"Increase Our Faith!"

This picture of our family was taken recently,
in Rusca Montana, in a park near where Geta grew up.

Greetings everyone, from here in Romania!
Now that we have been back in Romania for nearly three months, things are settling down a
little bit from how they were when we first got here, as far as routine and things go. We
pretty much finished up all the things we still had to do where we used to live in Drobeta
Turnu-Severin, and after being an additional three weeks or so without our van in early
May, we have definitely come to appreciate even more the van that God provided us a few
years back (remember it's a 50km round trip for shopping from where we live!). We remember
that it was largely our family of Bridgeport Chapel that provided the funds so that we
could purchase that van! It has been a good van, and always a blessing for our family.
In the last couple of months, we have stayed in the area in churches that are close by,
mostly in Rusca Montana and Ruschita (where we live for now). We have also gone on
occasion to other churches in other villages a bit farther away to minister, such as
Hobita, Rachitova, and were most recently invited to speak at the church in Turnu-Ruieni,
about 60km away from here. It is always good to be with other groups of christians, and to
get to know and have fellowship with them.
It has also been very good to stick closer around here and get to know the people in our
immediate area again. The church in Rusca Montana is a larger church, but there are needs
there, including working with the children and the youth, not to mention opportunities for
Bible teaching. The church in Ruschita is really just starting up, with just a handful of
people - three or four - that come on a regular basis in the afternoon when the service is
held. There is definitely a need for ministry and encouragement for the few believers that
there are here! Thankfully, a small team from the church in Rusca Montana comes here most
Sundays, and on occasion, a small team from another village, Marga, comes to be a part of
the service.
We have gotten to share in several churches about how God has worked in our lives in the
last year or two, and about God's miraculous preservation of the twins, and all they (and
Geta) had to go through. Several people actually wept during our sharing at various
churches, and let me say, that made it more difficult to continue the sharing. Whenever we
have shared about Nehemiah and Jonathan, it has been a powerful example of God's love,
mercy, and grace to us, and really, to us all.
Thank you all for being a blessing to us, and thank you for praying for us so faithfully.
Prayer requests that we have for right now: for the people in the churches of Rusca
Montana and Ruschita, that they would be encouraged; and that God would move among the
people in these villages and bring many to Himself. Also that God would use us in whatever
ways He sees fit to accomplish His will here. Also please pray for us as we are preparing
to go to help with children's camps next week near the city of Fagaras - that it would be
an awesome time to get to know kids there and spend time with them, as well as encourage
them in the Lord. May we be a blessing in their lives!
A big praise for us is that the twins have been healthy since shortly after the last blog entry, thank you all for your prayers! Also, as many of you know, we have been praying for God to provide a place for us to live, and thanks to his grace and through His people, it looks like He is doing some extraordinary things on our behalf. We hope to give you all an update on this in the not too distant future! Suffice it to say for now (although really no words are sufficient here) that God's people are beyond generous, and that our God does the unexpected....or maybe we truly need to pray as the disciples prayed: "Increase our faith!" - Luke 17:5.
We love you, and hope to give another update before too long. May the Lord's mercy and blessing cover you!
In His Love,
Andrew, Geta, and kids

Readjusting to Life

                                    Geta holds the twins, Jonathan (L) and Nehemiah (R),
                                              on their 5 month birthday, April 15th, 2015.

Dear Family and Friends,
it's been just over a month since we returned to Romania, and it sometimes seems like we are still settling in. Life has been somewhat hectic, between trying to get settled in here in the apartment we are using as a temporary home, and going to different places to catch up with insurance and taxes that need to be paid; picking up some things we needed from our stuff that's all packed away at Geta's father's house, and trying to do some shopping for supplies needed where we live. It's a 50km round trip from where we live right now to do shopping, so we really need to plan ahead! If only they would build a Waremart Foods five minutes from here...
We have also been enjoying visiting friends and relatives here and spending time with them, as well as going to some different churches. We went to the church in Hobita on one of the first Sundays we were back in Romania, and that was wonderful to see people there, and get to share a little bit about the amazing ways God has worked in our lives over the past year and a half.
Also, Easter Sunday was just last week (a week later than in the United States), and that was a weekend full of comings and goings and lots of ministry opportunities as well. Sunday morning we were at the church in Rusca Montana, where Geta grew up and where we were married. I had the message during the service, and Geta translated - it was a great to be back at that church and to have Geta at my side translating! That afternoon we visited many relatives, and went home ready for rest.
Monday morning was what the Romanians call the second day of Easter, and we were blessed to be able to spend the day with our good friends Cosmin and Mari. We went to church in the village of Dalci in the morning, and then the village of Zlagna for the evening service. I had the message again at both of those services, and it was great to have Cosmin translate for me both times. In between the services we went and saw another village (and small church there) in Cicleni, and also enjoyed fellowship with Cosmin and Mari at their home. That evening we arrived tired again and ready for bed. But we had a wonderful couple of days, and thouroughly enjoyed our time in ministry with others.
Please continue to be in prayer for us. Our prayer requests currently are: The twins Nehemiah and Jonathan - they have been sick with a pretty bad cough for over a week (it's especially bad at night) and it just seems like it's taking a long time for them to get better. Place of ministry and place to live - we have been praying that God will show us just the right place that he wants us to minister, where we can best serve him; also we have been praying for God to provide a house for us to live in. Many of you know this already from talks we've had or times we've shared in church. Please continue to pray that we will see and understand his will for us!
Thank you for your continued prayers and support, we love you!
Serving Christ together with you,
Andrew & Geta Roby and family

A Thanksgiving Miracle

Nehemiah Emeth (foreground) and Jonathan Ransom. Born November 15, 2014

"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17
Dear Friends and Family,
Thanksgiving has come and gone this year, but for our family, the Thanksgiving season of 2014 will be one that we remember every year - and indeed all throughout the year - for the rest of our lives. We will remember it as a time when God chose once again to show us the depth of his love and mercy, and poured into our family the blessing of two more precious lives: Nehemiah Emeth and Jonathan Ransom.
Most of you are probably already aware that at twenty weeks, the twins were diagnosed with TTTS, or Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, which you can read about in our previous blog entry "For Nothing Will Be Impossible With God." The outlook was not good, and yet God preserved them through everything, including a laser surgury in mid August, as well as many close calls as the pregnancy progressed.
For example, in mid October we had gone for a routine checkup at the OHSU hospital in Portland, and Geta started having a lot of contractions; she was only 29 weeks pregnant. After several days of monitoring and even some bleeding, everything stabilized and we were finally able to come home after a week. It was scary a little in the sense that we might have had to deliver then; but God is so good - he stopped everything so that the twins could have more time to develop and be more ready to be born.
Then, on the 14th of November - at 34 weeks of pregnancy - on another routine visit to the doctors (this time here closer in Salem), they discovered that one of the babies' feet were pushing down to the bottom of the womb on the umbilical cord. They informed us that this is a very dangerous situation in that if the water should break, one or both of the babies would be at serious risk of death. So they immediately sent us up to OHSU to be most likely delivered.
Again, God's sovereign hand of protection was upon the babies, and on the morning of November 15th, 2014, Nehemiah Emeth and Jonathan Ransom were brought into this world by c-section. They were immediately taken to the neonatal intensive care unit, and hooked up to machines that helped them breathe and gave them oxygen, as well as IVs, and a host of other monitors. The doctors and nurses there were always kind and helpful and it was a great experience there. Nehemiah and Jonathan received the best care, and made amazing progress.
In just two weeks and two days, on December 1st, they were released from OHSU, at which time they finally got to meet their big brothers Joseph, Elijah, and Jeremiah, as well as their big sister Ammishaddai. And on December 2nd, we all got to come home to be together as a family.
The doctors have told us that the twin that had the possible heart problem (Jonathan) does not have any problems, and will not need any further checkups for that. They have also cleared them to go on the airplane when and if the time comes.
God's amazing preserving hand has been so evident in all this time of the pregnancy, whether that was preserving the twins' lives, or providing for our family at every turn, we have so much to be thankful for. Thank you to each and every one of you who have been praying for us during this time, or watching our kids, or providing meals for our family, or any of a number of other things; God has used you to bless us in ways that are overwhelming. Thank you, we are so grateful.
As George Herbert, a 17th Century Anglican Poet wrote: "You have given so much to me. Give me one thing more - a grateful heart." Amen, may it be so!
This Thanksgiving season, though it has come and gone, will be one that is remembered by our family for the rest of our lives as a time to be so grateful, a true season of grace: a true Thanksgiving Miracle!
Longing for a truly grateful heart,
Andrew & Geta & family

For Nothing Will Be Impossible With God...

Dear Friends and Family -
As most of you know, we have been in the United States since December 13th, 2013, and that is due to the love, friendship, and unflinching generosity of so many of you.While we do miss Romnania very much, we have been greatly enjoying our time here in America reconnecting with each of you. There have been so many opportunities to be with people we know and love while we have been here, it has been truly a great blessing for us.
We have also gotten to do some pretty fantastic things since we have been here, such as visit Mount St. Helens, the zoo, and the Oregon Caves, as well as go camping, enjoy the Fourth of July, and even go on a missions trip to Mexico (Andrew and Joseph). These have been months and memories we will never forget.
God has also chosen to bless us further with the addition of twins to our family, and that has been not only a surprise, but also somewhat of a journey of unknowns. The babies were diagnosed with TTTS, or Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, a complication that happens only in cases of identical twins, and that only rarely. In the placenta, the twins were connected by some blood vessels, to the point where one twin was giving all his blood and nutrients (the donor) the other (the recipient). If not discovered and dealt with as it was, it would have been fatal - the donor would die from lack of blood and nutrients, the donor would die from too much.
But God is amazing and merciful, the problem was discovered in time, and in mid August Geta had the laser surgery necessary to cut the blood vessels connecting the twins together. The survival rate in these cases is generally: 1 twin, 85%; both twins, 50%. But again, God has been so gracious to us and smiled upon these two new lives, and as of our last visit, the doctors are ecstatic about the progress they are making, amazed at how well they are doing. Our doctor just told us they don't usually see twins do this well after the kind of procedure they had to go through. The coordinator at the doctor's
office's words were: "you guys must have a lot of people praying for you."
Yes we do, and it is because of each of you that we have been so blessed. God has heard all of our prayers together that have been lifted up before him on behalf of our family and on behalf of these two new little babies. It has been so exciting to see God work every step of the way through this whole time. Truly with our God, nothing is too hard, nothing is impossible. Our God is able...  "For nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)
Please continue to pray with us as we get closer to the time when the babies will be delivered; pray that the babies will continue to grow and develop well, and that Geta will continue to have strength and be healthy too. Also please continue to pray for us as we prepare to return to Romania in March of 2015 - that God will provide us with a house and property to live on and minister from, and most of all that He would show us where we can be most effective serving for His Kingdom!
Serving Christ Together with You,
Andrew, Geta and family
p.s. Thank you to Carmen Darland for taking this great picture of our family, spring 2014.

Recent Happenings: June and July 2012

The people of Smirna church together with the people of the church in Hobita. Sunday, July 15th, 2012, in front of the church building in Hobita.

Greetings from Romania!
We hope this finds each and every one of you continuing to draw strength, joy, and encouragement from Jesus in every day...

Nehemiah 8:10b: "...for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

This is an update about what we have been doing and been involved with in the last couple of months here in Romania.

June
As summer wears on, we have been very busy with projects around the property - cleaning, mowing, sweeping, clearing space to be more clean, putting locks on garage doors to "fortify" them better against thieves, etc. We also need to work in the basement some, and on the water system in the basement. There's nothing wrong, we just want to modify the space a little more so others will have more room to store canned goods and things for the winter, also need to modify the water system slightly to not leave water messes any more when we have to switch the main pump hose to fill different water tanks. Busy, busy...before we know it, it will be time to buy firewood and deal with that in preparation for the winter.

Ministrywise in June, things seemed a little scattered. We had some different things going on, so even though the church met every week like usual, the youth group was on and off. Either they couldn't

come, or we had some thing to do, or whatever.
Early in the month myself and another leader from the church (Dan) were invited with our families to a leadership meeting (an afternoon/evening with dinner too) near another city called Targu Jiu. It was actually up in the mountains, and there weren't a lot of people. It was a nice time to get away for the afternoon and evening with our families and learn a bit together and fellowship with others. Plus all our kids enjoyed it a lot since there were quite a few other kids there to play with.
The last week of June was a really great week for us. Many of you have already seen the pictures we posted on our Facebook page. We got the opportunity to take whichever kids that wanted to go from

our church (and who were old enough) to a camp for kids (in the end, only 1 other kid came with us to the camp). The camp is near the city of Fagaras, about 450km from where we live. The drive was long, but it was very much worth it. Geta helped all week in the kitchen, and I helped with the kids in the camp, taught lessons, was a room leader (there were several dorm rooms with 13 or so beds each). The kids were generally between 9 and 13 years old, and there were about 45 or so there, from all around Romania. It was an amazing experience and one that we will not soon forget. It was one of the

best weeks we've had in a long time. It was great to get to know the kids, and they are at that age where they just are eager to be your friend, and they are so trusting. By the end of the week, we were

sad to go. On the last night there was a big campfire; some shared, and there were lots of laughs but also lots of tears, as the reality set in that it was the last night of camp. We miss the kids, but are

looking forward to going again next year to help. We want to stay for two weeks next year, and are hoping to see many of the same kids again. We are also hoping to take more kids from our church next year. We will see what God has in store for us in regards to that next year! 

July
The month of July continued pretty much as normal, with the weather being quite hot for most of the month (near 100 degrees! Although it's cooled off here a bit at the end of July). We've had our

regular church meetings every Sunday, with afternoons full of fellowship, "hang out" time, and encouragement.
One of the weekends in July (the 14th and 15th) we were went as a church in mission to a village, about 150 kilometers away. We left Saturday afternoon, and arrived at the village (Hobita, where we

also went 2 years ago as a church) toward evening. There were 19 of us (wow!) that went on the mission, and it was really a great time of being together with others. Saturday evening, we had a meal together and visited with people from the church. Later on, the ladies all worked together with the ladies from the church in Hobita to prepare a whole bunch of sarmale (cabbage rolls) for lunch together with the church the next day. They all seemed to enjoy that; again, many of you may have already seen the pictures from our trip to Hobita on our Facebook page.

Sunday morning, we all walked along a little creek through a small wooded area to where the church was. There we sang a lot together, which was great because the people there at the church don't have someone to play music during their services, so that was something a little more special for them. We really are blessed to have someone at the church (both here and in America) who can play music and lead us in worship. After that, I spoke from Romans (10:12-15) about "Beautiful Feet". I  believe that went pretty well, especially considering that I taught in Romanian; people seemed to understand

the message that God had for us that morning and that is what is important.

After the service, we walked back to the house where the majority of our group had stayed the previous night, and we all had lunch together - our church and their church. It was a nice meal together, and a nice afternoon of just being together with other believers. Later that afternoon, we had a short service again, with singing and various people sharing. At the end the church's pastor showed up for a brief word of encouragement. (they still have many areas in Romania where a pastor has several churches under his care, and must travel to several of them during the morning service time, and several during the evening service time. This is the situation in Hobita and the surrounding areas.)
As I mentioned earlier, the weather cooled off a little in the last week or so (all the way down to 90). We were supposed to have church camp last weekend, but postponed it for a week because of

thunderstorms. More of the same is predicted for this week, but hopefully it will clear up by Friday so we can all go for a weekend together in the mountains. We'll see...

Prayer Requests
Please pray for all the boys and girls that were at the camp near Fagaras at the end of June (camp Bit of Heaven, as it's called); pray that God will speak to the children's hearts and cause seeds that were planted in their lives to grow so that those kids can know him more.
Please also pray for the church, the people in Hobita. It is a very small church with almost all older people, several of whom have died in the last couple of years. Pray that they would be strengthened and encouraged physically as well a spiritually, that God would work in their church and use the people there to reach the village and raise up a new generation of people there for the glory of his kingdom.

We appreciate all your continued prayers for Geta - it is a great encouragement to our family. She is still having trouble with her leg; in fact she took a bad spill in the ladies restroom on a wet floor while we were up at the children's camp in June. Please pray that God will continue to heal her leg, give her strength, joy, and encouragement. I am so proud of her (and inspired by her), because in spite of the pain and discomfort that she has to live with every day, she continually has a positive outlook, and chooses in every day to declare that God is in control and knows what is best for her.
We hope and pray that all is well with you and your family. God is taking care of us, and we see his hand in our lives on a daily basis. We trust and pray that the same is true in your life.
To God be all the glory!
Servants together with you,
Andrew & Geta and family