“It is not my ability, but my response to God's ability, that counts.” - Corrie ten Boom

Praise God that it is by His Spirit that we have arrived to our new home in Romania.  Upon our arrival, His hands could not have been more evident in placing us exactly where He wants us to be.

We were greeted at the airport here in Cluj by family of Alex and Mona Pop.  They warmly received us and took us to have lunch in their home, before Mona’s Uncle Fane (the realtor who helped us find a home) walked us to our new home.  We met the homeowners (who live in Holland but were here vacationing) and were blessed to see how God has set everything up around the home.  It is on a private street that is owned by one family (all immediate family of the wife who owns the home we rent).  Everyone around us is “family” and told us we are now part of them.  Most of them attend the local Pentecostal church and have been very friendly and told us that they welcome us and what we want to do for the Lord here.  They are excited that we want to reach young people, esp. the University students.  There is a large student housing area just about 10 minute walk from our house.  Note:  We were able to spend our first night in the home and all of our belongings that were shipped back in May arrived – nothing missing, very little broken.

Behind the house, is a building where this family has run an association for disabled persons for more than 20 years.  They work with Joni & Friends in the U.S. to receive wheelchairs, walkers, etc.

Our first Friday here, they asked JeJe and I to come and share and be an encouragement to the people there.  We were warmly greeted by a group of about 30 and it was all I could do to hold back my tears of joy in being so blessed to be amongst them.  We had a nice time of individual fellowship with them after, and one lady – Adriana – looked into my eyes and asked me not to forget her if I see her on the street.  She said “Don’t look the other way, and pretend you don’t know me, like so many people here do.”  Her words really touched my heart and we pray that we can be a source of encouragement and God’s love to this special group of new friends we have made.

Across from our house is where the “Grandpa” of the family lives and he has built a building that until recently  housed a small kindergarten.  He also has some apartments built above it – hmmmm….look pretty good for housing teams – something he is open to.

One division of the family around us has 5 children, including 4 boys who are ages 15-21 and who voiced interest in attending Bible study in English.  They have no desire to go to the Pentecostal church here and are interested in what we are doing.  We have befriended them, thanks to God’s grace, and Andrei (20) is almost daily here doing minor work on the house for the owners (his aunt and uncle).  Bible study starts this Saturday night and we ask you to pray; to be lead by the Holy Spirit, for God’s spirit to be poured out and for Him to be glorified in our lives and the lives of those who attend each Saturday.

We are praying for God’s timing to start a Sunday service; we are hopeful to get everything started as soon as possible.  We have been praying for God’s wisdom in where to meet.  The family properties around us have been made available to us (to rent of course) and we had a choice of a couple of places to start meeting in (so we can invite the people we are meeting daily to an actual “church”) and have been seeking the Lord’s confirmation as to which one and prayed specifically that we would know from Him, His choice for us.  Today (July 27^th), the “grandpa” as we call him (who runs the handicapped ministry and owns most of the buildings) offered us the room at the handicapped building where they meet on Fridays for just $50/month.  I prayed that we would see something from “Grandpa’s” side to help us confirm.  He had offered another building for $200 per month.  This is to meet on Sundays only – it holds 50 people (but has room to open up into larger room) has two lovely restrooms, and an overhead projection system where we can post the passage where are in as well as words to worship songs.  PRAISE THE LORD !!!

JeJe has been asked to fill in for a Calvary Chapel missionary (from Texas) for a few weeks at the end of August as he and his family travel to his home church for a short furlough.  This ministry is to a home for children whose parents are in prison.  A condition of their housing there is that they attend church service each Sunday (so, yes, they are “forced” to be there).  Pray for JeJe to be lead by the Holy Spirit in the messages for these young people (and the several others who attend) and that they would be inspired to live for Christ.

We are building relationships with people in the city, through regular visits to vendors, the bank, and many other establishments.  We pray to be a light to the people here and if the Holy Spirit desires, to draw them to Him and join us for Bible study or church service.

We are also building relationships with others in the Cluj area, who have either been or are involved in ministry.  Our prayer is to be a source of God’s encouragement to everyone serving Him and to be united in purpose.  As a result, we will be hosting “Friday Pizza Night” in our home on a regular basis.  For those in ministry or who would like to be involved in ministry to be lifted up.  We started with a BBQ last week and had about 17 people (with all of our children, etc.).

As we close, on a personal note:  Despite some allergy and stomach problems, Elli and James are doing wonderfully.  Both have said they are very happy in our home and with their surroundings.  They have each made a friend or two but please pray for them to grasp the language quickly and make more Christ-centered friendships.

Elli continues to be a tremendous blessing in helping our family get adjusted.  She couldn’t be more helpful.  There is a lot of daily clean up – we make almost all 3 meals a day from scratch and we need to keep our living space swept & vacuumed (lots of dirt), as well as constantly wash laundry and line dry it (the washing machines here hold about 1/3 of those in the states).  She has a real servants heart as she sees a need and just does it.  She is also quite happy to have the biggest bedroom!

Our hearts were overjoyed the first week as a friend took James and JeJe (along with his children) to a week-long YWAM outreach of – wait! You won’t believe it – BASEBALL.  Our hearts were overjoyed.  James was a “hit” with everyone – hitting homeruns, stealing bases.  They all want him to be on Team Romania and beat the Americans. 

While baseball is not huge here – yet – the kids have a big interest.  Our neighbor boys want to go out soon and play – we hope to do this soon.  We found a sporting goods store – only found gloves for small children (this is considered a large store here, and there were only 4 gloves total in inventory – for ages 5-6).  We are praying for what God would do to enable us to get some used equipment over here.  YWAM graciously let all the children use their equipment.

We have a new family member.  As several of you know, our children’s requests in moving to Romania were 1) home school (done) and 2) have a dog (which soon became a request for 2 dogs).  We are happy to announce we have a (ONE) wonderful new German Shepherd puppy – his name is “Ranger” (after the Texas Rangers – we love Josh Hamilton).  He is a sweet addition to our family.  Elli is absolutely in love with him and is a great caretaker.  Now that everyone has seen how much work Ranger is, both Elli & James agree:  one dog is more than enough for now.

A very cozy first night home...
Ranger is very loved and we think
the feeling is mutual.





A fun visit to the village...before the
thunder, lightning, rain and hail



Thank you all for your prayers on behalf of our family.  Thank for your love and not forgetting us.  Please see detailed PRAISES & PRAYER requests a couple more articles below.