lot of fun and 15 children got to hear the gospel. Here is a pic of some of the kids...
Continue to pray against the spiritual forces at work in these villages. These people are in bondage thinking they are Christians (Orthodox) but their twisted knowledge of scripture only seems to confuse the Gospel message in their minds. Please pray that the Lord gives the villagers wisdom and clarity to understand His simple message of Hope.
Agape,
Chris Truax
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Great day of worship!
Hello Prayer Team,
My team made it safely to Romania. We had a few bags delayed but they all arrived today! We had a great day of fellowship and worship with the Romanian church. I got the privilege of preaching! I gave a motivational message about the Gospel from Romans 10 and a bit about the church being the body with many parts from Romans 12.
We had a great training meeting where the American team got to meet the Romanians they will be working with for the week. We also reviewed our schedule and tools for evangelism.
The best part of the day was the evening service. We got to go to the village church of Tudor and attend their baptism service. This was extra special for me and another couple on our team because we had worked in this village two years ago. I got to see how God had been working and growing the church. God had even blessed them recently with a church building (they had been meeting in a member's house). Here are a few pics from the baptism service.
Thanks for your prayers and please continue! We will be going out for our first day of ministry tomorrow. We will be working in two villages: Sendreni and Culdabi. Pray that God grants us boldness and wisdom and guides us to the homes He wants us to visit.
Agape,
Chris Truax
My team made it safely to Romania. We had a few bags delayed but they all arrived today! We had a great day of fellowship and worship with the Romanian church. I got the privilege of preaching! I gave a motivational message about the Gospel from Romans 10 and a bit about the church being the body with many parts from Romans 12.
We had a great training meeting where the American team got to meet the Romanians they will be working with for the week. We also reviewed our schedule and tools for evangelism.
The best part of the day was the evening service. We got to go to the village church of Tudor and attend their baptism service. This was extra special for me and another couple on our team because we had worked in this village two years ago. I got to see how God had been working and growing the church. God had even blessed them recently with a church building (they had been meeting in a member's house). Here are a few pics from the baptism service.
Thanks for your prayers and please continue! We will be going out for our first day of ministry tomorrow. We will be working in two villages: Sendreni and Culdabi. Pray that God grants us boldness and wisdom and guides us to the homes He wants us to visit.Agape,
Chris Truax
Friday, June 30, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Romania Funds
Hello Prayer Team,
I would like to make a financial need known. On e3 trips the budget is set to include two staff to lead and organize the trip, and normally I fit into this category. For my Galati, Romania trip I am the third staff member and because of higher priced tickets and because the team is not big enough to cover the costs of three staff I will need to raise my cost. The costs for my second trip to Resita, Romania in essence will be covered by this money as well.
Please pray about how the Lord might want you to partner with me for these back-to-back trips to Romania. The cost I am trying to raise is $1800. I do have some money saved up in my support account that I can put towards this but wanted to give each of you the opportunity to help get me to Romania to share God's good news. Thank you for praying and following the Lord's direction!
If the Lord leads you to give to this opportunity, you can give online or by mail. To give by mail, write a check made out to e3 Partners Ministry with a note saying it is for Chris Truax send this to e3 Partners Ministry, 600 Development Dr Suite 120, Plano, TX 75074. To give online (by credit card), go to https://www.gmf.org/donation/donate.asp, near the bottom click 'I'd like to give to an e3 staff member' another box will appear asking for my name and amount you are giving. Giving either way is tax deductible and you will receive a receipt in the mail.
If the Lord is leading you to pray for these trips, please start praying now for preparations, open hearts, team unity, and that all of us will reflect God's Glory in everything we do!
SIDE NOTE: I love it when people leave me comments on my blog. Although, I would like to reply to some comments, but have no clue who you are because you are using a screen name I am unfamiliar with. It is probably best just to reply to my emails with comments but if you leave a comment on my blog please sign it with at least your first name. THANKS!
Agape,
Chris Truax
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Back from Colorado
Hello,
Thanks for your prayers for my church retreat to Estes Park, CO! I had a great time ministering to 11 Kindergarteners, and leading worship for K-5th grade. I also enjoyed my free time in the mountains.
The kids ministry was great! I enjoy leading worship for kids because they really get into it. The drama, games, and bible studies were fun with the Kindergartners. They were (for the most part) well behaved and attentive. On our last day I made sure to give a clear gospel presentation (I brought an evangecube to help me) and two kids Alex and Dawson said they wanted to pray to receive Christ. And there was much rejoicing (in heaven and on earth)!
Dawson
Seth, Alex, and Hays
Worship Band the "Realities"The whole week we were teaching the kids to keep it R.E.A.L. for Christ. The R - redeemed, E - eternal, A - abilities, and L - legacy were the talking points of each day. I hope that each of you realize that Christ has redeemed you (even though you did not deserve it), He has an eternal destination for you, He has given you abilities to serve Him, and He desires that you will leave a legacy that points others to Him.
Thanks again for your prayers! In 20 days I will be leaving for Romania! More to come on that.
Agape,
Chris
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Colorado Bound
Hello Prayer Family,
I get the joy of going with my church family (Watermark Community Church) to Estes Park, CO for our annual church wide retreat. I leave early tomorrow (June 1) to help drive up the trailer of sound equipment, and will be there until I help drive the trailer back on June 9 and 10.
I am looking forward to serving in Colorado in the Children's ministry. I will be part of the worship band for the kids (5th grade - Kindergarten), and when we break out into smaller groups I get to minister to the Kindergarteners. Please pray that the kids will be attentive and able to learn more about who God is while having a lot of fun, and pray that I am able to share Christ in a way that is understood by all and many come to know Christ as their personal Savior.
Agape,
Chris
I get the joy of going with my church family (Watermark Community Church) to Estes Park, CO for our annual church wide retreat. I leave early tomorrow (June 1) to help drive up the trailer of sound equipment, and will be there until I help drive the trailer back on June 9 and 10.
I am looking forward to serving in Colorado in the Children's ministry. I will be part of the worship band for the kids (5th grade - Kindergarten), and when we break out into smaller groups I get to minister to the Kindergarteners. Please pray that the kids will be attentive and able to learn more about who God is while having a lot of fun, and pray that I am able to share Christ in a way that is understood by all and many come to know Christ as their personal Savior.
Agape,
Chris
Monday, May 08, 2006
News from Catalin
Hello Ministry Partners,
I wanted to share the following email with you that I found encouraging. It is from Catalin Covaci one of the Romanian heads of e3 Romania. Just in case I have not shared this in the past, the Lord has opened up some great opportunities for us (e3) to partner with our Romanian brothers. They had a vision for a nation wide movement to get churches excited about missions just as we were looking into how we were going to try to expand our work in Romania. It was such a God designed partnership. e3 is now partnered with the Romanian Baptist Assoc. in a plan they call Torch Mission. We are coming alongside and providing training materials and Evangecubes as well as coordinating all of our teams to work within the Torch Mission network. Catalin is going around training up pastors and lay-leaders with the training materials, and here is an account of just a portion of what is happening over there...
I wanted to share the following email with you that I found encouraging. It is from Catalin Covaci one of the Romanian heads of e3 Romania. Just in case I have not shared this in the past, the Lord has opened up some great opportunities for us (e3) to partner with our Romanian brothers. They had a vision for a nation wide movement to get churches excited about missions just as we were looking into how we were going to try to expand our work in Romania. It was such a God designed partnership. e3 is now partnered with the Romanian Baptist Assoc. in a plan they call Torch Mission. We are coming alongside and providing training materials and Evangecubes as well as coordinating all of our teams to work within the Torch Mission network. Catalin is going around training up pastors and lay-leaders with the training materials, and here is an account of just a portion of what is happening over there...
Last week I was in a small tour. As I was invited to preach in one of the churches in Bucharest, I also wanted to use this opportunity to meet the E3 Instructors in the areas I had to go through: Nicu Sotir and Radu Oprea in Bucharest and Daniel Patru in Craiova. I emailed them, I talked to them at the phone and we planed the meetings.
On saturday april 8 I called Daniel in Craiova to see if the plans to meet on tue morning, April 11, are still ok and if will be possible to also present the E3 to some pastors in Craiova.
His answer prooved that all these plans were from the Lord.
Whithout our knowlege, the president of Craiova Association scheduled the General Assembly of the association exactly in that tuesday morning. I called the president, Pastor Nelu Maior. He is an old friend of mine, since I served as a pastor in South Romania in Giurgiu. We know each other and we appreciate each others ministry in that part of the country. I call him and explained to him what I intend to do while in Craiova that tue morning. He answered that will allow me to speak to the General asembly for 45 min or more.
I arrived from Giurgiu in Craiova on time for the meeting, little bit after 10.30 am.
The surprises that the Lord had for us were not yet finished.
Before my presentation, the subject discussed was regarding the little growth of Baptist churches in last year, and ideas, solutions, problems to be faced.
I will write here some of the issues that some of the pastors who partricipated were saying. (I especially wrote them down in order for you to be happy as I was and see the mighty hand of God at work in Romania with/using E3 and Torch Mission.)
"We need a country size mission strategy!" said one of the pastors, after a long speech with his sorrows related the small growth of baptist churches in Romania in 2005.
"An evangelistic tool that will be good to reach adults, but also youths, teenagers and kids, as these are the future of the church. We don't pay enough attention in transmitting the message of the Gospel to the other generations!" said another pastor.
One of the pastors actually used "our words" in a sentence when he was trying to explain how important is to offer a vision to churches, like a mentorship from pastors with much experience to pastors with smaller experience. He said: "It was not enough promoted the concepts of extend and evangelise, even in association meetings."
All this time, I was sitting there like on springs. Several times I wanted to stand up and almost say like Paul in Athens: "What you are looking for and don't know I come to bring to you!". I hardly waited silently and took notes, even if at a certain moment I wanted to quit writing as almost everything that was said there was preparing the very presentation of Torch vision and E3 ministry. During this time I was praying: "Lord, help them to see, put the words in their mouths!" And finally, the Lord answered my prayer and somebody stood up and said:
"We need to personally build up and involve the church members. We need to re teach the church members that they need to be disciples.!"
Not long after that I was invited to speak.
I introduced using powerpoint presentation - praise God for Laptop and VideoProjector! Powerful tools! - the Torch mission Vision and GMF involvment in Romania since 1991. I explained the E3's: Equip, Evangelise, Establish (in Romanian, Expand) presenting them First Steps manual. I was very happy I came prepared from Timisoara, (even I didn't knew why I carry all these materials with me all around the country) and I offered to each of them the First Step manual. I saw them moving their heads as approval. I also introduced them the E-Cube and I gave to each of them a Cube and a Workbook manual. You should saw these pastors; They were enthusiastic like children, like their prayers were finaly finding answeres! I also took the opportunity to introduce Daniel Patru as E3 instructor in their association and I encouraged them to contact us to start working together.
Even it was the time for lunch, even I was invited to speak for 45 min, after 1 hour and 15 minutes of presentation (they kept interupting me, adding details, becoming enthusiatic, asking me related questions), when i was done with the slides, they still kept me 30 more minutes to talk with some individuals.
I am very grateful for all of you who were praying for this country trip.
It was very worthy, as another association was exposed to E3 vision and ministry.
It was worthy as we have the opportunity to see that indeed, God is in control and is using this ministry to help Romanian churches to be more and more dedicated to His Kingdom.
It was worthy as we have now a new and fresh assurance that this vision is from God and is His answer to many pastors and leaders that are crying and praying for church members that need to be more mature and for many unsaved people who need to be transformed into discipols of Christ.
Rejoyce with me seing the wonderful works that our Lord and Savior is ready to do with those that are ready to serve Him.
Catalin Covaci
Agape,
Chris Truax
PS I will be leading two teams to Romania soon, the first will be in Galati from June 30 - July 8 and the second in Resita on July 8 - July 15.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
First Post - Ministry Update
Hello Prayer Team,
I setup this new blog to help me get out information and prayer requests in an easier manner. I will still try and send an email out to let you know when I have posted a new update. I have named my blog "Acts 20:24" which is "But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus--the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love." Spoken by the apostle Paul and something that reflects what I want my ministry to be about.
I am sorry I have not written in awhile. Let me update you on my ministry. My trip scheduled for Spring Break did not recruit a full team but we were able to send 8 Texas A&M students on a different team going to Panama. From their reports they had an awesome time and saw the Lord work in great ways. The team was able to share the Gospel with 760 people. They saw 348 of them profess faith in Christ, and 7 new churches were planted.
My trip scheduled for May, the Collegiate Quest, also had to be canceled because not enough signed up. I had been put in charge of this event/mission trip back in January and was really looking forward to it. We started recruiting late along with other things outside of our control that led to the cancellation, but on the bright side I have already begun planning for Collegiate Quest 2007 and have already spoken to some key college leaders who are interested in bringing their students to be involved. This cancellation also opened the door for me to be able to go with my church to Estes Park, CO and help at our church retreat in the children's department.
I am excited to say that my trip to Romania does look like it is a go. In fact I added on a trip right after it (a back-to-back). I will be in Romania from June 30 - July 15 working with the churches in Galati and Resita. The teams are looking pretty good, but there is room for more if you want to join me. Although tell me soon because airline tickets are hard to come by because the soccer World Cup is taking place in Germany this summer.
Another praise is that another guy and I started a community group at my church. Seven guys meet on Sunday night to share life with each other and grow in our understanding of God.
Agape,
Chris Truax
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