A Love That Knows No Limits

 To all our friends, family members, and fellow servants of Christ, Greetings in the name of the Lord! We hope that this entry finds you feeling well, and loving Jesus more with each passing day.
 We miss each of you and think of you often; we pray for you, and we are encouraged because we know that you are praying for us. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you again so much for all your praying; your prayers are greatly needed, and appreciated. Thank you for coming into the presence of God on our behalf; what a remarkable and exquisite privilege! Remember, "prayer moves the hand that moves the world" (E.M. Bounds). How awesome to serve the One to Whom this quote refers!
 This picture of our family is the latest one that we have, taken on January 23rd 2007. We had to go into Serbia for a couple of hours and then come back into Romania to get our passports stamped, and while we were there we spent some time at some old Roman ruins. It was interesting and fun to see the ruins, and the kids got to run around too. We also had a surprise encounter with the Serbian border police! (don't worry, they were very nice).
 On January 28th, Geta and I celebrated six years of marriage together; time sure passes quickly; we know it will only seem to pass more quickly as time goes on.
 Speaking of time passing quickly, our children are growing faster every day. Joseph, our oldest, is now 4 years old; our daughter Ammishaddai will turn 2 on February 10th; and our youngest, Elijah, will turn 1 on February 26th.
 Thank you again for praying, and being such a blessing to us; now let us leave you with what we hope will be a great encouragement for you. A song that has meant a lot to us and has spoken to our hearts in a special way (and which we sang at the mountain churches we were recently in) is the song "Redeeming Love"; we'd like to put the words from the chorus here for you: "Redeeming love, a love that knows no limit; Redeeming love, a love that never dies; My soul shall sing throughout the endless ages, the adoration of this great love on high".
 May God bless you today, and everyday.
 In Christ, Andrew & Geta & Kids

 

In February

 On February 3-4, Geta and I and the kids were able to go together to the mountain villages of Obarsia Closani and Marasesti for ministry. We stayed at the house in Obarsia Closani that is owned by the church. They are able to build a fire in one room only -- that is pretty normal here in the villages during the winter -- but it was a pretty good sized room, and we didn't spend too much time there anyway.
 Normally they have a service at the church in each village Saturday night, and then one at each church Sunday morning and evening. We went with the pastor from Orsova, and because he had some business to attend to, we did not arrive in the villages in time for the church services Saturday night. Sunday morning, I drove the pastor to Marasesti, and our family stayed at the church in Obarsia Closani where we participated in the service with singing, encouragement and the message from the Bible.
 In the evening we first had a service in Obarsia Closani again, where we sang and encouraged the people, and then we went to a service in Marasesti, where we also sang, and encouraged the people, as well as had the main message.
 Our family was able to experience again over the weekend the warmth, hospitality, and generosity of the believers in those villages. The friendship they showed us was sincere; in a way, our family was part of them already. Even our kids had a good time, having a chance to play a little after the final service in Marasesti with some of the children from the church.
 We are looking forward to this next weekend, February 10-11, when we will be again going to these villages for ministry. Please pray for me (Andrew) as I prepare to speak in three services this weekend; please pray for Geta as she translates each time for me (and keeps an eye on the kids!) -- she is doing an incredible job translating, and she is such a blessing; Please pray for the kids, that they will have calm and quiet spirits during each service -- it can seem such a long time for them sometimes to sit through these services, but they are doing very well. Finally, Please pray that God will use us in special ways to touch the hearts of people for His glory!
 Also, coming up on February 18th, we will be in the village of Hobita, where one of our relatives has invited us to come and be involved in a service and speak. We are excited about that as well! Please pray for us that weekend as well, that we would be an encouragement to the believers in the village of Hobita, and a testimony for Jesus Christ.
 Then on February 25th, we are looking forward to being in Bailesti again for a day of ministry, as well as possibly another village in the area, one named Giubega. Please pray that we would also be an encouragement to the believers in Bailesti and Giubega.
 We included a picture here from February 4; it shows Joseph and Ammishaddai in Obarsia Closani -- yes, there is a little snow!



 

3 Days, 8 Services

 On January 19, 20, and 21 (a Friday, Saturday and Sunday) I (Andrew) went with a pastor from the city of Orsova, and a couple other guys to two mountain villages about one hundred kilometers away for a weekend of evangelization. Evangelization is a time in a village or villages when the people of the church invite their friends, family, neighbors -- anyone unsaved -- to come to the church. There are usually guest speakers during the evengelization, and usually the church is pretty full. This can be a great opportunity to present the Gospel to those who have never heard it before, and for peoaple to come to know Christ. In fact, my wife Georgeta was saved during a week of evangelization in the village of Rusca Montana where she grew up.
 The villages that I went to with the pastor and the other guys were named Obarsia Closani, and Marasesti; they lie in a beautiful, rather isolated setting, with high mountains rising on each side to overshadow them, and a rough road winding it's way through those mountains to each village. In one of the villages, Obarsia Closani, is a house owned by the church where we stayed at night over the weekend.
 There were two services Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night, as well as two services Sunday morning, that we participated in. At each service, we sang songs, encouraged the people, and spoke from the Word of God. I was privileged to have the main message during three of the services, and short encouragements in several of the others. It was a blessing for me to see how receptive the people were to us, and how eager they were to hear a message from God's Word.
 The people were also very generous and kind, which was a blessing as well. Each night, a family from the church in Obarsia Closani would prepare us a meal; Sunday after the morning services we were also invited to a family in Marasesti for lunch. It was amazing how God took care of us while we were there, and provided everything we needed (we had not taken any food with us!)
 Sunday night after the final service, we all drove home to our families. I was fairly tired after all the services over the weekend, but I was also felt very blessed because I had gotten to be a part of such a wonderful experience over the weekend. Please pray that God will continue to work in and bless the villages of Obarsia Closani and Marasesti.

 Picture: this is a picture of me in the church of Marasesti with some of the children (from L-R: Emil, Gabi, Andrei, Me, Ionuti). We had some fun before one of the services, talking and playing games. They were very friendly, and reminded me of some of the children from our home church of Bridgeport Chapel.

 

Season

 "FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON..."
 (from Ecclesiastes 3:1)
 First of all, we would like to wish all of you a very happy new year, and we pray that 2007 would be a memorable year for you, full of wonderful memories and the incredible experience of God's blessings and mercies -- for they are new every morning! (Lamentations 3:22-23)
 As you can probably imagine, we had quite a different Christmas here. There were many different things for the kids to experience here that they hadn't in America, and they had a good time generally -- except that they were pretty sick right at the turn of the year for a few days, but they're doing much better now. The picture we included with this post is of our three children on Christmas Day 2006.
 We enjoyed our times together as a family both on Joseph's birthday (December 24 in the evening; he turned four years old!) and for Christmas (December 25, again in the evening). Ministry-wise, we were also pretty busy, and we also enjoyed those times with other people as well. We went caroling with some other people for several hours on the evening of December 23 in the village of Ilovita; we went to the big church here in Turnu-Severin in the morning and evening of December 24; on December 25 we went to the village of Gemeni for a Christmas Day service; and finally on December 26 we went to Gemeni again for another service and a fellowship meal with the church there, followed by caroling.
 Some of you will be thrilled to hear that on December 24 in the evening at the church here in town, all the kids in the church were given Operation Christmas Child boxes! On December 26 in Gemeni, christmas boxes were given out to the children there as well. Geta and I thought of Bridgeport Chapel each time when we saw them being handed out, and the look of joy and delight on the children's faces as they opened the boxes; it was quite a sight, moving and emotional. It was unforgettable, and we were proud (the good kind) of all of you at Bridgeport Chapel and other places who have taken time and such care to pack a box (or many!) to send to a child somewhere. Believe us when we say, it is so worth it when you see the children's faces, smiles, and joy as they receive and open one of those boxes.
 For New Year's Eve, a couple that are very good friends of ours, Cosmin and his wife Mari, came from Caransebes to spend time together with us and stay the night to bring in the new year. We had a lot of fun together, and it was a very encouraging time for us as well.
 Even amongst all the ministries, festivities, and experiences of Christmas time, we are saddened to say that we had a rough couple of weeks in relation to our ministry. Sometimes God has us go through things that we don't understand at the time, and maybe won't understand for awhile; but at the same time we can understand and believe that God is allowing it with His purpose in mind, and for His glory, and Geta and I believe this to be true. Without going into details, let me just say that though it was at times very discouraging and emotionally draining for us, we have been greatly encouraged by all the praying that we know people have done for us, and by the emails and counsel from a couple of people with whom we shared the situation and sought counsel and/or advice.
 We were also very encouraged and blessed by the way in which God continues to show Himself to us, and take care of our family day by day. It just seems like God keeps blessing us, and it is really amazing. We believe that it is because of who He is ("...God...acts for those who wait for Him." from Isaiah 64:4), and also that it has a lot to do with all of the people who have been and continue to pray for us; it has a lot to do with you.
 Another verse that has really stood out to us lately is Isaiah 65:13-14. These verses (among others) are comparing those who forsake God with God's servants ("my servants"), and part of those verses say, "...my servants shall eat...my servants shall drink...my servants shall rejoice...my servants shall sing for gladness of heart...". Encouraging for us, and these scriptures are so true! May they be an encouragement to each of you as well!
 We know that God is absolutely sovereign, and He leads us where He wants us to go. Even though the last three weeks or so have at times seemed like quite a trial for us, we know that God has a purpose in it -- that He has something even more incredible for us to do here in Romania than we could have imagined. Please continue to pray for us and for God's guidance as we consider more ministry opportunities; pray for clear direction for our family and that we will always seek to honor God by doing what He wants us to do.
 Always Servants Together With You In Christ,
 Andrew & Geta and kids

 

Update, and Address

(Blog entry originally intended for early November 2006)
Update on last enry: We had a great (and long - three hour drive) day of ministry in the village of Rast (where there are one or two believers), and later, in the town of Bailesti. In Rast, we saw many places where the floods had destroyed or partially destroyed people's houses, and everything they had. In some areas, houses that were made of mud bricks were completely gone -- melted, as it were, by the flood waters. Other areas of the village had houses with walls and/or roofs collapsed, and foundations ripped apart or broken and causing the house to lean as if it were about to collapse. Still other areas of the village had houses that were virtually untouched by the flood, and still intact. It was interesting and heartbreaking at the same time. We enjoyed our two hours or so of ministry there. As we left Rast and headed toward Bailesti, about 5 kilometers down the road, we saw where the government is constructing an entire new village from scratch! In other words, they are rebuilding and relocating the village of Rast a few miles from where it currently is. That was pretty amazing. Included in this blog entry are two pictures from the time we spent in the village of Rast: one of Andrew speaking and Utu translating, and the other of one of the houses devastated by the floodwaters.

The service that evening at the Baptist church in Bailesti was really good, and it was a wonderful time of fellowship. It was their day of thanksgiving, and the church had also invited the Pentecostal church to join them for the service. So there was a lot of singing, four people spoke from the Bible (both the Baptist and Pentecostal pastors, myself, and another American that was with us that day), and when it was all over, some ladies from the church had made Romanian sandwiches for everybody, so there was a great time of fellowship for another hour or so. Geta and I really enjoyed it there; the people were so warm and friendly, the youth group is alive and thriving, and there is just a spirit of love and family in the church. Geta and I were especially blessed that evening because we felt we had found a church like Bridgeport Chapel...we felt like we were home.
Bailesti (or a village near it) is one of several places we are considering moving to this spring or summer, because it is in an area we may be working in. We believe that possibly God had our family in Bailesti that Sunday for more reasons than just ministry that evening. We don't know exactly what God has in store for us as far as moving next year (2007); please pray for continued direction for our lives and ministry, and that the Lord will continue to provide for us.
And...our address for now is as follows:
>>THE ADDRESS PREVIOUSLY POSTED IS NO LONGER VALID.
>>A NEW ADDRESS WILL BE POSTED WITH A NEW BLOG ENTRY WHEN THERE IS A NEW ADDRESS AVAILABLE.
If you send us mail, we should get it at that address!
Psalm 100:5 says, "For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." Praise God for His love that does not end, and for His faithfulness to us always! God be with you, and may you be blessed this day! -Andrew & Geta & Family