Reflections on week 3 - Resita

If I am going to truly reflect on week 3 in Romania, I would be reminded of the 1.5 hour car ride each morning just to get my team of 8 to the mother church, and for half of my team another hour drive to the mission site. Luckily my whole team of 8 were troopers, never complaining. In fact they realized if they were going to get any ministry time in the sites we needed to leave earlier each morning and get back later. They came to me with this suggestion and I made the changes. So we would leave from our hotel at 7:30am and normally not get back until 10pm or later. This made for loooonnnngggg days, but the Lord blessed our endurance by allowing our two teams of 8 Americans to share the Gospel with 251 people! 94 prayed with us to receive Christ and for many others we planted the seeds that the nationals will water and God will bring to fruition.
This man was one of those who prayed to receive Christ! My first impression of him was that he was gruff and tough and would probably run us off. But the Lord had already softened his heart and he listened very intently to my presentation of the Gospel. He came to the realization that he was a sinner and he needed a Savior.
Then there was this older man who listened to our presentation and had many good questions, and he too prayed to receive Christ! His friend came over to visit while we were talking to him, but he stayed focused on us. After he prayed we also presented to his friend... ...but this man's heart was hardened. After talking to him he was still set in his ways, but a seed was planted. I came to realize that when witnessing to an orthodox, it was a worthwhile visit if you got them to analyze and question one thing in their 'religion' that got them one step closer to a 'relationship' with Jesus Christ.
Here is a picture of half our team with our translators and nationals after an evening service. I added this pic though for you to see the lady in the back who is framed by the glass of the door. Her name is Giorgiana. My translator, national and I went to this one house and a man graciously invited us in, had us sit down and began showing us pictures of all the great work he had done as a sculptor. I was thinking the visit was going well but then he kept being distracted. We waited for a long while in his courtyard while he dealt with other business, and it seemed like we were just wasting our time. During one of the brief times he came over to talk he mentions he has a daughter who is an English teacher (Giorgiana), this makes him decide she should be talking with us, so he goes to get her. Again leaving us sitting and waiting thinking we are wasting our time. Finally he comes back and we have a pretty good conversation, and while we are talking Giorgiana arrives and joins the conversation. The sculptor again gets called away by business, but this is a good thing because we get some great sharing time with Giorgiana. We talked about reading the Bible and she said she had tried once to read the Bible (starting from the beginning) but got bogged down. So I was able to suggest starting with the Gospel of John. She did not pray with us but she did come to our evening meeting that night and showed real signs of desiring to read the Bible and understand truth. God had a timetable and a plan, and even though we thought we were wasting our time God was working everything out for His glory!

Photo Show of week 2 Galati, Romania

I uploaded this again because it seemed to be having troubles -> 8-21-07

Reflections on week 2 - Galati

First off if your looking for the video recap of week 1 scroll down one entry.

The second week in Galati looked a lot different than the first week. For starters it was a smaller team and everyone was a veteran, so the trip practically ran itself. Which was a good thing b/c myself and 5 others were wore out from week 1. We had to face oppressive heat, but with a change of schedule to keep us out of the sun during the hottest part of the day, we persevered. I briefly hit on a story in a previous post about a lady named Ana Maria. Her story is a testimony to God's timing and the importance of seed planting. I asked Jean Kinney, the campaigner who first met Ana Maria, to write up the story so I could share it with all of you so...

"It was July, 2006, when my team (my translator Dragos, and his mother Marianna, my Romanian National, and myself) went to the small village of Tulucesti, outside Galati, Romania, to do visiting and share the Gospel. Because the houses do not have numbers and the streets do not have names, we were asking everyone we met if they knew the people we were trying to visit. We were not having much success, or so we thought.

We turned down a dusty and rocky road that had deep cart ruts. When I looked down this road, it seemed to go on forever. We did not know if this was the right road or not. But, the three of us began our journey. I looked up, and in the distance, I saw a young lady walking towards us. As she neared, I could see her more clearly.

My Romanian friends conversed with her in Romanian, asking her if she knew the family we were searching for; she said no, but her Mother might. She asked us to follow her back home so that we could ask. I thought that was very nice of her to be so helpful and thoughtful. So, the three of us followed our new friend. As we walked, she looked at me, and I just smiled at her. There was just something about this young woman I could not put into words.

While Marianna spoke to her Mother, the young woman looked at me and began to speak to me in perfect English. She told me her name was Ana Maria and that she was a college student. Ana Maria was a beautiful young woman, but to me, I saw some sadness in her eyes that spoke volumes. I did not know what the sadness was from, but I knew Jesus did. It was at that moment that I knew we were not lost; we were right on schedule and at the right place. This lady had a need, and we had the eternal cure: Jesus.

I was surprised when Ana Maria agreed to help us find as many of the families as she could that we had on our list to visit. As we walked, I began to witness to her and share the Gospel. The Lord brought verses to my heart that I felt she needed to hear. She listened as we walked. We talked for almost two hours. My heart told me that there was just something special about this lady and that this was a divine meeting. As we parted, I asked her if she would come to Galati for lunch on Friday, my free day. She said yes. I was so excited. I wanted an opportunity to share with her more. I knew I had given her much to think about.

She came to my hotel on Friday with my translator, and we all went to lunch. We talked and shared our hearts, as well as discussed questions she had about the differences between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Christian faith. She had reservations about making the decision to accept Christ, and so she did not. We spent the rest of the afternoon together at a museum, just getting to know each other. I knew she needed to trust me in order to hear me. I felt the Holy Spirit was working in her heart, and was testifying to her. At the end of the afternoon, I had shared every thing the Holy Spirit told me to, and so my part was finished; the rest was His job.

Ana Maria was heavy on my heart all the way home. I prayed for her every time she came across my mind. I prayed the Lord would bring circumstances and opportunities into her life to be exposed to the Gospel. I prayed that people would come into her life to water the seed that had been planted. This was my prayer for her.

The Lord placed her into a dorm at the university that fall with four Christians roommates. Ana Maria found a friendship with these ladies, and began to talk to them about Jesus. As all of the roommates shared, they were able to also witness to Ana Maria. She was able to see how Christians lived out their faith daily.

It was in December, 2006, that I received the email that Ana Maria had accepted Christ and had been baptized. I was so excited; I told my husband that it was the best Christmas present I could have received.

This year in 2007, Ana Maria came to Holy Trinity to see me, and it was so wonderful. The sadness was gone in her eyes, and it had been replaced with the joy of the Lord. Her face was joyful and she had the sweetest spirit. There was no doubt that Jesus had touched her life and was in His rightful place in her heart. She agreed to not only help us translate, but she also agreed to go back to her village of Tulucesti. It took courage and strength (the Lord gave her) to go back with us to her Orthodox village, where her parents lived, to help us share the Gospel.

The Lord has been working in her heart so much. She is a Senior at the university studying English and Hebrew, and I know the Lord is going to lead her to a great place of ministry and service. She is now my Sister in Christ. - Jean Kinney"

This story reminds me of 1 Cor 3:6-8, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor." So planting has a purpose, and God will bring others along with the purpose to water, but pray first and foremost for God to make it grow.

Photo Show of week 1 Bocsa, Romania

Reflections on week 1 - Bocsa

Well, I promised to write you on Sunday and now it is Friday, so I apologize for the delay. I think I am finally adjusted back to Dallas time. It took me a few days. I had a few afternoons that I was walking around in a complete brain fog.

In the next few days and weeks I want to recap for you my exciting month in Romania. I did not get to update you as much as I would have liked on the field because of exhaustion and lack of internet access, but blogging about the trip will be a good way for me to reflect on the great things God did in and through my teams.

My first week was in Bocsa, located on the West side of the country. We had worked with these Romanian churches in a very limited capacity last year, but this year we brought a full team of 23. Our team included people from TN and NJ of all ages but a tilt towards young adults (college and high school). It turned out to be pretty overwhelming and difficult ministry for the entire team, but God showed himself faithful. Through our struggles he stretched and grew us and we surrendered our ideas of a successful mission trip for His perfect plan. One campaigner pointed out that we should not always focus just on the 'happy' stories, but sometimes our struggles and 'sad' stories are what God uses to grow us and teach us the most.

Like I said the Lord showed up in a mighty way and allowed us to share the Gospel truth with 647 Romanians! Of those, God opened the hearts of 244 to pray and accept Him as their Lord and Savior! We were able to follow-up and disciple 102 of those new believers, and the host churches are continuing the follow-up. We were able to start or continue the planting process of 7 village churches! People in these villages now have a Bible speaking church within walking distance that they can attend. We also were able to do some outreach around the two host churches. We strengthened them by bringing in new believers but also by training up 40 of their members that went out with us daily to share God's love.

We were able to share with the Romanians the 'living water' of Jesus Christ. You too if you are a believer can share the 'living water' to the lost and dieing. Don't go out in your power but in God's power and the promise of His Word in John 7:38, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Arrived safely home in Texas!

Thanks for all your prayers! I will update you more tomorrow when my brain is functioning correctly. I am falling asleep writing this short note, sooooooo ....................