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Dear Faithful Supporters
Spring has sprung here in Romania and we have begun to enjoy the blessings of warmer weather, a stronger shining sun, and longer days. Like many of you, we have begun preparing for the celebration of the Resurrection of the Son, Jesus Christ. Romania follows the Orthodox calendar, so we observe Easter a week later than our friends and family in the States. As you prepare for Easter and even afterward, please remember to think of us and pray for our Easter Resurrection services in Romania.
Praise the Lord! The children’s ministry has been growing! So much so, (more than thirty children now) that we’ve outgrown our classroom and moved Sunday school an hour later so we can use the adults assembly room. Our bus kids have also worked hard learning new songs, memorizing poems and verses, and even the books of the Bible for their special Easter program. We pray that many of their family members will come to the program, hear the Gospel, and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Four new names have been written down in Glory!
Since our last letter, four new children in our Sunday School have been saved! Amen!! It is such a blessing to see these children not only accept the Lord as their Savior, but to also watch them grow spiritually! Several times now, their passionate zeal for the Lord and fearless courage when witnessing to their friends and family have convicted me.
God is working on these children! Praise the Lord! But at the same time, so is the devil. Please continue to pray for us, and for the children’s ministries at Grace of Life Baptist Church. We are asking for prayer specifically for Diana, Alisa, and Patricia. These three young ladies are very faithful in coming to church and are so very close to salvation. I see their desire to be saved, but something is holding them back. Most of the time, in Romania, they are restrained by their parents. There is an old notion here that children should wait until they are older before choosing to be saved. This is so sad. We have already lost several children to the world because their parents discouraged them from getting saved. They soon lost interest, their hearts hardened, and they have stopped attending church altogether. This is one of the main reasons why, despite all our attempts, we can only get four or five teenagers to come to our teen meetings. By the time they are teenagers, it is almost too late to get them out of the muck of the world. Even now, Jordan is putting together a pamphlet for Romanian parents about the importance of child evangelism. Our prayer is that many will read the pamphlets and educate themselves until this old teaching is nothing more than a mistaken thought of the past.
More good news!
We are also seeing spiritual growth in our adults. It may be gradual and slow moving, but it is growth all the same! Since our move to Sânmihaiu Almașului, Jordan has continued the monthly women’s meetings at the church. With the responsibilities of motherhood and Sunday School, it has been challenging for her to get to know the ladies in the church as well as she would like. These meetings have been a great way for her to get to know them and encourage them in their daily walk with the Lord.
Similarly, Ruben has begun a monthly men’s Bible study. Through these meetings, his goal is to encourage the men to develop real Bible study skills and thus create a stronger walk with God. In the past, some members of the church were blindly closed-minded, and willfully ignorant of what the Bible taught about certain subjects. You may recall some of the problems we were experiencing from our January letter. But now, because of Ruben’s strong stance on the protection of the pulpit and his clear teachings from the Bible, we have seen great improvements in our people. We praise the Lord for this growth and are praying that as a church body, we can continue to grow stronger in our unity and faith for the Lord Jesus Christ.
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