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