Wow, what a couple of good nights sleep can do after a mission journey! Hope all the team members are recovering.
We had a long but uneventful trip home...which for travelers is very good. Thank goodness we weren't flying American Airlines.
I cannot possibily share all the wonderful things that happened on this journey...but, again here are a few.
Sunday, April 6th
Before the service even started on Sunday, our team noticed some children that had been invited to church the day before were already there on the front rows. Dawn Kirby started looking for ways to share with them before the service started. All she needed was a translator and using her plan of salvation tool was off and running!
Our Creative Arts group were amazing that morning. With very little practice, they were helping to lead part of the worship service with the Romanian Worship Team! How great is that?
Then Bro. John preached another great message. So many were taking notes and really listening to his words. The pastor told us later that we were "the wind beneath their wings". We knew that we had given them a spark to become more evangelistic and we pray that they will continue until we return next year.
Our wonderful cooks, Viorica and Nella, once again provided a wonderful meal and a miracle! We invited a few extras and had 29 for Sunday lunch. The food multiplied - and some of the team didn't go for the third healping! - and we had a great time of fellowship and sharing. .
Here's the group which includes the pastor and his financee, Dolcemina; Hans (missions leader)and his wife Alina; Jill and Sorin, director of Casa Vietii, and daughter Jadyn; Mia, counselor at Casa Vietii and translator; and Chris and Mirjam, YWAM Missionaries in Constanza
Sunday afternoon we prepared to split into two group and go out to Soard and Boiu villages for their church services. These are 2 of the 5 mission churches planted by Mana in the last 10 years. Like Mana, they are mainly for the gypsy community in the villages. The main religion in Romania is Romanian Orthrodox. It is a big step for a gypsy to break from many of their generational traditions and from the Orthrodox church.
Four of us went to Boiu. I had left my camera at Casa Vietii, but we do have some pictures we would love to share. After raining all week, the mud was tremendous. Our van had to park at the bottom of a hill and we walked through the village, across the bridge, and up a sloping hill to the church. Our hosts had boots...we had tennis shoes. Needless to say, we had an experience that we will not forget walking through the mud. When I say hill and slope in the same sentence...it was sliding on a hill which had a steep slope down to a watery ditch. After the horses and other animals had been through, plus all the trash had washed into the ditch...we did not want to take any chances of sliding down the slippery slope.
After we arrived at the little church for the 5PM Sunday service, people were crowded into a very small space, but were so warm and kind to us. We performed a puppet show using a piece of material for our stage; shared the gospel and taught the congregation how to use a "flipper-flapper" (see Child Evangelism store) to share their faith with others; and had several pray to receive Christ. During the message from the leader, Stelica, we were moved by his knowledge of God's Word even though he was still continuing his 8 years of schooling required before you can attend higher education schools. We all started praying around 7:15pm that God would not let it get dark until we got back down the hill to our vehicle!
When Stelica completed his message, we were also touched that when they passed the offering, so many put money in although they were some of the poorest of all. God will bless this little church and these people through the teaching of His Word.
We said our goodbyes and slowly made it down the slippery hill. We did rather well until Karen Brown and Stelica, who was helping her, slide down! It was funny even if it was messy. Pictures to follow at a later date!
Hans helped us take off our muddy shoes before we got back into his van...and Karen had to sit on Judy McCrory's plastic poncho! But all the way back we talked about the Spirit of the Lord ministering to us through this little church and how much we enjoyed participating in their service.
Time to pack and get ready to leave on Monday.
Monday, April 7:
We boarded our faithful vans on Monday morning, saying by to many of our friends who had come out to meet us, for the long ride to Bucharest. It was an opportunity for many to actually see some of the beautiful mountains and countryside since it was dark when they arrived before.
After a short stop in Sinaia, a small resort town in the Carpathian Mtns, for lunch, we safely arrived at our hotel. Remember the IMB missionaries we met in Sighisoara? Well, their names are Wes and Tamara Banks - and Wes was able to come over to the hotel and meet with Bro. John and some of the team. http://www.imbromania.ro/Banks%20family.htm
Wes and Tamara have a heart to work with the gypsies in Romania and are praying about re-locating to Sighisoara. Wouldn't it be great to work with them when we return next year. We had a sweet time of prayer for Wes and his family and he prayed for us. Keep praying for them as they seek God's guidance on this decision.
After a nice dinner at the hotel, "most of us" got up with a 3AM wake-up call! After a little extra prodding for some that did not hear the phone ring????...we all made it to the airport in plenty of time.
Team members were still looking for people to witness to in the airports. Kathy Mendenhall started sharing with a young man named Faces (fas-e) from Ethiopia traveling to Washington, DC. He was very interested and after receiving a 4-spiritual laws tract, he read through each page and even the prayer. Later he told Bro. John he would like for our team to come to Ethiopia and share with others there! Never know where WBC may go next.
We were so thankful to reach Huntsville and our families around 5:45pm on Tuesday.
Brother John has the final counts, but we handed out over 2000 gospel tracts in the Romanian language, distributed 500 copies of the gospel of John in the Romanian Gypsy Dialect, provided 500 salvation bracelets with scripture in Romanian, had over 40 trained in "Sharing Without Fear" (44 went out from Mana Church on Saturday to share in the streets!) and over 180 prayed to receive Christ.
Check next week and I will try and add additional pictures. Thanks again for all your prayers! bg
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