When Sinners Turn to Jesus

In the past 2 weeks, we've seen a LOT of sinners come to Jesus.  What a joy it is! 

This month has been one of the busiest months since we arrived last October.  Last week, we were privileged to serve with an American team and Romanian/Roma believers in a youth camp about 2 hours from Bucharest.  The camp theme was "Stii?" which means "Do you know?"  Cameron served as the camp pastor and Jessica led a small group Bible study.  It was a very stretching time both for language and ministry, but God greatly blessed us to be able to communicate well in Romanian.  Approximately 20 students accepted Christ!  It was such a blessing to see their hearts turn from sin to repentance. 

This week we helped with another American team here in Bucharest.  We all distributed flyers around the city for the National Bible Reading Campaign (http://www.wemakedisciples.com/introduction-john-111.html).  The flyers/tracts ask the question: "Which way will you choose?" with one side being the "Way of Man" that emphasizes good works and the other side being the "Way of the Lord" that emphasizes forgiveness and grace in Jesus.  Most people who received the flyer walked away reading it intensely.  Many asked us questions about what it meant, and sometimes this even led to good contacts and Bible studies!  At least 3 people accepted Christ on the spot through the efforts of this team. 

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

 

We were privileged to go on a retreat with our church, Biserica Agapia, in the mountains of Romania on July 4 - 6.

 

Cameron preaching with Mihai translating.  Cameron has known Mihai since 2006!

 

Jessica's small group/Emily's cabin - can you pick out the Americans by our bigger smiles?

 

Thursday afternoon, Cameron went down the HUGE water slide!

 

 If you would like to see a video of Jessica singing in Romanian with our friend Nicole singing in English, please click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NjYDpEYncU 

 

Friday afternoon, the youth led a program for about 40 children from nearby villages.  It was really cool to see them take the lead. 

 

One of the youth teaching his partner about what each color of the Jesus bracelet represents to share the gospel.  Black = sin, Red = blood of Jesus, White = when we repent, we are made white as snow, Blue = baptism, Green = growing as a Christian, and Yellow = streets of gold in heaven.

 

The group of students who came forward on Friday night to say that they had professed their faith in Jesus while at camp.  :)

 

 

Eating dinner at the mall with some of the American team this week.

 

The lady in the middle, Ms. Julia, is 76 years old, and this is her 6th overseas mission trip.  She and Deborah (on the right) led 2 women to Christ last Saturday.  They have had 4 Bible studies with these Romanian women, and Jessica was privileged to go with them on Thursday and Friday.  Jessica, Deborah (who was one of the Romanian translators), and our supervisor, Wanda,  will continue the Bible study with these ladies in their home.

 

 

 

"For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
 Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him."

 - Isaiah 64:3-4

 

 

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh my!

We just returned from a nearby Roma (gypsy) village, where Cameron preached his first sermon in Romanian and Jessica sang and painted about 30 faces!  We wanted to share some photos with you:

 

Jessica singing "Maret Salvator" (Mighty to Save)

 

Our friend, Mircea, reading Scripture

 

Cameron preaching - something is missing: no translator!

 

Some of the adults from the church - Pastor Costel is on the far left

 

Painting a cat!

 

Tiger!

 

Everyone gathering to watch Jessica paint faces

 

This is about half of the group.  :)

Ministry Possibilities

Over the last several months, we have really been blessed to get settled in our new apartment, begin to get a deeper grasp of the language, and we feel like God is opening our eyes to several potential areas where He can use us with the passions He has given us.  Here is a short list of some of our plans/ideas:

1. Women's Health

 

Jessica is researching women's health issues - specifically regarding a biblical view of abortion and birth control.  She would like to host community events as early as next fall to raise awareness among young people.  As you can see from the map of Romania pictured above, the abortion rate is extremely high in Romania.  There is one evangelical crisis pregnancy center in Bucharest, a city of 3 million people.  Jessica has met with the founder of a Christian counseling center and our pastor, and she would like to meet with more people to establish contacts in this field.  Please pray for these young women, many of whom feel like their only option is abortion. 

2. Mentoring Evangelism

Here we are at a local basketball game, where the son of one of our team members was playing.  The Romanian guy to the left of Cameron is named Mircea, and he is one of a few guys Cameron has begun to mentor/disciple.  Because Jesus emphasized obedience in the life of his disciples, mentoring should not just be a "heady," knowledge-based Bible study, but instead a Bible study that results in physically being obedient to the commands of Christ.  Each week, Cameron & Mircea study a chapter in the book of Acts and then go to share the gospel with people nearby.  It is definitely mutually encouraging, since Mircea has a great passion for the Lord and for others to come to know Christ.  Please pray for Cameron and for these guys as they seek to serve the Lord together.

3. Bible discussion group

Our new apartment is 2 minutes away from a beautiful park in the center of Bucharest.  Surrounding the park are several universities full of students who want to practice their English.  We would like to start a spiritual discussion group in English for those who are interested.  Hopefully, our group will form into a Bible study in our home in the fall.  Please pray that we will find people who are interested in discussing spiritual things.

4. Roma camp

Here is Cameron with the camp director, Lisa, and a Roma (gypsy) friend, Mihai.  Lisa asked us to help out with the camp this year, because she will not be able to be there.  Cameron will serve as the camp pastor, and Jessica will be the camp "Mom" (lead a small group Bible study, play "nurse," deal with drama/discipline issues, and be an encourager).  The camp will be July 6-12.  Please pray for us as we prepare, and that God will work mightily in the lives of those who come to camp.

5. New apartment

We were excited to have a big group of people in our new apartment for the first time last night.  As we mentioned above, our apartment is super close to a big park, and we've already met several of our neighbors.  It's nice to feel like part of a community again.  Please pray that our home will be a Lighthouse for the gospel to this community.

6. Language partners

This picture is actually 6 years old!  We didn't realize that we have not taken pictures with any of our language partners until right now.  Here is Cameron with our friend, Elvis, in 2007.  Cameron & Elvis meet fairly regularly to (try) to speak in Romanian for as long as possible.  Elvis is a solid Christian leader and a good friend.  Jessica's language partner, Laura, recently got a full-time job, so it is more difficult to meet regularly.  Jessica is hoping to also begin to meet soon for language practice with a friend of a friend.  Please pray for us as we continue to meet with language partners and grow in our understanding and ability to speak in Romanian. 

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

 - Proverbs 16:9

3 Countries in 3 Weeks!

We are finally back and settled down in Bucharest after a busy month of vacation/meetings/family visit.  It is hard to believe that in 3 weeks, we got to see beautiful tourist sites in 3 countries - Turkey, Italy, and Romania. 

First we went to Efes (Ephesus), Hierapolis, and Antalya, Turkey.  It was amazing to walk the streets that the apostles Paul & John walked.  We also got to see the home of Mary, the mother of Jesus (after Jesus was crucified, resurrected, and ascended).  Here are a few pictures from our time in Turkey:

 

Behind us is the Celsus Library in Ephesus.

 

When Paul was in Ephesus, there was a huge riot in this theater.  The people were angry because Paul's preaching of only one God was hurting the idol-making business. 

(Act 19:23-41)

 

Walking on the ancient aqueducts in Hierapolis, which was mentioned in Colossians 4:13. 
It is near Laodicea.

 

The tomb of the Apostle John.

 

This church was constructed on the site where Mary, the mother of Jesus,
lived when John took care of her in her final years.  (John 19:26-27)

 



After our time in Turkey, Jessica's family arrived in Bucharest 3 hours after we arrived.  We spent some time visiting Bucharest, traveled to Rome, then went to visit Brasov, Romania.  It was really nice to have them visit with us.  Here are some pictures from our time with them:

 

After church on Sunday, we had lunch with our pastor Beni & his wife Anda (and our music pastor Alex who took this picture).

 

Raining at the Trevi Fountain

 

 

We came within 10 feet of Pope Francis.

 

After the "Papal Audience" in St. Peter's Square.

 

In front of the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II.

 

The Colosseum

 

Inside St. Peter's Basilica.

 

Just before we visited the Necropolis (under St. Peter's Basilica). 
We got to see the burial site and bones of the Apostle Peter!

 

 

Above the courtyard of Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle) in Romania.

 

 

Peles Palace, the summer palace of the kings of Romania (before 1947).

 

 

Women's Day

At the end of February, Cameron & I (P.S. this is Jessica writing for the whole post) went with our supervisors to visit some of friends in a smaller city about 2 hours outside of Bucharest. 

Little did I know at the time that I would be back just 2 weeks later to help with a Women's Day at the same church.  I had been learning and practicing worship songs in Romanian for a few months on the guitar and piano, so I was able to lead worship for the Women's Day.  It was really awesome how I had been practicing for months before I even knew when I would be using the songs.  Just a few days after the above picture was taken, our team leader Wanda asked all the women on our team to help with the Women's Day.  It was amazing how diverse our team is - I volunteered to do music, Wanda was going to give the main message, another woman volunteered to coordinate the food, and another woman said she had some gifts we could use.  So cool how God put us all together and planned everything before we even knew about it. 

The Women's Day event took place on March 9, and there were a total of 48 women who came!  About 20 of them were guests, which is a great testimony to the women of the church who invited their friends and family.  This is not a big church - almost all of the seats in the entire church were filled with just women.  Everything went so smoothly - we played a game, sang together, shared the gospel, and of course ate great food!  Please pray for this church - that they would continue to reach out to the people around them who don't know Christ, and that God would richly provide for them.

Here are a few photos from the event:

 

Playing the game

 

Me singing

 

 

In case you're interested in hearing some Romanian, here is a short clip of everyone singing. Some of you may recognize this song...it is a translation of "Here I Am to Worship."

 

 

Wanda speaking with our friend Cristina translating

 

Great food

 

 

The whole group!

 

 

Who we are and why we are here

Hi everyone!

Many of you we have recently gotten to know, so we wanted to share with you a little bit more about our background and why we are in Bucharest, Romania.  So we made this video for you!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south."

 - Psalm 107:1-3

A Day of Outreach

On Saturday, Feb. 9, we were blessed to organize an evangelistic outreach project with other missionaries in our city, our church Biserica Agapia, and another local church Biserica Isus Mantuitorul.  A few months ago, we received some candy/granola bars from friends and family in America (THANK YOU!).  Altogether, there were about 30 of us (Romanians and Americans), and our schedule was as follows:

12 - 1 PM: Wrap gospel message on the candy bars, which included John 3:16, the location of our church, and an email address for prayer requests

1 - 4 PM: Go out into different locations around the city center in teams of 2-3 people to conduct spiritual surveys, giving the candy/granola bar as a "thank you for taking the survey"

4 - 5 PM: Debrief/share stories/eat pizza

Also, at 6 PM, some of us went to Isus Mantuitorul's evening youth service.  Cameron shared a few words of encouragement from the Bible, and Jessica sang a song in Romanian.

Cameron and Jessica were on different teams, so here are some of our thoughts from the project:

Jessica:  For the spiritual surveys, I went to a high-traffic area above a metro station with a Romanian girl and a woman from Serbia who speaks English.  As we were riding the metro to get there, we decided that we would take turns conducting the survey, and we would ask people if it was ok if we conducted the survey in English with translation or if they would prefer to do it only in Romanian.  We mostly approached people who were standing around, because we discovered that people who were walking didn't want to stop.  Because of that, with most people, we were only able to talk to them for the length of one cigarette they were smoking or until a friend came that they were waiting for.  Because our conversations were mostly short, we were able to talk to 15 people in about 2 1/2 hours, when our original goal was 5 spiritual conversations.  Most people were polite and answered our questions and were even willing to listen to us share our testimony, but they didn't seem to be very interested in further conversation.  They appreciated the American candy, of course.  For me, the funniest moment was when a young guy came up to us and asked in perfect English, "Can I take the spiritual survey?"  At first I was shocked, then I looked behind me and realized he was friends with a couple of guys who had just taken the survey....he just wanted some American candy.  It was pretty funny.  Most of the people we talked to were not interested in spiritual things much at all, so please pray that God will touch their hearts.  I'm glad that we got the opportunity to make them think about God.  One young man who was an atheist has done a lot of research about different religions, and he was interested in talking more, so my Romanian friend is planning to call him.  One of the coolest things about it was that both of the girls who were with me said that they really enjoyed it and that we should do it more often.  :)

Cameron: Yesterday was easily one of the most encouraging days I have had since we arrived in October. I was on a survey team with two Romanian guys, one who shares his faith often and one who is fairly shy. My team went into a park close to where we all originally met, thinking that we might be able to have some good conversations with folks sitting on benches and strolling through the park (although it was pretty chilly outside, there were a few people sitting around). We had 5 long spiritual conversations, with a Muslim medical student, a middle-aged businessman, a girl in her upper-twenties who described herself as a "Christian seeker," a homeless woman who was delighted that someone wanted to talk and pray with her, and an educated Romanian man who listened to our testimonies politely and then went back to his Rudyard Kipling novel. After I shared with the first guy, my Romanian friends became more emboldened and even my shy friend was sharing his testimony like a pro by the third conversation! It was awesome to see Romanians sharing the Gospel with Romanians, instead of simply thinking that their job would simply be to translate for the American. All except the Rudyard Kipling fan gave us their contact information - one person requested a Bible, one said he would be open to future conversations, and one said they would do their best to come check out our church. As we were walking back at 4 PM, one of the Romanian guys in my group exclaimed, "Man, there is so much need around us. I can't believe that, for so long, we have just stayed in our nice churches instead of getting out here...that is not what the Bible teaches."

Altogether, we had at least 80 spiritual conversations and 27 people were interested in further conversation and gave us their contact information!

We did not take any pictures during the spiritual surveys, because we did not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable talking to us.  However, we did take pictures before and after:

 

Before: wrapping the candy/granola bars

 

After: sharing stories from our experiences

 

The whole group after the outreach project

 

 

Cameron speaking at Biserica Isus Mantuitorul

 

 

Jessica leading "Maret Salvator" (Mighty to Save) at Isus Mantuitorul

 

 

Cameron preaching Sunday morning, Feb. 10, at Biserica Agapia (with our pastor Beni translating).  He spoke from John 4, where Jesus says that true worshipers will worship in spirit ("duh") and in truth ("adevar").