Romanian Travels- A November Update

Partnership Development

“Instead of a river, God often gives us a brook, which may be running today and dried up tomorrow. Why? To teach us not to rest in our blessings, but in the Blesser Himself” -A.W. Pink

This quote has never rung more true to us than in the last couple of months. We have been teetering on the edge of 48-49% of the monthly support we need to raise. We are so close to 50% that we can taste it.  Many missionaries have told us that the first 50% is the hardest to get, and we have been looking forward to celebrating the crossing of that threshold.  We daily ask the Lord to supply our needs and to supply more monthly supporters. We would love the Lord to provide in a river, but it has been much more of a brook.  

But God has answered that prayer for support in ways that we wouldn’t have ever thought to ask. One dear woman from our church gave us 25lbs of hamburger. We have been blessed with several generous special gifts that have been given anonymously. The ways the Lord keeps providing little by little has grown us in many ways. We can see His faithful hand and that deepens our trust in Him to keep providing. He is giving us greater capacity to rejoice and be thankful for all His gifts regardless of size. When Mark was employed at the bank, we knew that the Lord had given him that job, but we didn’t look to Him to provide the paycheck every two weeks. The crazy thing is, standing in this brook should be terrifying, but the Lord has given us a resolve to know this is exactly where He wants us. We know that the Blesser is with us!

Romania

My trip to Romania in October was a very special time. Repeatedly the Lord showed me that He had handpicked this team for very specific purposes. That was never more apparent to me than on our home visits. The team divided up and some went with the Pastor’s wife and some went with their daughter. My group visited 4 homes. Two of the homes were homes of widows. The Lord had put a widow in our group, as well as a woman who loves older women and had great words of wisdom to share. Another home had a woman who just had a breast cancer scare and still wasn’t totally out of the woods. The Lord put a woman in our group that has survived breast cancer. At the last home we visited, there was a young mom of 3 children, and the youngest was nonverbal autistic!  The mom, Simona, has very little resources for her autistic son. She must travel hours by bus to get him any sort of help. Simona was asking me all sorts of questions that all came from the fear that she wasn’t doing enough for her child. I have felt that fear myself. I asked the Holy Spirit to give me the words He wanted to say to Simona. I was able to share how Jesus has proven Himself trustworthy over and over in Reese’s life. Although the resources we have for Reese are a blessing, it is the Lord who has done the work in her. It is the Lord who has been our ever-present help. I encouraged her that Jesus loves them, and He will show her the way best to help her son. I thank God for that divine appointment!

While I was in Romania, the team did two women’s conference. The first conference was with pastor’s wives and missionaries. We went through the book of Philippians. We also had a spa night with them and had breakout sessions on many different topics. The women said that they not only were physically refreshed, but most importantly, they were renewed so that they can keep fighting the good fight of faith.

The second conference was with Orthodox women. In the Orthodox religion, they are told that only the priests can read and understand the Bible, so people are told not to read the Bible themselves. They are also told they cannot know Christ personally.  Because of this, their relationship is with the church, not with Jesus. This leaves them lost and desperately wondering if they have done enough in the church’s eyes to be saved.  We know that is not how we are redeemed.

 For this conference we focused on how knowing Christ personally brings us purpose, hope, and peace. We were very intentional to read from our Bibles and shared how daily reading the Word is the primary way we learn to know Christ. The first day we had 29 women, and the second day we had 18. The pastor’s wife, Vera, shared that on the first day there were some spies sent by the priest to tell him who was there and what we were teaching. Those 18 women that came the second day had come against the priest’s order. Vera shared that several women have started reading the Bible on their own. While we were at church on Sunday, two women came forward in faith to say they wanted to be baptized! I thank you all for your prayers and ask that you pray for those two women “G” and “N” that they will truly embrace the gospel and be saved.

Since returning we have been speaking at mission conferences and visiting churches. We are so thankful for all the opportunities that the Lord has given us. It is such a joy each week meeting more brothers and sisters in Christ!  

Here is our upcoming schedule!

11/24- Hartford Bible

12/1- Liberty Baptist

12/8- Fish Lake Bible and Capital City Baptist

Prayer Requests:

That we will continue to trust the Lord and in His timing with support raising.

We need teams for our 2025 trips to Romania and India. As God reminded me on this recent trip, He is the one who handpicks these teams. Please pray for wisdom as we start to assemble teams.

The women in Romania still navigating what it means to have a relationship with Jesus.

Praises:

For Kim’s trip to Romania.

Mark’s mom was able to move into a memory care facility! We are so thankful for God’s provision!

For God’s continued way of taking care of our needs.

Mark and I celebrate 27 years of marriage this Friday! We know that it is only because of Christ that our marriage has lasted!