Isaiah 61:1-2a, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
To Proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
This last week as I was sitting in a bible study teaching on the book of
2 Thessalonians, I looked around the table at a group of people of all different walks of life just sitting there with their bibles open, taking notes. We were studying the
word of God, listening to Paul correct the confusion that had come into the church of Thessalonica. Looking back over what seems like such a short time we have been amazingly blessed to see the people that the Lord has brought into our church. People that have come from different life situations, different hurts, different prisons and yet through the simple teaching of the word we have seen these people be healed emotionally, and set free. Its a great privilege to sit with them and encourage them to get their eyes off of their circumstance and just look to Jesus, for all of their needs.
To see the fruit that is being produced in their lives over the months and years of hearing the Word. To see them continuing to grow and mature as they learn to trust the Lord more and more in the things that life throws at them. I just sit and marvel at the Lord. When we first came to Romania we had only 1 translator for church and bible studies. We had only 1 person to lead worship. But now we have seen 1 translator go to 4 and 1 worship leader to 2. We have seen the young people that have been here the longest starting to step up into areas of serving that need help. Working with the sunday school, translating for studies and sharing their faith through different ways.
I have watched some of the older believers start really reading their bibles, really desiring to understand what the Lord is sharing with them. Turning away from the church tradition, and starting to grasp the Grace of God. To understand how much the Lord really loves them and that they do not have to fear God like he hates them and is waiting to strike them down if they make a mistake.
Its so exciting to watch the Lord set people free, from the bondage of sin, the bondage of religion and the bondage of legalism.To see them search the scriptures for answers to life as they learn the Bible more and more. To see them talk to family, friends, colleagues they work with or go to school with and encourage them that there is something different then what they are experiencing in this life. It has nothing to do with religion or morals but simply Jesus.
One of the things that we are asking from those of you who are involved in prayer, and support financially is to help us better communicate and connect with all of you who make this all possible. If there are things you would like to hear incorporated into the our prayer requests, monthly news updates, etc. please let us know. If there is anything that you feel like the Lord has shared with you specifically regarding the ministry here we would love to hear from you. With Agape from our family to yours Brian, Cynthia and kids.
Praise report:
Doru was one of the the new young men that was invited to the youth camp by one of our young people. While we were at the camp he seemed to listen to the studies but we never actually were able to sit down and talk about what he was listening to. I figured that he was enjoying the camp but was not interested in what we were talking about. He came with another friend Claudiu who would find me after the studies and continue to ask me questions. The funny thing was that Doru was the one that started attending some of the mid week studies and coming on Sunday when he was not working. This last week I was talking with him over yahoo messenger and was amazed to hear him start talking about his life. How he felt so sinful and small. It was at this point that I just started asking him some questions and reading his answers. I asked him if he had a Bible next to him. He answered yes, he had recently visited his mom and she had given him a Bible which he started reading. We read what God wrote about sin and about what it means to be born again and justified. after about 1.5 hours he told me that he wanted to be saved. I simply told him you need to ask the Lord and he will save you. So we prayed together right then. What a great week!
Prayer Requests:
Pray for wisdom and God's guidance for Brian and all of the leadership.
Prayer for Unity in the ministry
Prayer for financial provision, specifically monthly support for New Beginnings, this is an NGO specifically tasked with providing family care for Romanian orphans.
Prayer for Romanian parents for one of the family centers.
Pray for safe travels for the Fouts' family as they travel back for a visit this winter.
Pray for financial provision for the Fouts' travel.
Pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the lives of the church here that they would have a passion for Jesus.
Pray for Leana's and Ionela's mom as she is in failing health. Pray for the family.
Pray for Patri the little girl of Adriana and Vasi, she always gets very sick in the winter weather here. Please pray for the Lord to protect her from sickness and be with her parents.
We are also asking that you pray that during our visit back the Lord would bring divine appointments as we share with people about the work here in Bistrita. That we would meet people who want to partner with us and the ministries here.
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