Romania Missions

Brochure in the Works

2012-01-10T14:35:00.000+02:00

There is a new "Missions Brochure," in the works here. Besides giving you a reminder of who we are and what we are doing here, it will also be a way to keep in touch with us and even support the work here. Keep following for more details.

Here I Stand

2012-01-08T06:04:00.003+02:00

Micah 5:4 - "And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth."

I've been thinking about this verse a lot lately; and not just because it's in my favorite book of the Bible (wink, wink). In a world and time with so much going on, so many things going wrong, and our eyes continually being bombarded by new things "we just have to have," it's so comforting to know where we stand. We know the story about the wise man who builds his house upon the rock (Matthew 7), but do we really trust God enough to build AND feed upon The Rock? To often we lean one way or another, but never accepting all God has to offer us in our life.

1 Peter 5:7 - "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." The question seems to be too simple for us to understand. Either we stand in Him, with solid footing and secure hands around us, or we don't. We either cast all our care or we cast none of it. Unless we give Him everything, without holding anything back for ourselves, we rob Him of what He wants, a relationship with us. We got so easily entangled with the "day to day," my job, my relationships, my purpose, etc. that we start worrying. We start thinking, "I can take care of this one myself, I don't need to give this one to God." For a while we can actually convince ourselves this is true, but we all know how it ends, on our knees begging for His help, realizing how foolish we were (and are). In the end, truth always wins. Where we stand and where we feed is so important. It's our security and our fire and this is why we want it from the right source, our everlasting Father. We stand in Him. Our food comes from Him.

Rucar Missions Trip

2011-12-03T23:28:00.001+02:00

About two hours away from Brasov is a small town by the name of Rucar. We took a trip there a couple weeks ago to visit some American missionaries who had been living there (now they are in the States until March). This couple had been visiting our church every Sunday for a while. They had mentioned that they wanted us to visit for a long time. We only made the trip on the last week they were there.
The trip there was beautiful. Through the mountains right as the leaves were changing. We even stopped for a couple pictures. (Here's one:)

When we got there, man what a surprise we were in for. There was around 20 people waiting for us to hold a church service. It was incredible! We felt right at home. P.Valli, P. Mihael, and Gabi led us in a time of worship. After that, P.Mihael asked me to give a short testimony. I spoke on the love of God (from 1 John 3), but what really stayed with me was P.Valli's intro about the Shepherd. He gave a great analogy of how a shepherd's heart is for his sheep, for seeking them, for loving them. That was such a great thought for us.

I was there with three other teachers from GGIS Brasov. After the great time in Rucar, we did a bit of a "team building" in a nearby cave. I was never claustrophobic, not even a little bit, but as soon as I walked into the cave, I have to admit, I shrunk a little. It was pitch black in there. Reminded me of the story of David and his mighty men in the cave when Saul came in. The way David's Shepherd protected him in that place is truly incredible. Such a love we have received, such a love we have to give. God forbid these trips end and we stop letting our "cups overflow" (Psalm 23:5). I thank God for such an opportunity and I can't wait for the next one!

No Turning Back

2011-01-10T13:42:00.000+02:00

Acts 7:39-"...and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt."

There is a great message here; a great warning as well. This passage is Stephen's message right before he is stoned to death. He is speaking about the Hebrews in the wilderness when Moses went up into Mount Sinai. After no contact with Moses for a period, the people grow restless. They go to Aaron and demand that a new god be made for them to worship, a golden calf. Aaron, being afraid of the people, relented and we know the rest of the story. The people bring their gold to be melted and form this false idol.
The passage in Acts 7:39 really makes an incredible statement as to how they could have done this. Their hearts turned back, or we could say that their hearts were deceived. When referring to Moses they called him "this Moses." Pretty interesting way to refer to the man of God who led you out of slavery, but this is what happens when our hearts are turned away. All of the truth in their situation had become distorted. We see them in Numbers 11 complaining again about how "great" it was in Egypt. "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic." - Numbers 11:5
This is so important to us because we want to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23). It's so easy for us to have a negative thought; for the devil to get it and say that we are worthless, or that God doesn't care. It's even easier to believe it's true! One thing that cannot change is God. His thoughts are peace (Jeremiah 29:11); and they never change. His word is eternal (John 6:68); and it is life. We get depressed, things upset us, often times we may be sad about something, but there is something so much greater that can keep my heart. Philippians 4:7 says the "peace of God that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." That's it! The thoughts of God - that NEVER change - are peace, and this peace passes all understanding and is able to keep my heart!
Seven times in Psalms and Proverbs it talks about keeping his law/precepts/statutes. People strive to make their life about doing something that will keep their heart clean and pure. And while this is what the Bible says, these people are skipping the most important part. They have no peace. It's so peaceful to live in the will of God. Why would I want anything else? What a thought, I have the privilege to live with a peace that passes all understanding. And because of this peace, keeping His precepts has become such a joy to me. And without me even realizing it, my heart is kept; I have not turned back to Egypt, I only look to His face.

The Wonder Of It All

2010-11-09T21:48:00.006+02:00

Matthew 22:29 says, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God."

This is a picture of the Greater Grace International School staff from our annual International Day. For me this picture is such a blessing in itself. Not just because of the

memories, but because it leaves me in wonder. I am amazed at how God is using us to impact student's lives. I am amazed at how God is giving us patience and enlarging our capacities. And I am amazed at how a handful of people can reach countries with His name.

Obviously you can see in the title that we are speaking about wonder. This also includes

amazement, awe, or any other word you wa

nt to use in its' place. Wonder is such an incredible gift and an interesting tool in our life with Christ. In contrast to wonder we have mystery. Both of these provide us with a level of excitement and interest, but only one of them has a positive influence on our soul.

With mystery we find too often that there is a type of secrecy that eats away at our spirit. I want to contrast this with mistakes in our past. Mistakes in our past are not secrets. They are things we don't bring up our speak about because they are

not edifying and they bring back memories of sin that were buried and paid for. With mystery though, there are secrets - things that may have happened in the past, but because of not being brought to the Cross and dealt with, are eating away at our

soul. Yes, there is excitement in mystery, but there is also fear. Maybe a fear of what will happen when I lose the excitement. Maybe a fear of the mystery being brou

ght to the light and I am exposed. Either way, mystery is a result of the fall. We see Adam and Eve being very mysterious; attempting to hide from God because of their sin. We see mysterious people everyday; people living in wounds, outside of a covering, or even those looking for recognition through pride. All in all, I don't see many good examples of mystery/mysterious people in the Bible.

Now to wonder. I realize that it is a very ambiguous word and that we could probably use some definition. I will assume that there may be some people who

read this blog who are not Christians so I will try my best to explain. Imagine the feeling when you hear someone say something, maybe an idea or a problem they dealt with, and it hits you. You don't know what hits you, but it does. I'm in church and the pastor is preaching and he says something. I look around expecting to see everyone looking at me. They have to be because after all what he just said applies to my life directly. Nobody is looking at me. This is wonder. A supernatural God speaks through a man to a natural human, me. The words speak to me, they can cut and heal, it's God speaking to me. In Psalms 8:4 the psalmist writes, "What is man that though are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" That is wonder. That is the question I ask God and that is the question he loves to answer. I think about when people ask me about the school. I get a smile, then I just start talking, about the kids, the ideas for the future. I could continue for days. I love talking about what God has written on my heart because I live with that on my heart eve

ryday; just as God lives with the answer to our questions, the solutions to our problems, and our daily bread, everyday.

Look at the faces of these kids. You may never meet them. You may never get to know them, their favorite color or how much they like going to our school, but God does. It's so incredible to

me to think this way. I go to the store and I see things advertised as "hand-picked," or "special selection," or anything like that; they cost more. These children are the same. My call is the same. The lost are the same. Hand-picked of God's special vineyard. He knows them, He loves them, He provides for them daily, He has placed them (for a season) in His school here. Everyone has a story. Stories don't move me as much now as they used to when I was younger. You know what does, wonder! I hear a story and I am in wonder at how God provides, about how much He loves, at how He speaks to us.

Maybe you like being a mysterious person. Maybe you like all your secrets. Maybe you think it makes you a more interesting person. I don't know, but what I do know is, I am in wonder at what He is doing. He shines the light in my life and the mystery is gone and I am in wonder at how much He loves me, at how little I want or need mystery in my life. I need the Scriptures and the power of God. Those keep me in wonder!

Pressing On...

2009-09-15T09:59:00.003+03:00

So, it doesn't quite look this way here yet, but we are quickly approaching winter in this traditionally cold place. We have all thoroughly enjoyed the time and weather God has given us, but now we must make the transition to the cold, gray season of post-Communist winter. You may be wondering, "What about fall?" Well, we tend to skip that season as we like to jump right into the misery that is bitter cold mixed with towering, colorless apartment buildings.
Although, if you don't let the natural get to you, the beauty of God's creation can really shine through. It's a wonderful thing!
In more news, school started last week, one week before the Romanian public schools. It has been incredible! 24 students from 12 different countries! Excuse my repeated exclamation marks, but I am truly excited! The staff here has an incredible unity, 3 different churches represented by the staff alone. We are all excited about what God is doing here and we are ready for the challenges that come with this great call that we've been called to.
Please, keep us in prayer as we start with many new projects. We are opening our after-school programs to the public. It's a great opportunity to get the Gospel out under the guise of teaching English. Also, we are looking for a new building to move to next year so that we can also get registered by Romania as an International School operating in Romania. These are all big projects, but we know that God has enough strength for us.
We also have a plethora of people planning to visit the church and school here. P.Barry Quirk, the Director of the GGIS in Budapest and also KETA, the Bible School, is planning on coming in mid-November with his wife. P.Pierre-Andre Gigon, the pastor of the Greater Grace Church in Geneva, Switzerland, is also planning to visit us. Keep these men and their plans in prayer.
And finally, keep the team in prayer. The guys have a few repairs we have to make on the house we live, along with replacing a few appliances (the washing machine leaks and electrocutes us when we try to change the loads). Just pray that we get good prices on not only the work and appliances, but that God would provide the finances to do this.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and keeping us in your prayers. We'll keep you updated and God Bless!

Being a part of Super-History

2009-08-10T22:43:00.003+03:00

Every single day of lives something "historic" happens. What I mean is that every day something happens that we can look back at that moment and say, "That was part of my history." We have the saying, "This is history in the making!" When something truly amazing happens to us. Even though we can always look back at this, there is something we always miss, "Super-History." Super-History happens all the time, but for some reason we tend to look only at our history. I think this is a great example of the spiritual warfare going on. Imagine, we go to church service feeling depressed because we just got a speeding ticket the day before. When we think back to that day before, we do not remember the great time we had on outreach, or the souls won to Christ, we can only think about the ticket we got and what we could have done to change the situation. I can't believe what the devil gets away with.
When we look at Romania in January of 1990, all we see is the fall of Communism, the death of Ceaucescu, and maybe even what "good" it would do for these people. Very few people can seem to remember what that government did to preachers like Richard Wurmbrand, and that preachers like him would now be freely able to share the Gospel!
Continue to pray for us. That we would be a part of Super-History every day and that the Lord would fill us with only these thoughts and desires. We covet and thank you for your prayers. Until the next time, God Bless.

More to Come...

2009-07-02T17:43:00.005+03:00

It's been a while since my last post so I wanted to update the situation. I came back to the States in the middle of May to graduate from Maryland Bible College and Seminary with my Bachelors in Missions. It's been over a month and I am starting to prepare to go back. I will go back in the end of this month in order to start making preparations for school. I am going to go there before everyone comes from the States so that I can get a little of a vacation!
Anyways, we just had our International Convention in Baltimore, MD. What a time it was! Meeting with people from all over the world and fellowshipping in the Son. The messages were astounding. The theme "Here We Stand," has such power in that thought. Pastors and Missionaries from all over the world preaching the grace Gospel of Jesus! Just to much to explain with words.
Keep me in prayer as I am now getting ready to go back to Romania. Also, a few others to keep in prayer: Cliff Olson as he comes in August to teach for another year, Yvonne Freeman who is planning on coming to teach and work with the church, P.Mark Knowles who was so moved by God during his visit to Brasov that he is coming for the year to work with the church, and also Sean Ryan who is coming for one year to be in school and be a part of Team Romania! And any others who are praying about coming, for their finances, safety, health, travel, and all these sorts of things.
Keep our travel in prayer, we are making some plans to go certain places; Germany for Thanksgiving, Finland for the New Years Conference, Switzerland, Greece, Moldova, Hungary, and wherever else the Lord would bring us!
Please keep us in prayer and until next time, grace and peace be with you all!

Conferences, KFCs, and Revolutions

2009-04-12T14:27:00.006+03:00

It has been almost a month now since the end of EuroCon. And we were just so built up by the messages and fellowship. It was such an awesome time for the Romanian church. There were over 60 people there from Romania! God spoke to us greatly during this time, imparting supernatural wisdom for situations and speaking a Word in season to us that was so timely for all here.
We also had our own conference here in Romania, we called it RomaniaCon. Not very original, but we weren't looking to be. P.Stan Collins, P.David Stambovsky, Istvan Pirger, and Mat Laflamme were just a few of our speakers. We had a variety of subjects from Missions to Relationships, all while considering our theme, Luke 16:10 "He who is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much."
It is a great thought for our Christian lives, to often we just want something. Not necessarily something bad, just something. I love that in the Bible God never calls us to anything, but Him (Mark 8:34, 35, Hebrews 5:4,5). I love it when I can wake up in the morning and hear God's voice calling me. He wants to leave me with no options. It would be easy for me to change something by doing it, changing it myself, but the effect would only be temporal. Recently here we had a Bible study with Shane Richardson, a missionary from Budapest, Hungary. I was supposed to be preaching at a Youth meeting, but I was the youngest one there! We preached about Barabbas and Jesus. Even before dying, Jesus was redeeming people! Here was Barabbas, a convicted criminal, a murderer, a thief, and who knows what else he did, but at the moment he was free. It was impossible for him not to have been! Revelation 13:8 says that He is "the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world." Barabbas was redeemed because of this promise! Maybe he was on a balcony with Pilate and Jesus in front of the Jews and Pilate asked which one he should let go. The power to redeem wasn't Pilates, it wasn't the people who screamed for Barabbas to be let go, but it was in the Promise of God. It was so encouraging, to be reminded of the power of the Promise.
When Pastor Stan Collins was here he said something so simple but so true, "The grace message is the balanced message." This is an awesome thought, and it was one of the thoughts about the message with Jesus and Barabbas. We have it all with the grace message. People to often go around trying to balance out the grace message. They say there is forgiveness, but the same people won't forgive a "repeat offender." "He had his chance and he blew it, we gave him grace, but he didn't want it." That's there balance. We brought this up in the "Youth Study." They try to balance everything in the grace message, they become to pratical, they think God can't do anything without them and their great skills. These people are only trying to steal the glory from God for themselves. You know who did that first? Satan. Remember? He thought that he should be greater then God because he thought his plan was better. It's an incredible thought, we call these people all sorts of things, legalistic or works people or anything (insert name here). All they are really after is God's glory. Wurmbrand writes about this in his book "My Correspondence with Jesus." He reads Hebrews 6:6 and decides that he is going to be the one to stop Jesus from being "crucified afresh." Later into the book he sees what a foolish plan this is, Jesus doesn't need our help to stop His Crucifixion, this is what Peter thought and tried to do in the Garden. God receives the glory through His Son's crucifixion. We should never try to take that away from Him.

Finally in close to this post, please keep our brothers and sisters in Moldova in prayer. If you have not heard, there is a revolution going on at this moment in Moldova. It is so interesting watching the reports from a country where this only happened here 20 years ago. The rioting in the streets, the destruction of property, the cry against Communism, it is to familiar to the people here in Romania. So please keep them in prayer and if you would like any info on the subject, please go to www.unimedia.info for news in regards to the revoultion. Until next time, may God bless you.

Finding Meat in a Milkshake

2009-03-12T09:54:00.010+02:00

"But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the Lord be with you as he has been with my father." - 1 Samuel 20:13

"Now Jonathan again caused David to vow because he loved him; for he loved him as as he loved his own soul" - 1 Samuel 20:17

Don't let the title fool you. This will not be a disgusting story of eating traditions in Romania, we'll save that for a later post. This is merely the tale of how I found a word in season for my life while attempting to take away from God what is rightfully His, glory and praise. The way it started was from me being ill-prepared to teach a morning Chapel class at the school. I was in one of the classrooms before school opened just praying that God would give me something. Doctrinal and complex, but also simple and edifying, I mean, I preaching to 10 year olds! I saw Kim reading a devotional on his computer, and I just decide to take the verses I saw at the top of the page and run with it. As I was reading the verses to the kids I thought, "man, this is actually an incredible story, this is like really, really good." Then I started explaining it, the irony of the story. Two friends, a shepherd and a prince, where they pretty much just switch places (I wonder where "The Prince and the Pauper" came from???). It was more than that. This is more then just a story of how to be a good friend. The devil loves it when I don't give the credit that is due to the only One worthy of receiving any credit. In this simple story there is enough doctrine for me to eat for years. Why would I think that a simple Chapel class for children shouldn't move me from the puddle that I'm in into a river of sound Bible doctrine. It's these kind of thoughts that allow me to thank God for people who decide to support the work here, but to blame Him for the trial of having to need that support.
I was reading Wurmbrand recently and he said something that hit me. He said something along these lines, "As death is the name given to an experience by people who don't know how to ressurect, so may trials be the name given to a glorious experience by those who don't know how to turn tears into pearls and wear them in the glorious crown of Christ." Now, I may have changed a few words, but I think you get the idea. Why didn't God remove the thorn from Paul's side? The thorn brought him to a place where his heart was after God. No one wants to go through a trial, but do I want to get to know God? If the answer is yes, shouldn't this be my pursuit? Shouldn't I give up everything, go through anything, and accept nothing less? There has to be a goal for us. Whether it is to get to know God or something else is my own choice, but, if it's the former, there can be nothing else that distracts me. Not my fear of pain, death, or trials. My eyes are fixed on the eternal, and I won't sacrifice the eternal on the altar of the immediate. This is what I see from Jonathan and David. Yes, maybe the story could teach me to be a better friend; yes, it could teach me character, or any one of a dozen moral ideas. I'm not interested in being a moral person, or even being a moral Christian. Morality is just the world's imitation of eternal life. They can never have it without Christ, so they make this, being a good person. What good is trying to be a good person if I have everything working against me? I was born a bad person, I have lived my life as a bad person, and I will die a bad person. If you want to know the difference just add 'trying to be good,' to the end of each phrase. On the other hand I can now say this, "I was born a bad person, He died, I live." That's it, I love it. I will end this the way that Richard Wurmbrand ends each chapter in his book "My Correspondance with Jesus." So until the next time we speak, I have a lot to ponder.
Oh, and just in case anybody is wondering what I am looking at in this picture, here it is:

Mission Trip to Moldova

2009-03-11T10:24:00.000+02:00

That's us. In the picture there. Team Romania. This picture was taken in February in Chisinau Moldova. Since then we've had one new member to our team, Donna Perry. For anyone who doesn't know, Moldova is the country to the east of Romania. Just to give you an idea of the place, they were given their freedom in the early 90's and followed that up with having the first free elections the country had ever seen. They elected a Communist President. The tallest guy in the picture, that's Igor. He lives in the Moldovan countryside. Every weekend he hops on a bus with a small bag, some food his wife makes him, and all the other people, chickens, and whatever else they fit on the bus and heads to Chisinau, the capital. He only lives around 300 kilometers away, but it takes around 6 hours for him to get there. For those of us who can't translate this into miles, it's maybe 180 miles. That means the bus is going an average of 30 m.p.h the entire time! The entire church there is filled with people like this. Just imagine a country where a police officer makes $250 a month!!! Imagine one of these people getting saved, and the glory God gets from this. It's amazing!!! Well, that trip was almost a month ago. We are now back to working in the Greater Grace International School. Keep us in prayer, many students are leaving for many different reasons. We know God has a plan, but we are sad to see them go. Now we look ahead to EuroCon '09 and for the first time ever, RomaniaCon '09. We missionaries coming from everywhere preaching for the week after EuroCon. Keep that in prayer as we have many other Christians not in our church who will be attending and of course many unsaved people. Also keep in prayer the Youth night every Friday which we just started a couple weeks ago. Last Friday we had 16 people there! This Friday, Mike Brown will be preaching, even though I don't think he knows it yet. Keep Mike and Pastor Shibley in prayer as they get here the Friday before EuroCon (this Friday!) and spend a few days with us. Keep Pastor Stan Collins, Pastor David Stambovsky, Istvan Pirger, and Mat Laflamme (just to name a few) in prayer as they are all planning to come to Romania after the conference and will be just a few of our speakers for RomaniaCon '09. I ask everyone to keep the team here in prayer, our health, spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental, our finances especially, and our new oppurtunities in ministry. Many exciting things happening here, we're so glad we get to be the vessel God uses. Until next time...