Thanks so much to all of you who are hanging in there with us. We appreciate you all. What things can you be praising God for in the ministry in Ramnicu Valcea this winter? Here’s a list!
1. That as we do the simple things that He has called us here to do, even when we don’t really notice a whole lot changing, God, in fact, is working out His saving purposes. Last week I was chatting with our architect friend at the “Home by the Forest” who wryly described himself and another friend there as “well-behaved”, which I think means that they sin quietly, rather than noisily. Then he said, “Our problem is that we don’t know how to pray!” And he continued, “I remember that time when I was having problems and you prayed for me. I’ll never forget that!” I was so touched by his comment because my prayer for him was one of the first times I had ventured to pray out loud for someone using Romanian language, grammar mistakes and all, and that prayer had been wrenched out of me only by a deep concern for his suffering. I was awed and amazed at how much God had blessed my obedience. I just had a “Wow, Lord!” moment. Beyond that, his comment gave me renewed hope that God is helping him to sense that there is more that he could have of Him and he is beginning to want it. God, increase that hunger and lead him to your Son! Continue Reading »
Since in the early days of our church many who were a part of our church family had no natural family to celebrate with, we began a tradition of having a festive meal together as a church on Christmas night. Once we purchased our house and began having services there, that meal moved out of restaurants and became an intimate potluck meal shared together, along with carols, pingpong, and sharing of the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. This year, although our church attendance has been shaky, God surprised me by still filling our home with 43 guests, not only members, but our loving Christian friends in the community as well as some brave unsaved family of our members. We trust God used the time for His saving purposes and for His glory.
This year we had the joy of writing and designing our own homemade Christmas tract to pass out with the gifts. As Tim, my usual source of artwork was busy with his sermon, and we only had a day left to get it done, I stole an old Christmas ornament Tim had made in years past off the tree, scanned it and made that the cover. Then I added some Christmas devotional thoughts that had come to me during my quiet time as I thought about the contrast between us fallen sinners and God’s one perfect Son, given to us on Christmas day. Written in Romanian, it still needed grammar revision, but thanks to Miha’s willingness to be my editor I still made my deadline.
Dec. 21 – We were on deadline to shop for our three outreaches to the “Home by the Forest”, the “Home by the Orchard”, and our local shelter for the homeless, so Tim and I set off for our favorite supermarket. (And oh how thankful I am that the days are long past of trudging home from the open air markets with bags so heavy they are dislocating your shoulders). Even so, an hour or so later, I could barely steer my shopping cart as I muscled it towards a waiting row of check-out counters, yogurt, snack cheese, canned fruit, fresh fruit and candy piled high. But in spite of the physical energy expended it was such a joy to know God had provided all that just so we could extend his grace to so many isolated and unloved people.
As for the outreaches themselves, they were greatly blessed in each place.Dec. 22 – At the “Home by the Orchard” Tim maneuvered our Christmas tree- laden car into a place in the icy snow along the side of the road that gave us most hope of getting out again after the time of ministry. Then we bowed our heads to pray. Before we even opened our eyes, the staff psychologist was there to greet us and to help unload the gifts. We sang carols in several different areas, starting with the men and working our way through the home. Everyone received our homemade tract and a gift. In one room the face of a gentleman who can no longer speak clearly was my most burning memory. His face was just shining. In the room of a suffering woman there were tears as we sang about Christ and as we exited the room I glimpsed one of the care givers crossing herself. In another room a woman warily concentrated on each word of the song, but in the end could find no fault with what she heard. Mostly it was just a warm, sweet, rich time with our friends, full of hugs and laughter and pointing to the love of God in Christ. I treasure the photographs from that day, even though I am not allowed to share them with you. Continue Reading »
December is a great month for outreach. Our first big event was the Samaritan’s Purse children’s festival here in Valcea, celebrating the birth of Jesus. We were invited by our friend Claudiu Nitisor to join in, along with believers from a few of the other evangelical churches in the area. 1500 children were expected, there was to be a program including a gospel message and each was to receive a shoebox gift. You can imagine that many hands were needed to help with all phases of the program. Tim got drafted to use his art skills to make a puzzle representing Jesus. And then we both got to help handing out gifts. It was great working together with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We drove out to the elderly home today as a light snow was falling. I was glad to come in out of the cold and see our friends. We hadn’t seen our engineer friend in a while or his roommate, so we made them our first stop.
Mr. Engineer always gives me a brisk mental workout, the way he races from topic to topic, but the great thing is that the conversation often moves to God. Today was no different…but was basically rehashing things we had explained already. And because Mr. Engineer was dominating the conversation, not only did I have little chance to translate for Tim, but we hadn’t yet had a chance to speak to his roommate, who is usually spiritually hungry. Time was speeding by and I hated the thought of leaving that room without God’s voice being heard. So almost desperately, as Mr. Engineer took a breath, I turned to his roommate, I asked if he would like to hear something from the Bible. He said, “Why not?”, so before the engineer could object, I quickly opened to the Christmas story and began to read. Even the engineer grew quiet as I began to read the verses describing God’s gift. The engineer muffled a sob. Then I closed my Bible gently, waiting for their response. I didn’t have to wait long. The roommate simply looked grateful. But Mr. Engineer looked me in the eye and making sure he had my full attention, said, “You’ve got good weapons!”
Amen. We do have good weapons! May they be savingly effective this Christmas in the hearts of those who are still without Christ.
Why do we do what we do in our church and not something else? Bill Foote’s story about what the Gospel did in a guilt-tormented war hero that stopped by his church one Sunday explains why. Enjoy and be strengthened in the gospel!
Tuesday morning December 8 – elderly ministry. Aged, and fragile, much of the time “Goldie” lays in bed sleeping or staring at the ceiling. Her other roommates more or less ignore her. She doesn’t contribute to conversation. She can’t really DO anything on her own. But Tim and I have discovered that she sparkles as she feels love. And who knows how little she understands? Maybe more than the other two we think are listening. Today, for example, when we entered the room she was asleep, but as I began to talk about Jesus, she woke up and Tim caught her watching me intently, her face aglow. Then as he bent to give her the kiss on both cheeks she loves to receive, she beamed with pleasure. Finally, Tim actually got her laughing out loud by the time the visit ended, simply by including her in a bit of teasing with her roommate. Definitely a memorable moment! Continue Reading »
Sunday night, Dec. 6th – prayer meeting
Tonight was a first in the life of our church…no one but us and our cat Sidney showed up for prayer meeting. Still God impressed Tim and I that we ourselves were there and that Christ was there and so we went ahead and had the discussion and prayer time with just the three of us. And you know what? It was a great discussion about men like Epaphras and Aristarchus, Mark and Luke who suffered, risked, denied themselves, and labored in prayer for the Kingdom. We saw things we admired in them and honestly confronted what changes need to occur in our lives that we might be more like them! Also, we were greatly blessed fighting in prayer for our church. So I am thankful that through the power of God’s Words and the presence of the living Christ, a potentially very discouraging moment was turned into a sweet and nourishing time. Praise God!
Sunday morning, Dec. 6th, 10 a.m. (19 days before Christmas.)
It is time to start our worship service and we look around. It is cold and flu season. Not to mention national elections and St. Nicholas day. There are five children and seven adults present, counting Tim and I. We know that after worship, all the children and two of the adults will disappear upstairs for the Children’s worship time. Since Tim and Anca stand up front, and I have hall duty, and one mother will be in the mother’s room, that will leave only 3 adults in the congregation for Tim to preach to. Tim’s shoulders sag a little. Any fellow pastor will surely relate to the sudden discouragement he feels. He’s worked hard on his sermon. But remembering God has promised to be in our midst, Tim opens the service. Continue Reading »
Thought I would just jot down some of the little things that bless me this month, instead of waiting to write something long and then forgetting half of the sweet moments. So here’s “Memorable Christmas Moment #1″:
Monday, Nov. 30, 2009
After delivering several boxes of groceries to F’s family, we all sat around in his tiny kitchenette to visit. The girls, 4 and 8-years-old, contentedly munched on the candy they had discovered in their little red and green Christmas purses, their eyes dancing as the beloved taste of chocolate flooded their mouths. Sitting on a half-broken stool, and watching their faces, I was just enjoying sharing their pleasure. After a while the littlest girl began lugging the grocery items one by one to the refrigerator or the bathroom or the cupboard to show she was big enough to be Daddy’s helper. Then, looking at the artificial Christmas tree which the little girls had enthusiastically decorated, their dad suddenly had an idea. Continue Reading »
I still made my deadline.
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January 24, 2010 by littleservant
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