September-December 2015

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. (Ex. 20:12)

Ruth and I are especially close to our parents and recognize our responsibility to honor them even though we are living 5000 miles away. We'll share how we were able to apply this principle as our parents recently relocated to new homes.

Ministry Update

Friends, if you were thinking it's been a while since our last update, you are right. It seems like we have been playing catch-up for the past several months. In Luncsoara, an especially long mushroom season meant that many adults were simply not around to attend church. Thus our ministry in Luncsoara has continued to be primarily with the young people.

The new soccer field has been a blessing as a small group of teen boys, as well as Celeste and her friend Paula, have enjoyed the weekly soccer club that Luke Warner started. Whenever it is dry outside, the boys ask to play. We have even set up Luke's work lights to light the field after our teen meetings on Thursday evenings.

Our teammates began their furlough in mid-December, which means Ruth and I are now coordinating all ministry activities in Luncsoara. That does not mean we won't have any help, but we will be busier than usual until early August when they return.

Family News

Several of you wrote to encourage us after our last letter, and we are deeply grateful. Thank you for praying. In September our family spent just over a week in Paris seeing the beauty of the city and the art and history in its many museums. We also visited Disneyland Paris, and we celebrated our 22nd anniversary in a quaint Parisian restaurant.


While we were on vacation, Dave developed some pain and swelling in his ankles and feet. He attributed it to all the walking we had been doing, but it continued even after we returned home. Dave ended up seeing three different doctors over the next several weeks. Along with the various treatments, he was told he needed to stay off his feet, which kept him out of commission for most of October. Thankfully he is back to normal now.

The Lord must have known that Dave's dad could use some help as he was in the process of selling his home. While Dave was laid up, he was able to assist with the search for a new place and to provide counsel as Dad navigated the sale and negotiation process on both ends.

Ruth's father has continued to struggle with mobility, which has now limited his ability to work. Her parents had been looking for a first floor apartment in their complex with no success. Then one became available that was handicapped accessible, which was even better. They saw it and immediately began making plans to move. Ruth's mom works full-time, so the added burden of moving, as well as taking care of her husband, was going to be difficult. So Ruth and I decided she needed to go back for in November for two weeks and help them move into the new apartment. It was a tremendous blessing to them and to Ruth.

In the meantime, Dave had been planning to return to the U.S. to help his dad with his move. The Lord provided a buyer in September, and he closed in early November. The Lord also worked it out that he was able to stay in his home right up until the closing on his new home. Dave made it back for three weeks in early December to help Dad finish packing, sell a few more items, help with final cleaning the day of the move, and get settled into his new place. Pray for Dad as he continues to adjust to a new home in a new city. We are so pleased that he is now only 15 minutes from Dave's brother.

Ruth and I are very thankful to have had the opportunity to honor our parents in this way. We are learning that this is one of the most difficult aspects of living so far away. You long to be available to help, but you often can't. In this case, God allowed the timing for us to be away before our teammates' furlough while not seriously impacting our family and ministry responsibilities.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement in 2015!

Dave, Ruth, Celeste, and Amber

Christmas Activities

This year we held two special services to celebrate Christ's
birth. The first was the children's Christmas program on December 20. Celeste wrote much of the narration, and Ruth selected songs for the children to sing. That was also the day when we distributed gift bags for each child who attended.

Ruth spent many hours selecting gifts for boys and girls in four age groups. Ruth and our girls assembled over 100 bags in our living room.
They also prepared gifts for each family that attended the service on Christmas Day. We had strong attendance at these events, and the message of the gospel was given in both services.

What do we have in store for the new year? Dave has wanted to begin a boy's class on Sundays for several months. That was not possible in 2015, but it is still on his agenda.He is also considering a guitar lesson time for the teens who are coming to church regularly—especially during the winter.

Ruth has remained focused on the children. She will be teaching twice a week with a combined class, so pray for her as she plans lessons for children age 3 to 16. This is another reason Dave is hoping to have a class for the teen boys as it will lower the number in Ruth's class.