Dear Friends,
Thank you for the encouraging messages and emails we received after sending out the previous newsletter in September.
Another month has gone by and a lot has happened....I would start with news about Florica. Things change very rapidly and I would probably have to send you weekly reports about what is happening there. But I will make it short and the story goes like this....A while ago my grandmother was very touched after my father and I paid her a visit together with a team from Denver Baptist Church, NC. One evening we received a phone call from her and she was wondering why we want to buy property elsewhere for the church in Florica when we could buy part of the property she owns. Of course, my dad was very surprised to hear about this, somewhat reserved, nevertheless happy that he heard something like this after praying for 33 years that my grandma would turn her eyes upon God. She had already spoken with the rest of the family and they all agreed with her. We had started taking care of the paper work that needed to be signed in order to have legal rights upon the property. We wanted to buy the piece of land behind the corn mill that was destroyed by fire this summer (for those who remember the story) in my grandmother's courtyard.. But the villagers put pressures on her, so my grandmother suddenly changed her mind (without telling us) and the rest of the family as well, saying that she would never sell out her property for the Baptist Church. When my father heard about this he asked if she would at least rent us out a room in her house. She didn't accept this either. Things are still tense, but we don't want to give up. We still want to go on and buy a piece of property for the Baptist Church in Florica. Please pray together with us that God will give us wisdom on how to continue working for Him in that village.
The Month of October was our “Thanksgiving” month. We don't have a set date to celebrate it, so every year it is different. Three different churches in the area (“Hope” Baptist Church – Bratasanca, “Golgotha” Baptist Church – Filipestii de Padure, “Grace” Baptist Church – Miner Village) organized special events and we had a great time rejoicing in the House of the Lord and bringing Him thanks for what He has done for us.
On October 12th Andy Nistoroiu was officially assigned to be the pastor of Golgotha church in Filipesti. At the same time, the church in Filipesti became responsible for the mission churches in Scorteni and Mislea.
On the last Saturday of the month we again had a prayer meeting with all the evangelical churches in town. We are thankful to God for the freedom to be able to have these meetings and we pray that more believers would join these meetings in the future.
On October 26th we had the monthly evangelism service organized by the evangelical churches in Campina. Pastor Vasile Talos from “Bunavestire” Baptist Church in Bucharest spoke from the Word of God. Though over 6,000 invitations were spread out in town, not many responded to it. We continue to pray though that God will work through us and bring spiritual revival in Campina.
Very soon my father and Dan will be taking a 3 week trip to the States. They will be attending a Missions Conference in Denver, NC and then visit with friends in the St. Louis area. Please be praying for them, especially for my dad who is very nervous about his very first flight ever. And pray for us who will remain at home that everything will go well.
Please send greetings to your churches and families. We think about all of you and we are praying for you.
May God continue to pour out His blessings upon you!
In Him,
Ioana
