MERRY CHRISTmas (Craciun Fericit) !!!

"GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE AMONG MEN WITH WHOM HE IS PLEASED"  Luke 2:14

We have had a very busy December as we had many outreaches/evangelisms through Christmas caroling around our city and the sharing of the Gospel and our testimonies.  We were blessed to be invited to share and participate at the handicapped fellowship that meets in the building behind our home.  The Lord opened doors for us to enter several hospitals, a group home for orphaned teenage girls, our City Hall, and the center of our busy city square.  More than 500 tracts were given out and at least 3 people prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior!

Singing in the Center at
the Town Square

JeJe & Elli 12/23
The manger scene in this photo
had "live"sheep in the pen.

The morning of December 22nd, boxes arrived from our loved ones at CCEA.  We received many boxes of hats/scarves and blankets from the CCEA ministry.  Just in time to be able to distribute at some of the locations we visited.  We had just given the remaining hats/scarves the previous week to the handicapped ministry for the gift packs.  GOD'S TIMING AND PROVISION IS ALWAYS PERFECT AND RIGHT ON TIME!  James and Elli enjoyed and extra special breakfast due to our friends packing a box of their favorite cereal in those boxes!

We also enjoyed a baseball camp/skills training on December 10 where everyone had a great time.  It was in preparation for upcoming Spring/Summer events and the response was awesome!  Everyone is excited to get together again soon (weather permitting).

There is a separate article highlighting this event in the lower portion of our blog.

Christmas Eve will be spent with our church family here.  We will have an evening candlelight church service, followed by fellowship/food in our home.  We are expecting about 40+ guests.  The young people from Prison Fellowship will stop by later in the evening to sing Christmas carols to us.

New Years Eve will have a party/fellowship in our home, singing worship to start the New Year.

We are very excited and blessed at all the Lord is doing.

Below are some of the photos from these outreaches and short paragraphs summing up what took place (be sure to catch the "Curve Ball" article below in our blog, to read something extra special the Lord did). 

NOTE:  We cant always take photos in hospitals and at certain ministry events where a camera would be a distraction/hindrance from the message or what God is doing - but we will do our best to take them whenever possible (Elli is growing into a great photographer).

CHRISTMAS FELLOWSHIP WITH OUR FRIENDS AT THE CARITATEA (Handicapped fellowship)

Our sweet friends

Gift bags were distributed that contained food, shampoo
and a hat/scarf set from the Stitches of Love Ministry at CCEA

We are always so blessed
in the time we spend with them.

A VISIT TO THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL (photos had to be taken quickly, no time for posing.  They only allow is in the halls and then to visit with whoever comes out of their rooms).

We were blessed to Visit a Private Home for Orphaned Girls (teenage). After singing Christmas carols, The Gospel was preached, Coleen shared her testimony and we ordered pizzas and were able to eat and spend time withe girls.  The home houses 7 girls.  Each girl received a hat/scarf and a blanket thanks to the Stitches of Love Ministry at CCEA.

BASEBALL FUNDAMENTALS WORKOUT & GAME

We gathered more than 20 friends and young people from our fellowship (who also brought a couple more friends) on cool Saturday to train them in baseball skills and play a game.  Many in this group will be a part of the Spring/Summer Baseball and sports camps that are coming up.  Final score:  Rangers 8, Yankees 6

A great time was had by all and we are all looking forward to the next session.  End of January or early February, depending on our weather (only snow or thunder storms will postpone baseball here!)

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET THROWN A "Curve Ball"

It was a very "chilly" late afternoon (say in the mid 20'sF) as our Christmas caroling group gathered outside the Oncology Hospital.  It is a very large facility (see the photo below), usually having 4 patients to a room (the rooms measure about 15feet by 10feet) and when need - they will put two people to a bed (yes two!).  People travel from all over the country to receive medical care at this very facility in our city of Cluj.  JeJe's aunt Geta has been a patient there in recent months and will return after the New Year for further treatment (we pray for open doors to evangelize there).

This is the Oncology hospital from the front.

We had tried to get in the previous day to carol/evangelize and were told to return this day; unfortunately, when we returned, we met up with a very grumpy security guard who would not let us in - no worries:  when God throws you a "curve ball", you keep your cool, make the necessary adjustments in the batters box and NEVER take your eye off the ball.  We knew God had something else - more importantly someone else - He needed to hear the Gospel message.

We walked down the street and around the corner to the Neurology hospital, as one of the young men from the Prison Fellowship was a patient there and God opened the doors wide for us to enter.

Songs were sung and the message was shared.  When JeJe asked a group of patients' if they would like to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, 3 of them replied "yes" and prayed to receive Jesus into their lives.  Glory to God in the Highest and may His peace be upon them this CHRISTmas.

His ways are not our ways; we just always need to be surrendered to what it is He is doing; moment by moment.

PRAISES & PRAYER REQUESTS DEC. 2011

PRAISES

* Thankful for the work we see the Lord doing in our children's lives as they step out on their own and reach out to others.  We know YOUR prayers matter!  Thank you for being faithful prayer warriors for our family.

* Thankful for the fruit we see the Lord bringing forward in the ministry.
*So thankful for all the hats/scarves and blankets that came from Stitches of Love ministry at CCEA.  So many people were touched/blessed by them in Jesus' name.
*  Praising God and so very thankful for a wonderful sending team and church that joins us in what we do for Jesus here in Romania.
*  Especially joyous over the sweet care boxes that arrived the week before Christmas and were filled with some "goodies" from the U.S. 
*  Thankful for the worship leader, and his family, that are now a part of our fellowship.
*  Thankful for what we see the Lord doing here and what He is doing in us.
*  Thankful for His love, grace, mercy, joy, peace, forgiveness and so much more.

PRAYER REQUESTS

* Clearing of mold in our home.  We discovered a huge amount of mold growing in the attic and east side of the home (walls and a closet under the stairs) when we pulled out Christmas boxes.  The house is only 2 years new and the family of the owners are scrambling to get it cleaned, fixed, etc. (poor ventilation and insulation).  JeJe has a very bad allergy to mold and has had several days of being ill having to go in and keep the areas sprayed with a treatment.  Pray for none of us to get sick and this to be resolved quickly and correctly.

* Upcoming outreaches in January - God to open  hearts to receive Him.
* Salvation for JeJe's aunt (Geta) and our other unsaved family members.
* God's continued leading for the building of His church here in Cluj. 
* Our family to glorify God in our lives as those around us come into contact with us, may our lives be strong witness for Him.
* Continue to have His heart for the lost and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit when sharing the Gospel (His Words on our lips).
*  Good health.  It is flu season.  Pray for us to stay/be healthy.

HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING

May the Lord richly bless you on Thanksgiving and EVERY day as you give Him your heart of thanks.  We have so much in Christ to be thankful for.

We spent a Sunday evening with our Prison Fellowship friends, two weeks ago, with a Thanksgiving message and meal.  At the end, everyone received a hat and scarf that the loving hands of Stitches of Love prepared and sent.

These precious people are a joy to be with.  There are two, 4-story buildings at the facility.  One building houses children under 18 who are abandoned, orphaned, or whose parents are either in prison or a threat to them.  The other building is for adults (some elderly) who are abandoned - several are grown orphans.  The Director and her husband are Jesus loving Christians, who ask us to keep coming.  Our friends, Dave & Lili Bunnell do the Sunday church services there and a church fellowship has grown through those who have made commitments to Jesus.  We praise God for this ministry, it is a blessing and we love seeing Him work in the lives of many there. 

We will spend Thanksgiving Thursday with our YWAM friends - celebrating with fellowship and a meal.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good - His love endures forever.  Sing Praise!"

THIS PAST MONTH GAVE US EXTRA REASONS TO REJOICE AND GIVE THANKS !!!

Part I

We are thankful for the small fellowship the Lord is building up on each Sunday.  JeJe is currently teaching I Thessalonians.  We are currently 12-16 and we pray for the Lord to bring those He would have fellowship with us as we do outreaches.

Here are a few photos of the building we meet in and our friends in Christ.

Towards the end of August/early September JeJe was blessed to step in for a fellow CC pastor (from Texas) at a ministry here called "Prison Fellowship".  It houses elderly, handicapped and youth who are wards of the state and have no other family (basically would otherwise be homeless).  JeJe taught the first message from Jesus on the Parable of the Seeds.  At the end, he gave an altar call and several made a stand for Jesus.  We were just blessed to see this happen after those already laboring in this ministry had planted many seeds and the Holy Spirit watered with His Word.  It was a joy to see these individuals make that final important step of entrusting their lives to the Lordship of Jesus.

On October 22nd we were invited to join them in witnessing their baptism.  So exciting and blessed!  Great time of worship and rejoicing in a "borrowed" baptismal of a church in their area (they are about 15-20 minute drive across town from us).  Praise the Lord !  Please pray for the continued growth and protection of these new little lambs.

This was a great time for us as, unfortunately, we do experience times of grief in watching people who pray to commit their lives to Jesus and then so easily turn away for the things and cares of this world.  Heartbreaking indeed.  Pray for us to show the love of Jesus to all and that they would know we are Christians by our love (I John).

Wait !!! There's Much more....

We are watching the Lord meet very specific needs and prayer requests, and we know it is the direct results of so many in the body being in prayer for us.

THIS WEEK WE RECEIVED A CAR !!!  The Lord faithfully and graciously provided for us to purchase a car.  Still some papers to finalize this next week but we are so thankful - especially as the weather has been 16-19F at 10am each morning, and sometimes climbs to the 30's in the afternoon, if the sun comes out.  Today (11/19), no sun and a heavy, thick frost on everything.  A blanket of snow is expected any day.  Thank You Lord !

This month, we received many boxes from our sweet friends from the Stitches of Love ministry.  They have lovingly made and sent many hats, scarves and blankets that will be delivered to those housed in the Prison Fellowship, some long time friends at a Christian orphanage in a town near where we used to live and our handicapped friends that fellowship in the building behind our home.  So awesome to see these hands of love reach across the seas to the people of Romania in Jesus' name!  We await more boxes next month and are so overjoyed to be able to give to others for Christmas outreches.

Our awesome friends and fellow "baseball fanatics", Nacho & Jackie Munoz, were able to help us get a 7 foot high pallet of donated used baseball equipment from an organization in South Orange County who donates used sports gear to ministries like us - just wanting to reach kids (and their parents) for Jesus. 
This week, our friend Alin helped us find an open field for a baseball clinic outreach.  Also, we have been in prayer for help with worship for our Sunday church service.  Alin used to be part of a band and has agreed to help with worship when he can.  Sometimes his work provides that he travels but we were greatly blessed by his help with worship and he is really gifted by the Lord.

"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."
I John 5:14-15

PLEASE KEEP THOSE PRAYERS COMING !!!

^"The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

James 5:16b

THE INTERNET AND THE MODERN DAY MISSIONARY

Too often these days we hear negative story, after negative story of how the enemy is using the internet to get to our children and families in sinful/hurtful ways.  I would like to share with you what a tremendous blessing/tool it has been to this missionary family.

I love a good missionary biography and have read of many great saints who lived and persevered through so many harrowing events.  And the last of their concerns was a telephone; a computer or the internet wasn't even a thought - they hadn't even been invented yet in most cases.

In 1997, I was a single woman (30 years young) and God sent me to serve in Petrosani, Romania; a somewhat remote coal mining town located in the Carpathian Mountain range.  Cell phones had not yet made it to Romania, and it was next to impossible to get a land line (forget any possibilities of Wi-Fi or internet in the home), you had to have a huge satellite on the roof of your building or off of your balcony to get any type of television reception; oh, and there wasn't even an internet cafe in town.  The following year, several of us would carpool to a larger city (about a 2 hour drive away) to try to send emails once a month.  If I wanted to receive or make a phone call, I would make arrangements with those over in the states I would be calling (to make sure they were home to receive my phone call) and I would have to ask a friend who lived in the next city 5 miles over if I could arrange a time to make an outgoing phone call or receive that call.  Letters took up to two weeks to receive (still can).

Cell phones arrived by late Spring of 1998, and JeJe and I would finally be able to install a land phone line in our little home, the year of 2001 to be able to have an internet connection (well, it stayed connected most of the time).

Wow!  Things sure have changed!  We returned to Romania to see Wi-Fi in a lot of public locations (we do live in a big city this time around).  I cannot begin to tell you the blessing it has been to be able to keep up with everyone we love over in the U.S. via Facebook, Emails and best of all - SKYPE.  We can actually sit on the phone for FREE to just about anywhere in the world, and see the people we love and miss!

We are able to communicate quickly with the church, our care team and beloved friends and family.  We receive words of encouragement/scripture, have connection to web sites to watch sermons, get emergencies resolved quickly and can get prayer - "just like that". 

Best of all:  We are able to get on Live Stream and join the CCEA church Sunday services and feel that we are still "connected" (it is 7pm for us when the 9am is starting).  The worship fills us up and the Word of God washes over us and helps us to maintain being fed ourselves (you cant just give out all the time, you gotta take it in so you have something to give back out).

Not only this, but we are able to share with others here who live in areas further away from us that they too can join the CCEA church service via Live Stream.  JeJe's sister accepted Jesus as her Savior last month; at the time we directed her to a dear friend who lives in her town (3 hour drive away) who attends a church there - the church is not real solid on teaching but our friend is mature enough to be able to guide her too.  We then remembered that she knows just enough English to be able to understand Pastor Bob's messages and the worship.  She's now "connected" too!

What a blessing!  Not to mention being able to update our monthly blog and have it reach people in "seconds".

Keep in touch with us!  Join us as friends on Facebook, send us an email to join our blog or prayer group to get the latest news and prayer requests/praises:  www.missionromania.blogspot.com

"But thanks be to God, who always gives us the victory in Christ Jesus, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place." 2 Corinthians 2:14

For over 2000 years, the Gospel message of Jesus Christ is the only message that has the power to save.  It is alive and active today; and we praise God for blessing us to be able to watch it in action here in Romania.  Jesus is coming again for His church and we need to get the message out!

"Behold, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world" John 1:29b

In the month of September, JeJe's sister (Bella) came for a visit with JeJe's Aunt (Geta who comes every 3 weeks for chemo treatment).  They were walking in the town one morning, and JeJe took Bella to a historic church (Catholic) and statue in the very center of the city (one we are praying will one day be filled with Holy praise and truth-filled teaching).  She commented on how it upset her that they charged people for candles, baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc.  Their "Jesus" discussion began and continued on the 40 minute walk back to our home. 

One of our favorite spots in the center of Cluj.
We pray this church will one day be filled with Holy praises to Jesus and
the teaching of His Word.

They continued talking in our guest room and I walked into the room to get something (the children were busy with home school assignments) and we began discussing some of the religious sects in Romania.  It was a simple conversation about having Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and allowing Him to make changes in us; not conforming to man-made rules and having to "look" Holy before we enter the church.  He works in us, sanctifying us, until we get to be with Him in Heaven and are made perfect as He is perfect.

I left the room to return to the children, and about 15 minutes later, JeJe and Bella walked out of the room - with happy tears.  Bella prayed to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior.  JeJe then gave her a Bible and talked with her some more.  She read that Bible for the next 4 hours, stopping briefly for some lunch.

Glory to God in the Highest!

Thursday night, at our 3rd English Bible study, one our neighbors came.  It was Dumitru's second time at the study, and we had just begun studying the Gospel of John.  At the end of our lesson, we had discussion time and he talked about believing that Jesus could heal him. Dumitru, age 20, is on kidney dialysis and has been given 2 years to live.  He grew up in orphanages and a bad foster home environment.  We shared with Dumitru that we knew that Jesus could heal him, but we were certain that Jesus wanted to heal him spiritually first.  We talked more about people in the Bible who believed not only in Jesus' healing powers but more importantly that He was the Messiah, then they told others about Him.  After a little more discussion, JeJe invited Dumitru to pray to ask Jesus to be his Lord & Savior.  Dumitru did not hesitate and prayed the sinners' prayer.  He asked for us to pray for his healing; when we read James 5 to him about having the elders of the church lay hands on him and anoint him with oil - he did not want to wait until Sunday; he wanted JeJe to pray for him right away.  We explained that it is not the oil or JeJe's praying that would heal him, but it would be his act of obedience to the Lord.  Also, the Lord may not will to heal him; but if He does, we pray that He would receive glory and use Dumitru as a witness for Him.  Either way Dumitru knows he is in a "win-win" situation with Jesus Christ as His Savior.

Glory to God in the Highest!

We were also blessed to see our "little" friend, Adi, pray to receive Jesus.  Adi is a "little person" and has hid from the public most of his life.  He works in our neighbors garden once a week and JeJe befriended him our second week here.  He thanked JeJe for noticing him; most people run the other direction or make fun of him.  Conversations have continued over the past couple of months, and Adi finally accepted our invitation to come over (we invited him to Bible study, church or our Friday fellowship).  He came this past Friday night and as about 16 of us were gathered, discussion began about where Adi stood with his relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Adi explained he had been going to a Baptist church here in Cluj but never understood anything that was being preached.  He is ashamed to ask anyone, because he is already looked down upon.  When he was asked about having a personal relationship with Jesus, and if he knew whether or not he would be with Jesus were he to die today, he was unsure.  We were blessed to share with him that he could be certain and he could have his eyes opened to spiritual things through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Adi was excited to pray the sinners prayer and later as we prayed for spiritual wisdom and the Holy Spirit to fill him - he prayed himself to the Lord.  It was a beautiful moment, to be part of the Lord changing a life - forever.

Glory to God in the Highest!

Please pray for Bella, Dumitru and Adi to grow spiritually.  For the Holy Spirit to minister to them through the Word, prayer and attending the Bible studies; that they would be filled to overflowing.

We are so thankful for the prayer warriors who are lifting prayers on behalf of the church of Jesus Christ here in Romania.  Please continue to pray for Him to build His church here, for us to have wisdom and His words to minister to others.

GOD & SPORTS (specifically, BASEBALL!)

For many people here in Romania, this is NOT a possible combination.  Many people who are caught in religious legalism don't believe in participation in sports - at all.  For them, they are a complete waste of time.

However, the Jejeran family knows only too well how the Lord has taught them many lessons through sports (specifically baseball), and used them for His Glory and magnification; both in our lives and the lives of others.

The Lord blessed us our first week with being able to participate in a baseball camp with a YWAM group based here in Cluj.  A team from Iowa came to help with the baseball camp.  They would love to see baseball grow here in Romania (so would we!) and have begun doing outreaches twice a month. 

YWAM has a current Romanian staff base here in Cluj (about 10 mins. by car from us) of 25.  One of the main sports coordinators, Alin, met with us this past week to discuss starting up a baseball league for the children here in Cluj.  We all have the desire to see it get started and began this past Saturday getting together for a small outreach to Floresti (just outside of Cluj).  We (the Jejeran's) spent a lot of time training the YWAM staff in baseball fundamentals and the roles of each position.  They were really excited and we are all praying for where God may take baseball here in Cluj and Romania. 

Our first little leaguer, Ali - age 6, he hit almost every ball !!!

"Sign him up!"

We are praying for the Lord to raise up more servants needed and the necessary equipment (we need gloves to be able to leave with kids so they can practice and baseballs - both hard, whiffle, etc.).  We also need to the Lord to open doors for the necessary fields (or at least one dedicated baseball field); which we are praying for by Spring to practice (most fields are booked for soccer which ends in June when it starts to get very hot here).  YWAM is praying to approach the Mayor's office to see if there is a field they would be willing to let us use.  Please keep all of this in prayer.  We give it to the Lord and seek His will and Glory in it.

Note & Praise:  Our little Calvary Chapel church here cannot be recognized as a church until we have 300,000 members (this can be a total amongst all Calvaries in Romania).  This limits us in some of the public outreaches we can do (large concerts, gatherings, etc.).  Our YWAM friends have told us they would cover us with their "non-profit organization papers" and help us with requests to the mayor's office for whatever kind of public gatherings we need to do (they currently have very good standing with the Mayor's office).  They just want to see the church of Jesus expanded here in Cluj and many reached for His Kingdom.  We serve a Great and Awesome God!

PRAISES & PRAYER REQUESTS as of 9-26-2011

PRAISES

* God’s faithfulness and grace in blessing us to be serving Him in Romania.

* Seeing God working in the lives of our children, and those around us.

* Lives He is Saving (Bella, Dumitru and Adi).

* Relationships being built (with community in Cluj and YWAM friends).

* Blessing us to go on baseball outreaches.

* The building He is doing of His church here in Romania.

PRAYER REQUESTS

* God’s Spirit to breath through His Word and in Worship on Sunday services, Thursday English study and at Friday Fellowship Nights.

* God’s clear guidance/wisdom in all that we do – not to step to right or left (neither ahead, nor behind).  To build on HIS foundation (Jesus Christ).

*God’s hedge of protection about our family.

* God's wisdom/glory in teaching the "English" Bible Study midweek.

* THE STUDENTS ARE HERE!  September & October will bring more than 100,000 (yes the number is right) students to Cluj to begin their studies in October (runs until end of June/early July).  Pray for us to have wisdom in reaching them, divine appointments and God to pour out His Spirit.

* Our friends Nicu and Silvana (and their 2 children, Naomi - 14 and Leo - 12) to have wisdom if God would have them move to Cluj.  They currently live in a village one hour outside of Cluj and travel twice a week to serve/fellowship with us.  we would love to see them serving here with us, but want God's will for them.  They would need to see doors open (or close) if they are to move this way or not.

* Wisdom and love in ministering to the gypsies.

* Salvation for JeJe’s Aunt (Geta) who is coming every 3 weeks for her chemo treatments (she lives a 5 hour bus/6 hour train ride from where we are).  She stays with us for a few days at a time.  Please pray for us to show God’s love to her and for her to receive His . 

*Good Health for all of us.

*God’s will/wisdom in purchasing a car.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves" 2 Cor. 4:7

This verse has really come alive for us this past month, as we pray to be yielded to the Holy Spirit and be available each day for whatever HE wants to do.

Nothing happening here (or that will happen here) in Romania is a result of us, but is a result of His working through us.  Our prayer for the ministry here is that we all would just stand back in awe of His great power as He works, and that many would be saved and empowered in their faith.

On September 10th it will be 2 months since we landed here in Romania but it now seems like we have been here for quite a while now.  We occasionally miss some home comforts (In-N-Out burger, Mexican food - Taco Bell for James) but so extremely thankful to be a part of what God is doing here.

This past month, we were blessed to share a couple of days in ministry with the handicapped fellowship/outreach located behind our home.  Each year they receive 50 wheel chairs from Joni & Friends.  Families from all over the Cluj area (and a few from other areas) came to either be blessed with a wheelchair or receive a new one (if theirs no longer fit them or needed some work - they exchange them).  One family had two handicapped boys ages 10 and 12 that had never had wheelchairs - it was great to see their excitement (the boys are unable to walk and big enough to now be hard to have to carry).



These sweet ladies (Rodica and her friend) received blankets,
The lady on the right gave hers to someone else in greater need.
Cant wait for the next Stitches shipment so we can replace hers. 




Anca & Carmen



Dorel was so happy to get a new
wheelchair and a soft blanket.




Monica and Timea are sisters.
They both love Jesus.
Both have studied and speak English.



Carmen's chair got a "tune-up" and she loves her
new soft flannel blanket.

Cristi loves Jesus

Elli helping Stefania with the paperwork
(English translation)





Our role was just to greet families and talk with people about Jesus.  80% of the people we met do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  On our second day of ministry we were encouraged to spend time with several who love Jesus, and were blessed to see our daughter, Elli, asked to help with the paperwork that was in English.  We are thankful to the Lord for blessing us with the opportunity to just talk about Him and share with others what He has done in our lives, and what He wants to do in their lives.  We were also able to bless several people with blankets provided from our Sweet Friends in the Stitches of Love ministry at CCEA.

Bobo and Jeanete (age 12) both received new (larger) chairs.
Both got to pick out their blankets and were happy at how soft they were.
They are good friends, attend school and go to physical therapy together.

The building located behind our home is called Caritatea (which means "charity") and during the week they have a Friday gathering for the handicapped people (vans go to pick them up), where they fellowship and have prayer, word of encouragement and worship (it is an outreach of a Pentecostal church here and part of the family that owns the house we rent).

Mid-August, we traveled to the other side of the city (about 15-20 minutes by taxi) to an area that is a little bit poorer (Iris) - as JeJe was asked to do the Sunday service at the Prison Fellowship.  Our new friends Dave & Lilli Bunnell (from Calvary Chapel Garland, TX) are in the U.S. for a few weeks on furlough and asked JeJe to help out. 

What a sweet blessing to have been part of this fellowship.  The Prison Fellowship buildings are a non-profit that helps people that would otherwise be on the streets.  One building houses children (under ages 18-19) and the other adults.  Many of the children are from families where the parents have either abused them or are in prison, and there is no family for them to live with.  The adult building houses many older people who have no family to help them. 

It was great to see that several of the young adults that grew up there, are walking with Jesus and love Him passionately. They are serving in the fellowship there and were such a blessing to be with.

Beautiful Worship

   

Our visit to Prison Fellowship in Cluj



JeJe taught on the Parable of the Sower and the Seeds from Matthew 13.  We rejoice and give glory and thanks to the Lord that the Holy Spirit drew 5 souls to make a stand for Him that day.  Please keep them in prayer - for deep rooting of the seeds that will be watered, grow and product much fruit.

  

Hanging Out Before we Depart



 



Time of Encouragement









Also please pray for JeJe as he teaches one last Sunday there on Sunday, September 4th.  That the Lord would give JeJe HIS message and be a blessing to the body there.  Also that the Lord would touch the lives of many more who need Him. 

Our good friend, Nicu Haggiu will cover the message back at the small church fellowship that meets Sunday in the room we rent behind our house.  Please keep Nicu and our Sunday fellowship in prayer - that God will continue to build HIS church here and empower Nicu.



We have been encouraged by our first few church gatherings (about 12-13 has been the attendance the first few weeks).  JeJe is currently teaching 1 Thessalonians. We are thankful and excited for what we see the Lord doing.

 

We are amazed as we stand back at Our Friday Night Home Fellowship time and watch God work.  One Thursday afternoon, He brought a neighbor to our door (Anca is about 30 and attended an evangelical Bible School) - we invited her in for a coffee and ended up fellowshipping about an hour.  The next night, she brought 5 friends (all women) to the Friday Night Fellowship.  JeJe and I smiled later as we were reminded of Paul's Macedonian calling and how when he got there, all he saw was a group of women! Awesome God!  It was truly a sweet and encouraging time of fellowship.

 

The following week, God drew our neighbor Robi to come to the Friday Night Fellowship.  He is 28, handicapped with legs that lock at the knees and never fully developed - but is able to walk and run.  Robi grew up in a home for orphaned/disabled children and has never known his parents.  He rents a very small room up at the Caritatea (they rent rooms to several students, and a couple of handicapped people that are able to care for themselves). 

 

We spent 5 hours fellowshipping and talking about the Lord and the great things He has done in our lives (and the lives of others).  Towards the end of the evening, Robi prayed to receive Jesus as his personal Lord & Savior.  Please keep Robi in prayer - for spiritual growth and understanding of the Bible, that God's Spirit would draw him to spiritual things.

THE STUDENTS ARE COMING!  In closing this article, pray for empowerment and wisdom as we seek to reach out to the students in the universities here in Cluj.  The month of September, more than 100,000 students will arrive to begin their studies here (they start early October and go to early July). We live a 10-15 minute walk from many student housing buildings and areas where they will "hang out".





"A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22

The first couple of months have brought on some hard battles with health issues as we are adjusting to the foods, water and new microbes surrounding us.  At times, it has been difficult with days of fevers, upset stomachs, etc.  But where there is prayer - HE comes in like a flood and provides healing, comfort and encouragement.

In the midst of it all, we are so thankful for the gift of laughter and great senses of humor our children have been blessed with.  Thank you Lord for the gift of joy in the midst of sometimes hard times and new/difficult situations.  He can always help us gain the right perspective on what momentarily seems to be a "bummer" of a situation.

UPDATE:  As of the writing of this we have all had a full week of no health issues.  Praise the Lord !!!  Thank you to all the prayer warriors out there, the mom's who offered great advice and the Lord who is faithful to give us wisdom when we ask (James 1:5).  We have isolated our water to only bottled/filtered and have begun to purchase lunch meats that are packaged (not sitting in a store waiting for someone to purchase portions of them) and by shopping at a large in-door supermarket we found on the outside of the city.  Also eating Activia and other cultured milk products to help fight bacteria is good, really good.