Romania - home again

Hope of Life Worship

We are home again and a little jet lagged. Above is the Hope of Life Worship Team ministering at the City Wide Crusade in Romania. Those of you that have joined us on one of the Romania Mission Teams will recognize many old and new friends. Laura, the new worship team leader, was very nervous, but as you can see did a great job. God is so faithful and He received all the glory.

It was a wonderful trip. We saw, not only new converts to Christ, but some old friends rededicate their life to their Savior. Everyone asked when we were coming back and said their "hearts were full of joy at our returning as they consider us family." We have always taught that moments matter but when one of the leaders told us they considered us their spiritual parents, we were amazed at how the Lord can take a few weeks, some Internet time and multiply it to be so fruitful. One set of new parents told us they were doing everything we told them, now what is next. What a privilege to serve such hungry, faithful believers. We are in communication as to whether there is a need for us to return in August.

Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust to a full schedule of summer missions.This Sunday we will be ministering at the Macomb Correctional Facility, our State Prison. Some of these inmates are the parents of the children we take to Champions for Life Kids' Camp. Keep both the parents and the children in your prayers, that Jesus will draw them close to His heart, into a personal relationship with Him and heal all the past memories.

Romania - Wednesday

The final night of the crusade was exciting. Again new children and families came to participate in the children's program. It was such an honor to introduce children to their creator. God's presence was sweet and tender toward them.
The young people helping us were sad when the program concluded. They were a delight to work with and we had several opportunities to encourage them and speak into their lives.
We ministered with a faithful team from Germany that hold evangelistic crusades in Kenya and Sudan, Africa. The evangelist Pastor Peter Franz and his wife Becky are pictured on the right along with the rest of their team. It was a delight to work with them this week.
Pictured above is Pastor Miahi and his family. Please keep them in your prayers as there are many changes taking place in their church. They also have the follow-up work for the children and adults that committed their lives to Christ.


The crusade was lead by the Hope of Life Church. For Laura, the worship leader, it was her first big event. Her mother attended the crusade to see her sing, first time ever! The young woman we witnessed to earlier in the week rededicated her life Sunday evening while the church was rejoicing.

The rest of the week included evaluation and testimony meetings. We also had time to catch up and encouraging old friends and developing the church's children's ministry. God has not ceased to amaze us this entire trip.

Romania - Sunday

More new parents and children came to the crusade and God's presence was precious. The children are very receptive to the Word of God and all that is happening.
Everything seemed to run a little more smoothly on Saturday. We are amazed at the dedication of these young people. They come daily to pray and eager to practice. They are so faithful to prepare for ministry. In the middle of all this, we had a moment to witness to a young woman that had left the church three years ago.

Last night started with Christian Hip Hop. The altar call was larger with people needing something from God. Thank you for your prayers as this schedule could be exhausting but we are continually refreshed. We had opportunity last night to minister one on one to many. God is so amazing.


Tonight is the final night of the crusade. The Hope of Life Church worship team is ministering tonight. Keep us in our prayers.

Romania - Saturday

Yesterday was extremely busy. We started with a prayer ceremony to bless a new marriage in the church. Then on to practice for the children's program. The young people were eager to be a part and wonderful to work with. We had a lot of laughs and fun preparing. Last summer we taught the teens and young adults how to execute their first V.B.S. So preparing for this crusade was an easy transition as the foundation had already been laid. Above is a picture of the practice.
It is exciting to see how many of the young people had remained faithful throughout this past year. They are involved in everything and questioning how they can do more for the Lord. Their energy and passion is so refreshing.

After practice we headed to the conference center to set up. As if the green shirts didn't attract enough attention, imagine walking three blocks with a 5-foot blown up whale. The program was a success and many new children attended the children's crusade. The only difficulty we ran into was having to completely tear down every night and set up again the next day as it is a rented facility. Above and below are pictures of the actual program.
After the children's program, the adult crusade began with bands, dramas, videos and preaching. There was a nice crowd and a good first night. Please keep us in prayer as we have another two full days of the crusade. Our health is strong, our energy is high and God is continually amazing us.


One more note, if you have been to Romania with one of our teams, the church members are asking about you. You have left your imprint here and they want you to know they love and miss you all!

Romania - Friday

Yesterday was another busy day starting with prayer and followed by teaching sessions. We then hit the streets in our bright green shirts passing out fliers inviting people to the city wide crusade. The people were very receptive and we are believing for many souls this week-end. The church has passed out about 15,000 fliers. Terry believes we personally passed out 1,000 of them. Please agree in prayer with us for souls.
We squeezed in many moments of one on one ministering and encouragement. Many were eager to inform us of all that has happened in their lives this past year. They also asked our opinions on so many subjects such as relationships, dating, marriage, parenting, God's will and calling on their lives, hearing God's voice, and submission to authority to name a few.
Last year, Florine, the young man on the left, sat down with Terry as he had an interest in missions work and had never left Romania. Now ten months later, he has been on two mission trips to Bulgaria and Albania. When we retired for the night we had many stories to share with each other. It is wonderful to reunite with our Romanian family we have come to know, love and serve these past 6 years.

Romania - Thursday

We arrived in RomaniaTuesday afternoon and went straight from the airport to the church. We were greeted with so many old friends and it was wonderful to catch up in everyone's life. A lot has happened in a year. We have been very busy preparing for the crusade this week-end. The picture above is an intense time of prayer which takes place daily.

Above is a picture of Pat with Elisa, the pastor's wife. They are preparing for the children's program which will take place every night of the crusade. Below is one of the sessions with the church to encourage and teach them in preparation for the crusade.

We have finally adjusted to the time change and it is glorious to be here. We are very busy and have almost every minute scheduledm including prayer, teachings, and passing out fliers. Terry found the only English speaking man on the street to minister and invite to the crusade. We have met some ministers from Germany who work in Africa that have come to also help with the crusade. It is such a blessing to work with such a passionate group of young people believing God for souls to come to know Christ this week end. Please keep this crusade in your prayers.

LEAVING FOR ROMANIA

With not much turn around we are heading to Romania. We will be leaving Monday, June 15th and will be working with Life of Hope Church in conducting a city wide crusade in Tragoiviste, an hour and a half north of Bucharest. Above is a picture of some of our dear friends and leaders in the church.

This crusade will also include a program for the children of their city and they have asked us to come and help with this outreach. Above is a picture of the youth pastor and some of the young people we worked with last year to train for the children's ministry. We are excited to return and work with them again.

Please keep us in your prayers. As the internet is available to us, we will try and keep our friends and supporters updated as we travel.

Macomb Correctional Facility

After only having a few days to adjust back to the American culture, we were scheduled to minister at the Macomb Correctional Facility. This state prison can appear intimidating from the outside, but inside we have come to know some precious brothers in the Lord. We were greeted with smiling faces and friendly greetings. They were telling us that they had read our blog about Colombia and had been faithfully praying for us. It was so refreshing after a week in a developing country to find so many of them had kept us up in prayer. The ministry on Sunday, not only reported about the poor street children in Colombia and what Jesus was doing there, but it brought many of these men to a vulnerable place where they had similar childhoods. We taught on the Father's blessing. At the conclusion of the ministry, one young man said "thank you, now it all makes sense." Another said " Thank you, that was emotional for me, but if I cry they will label me emotional and put me with the crazy guys."