Fall 2019

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.(Psalm 145:8-9)

These wonderful verses tell of the Lord’s graciousness and love toward us. They remind us of His goodness and mercy. These attributes are widely accepted, but we must not forget that He is also righteous and just, meaning that He is unable to compromise His holiness in order to overlook sin. That aspect of the Gospel is unpopular in a world that is averse to Biblical authority and truth. Nevertheless, we must remain committed to conveying the entire truth about the God we serve, not just what is easier to accept socially.

Vacation Bible School

This year’s Vacation Bible School was held July 1-3 with the theme, The Fortress—Defeat the giants in your life: Peer pressure, Fear, and Temptation. We averaged 50 children each day. We were blessed with warm and sunny days, which allowed us to have games outside and transition more easily between sessions. Although we did not have a team from the US helping this year, we were assisted by Romanian friends who graciously served. We also had 6-8 teens from the youth group who helped.

Back to School Festival

We enjoyed having Ruth’s mom, Marvella, and aunt, Loretta, with us for three weeks in September. On September 8, we held our second Back to School Festival to coincide with the beginning of the new school year. It’s vital for the children to be educated, and this is one way for us to encourage school attendance. We saw many of the children from the community come as well as numerous mothers and grandmothers. We had games and activities both inside and outside, including a bouncy castle, soccer shootout, coloring contest, face painting. Ruth taught the kids personal care and good hygiene. Each child received a packet with school items, and we had a drawing for four special backpacks. Nearly 80 packets were given out.

Celeste's Summer Ministry

Celeste had a wonderful time being back in Romania this summer serving with the team from Cedarville University. She really enjoyed translating for the medical professionals from the US and Ireland. This team has been coming to Romania for 20 years. Many of the Roma families return each year to receive treatment and medication for the next year.

Thank you to everyone who gave toward her trip expenses. As a result of your generosity, she will not need to raise additional funds if she is able to return next summer. Thank you for praying for her and for making her ministry possible.

Celeste has continued to experience nausea since her gall bladder surgery in May. She is scheduled for an upper endoscopy on October 31. Please pray for some answers as she has not felt very well especially since returning to college.

Faithfully sharing the truth of the Gospel in Romania!

Dave, Ruth, Celeste, and Amber

Teen Ministry

While visiting, Marvella and Loretta spent two Tuesdays teaching the teens in Potter’s Club how to use a sewing machine. They brought a suitcase full of materials they had prepared ahead of time so the teens could sew their own pillow and tote bag. Those who participated really enjoyed the time and caught on quickly.

Also in September, we wrapped up the inductive Bible study through the book of John. This format worked well as it allowed us to interact with each student individually. Pray that they will reflect on their lessons and for future opportunities to discuss the Gospel with them. We are planning to continue in the new year as winter is when we have our best attendance.

We have begun practices for this year’s Christmas choir concert. Sunday attendance has been sporadic since summer, so please pray that the teens will be faithful in coming to church and participating in the rehearsals.

Ladies Outreach

At the ladies outreach event, Ruth’s mom spoke on the topic of quilting and showed many quilts she has made on her 50-year-old machine. They were very interested in this form of sewing, practically unknown in Romania, and listened attentively to the spiritual truths presented. The ladies also enjoyed making their own star quilt square out of patterned paper and received a quilted pot holder made by Ruth’s mom.