Fall 2020

Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. (Psalm 10:17-18)

Psalm 10 comes across as a largely negative Psalm in which the author laments how the wicked continually oppose God with seemingly little consequence. However, these last two verses challenge us to take hope in the fact that God always hears our prayers. Ultimately, He will deal with the pride and defiance of the wicked in His perfect timing.

COVID-19 Update

We are thankful to have been able to continue meeting at church over the past three months. We are continuing to maintain social distancing and to require masks inside the building in accordance with government rules.

When our teammates returned in early August, we added anchors to the back our building for removable sail shades. This made it much more comfortable to hold services and youth meetings outside (weather permitting).

Schools reopened in the middle of September. That combined with the local elections that were held on September 27 meant that more people were in closer contact, which has led to a steady increase of cases nationwide. Bucharest is currently experiencing the largest number of daily cases, and more restrictions on restaurants and indoor events are being enacted. Pray that church gatherings will not be restricted again.

Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Our youth group has continued to grow through the years as more children turn 12 and join the older teens. In September, we decided to divide the teens into two groups. Those aged 12-14 (roughly junior high age) are continuing to meet on Thursday evenings, while the older teens and young adults are meeting at a new time on Tuesday evenings. We want to attract the older teens and young adults who previously came to youth group that are now married, some with children, to come back to church. We have met for the past month, and it has been a good change for both groups. Luke is making the lessons with the older group more interactive with discussion questions—similar to a Bible study. We also hope to have more conversations with those who attend as that group is smaller and more mature.

We are planning to continue the choir ministry in a modified format where we will rehearse in smaller groups of friends and/or siblings. This will form the basis of a Christmas program that we can share online if we are unable to host a concert as we have done in the past. We also hope to be able to do more caroling in the community during the Christmas holiday.

Take comfort in the fact that the Lord hears our prayers!

Dave, Ruth, Celeste, and Amber

Back to School Time

Ongoing COVID-19 restrictions meant we were unable to hold our annual Back-to-School Festival in September. This event is an outreach opportunity to encourage education and school attendance among the Roma children. We did, however, distribute a packet of school supplies to each school child from kindergarten through high school. The packets contained a pencil case, colored pencils, erasers, and other school supplies, as well as toothbrushes and toothpaste, hand sanitizer, a cloth mask, and toiletry items. Ruth enjoyed making a magnet for each child with an inspirational quote.

Children’s Ministry Resumes

When the Romanian school year began in mid-September, and the children became accustomed to COVID-19 controls in the classroom, we felt it was safe to resume our children’s Sunday School program. We divided the children into three classes based upon age, and initially we met outdoors. Ruth had the youngest group, and she found some small seat cushions for the children to sit on to keep them from moving around during the lesson. Eventually we needed to move indoors with the arrival of cooler weather. Although fewer children are currently attending, it has allowed more personalized time with them.