The Church of Smirna

"'The Words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. I Know your tribulation...Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.'" (Revelation 2:8b,9a,10b)
Dear Friends and Family,

"Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior." (Titus 1:4b)

As many of you know, our family has been living since October of 2006 in Drobeta Turnu-Severin, a city in the southern part of Romania situated along the Danube river. About a year ago now (May 2007), we discovered that my (Andrew's) driver's license had expired, and since Geta does not have a driving license, we were pretty much not able to leave the city much (the driver's license issue was taken care of 3 days after we arrived in the U.S. for a visit last November).

Since the time we discovered that the license had expired, we have been attending a church in the city. Called Smirna (Smyrna, from Revelation 2), the church is relatively new (2 years in September), and it's vision is: "a sea of worshippers in spirit and in truth". Smirna is very much alive, with Biblically accurate teaching, a program for the children during the service, truly moving worship times, and wonderful times of church fellowship together. The Pastor of the church is Ionut Corlan, and his wife's name is Jenni, an American from Wisconsin. They have two daughters, Maya and Lena, and are expecting their third child in November. Our families share a lot in common, from the marriage of a Romanian and an American, to our love of children and people, to our desire -- and in fact vision -- to see more and more people come to Christ in ROmania, especially in Oltenia, the southern region of Romania in which we reside.

At Smirna, our kids have made friends with the other children in the church and have enjoyed being with them and learning during the children's program; Geta has many times helped during this time, or been the teacher during the children's program (she trades off with a couple of the other ladies in the church). I (Andrew) have often been involved with teaching in the church, which is something that I love and have been gifted with; it also gives me plenty of opportunity to learn more Romanian, because I usually teach in Romanian! Practice makes perfect -- or at least better!

We have gotten to know the people that attend the church, and have become very good friends with most of them. The church has many opportunities for times of fellowship together, from birthday celebrations, to meals together (similar to potlucks at Bridgeport Chapel), and even a church campout last July -- a relative novelty here, and well worth the effort.

We are blessed to be a part of Smirna; God has used and will continue to use our time, our friendships, and our experiences there to teach us many things, build our faith in Him and prepare us for further ministry here in Romania. We are blessed with wonderful friends, brothers and sisters who truly love the Lord and want to know Him more.

May God's blessings be upon each of you as well; we love you and pray for you.

Andrew, Geta, and family

p.s. The pictures included in this post were taken on Easter Sunday, which was on April 27th in Romania. The picture below was taken during Sunday School, and if you look carefully, our three older kids can be found in the picture.

The Key to Missions

Luke 10:2 "And he (Jesus) said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'" (ESV)

Dear Friends and Family,

We appreciate the emails you have been sending to us recently, as well as the encouraging comments you have left for us on this blogsite. It is a blessing when we are so many miles away -- literally on the other side of the globe -- to know that we are still in your thoughts and best of all, in your prayers.

Prayer is the most powerful weapon and ally that we have in our adventure with God through life. You've probably heard us say at one time or another, a quote by E.M. Bounds that has been, for quite some time now, a life motto for us: "prayer moves the hand that moves the world." Prayer gets the attention of God; He turns His head, He listens, and then when the time is right, He moves His mighty hand to move the world!

We share this with you not only because of the truth it proclaims, but because we would like to request that you join us in prayer with regard to our monthly ministry support here in Romania.

As most of you can probably identify with, living costs continue to rise, making it increasingly difficult for our family to make the funds that are currently available to us cover all our expenses from month to month. The drama of skyrocketing inflation continues to unfold here: the price of gas and utilities is steadily increasing; food items increase in price on an almost weekly basis; the dollar continues to decline in value. It is, to say the least, daunting.

Yet, even in the midst of all this, God has every aspect of the entire situation in His control. As we testified at Bridgeport Chapel before we returned to Romania, God has been faithful always to provide for us -- God has never let us down, not one time! We fully believe that God will continue to be faithful, that He will provide for us.

The key to missions is prayer and the church. Who is the church? And who is it that prays? It is you and it is me -- members of the same body, that of Jesus Christ. It is because “the harvest indeed is abundant” (AMP), but the workers are few, that Jesus said in Luke 10:2, that we are to “pray earnestly”, or “Plead with the Lord” (TLB) that He would send out even more workers to do His work, or “…more laborers to help you.” (TLB). That is, we are to pray earnestly and plead with the Lord for people who will help us, work alongside us, and support us in the work of the Lord. Since it is true that not all of us are called to physically go to the mission field, consider that perhaps one way God is calling you as a worker for His harvest is in the capacity of support for a great work that He is already doing.

God allows each of us opportunities to share with others our needs and prayer requests: through friendships, sharing in church, even through a blogsite; we are grateful for this opportunity to have shared these things with you.

God listens when we speak to Him; we must be ready and willing to listen to God when He speaks to us.

The key to missions is the church – the key to missions...is you.

Please join us in prayer regarding our monthly ministry support here in Romania. Let's watch together how God will choose to move the world!

Love, Andrew, Geta and family

P.S. as always, please feel free to email us or call us with any questions that you may have. Also, The pictures posted on this blog entry were taken on April 3rd 2008.

February 17, 2008 Revisited

We previously decided to post here on our blogsite our project summary and vision statement (see blog entry below on March 18, 2008) so that you, our friends and family, and others who may be interested, may have access to what God has laid upon our hearts as our life's work. We decided to also post here for your review the text of the things we spoke about in regard to the VR Project when we shared them with Bridgeport Chapel on February 17, 2008.
Please take the time to read through the contents and refamiliarize yourself with the things we were able to share with you.
We believe God may once again speak to you and show you why He has called us to Romania, and possibly show you how you can join Him in the great work of His harvest that He is already doing.
God be with you!
Andrew, Geta and family


The VR Project
Project Village Reach: Romania
(Outlined and Shared at Bridgeport Community Chapel on February 17, 2008)

The Calling and the Vision
My wife and I sincerely believe that this ministry of The VR Project is what the Lord has called us to do – that as husband and wife, parents, and servants of the Almighty God, this is what has been laid upon our hearts as our life's work.

Our Vision when We Return to Romania is:
1. To move into and live in the village of Giubega, in southern Romania. There is no New Testament church there, and only three believers in the entire village.
2. We believe that Giubega and the immediate area is where God is calling us to be leaders for Him.
3. We believe that God will provide property and a home for us to live in and raise our family as we share Jesus with those around us.
4. We believe that God will also provide, in accordance with the vision of ministry and service He has given us, a building on that property with guest rooms and a multipurpose room where…
5. Pastors, friends, and ministry teams can come serve and fellowship together, and where God's people can meet to learn more about Him and worship Him.

**We will be working together with pastors we have gotten to know, and with churches we have been involved with. Many of us share a similar vision for reaching unbelievers in forgotten villages of Romania, and are ready and willing to help and support one another in prayer, ministry and friendship, all toward the goal of introducing people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and growing the Kingdom of God.

HOW are we going to accomplish this awesome task, this vision that God has laid on our hearts?
> First of all, WE aren’t – GOD is!
> Working together with others who share a similar vision for reaching unbelievers in the villages of Romania
> We talked Tuesday at the business meeting about the members of the body all working together. (one can’t say to the other ‘I don’t need you’; we all need each other)
> We talked today about praying earnestly, pleading with the Lord that He would send out even more workers or laborers to do His work; God provides the workers; it’s God who provides that support – others who will help you, work alongside you, and support you in His work.
> God uses His people to help accomplish His purposes; whether your heart is for Africa, Romania, your next door neighbor, God is using you to accomplish His purposes.
> I mentioned earlier that God gives us open doors to share the vision (what God is doing) and the needs. I’ve shared with you already today the vision for ministry that God has given to us; let me also seize this moment that God has provided to share with you the needs:

First of all, just like Jesus said: PRAY EARNESTLY
>> above all else prayer is what we need, because when you pray for us, you enter into the very presence of God, and bring our family before His throne.
Second, some people have asked us while we’ve been back, if we could use some more SUPPORT; I said ‘yes we could’.
>> “The Key to Missions is the Church”; (who is the church?) perhaps one way God is calling you as a worker for the harvest is in this capacity of support for a great work that He is doing.
Next, as most of you are already aware, when we return to Romania, we will need to find a VAN.
>> A van will allow us transportation to various areas of ministry.
>> thanks again to Bridgeport and their generosity (you have truly given extravagantly!) 2700 + 2000; 6-7000 total needed
Finally, as we talked about a few minutes ago, we believe that God will provide property and a home for us to live in and raise our family as we share Jesus with those around us.
>> we truly believe that God will provide this for us at the right time
>> a home would allow us to live in the community where we want to minister, get to know the people around us much easier as we live our lives together with them, side by side. We also believe that God will eventually provide the funds for guest rooms and a multipurpose room for ministry and outreach purposes.
>> The basic immediate need right now, is for property and a home in which to live and begin building the ministry
>> 10-15000 to buy; 10000 to fix

Conclusion:
> God appoints us; God sends us; God instructs us; God uses His people to accomplish His purposes.
> We believe the statements contained in this vision statement are 100% true, and that God will bring to pass the vision that He has given us.
> maybe you’re sitting out there thinking, ‘they really are crazy!’. Well, we’re willing to take that risk, and step out of the boat again.
> God is sovereign, and “The key to missions is the church” – the key to missions…is you.

We Made it Back...to Romania!

Dear Friends and Family,

Geta and I and the kids wanted to say again to each of you that we really enjoyed our three and a half months in the states. We were very happy that we got to visit with so many of you, got to know others of you better, and shared many times of fellowship together.

The time was over too quickly it seemed! We arrived safely back in Romania on February 26th, with all of our bags (and all of our kids)! We are adjusted to the time difference, and we are enjoying once again the fellowship of our friends and church family here in Romania and in the city of Turnu-Severin.

PRAYER REQUESTS: 1) We have learned that we need to move out of our apartment by the end of April - please pray that God will provide a place for us to move to very soon; 2) please pray that in the midst of many opportunities to serve Him, God would give us clear direction as to what he would have us do for the next few months or year of ministry; 3) please continue to pray that God will provide a van for our family: more funds for the van, and patience to wait for the right one, and discernment to know which is the right one.

Thank you for keeping our family lifted up in prayer; we look forward to the next time when we will see each other again.

Love, Andrew, Geta, and family
p.s. We have posted some pictures with this blog entry that we hope you will enjoy. The picture at the top of this entry is of our family taken on February 9th, 2008 in Newport, Oregon. L-R in the back: Geta; the new baby Jeremiah; Elijah; Andrew; in front: Ammishaddai; Joseph. The one directly below is our family outside the airport in Timisoara, Romania, just after our arrival -- as you can see, happy to be back here in Romania (or maybe just happy to finally be off the airplanne)! The pictures that follow have captions above them. Enjoy!

Below: Our family's newest addition, Jeremiah William, resting peacefully on Mommy and Daddy's bed back in our apartment in Romania.
Below: Joseph, our oldest, in the courtyard of the church we have been attending in Drobeta Turnu-Severin with two of his friends.
Below: Our middle two children, Ammishaddai and Elijah, at the table in the courtyard of the church we have been attending in Drobeta Turnu-Severin during a fellowship meal happily eating a popular Romanian meat cooked on the grill -- mici! (meech, little pork/beef/spiced sausages) All the kids love it!

Project Summary and Vision Statement

We have decided to post here on our blogsite our project summary and vision statement, so that you, our friends and family, and others who may be interested, may have access to what God has laid upon our hearts as our life's work. Please take the time to read through it; we believe God will speak to you and show you why He has called us to Romania.

THE VR PROJECT
Project Village Reach
Romania
Conceived and Designed
By S. Andrew Roby

Project Summary
and
Vision Statement


“The goal of the VR Project is to operate in a village where there has not been a church before, or where there is a new church, and to reach every man, woman, and child with the Gospel message by building friendships with the people, with the goal of winning them to Christ and thereby building the Body of Christ, the Church.”


People Must Be Reached
It is hard to define a specific group of people that the VR Project is targeted at, because the need in the villages of Romania for people to hear and clearly understand the Gospel message is so widespread, the categories of people so broad.
The VR Project then, has as it’s targeted group to reach, every non-Christian person in a specified village. It is an attempt to reach every single person in a targeted village. We believe that every unsaved person in the specifically targeted village should have the opportunity to hear and clearly understand the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. This then includes men and women, single people and married people, families, the young and the old, the rich and the poor.
In these villages that seem forgotten by man, the need for the Gospel, and need for the new life and hope that salvation brings, is breathtaking. That is why this project is so specific in its purpose and vast in its scale.


The VR Project
The VR Project will be an operation in a village where there has not been a church before, or where there is a new church, where there is a need for people to hear and understand the gospel message; to reach every man, woman and child in that village with the message of the gospel by building friendships with the people, with the goal of eventually winning them to Christ and thereby building the Body of Christ, the Church.
My wife Georgeta and I will be personally, directly involved with people on an individual basis as well as in group settings, and we will be striving to lead exemplary lives in the community in which we reside, with the goal of building friendships and leading others to Christ. We will also be personally, directly involved in planning, facilitating, and serving in Bible study groups, church services, conferences or seminars, and other opportunities that will arise in the course of ministry.
This ministry seeks to reach unbelievers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, we would also be involved in visiting and encouraging those people or families who have already given their lives to Jesus Christ. Once we have reached someone with the message of the Gospel, and they have given their hearts and lives to Christ, it is then our responsibility to help care for them as new believers, and to disciple them – teach them to observe all that our Lord Jesus has commanded us.


The Calling and the Vision
My wife and I sincerely believe that this ministry of The VR Project is what the Lord has called us to do – that as husband and wife, parents, and servants of the Almighty God, this is what has been laid upon our hearts as our life's work.
Our vision when we return to Romania is to move into and live in the village of Giubega, in southern Romania. There is no New Testament church there, and only three believers in the entire village. We believe that Giubega and the immediate area is where God is calling us to be leaders for Him. We believe that God will provide property and a home for us to live in and raise our family as we share Jesus with those around us. We believe that God will also provide, in accordance with the vision of ministry and service He has given us, a building on that property with guest rooms and a multipurpose room where pastors, friends, and ministry teams can come serve and fellowship together, and where God's people can meet to learn more about Him and worship Him.
We will be working together with pastors we have gotten to know, and with churches we have been involved with. Many of us share a similar vision for reaching unbelievers in the forgotten villages of Romania, and are ready and willing to help and support one another in prayer, ministry and friendship, all toward the goal of introducing people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and growing the Kingdom of God.
We pray that this short summary of The VR Project – Project Village Reach: Romania has been clear, and that it effectively communicates the goal and the vision of our life's work that has been laid upon our hearts. Please pray for us as we return to Romania, that God will give us the means, the strength, and the perseverance to accomplish all that He has for us to do. Please pray for us as we seek together with the Lord, to share Jesus' love and the saving message of the Gospel with people who so desperately need to hear it.

Servants Together In Christ,
S. Andrew & Georgeta R. Roby

Inquiries:
Email: Morningstar1826@gmail.com
Blogsite: Andrewgetaromania.blogspot.com

Support:
Andrew & Geta Roby
294 Jacobson Way
Monmouth, OR. 97361