Spring 2021 Family/Ministry update

 

Hristos Inviat

I look at the past year as just a reminder that all is not right in the world that we live in. Last Spring we celebrated Easter by having no one in Church's, no one outside, no one celebrating with extended family, It was by far the strangest Resurrection celebration we have ever had. People’s lives being thrown into turmoil with the loss of jobs, businesses, and even their health. All of their plans and hopes seem to disappear overnight. As I was thinking about these things I was reminded that the disciples went through something very similar.

They had invested 3 years of their lives with Jesus being a part of a close community. They traveled with him, talked with him, listened to him served with him, ate with him, gave up everything to follow him. Yet in a moment they watched their teacher, their friend, being betrayed by one of their own and taken away to be condemned by religious leaders who handed him over to the Romans, they then watched him be beaten, scourged, and dragged off and crucified, with him they watched all of their hopes, their plans, their dreams, being nailed to a tree and watched all of them die. 

Can you imagine the emotions, the loss, the questions, the hopelessness? In the book of Luke Chapter 24 On the road to Emmaus, we have recorded a snapshot into what the disciples were feeling, as they recounted to Jesus, whom they did not recognize, all of the things that Jesus did, all the promise and hope that they had in him.

And in midst of their story, they share that some of the women among them shared with them that the body of Jesus is not in the tomb and that He has risen. I want you to think about that because they are so overwhelmed with the hopelessness of their situation that this news, which is amazing news, it does not make an impact. It was not just these men on the road to Emmaus all of the disciples, start hearing different witnesses with the same account trickling in, that Jesus has risen. But their response is the same, unbelief.

I think it is a much-needed reminder for all of us. Easter shows us that not everything is right in the world. But more importantly, the resurrection of Jesus is a reminder that not all is lost, that not is all dark, that not all is without hope. God is still on the throne and he is still and has been in control.

Easter is not just about a broken world but also about a Redeemer who died and was raised to life again to give us new life so that that which was broken and not right would be mended and made right again.

The world that we see today, full of problems and suffering, injustice, hate, violence, cruelty, is a constant reminder that not all is right. 

This is the world that we created due to our rebellion against God. The solution is our need to be reconciled to God. The relationship that was broken due to our rebellion against God by our sin needs to be restored.

That is only possible through the cross of Christ. On the cross Jesus shed his blood for us, on the cross, Jesus experienced the wrath of God as he cried out God why have you forsaken me. There on the cross, Jesus became the propitiation for us. Meaning that his death extinguished the wrath of God forever for those who accept him as their Lord and Savior because his death satisfied the requirement of God on our behalf.

Easter is not just about a broken world. But about the lengths, a loving redeemer would go to mend that which was broken and make it right again.

Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus should not be limited to a one-time event on our calendar. But should be a reality that all of us wake up to every morning. 

This was part of an Easter message that I shared with our church in Bistrita and felt like all of us could use a reminder. I hope you find this an encouragement to you as well.

Jesus has risen

Praise Report:

Cynthia was able to help her mom with her move and get her settled in her new home. We are so thankful that she was able to do this. And that she was able to come back to Romania without any problems and celebrate Easter with all of us. 

Romania just changed their rules so now people do have to have a mask outside when walking in town. The other restrictions still apply countrywide but they are saying that they will gradually loosen them throughout the summer. So we will see.

Prayer Requests:

We just sent in long-term residency requests for all of the girls and will have to wait a few months to hear back from the Romanian government for approval and to finish the process

Cynthia and I will start our renewal process in September so pray for favor with all of that. 

Prayer, as we have been able to start up our Sunday school for kids again with the relaxed rules and our youth group. Pray for fruit in the lives of the kids.

Summer/Fall Update 2020

I remember roughly 18 years ago Cynthia and I attended a leadership conference at Calvary Chapel Boise. I remember trying to get to the conference that day was particularly challenging. We had our Son Kaidon at the time, who was around 18 months or I don't remember if we knew we were pregnant with Sedona yet. We were in rush to get there and upon arriving at the church Kaidon promptly threw up in the back of the car from car sickness resulting in a change of clothes the cleaning that following and showing up even more late for the conference.

Both of us were sitting through the different speakers of which all were good. But we both remember the Lord speaking directly to our situation because we are talking and praying about missions. The Speaker, said, something to effect, take your plans, your five-year plans, your ten-year plans, your retirement plans, all of those things for your life, and ask yourself is this what the Lord wants for me? Are you willing to surrender your plans, for his plans? 

We don't remember who it was that said that. But God used that greatly in our lives to challenge us to give up our plans and embrace his. If anything this last year has been a continuous reminder that surrendering to his plan is not just a single event, but a daily action. 

We spent roughly 2 months in lockdown, meaning, staying in our house, and only leaving for essential items or trips, i.e. groceries, paying bills, accompanied by a signed paper, that stated your destination, where you were coming from how long you would be out. There were checkpoints set up in different areas of our city to check if you had the right paperwork and make sure you were obeying the curfew. Lines to go into everything became the norm, it was interesting listening to the older Romanians talk about how this was just a return to what they had under communism. Even now, going into certain buildings, governments, or banks, you have to wait in a line to go in.

We switched to an online service and with only worship and teaching online. The President begged people during the Easter Holiday week to refrain from attending services or having family and friends over for a Gratar/BBQ. 

I still remember how surreal that morning was as I was driving to church. There were no people in the town, nobody walking, nobody, riding a bike, hardly any cars, all the stores were closed, parking lots were empty and all the churches were quiet.

As the weather warmed up we were lucky to have a large courtyard and built a cornhole game from leftover wood that we had and spent many afternoons after school playing games and watching the kids riding bikes in a circle or playing bike when the weather was nice. When the weather wasn't cooperating we played cards, Jenga, and introduced the kids to all of the classic 80's movies that we grew up with.

We were still hoping that our plans for the summer activities would somehow still happen only to be told that restriction would still be in place, we were excited however at the beginning of summer to not be restricted to our home and allowed to venture out. By July they had loosened the rules enough to invite people back into the church observing social distancing rules and as of September, we have started our midweek study back up with a small group meeting.

Sunday's are a mixture of different people attending physically and tuning in through our Facebook live stream. Mask's our daily part of our lives now it seems and will continue to be a part of our lives for the foreseeable future. Through it all God has been good, no one in our church has been sick through all of this and we have seen more visitors this year since meeting again than normal. 

Fall usually means our annual Women's tea but due to group size restrictions, we opted instead to celebrate a baby shower for our worship Leader's wife Diana. It was so much fun to watch the ladies of the church gather together for games and dinner to bless Diana with amazing gifts. Cynthia said everyone had a great time.

Sunday after the baby shower we had a baptism providing an opportunity for those who wanted to make a public statement of faith in Jesus. Brian had the privilege of baptizing Crina, one of the long-time employees of the after-school program with New Beginnings, and her mother. It was so exciting to hear how both of them felt like the Lord had told them it was time to be water baptized. An additional blessing for our family was both Sage and Ryley, wanted to be water baptized as well. Such an awesome weekend. 

While this year has been one of the most challenging for us with the lockdown, restrictions, and constant changes in our plans. I am constantly reminded that God is not bound by lockdowns or restrictions that his plans are never impacted and that we have to learn continuously that it is ok when things are not going how we planned. Whether it the first step of faith or our hundredth. We are constantly being pulled out of our comfort zone and stretched. God is still on the throne no matter what life throws at us and he is absolutely for us and uses us in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. Our prayer through this has been that with all of this craziness around us, people might wake up start asking questions, and genuinely start seeking answers and that they would be divinely directed to someone who would introduce them to the God who can still calm the storm, the God that still saves.

Praise report:

The baby shower was such a blessing for Diana and Ionuts as the prepare in December to welcome their first child into the world.

Thankful for those who chose to make a public statement of faith in Jesus. Praying for continued protection for them and a deep desire to grow in their faith.

Prayer requests:

Prayer for one of the couples in our church who are struggling with some property line challenges. A neighbor passed away and his son has inherited the land but is challenging the existing property lines. Prayer for wisdom and strength and clarity for all who are involved. This is still an ongoing problem for them please keep Mitica and Ildi in prayer.
 
They have also released the guidelines for the schools and depending on what county your in will depend on how the school is going to start, red zoned counties mean online-only, yellow-zoned counties mean classes. will split the week half attending the other online then vice versa. Green zoned counties mean normal school. Not sure how this is all going to work but we will see. Bistrita is labeled currently as a green zoned area so as far as we know all of the schools will be starting up normal next week. Asking for prayer for the students and the teachers and administrators this school year as it going to be different and challenging here for them.
 
Cynthia was helping some of the kid's old teachers with classroom decorations for this year and they are all very stressed about the way school is going to go this year. Please pray as the Romanian school system started this week. 

 

The church is going well. some people are coming to service and others are choosing to stay home and watch online. Just praying for people to not be fearful in all of this. But to be wise and light to those around them. On an exciting note, we are continuing to have visitors come to church in the midst of all of this. Praying for God to move in their hearts. 

 

Please pray for an older lady who has begun to come faithfully for Sunday service. She is estranged from her only daughter and her husband passed away a year ago and she is very lonely. Prayer for the church to continue to love on her and for the Lord to reveal himself to her in an amazing way.