October 2007 Update

Joh 4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

The beginning of October was marked by a group of ladies being driven down to Bucharest with both vans to the National Women's Conference. Calvary Chapel Bucharest sponsored the event and we had a wonderful turn out from our church. The theme of the conference was Having a Heart of Worship. We were so excited to see a group of mostly young single girls decide to take time out of their very hectic schedules with school and take a trip down to Bucharest. Cynthia and Natalie had the great pleasure of taking care of all these girls and making sure that everyone stayed on schedule. The girls decided to stay an extra night in Bucharest after the conference just to be able to do some shopping in the mall and see the sites. Cynthia made her way to the Starbuck's in the large mall and camped out there for a while drinking in the sights. Yes we have a Starbuck's now in Bucharest. I had a day old Venti Latte to prove it. Even a day old it was great. The girls returned on Saturday night talking about how much fun the conference was and how good the worship was. For some of these girls this was the first experience they had ever had with this type of a worship style. They all really loved it. The conference was also great for allowing time for the girls to ask questions about the worship and about the things of the Lord that they don't usually get to ask or feel comfortable enough to ask because of what people might think of them. The ladies have already been asking about next year's conference.

Also in October we started a foundations class. The focus of this class was to examine the core beliefs of Christianity as they are taught from the Bible. For example How do we know that the Bible is true? What does the Bible say about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and man? Living in a culture where people really have either no understanding of basic theology or a warped understanding of theology, we felt this would be a great class to offer for those that are interested. So far I have been very blessed by the turnout for the class. I keep praying that we will see more people interested in finding out what the Bible says instead of what people say and that this class would continue to grow and ultimately bear real fruit in people's lives.

This month has been extremely busy for all of us but we know that the return will be worth the investment of our time in the Lord's word.

Praise Report:

• Adi Blaga is back from Greece and we are so excited to have him back. Things went well and he is safe and sound home with his family.
  

• It has been amazing and humbling for me personally to see the Lord raising helpers up for all of the things that are needed in the church. Translators, people to lead worship it's been truly a blessing to see the Lord equip and also give a desire for people to serve.

Prayer request:

• Prayer for the the church to grow in Faith, Hope and specifically Love in a greater way.
  

• That the Lord would use the little church as a light to the city of Bistrita

• Prayer for the key to the city of Bistrita
  
  • For the Lord's guidance on effective outreaches into the community
  • Prayer for ways to love people in very practical ways

• That the new believers would be grounded in the Word of the Lord

• Pray that the Lord would continue to empower us and equip us for the ever changing needs of the body here.

• Pray for Brian and Natalie's Language lessons.

• Pray for the salvation of the Language teacher Veronica

• Pray for the financial needs of all the works in Romania as we are all being hit particularly hard with the drop in the dollar.
  

September 2007 update

With the leaves turning and the weather cooling off. Its been a beautiful season for the fall. The nights are cooling off rapidly and waking up and walking the kids to school is being marked more and more by coats and gloves and seeing your breath in the morning. The kids started school the 15 of September and have been enjoying going. Kaidon is very excited about being with the big kids this year. They have been learning about all kinds of different vegetables in class. After school and the mornings before school are full of interesting facts about carrots and leaves and how they grow.














With the beginning of Fall this would also mark the 3rd annual Calvary Chapel Bistrita women's tea. The speaker for this year was Heather Hoe who brought some ladies up from Calvary Chapel Brasov. The theme of the tea was Grace and we had a great turnout. The ladies played some games to get to know each other, They brought food and had a great time of fellowship with one another.

We had some extra helpers this year with setting up the tea, two of which were from Boise. Tanya Cordova is a young lady that graduated from the school of ministry and has been helping by volenteering with gypsy children 3 times a week she also started a young women's prayer meeting on Tuesday's evening. We have been very blessed with having her to help us and she has been a real joy to get to know.

The other missionary we have back is Natalie Bridges. She has returned after going back to the states and has picked up where she left off with just being a real help with everything. She is working in the Orphanages again and started her conversational English class again with a 1st class of 36 teenagers. She was very excited and we are looking forward to seeing what the Lord is going to do this year.

Praise report:

With Adi being gone and Nicu taking a break from translating we were a little worried about worship and finding translators for the different studies. But Praise the Lord Nici one the guys that play guitar very well and helps with worship volunteered to lead worship and did a great job. We also had two of the girls from the youth/College age group also volunteered to step and help with translating. They have all been doing a fabulous job. Just a reminder for us that God always provides when there is a need.

• Prayer for the new Foundation Class that is going to start in Oct 3rd. This is a class we are going to offer to the congregation to cover the basics of Christianity. Update: We had 7 people from the church participate in the 1st class. Keep praying that we would see more people take the time to come to the class.

• Pray for Adi Blaga. He is my assistant pastor and is going to work in Greece for a month for some extra money. pray for safety, and that the Lord would bless him while he is away. Also pray for his family as they will be here in Bistrita. This will be longest he has ever been away from them and its going to be hard on them.
  

• Prayer for the the church to grow in Faith, Hope and specifically Love in a greater way.
  

• Prayer for a digital projector

• Pray also for a place for the Romanian national conference to meet next year. We are looking for a camp that can house and feed at least 135 people. The places we have been researching our very expensive and we are looking for someplace affordable for the Romanians to be able to go.

• Pray for Brian as he is teaching 5 times a week. Please pray that he will be able to spend time with the Lord, to hear from him and that he will also be able to balance ministry and family life.

• That the Lord would use the little church as a light to the city of Bistrita

• Prayer for the key to the city of Bistrita
  
  • For the Lord's guidance on effective outreaches into the community
  • Prayer for ways to love people in very practical ways
  • Prayer for the training that we are going to start soon for those in the body who want to know how to effectively share the gospel with those around them. That the Lord would place on the right people hearts in the church.

• Prayer for Vasi to find a job update: Vasi has a job now praise the Lord.

• That the new believers would be grounded in the Word of the Lord

• Prayer For Brian as he will be starting Romanian lessons again. Pray that the Lord would equip him to learn quickly and retain what he learns.

• We also want to keep Prayer for New Beginnings the humanitarian side of our ministry. Coming into winter the cost of living with heating and electricity will be going up. Please pray for the Lord to provide for all that is needed.