Tuesday, November 30, 2010

THE VISION

It has been over a year and a half of prayer and preparation since the Lord first confirmed to us His calling for us to return to Romania and serve Him. At first, He didn't give much detail – we just knew He was asking us to return. As we have spent time praying over the past year, He has made the vision clearer and united our hearts for the ministry He has for us.

Our vision is to reach all of Romania for Jesus Christ - and any other parts of Europe He wants to touch. We are moving to Timisoara, Romania because this is where we believe the Lord wants us to launch our ministry. It is the second largest city in Romania and is heavily populated with University students and highly educated professionals (doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, etc.). We believe the Lord wants us to reach a new generation for Him.

We previously served in a small, very poor, coal mining town of Romania. What we saw and experienced there overwhelmed us at times. JeJe attended the Calvary Chapel Bible College from 1994 to 1995, then served as an associate pastor in a Calvary Chapel church near his hometown of Petrila, Romania – in the town of Petrosani. Coleen was a Calvary Chapel missionary, who went on her first short term trip to Petrosani, Romania in September of 1995 then would be sent out by her then home church (a Calvary Chapel in South Orange County) in February of 1997.

The work in Romania is greater than the two of us. A country where at least 75% of the population is considered to be living at poverty level or above. It has a reputation for being one of the most corrupt countries in the world – despite being freed from communist power since December 1989. There are more than 100,000 orphan children on record. Thousands more live in the streets or are sold into child slavery or prostitution. An elderly person cannot receive decent medical care without paying additional “hidden” funds in the form of bribes, and most do not have the financial means to make it day to day let alone pay to be in a nursing home. Many treat the elderly as a burden.

If you are a handicapped child, the country does not have the means to properly care for you and unless you happen to have parents who truly love Jesus and are willing to care for you, you will end up institutionalized. An example of this would be quadriplegic and autistic children being placed in mental institutions.

Recently, there has been a large rise in the suicide rate of teenagers.  Children are being raised by one or NO parents, as the parent(s) are leaving the country to find work - leaving children behind (the government has now made it illegal for any underage child to be at home alone).  They believe that if they could just earn more money as "cheap" labor in another country (often housing with many others in a small apartment) - they could live a better life. 

We know that God has a higher plan for their lives and wants to give them hope and a future with Him (Jeremiah 29:11-13).  We also know He wants both parents to be trusting in Him to provide for them and to raise their children in the love and fear of the Lord.
Again, the work in Romania is so much bigger than the two of us. That is why our calling is clear: The Lord wants us to preach His Word and love the people. The only way Romania will change is by the power of the Holy Spirit working in man and changing the hearts of the people; so that righteous people would rise up and be equipped to do good works for His Kingdom, to plant more churches, to love the fatherless and widowed, and to be doing business for the glory of God (no more politicians, police and doctors refusing to work without bribes). This can only happen through the preaching of His Word in Spirit and in Truth.

“For we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”

By doing this we pray the following objectives will be accomplished:

  • Plant a Calvary Chapel Church in Timisoara, Romania
  • Teach the Word that others would be equipped to serve and glorify God and do great works for His Kingdom
  • Reach the people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a focus on reaching a new generation not influenced by communism (through music, sports, and dramas).
  • Plant more Calvary Chapels
  • To have Calvary Chapel Timisoara be a “launching” pad for missionaries/ministry servants.
May we surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit and may everything we do be for the Glory and furtherance of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

Monday, November 29, 2010

HOW TO SUPPORT US

"A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."  Ecclesiastes 4:12b

PRAYER
We cannot accomplish anything without the Body of Christ standing in the gap for us through prayer.  Prayer is the key ingredient as we pray and make petitions according to His will.  If you would like to receive regular "blog" updates that will include our praises and prayer requests, please send us an email at jesuslovesromania@gmail.com and we will add you to our prayer team and to the distribution list of this blog.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT
We know that God will be faithful to provide for all our needs in Christ Jesus.  If you would like to be a part of His work in Romania through financial giving, you may do so with a one-time gift or be a monthly supporter.  You may give on-line to our home-church (Calvary Chapel East Anaheim) at http://www.cc-ea.org/ and "click" on the on-line giving bar in the upper right-hand corner of the main page; go to Missions and select Mission Romania.  If you would like to give via U.S. Mail, you may send your gift (made payable to CCEA with "Mission Romania" on the Memo portion) to CCEA, 5605 E. LaPalma Ave., Anaheim, CA  92807.  Your gift is 100% tax deductible.

ABOUT US

We are a blended family; both Romanian and American. JeJe and Coleen met and married while serving Christ in a Calvary Chapel ministry in Romania. JeJe (Romanian and now has US Citizenship) attended and graduated from Calvary Chapel Bible School in 1995 and served as an Associate Pastor at the ministry in Petrosani, Romania from 1995 to 2003. Coleen (an American, born and raised in the Los Angeles area) served as a Calvary Chapel missionary in the ministry in Romania from 1997 to 2003.  The Lord has blessed us with two amazing children Elli Grace, and James.

Currently serving in Cluj, Romania and established a church plant of Calvary Chapel Cluj (est. July 2011).
We are church planters/missionaries sent by our home church of Calvary Chapel East Anaheim (www.cc-ea.org).

Our vision is to see healthy Bible teaching churches planted throughout Romania, that equip others to go out and make disciples of Jesus Christ, and preach His Word in Truth.  Cluj is our starting point and we are surrendered to whatever the Lord wants to do.

In addition, the Lord is doing an amazing work through Baseball Cluj.  A baseball training/development program here in Cluj that began with JeJe taking James out to practice baseball, other young people wanted to join and through a baseball summer camp - we are now at approx. 30 regular players.  The Lord is blessing this ministry and touching the lives of many families in just one short year...We can't wait to see what He is doing next as are just following His lead.

May HE be exalted in us and through us, and His Kingdom be furthered.

Note:  both Calvary Chapel Cluj and Baseball Cluj can be located and joined on Facebook.


Sunday, November 28, 2010

PRAISES & PRAYER REQUESTS (Dec.2010)

PRAISES
* For JeJe's US Citizenship.
* For a quick expedition of our children's Romanian Passports
* For the support team is has, and is still building for us
* For His faithfulness in all areas:  financial, physical, spiritual
* For His work in the hearts of our children (Elli and James) and their desire to be part of moving back to Romania
* For an awesome time of evangelism with the CCEA College ministry "Hook"

PRAYER REQUEST
* For God's hedge of protection on our family
* Continue to built up spiritually and emotionally.  We will be attending the Calvary Chapel missions conference the first week of January.
* Pray for the country of Romania and the surrounding countries to have hearts turned toward the Lord, and for Him to be greatly glorified through Mission Romania and CCEA.
* For God to be glorified at the Mission Romania booth at the CCEA Missions Expo on Sunday, Jan. 9th
* For the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of those we meet and share Jesus with at the bi-monthly evengelism with the HOOK ministry team with the college group.
* Housing - specifically that it would be a house that would enable us to immediately do ministry from and house teams, and other missionaries
* Good health. Specifically for the healing of Coleen's back and ankle.
* Provision for JeJe and Coleen to make a trip this Spring to find housing, pray over the city and meet with other area pastors and possible schooling (praying over whether to continue with homeschool or find a private school).  We pray for the Lord to make what He wants clear.
* Provision financially for our move - airline tickets, shipment of some of our belongings and all that will be needed to set up a new home in Romania
* Monthly Provision