July/August 2014

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3)

Building Update

The past two months have seen additional progress outside the building. The exterior of the church was painted a vibrant orange, a popular color in Romania that will weather well. We recently made a video tour of the inside of the building. You can check it out at www.vimeo.com/103591753.

Construction has continued with the addition of the bathrooms and a storage building for wood and tools for the church. The bathrooms are mostly done with the exception of paint, while the walls of the shed still need to be plastered prior to painting. Dave was responsible for ordering the materials and overseeing the construction of the shed. It took nearly three months to receive the permits for this building, which put us behind schedule. Most of the construction took place during the last week of August.

Our final project will be pouring a sidewalk that will connect the front of the church to the bathrooms and shed in back. Then in October we plan to formally dedicate the building.

Ministry News

While our teammates, Luke and Kim Warner, were away for the three weeks for birth of their son, we were responsible for our regularly scheduled services. We praise the Lord for their new baby boy, Elias, who was born on August 11.

At the end of August we welcomed Jessica, who came to stay with our family for three weeks. This allowed her to worship and minister in Luncsoara on five different occasions during her stay. Having a black belt in karate and taekwondo, Jessica gave a great demonstration to the teens during the youth night, all the while drawing parallels between the discipline of martial arts and of spiritual life. As her assistant, Celeste had fun "sparring" with her. At the end of the night everyone had an opportunity to break a board with their bare hands too!

This past week we have had some setbacks spiritually in the community. We long to see lasting change in the lives of the Roma people, but many are unwilling to let God have complete control, putting culture and tradition above godliness. Others simply refuse to come to church. It is times like these that we need your prayers for leaders to emerge in our church that will extend into the Roma community in Luncsoara.

Thank you for praying for our family and ministry!

Dave, Ruth, Celeste, and Amber