A Long Time Coming

As we report to you at this time we must begin by asking for your understanding and forgiveness. Over the last few months our ministry schedule has kept us very busy.  As a result, it has been very difficult for us to find the time necessary to give you a proper update and we wish this was not the case.  So as we bring you up to date, please understand that we are very sorry for the delay in getting this out to you.  Now let us take a moment and share with you all that we have been doing since our last report.

Much of the month of August was spent in preparation for and the execution of a bible school that had as its goal a group we have never been able to reach before.  As you know from one of our prior updates we have started a ministry that is reaching out to many of the families and children from those who are less fortunate and disaffected in the area around the church.  Since this ministries inception we have seen some real tangible progress made.  The best evidence of this is the success of our project in August.  August 26 – 28 we conducted a bible school specifically focused on these children.  By the end of the week we had as many as 75 children from the neighborhood attend.  We were thrilled as this opened the door to meet many of the children’s care givers as well.  We say ‘care givers’ because many of these children are being raised by someone other than their parents.  Once the bible school concluded, we were thrilled by the doors of ministry that had been opened into each of these children’s lives.

These are many of the children who attended

Naty with some of the children from the bible school

This is a video we used in the church to encourage involvement

(It will give you a bit of an idea what took place)

Late in the month of August we also had the opportunity to participate in the summer camps in Moldova.  This was a great summer once again as many young people throughout the south of Moldova attended.  Many of them heard the gospel for the first time and for those who knew Christ prior to attending the camp their faith was strengthened.

Camp in Moldova this summer

In early September the church hosted its annual ‘Welcome Back Barbecue’ once again.  This is always a wonderful time of fellowship and getting reacquainted as many who have been traveling return to Romania.  During this event we had a chance to not only see old friends, but we also had the chance to make new ones as well.  One family we met for the first time is a new family from China.  In the city of Bucharest there are several thousands of people from China living here.  We have prayed for some time for an open door into that community and this family is proving to be such.  Since the barbecue they have been attending the church and we hope that as we continue to build this relationship with them that we will be able to use this open door to extend our reach into the Chinese community in Bucharest.  Please pray along with us that God guide us as we seek to find greater inroads into this culture.

Catching up with old friends at the barbecue

These are our new friends from China that we met at the barbecue

Later in September we had the opportunity to experience a very special event.  Jonathan & Lidia Moore-Crispin, whom we are very privileged to partner with in the ministry here in Bucharest, had their first son dedicated to the Lord’s service.  We were thrilled for both of them when Joseph was born in April and even more thrilled to participate in this important event in their lives as well.  We pray that God will bring Joseph to the place where he will trust Christ as Savior and Lord early in life.  We will also pray as he grows up that God will use him mightily to accomplish his will and purposes in this world.

With Jonathan and his in-laws at their son Joseph's dedication

Sunday, September 21^st was our annual ‘Ministry Fair’ at the International Church.  This event has grown to represent the various opportunities that God has given the church to reach out into the community.  Currently God has given members of the church opportunities to serve with organizations such as Hospice of Hope (helping those with terminal illnesses), Open Door (reaching those effected by human trafficking), Touched Romania (helping disadvantaged children in the city) and Casa Ioana (helping the homeless).  These are unique opportunities to not only serve, but as God opens the door, to share the gospel.  During this event we also have the opportunity to expose the congregation to various ways in which they can serve in the church as well.  Please pray for our members as they continue to seek to make a difference in the city of Bucharest.

This is the video we used to encourage involvement in Sunday School

(It will give you a bit of an idea of what happens each Sunday)

In the month of October Naty and I spent two weeks in Germany attending the International Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting.  The event took place in Ramstein, Germany this year.  At the event both Naty and I participated in many ways.  Naty has been asked to serve on a committee that is developing a strategic plan for the convention for the next decade.  In addition to this, she serves as the coordinator for the women’s ministry team.  For quite some time I have also been involved in various ways.  Currently I serve as the coordinator for the conventions current missional relationship with the Baptist union of Moldova.  In addition to this, I also serve on the church ministry health team and one of the teams in charge of seeing new international churches planted in the south of Europe.  As you can see, these responsibilities keep us very busy.  While we were there, we had to report to the conventions members concerning our involvement.  We pray as we continue our involvement in the IBC that God will continue to use this relationship to open further doors for ministry.

Pastor and leaders from around the International Baptist Convention

Bill talking to the IBC about our missions partnership with Moldova

Keeping Moving Forward

It has been some time since we have reported in to each of you.  We praise God for the opportunities and the work that He is doing around us.  One such opportunity that we have reported to you about many time over the last few years is the opportunity to work with our brothers and sisters here in Romania and Moldova in the area of biblical counseling.  April 28 - May 3 we had the opportunity to assist David Selvey from Faith Church in Lafayette, IN in training pastors and leaders in Cahul, Moldova.  This group has committed to a three year process of becoming equipped to do biblical counseling.  Most of them are already doing a counseling within there local churches.  May 9, 10 we had an opportunity to assist the group of young leaders and students who are studying to do the same in Timisoara, Romania.  We praise God for raising a new generation who are so eager to make a difference in other people's lives through biblical counseling.

With David Selvey in Moldova doing biblical counseling training

Over the last 6 months or so of 2014 the church in Bucharest has seen an unprecedented form or growth. We have seen the birth of 3 new little boys and we are aware of at least 3 more that will arrive in the next 3 to 4 months as well.  So have said, 'tongue in cheek'; "If you cannot grow from outside, grow it from inside". That certainly is not a philosophy that we would want to adopt, yet on the other hand, we are thrilled by the way God has blessed so many families within our fellowship over the last few months.  To encourage a few of the mothers who have already had their children many of the ladies got together and had a baby shower for them.  This was a great time of fun and fellowship for everyone who attended.  We pray that God will help each of these families to fully take advantage of the unique opportunity that they have been given to teach each of these little children to love the Lord with all their hearts.

The women of the church at the baby shower for these mothers

This is a second baby shower for another expectant mother

One of the families who have experienced this blessing is my assistant Jonathan and his wife Lidia.  This spring the experienced the birth of their first son, who they named Joseph.  This has been a source of great joy for them and great excitement for the church.

Naty with Lidia and her Joseph

Late this spring Naty and several ladies from our church attended the annual Women's Conference that took place in Budapest, Hungary.  The event is organized annually by the Women's Ministry Team of the International Baptist Convention.  Naty currently has the opportunity to serve the convention as part of this team.  This years conference became a meeting point for many women who are currently part of the church and some who have moved on to other places around the world.  For these women it was a joy to reconnect and rekindle old friendships, while at the same time, being able to enjoy the spiritual sustenance that was available at this years conference.  Everyone who attended were challenged and grateful for this time together.

Some past and present women of IBC Bucharest

Coming later this summer the church has taken on the challenge of reaching out to our community in totally unprecedented way.  There are many poor and disadvantaged families that live within less than a mile of our building.  They do not speak English, but we also believe that it is not an accident that God has put us here either.  So late in August, the 28 - 30 to be exact, as a congregation we are doing an outreach program that directly targets the children of these families.  As we do this we will be inviting the parents to participate as well. Yet to do this well, we will have to enlist the help of several other brothers and sisters from other Romanian churches in the area that will more naturally be able to minister to these families in their own language without translation.  So we are collaborating with other Romanian Baptist churches in our area in this project.  Please pray that God will bless this effort with fruit that will last.  Second pray that God will enable us to be gracious hosts and those who work well with our Romania brothers and sisters who will be joining us in this effort.  Below you can watch a short clip we are using to encourage those in our fellowship to get involved in this project.

This is the clip we are using to ask for help!

Finally, we would like to thank each of you once again for standing with us in the work that God is doing here in Romania and Moldova.  We not only consider it an honor to work with the dear people we get to work with here, we also consider it an honor to represent our Lord Jesus Christ to these people and to represent each of you.  We do pray that God is meeting each of your needs according to his riches in glory, Philippians 4:19.  We also pray that God is blessing richly for the great sacrifices you have made.

Grateful To Be Busy In The Work of God's Kingdom

Over time the church has continuously tried to take advantage of various opportunities to minister to the expat community. This year the church organized an elegant Valentine's Day dinner for couples in and out of the church so as to extend the reach of our church in our community.  It was an evening full of great food, amazing live music, flowers, games and wonderful fellowship.  We were thrilled to be able to connect with families from the church, as well as, to create a bridge of friendship with many outside the church.

Enjoying the evening with the couples who attended

The worship team provided the entertainment

The end of February, we had a visit from our dear friends Scott and Sandy Chadwick, the pastor and wife from the International church in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was great to spend time together and to show them what's going on in the church in Bucharest. All International churches have similarities: we all minister to the expat community from many nations around the world, yet each church is uniquely different.  It was great to spend time encouraging each other toward greater effectiveness in the work of God's Kingdom.

Enjoying a bite to eat with our friends

Once a year, in March, the church has a weekend away in the Romanian mountains. Everybody arrives Saturday morning and we have lunch together, then we have free time where families and young adults can connect while hiking the mountains or doing other things together, then we have dinner followed by games. Sunday morning after breakfast, we all meet for worship in a room with glass windows surrounding two walls, with the background of the snow capped mountains. It is an amazing site as we worship Christ together.  This year we had the joy of having one of our former elders from Nigeria and his family join for the retreat.  Currently the live in Geneva due to work but it was great to have them join us this year as brother Sunday Oloidi brought us the morning message.

The church together in the Romanian mountains

The church building is strategically located about a mile from the city center, but our neighborhood is not a rich one. We have a lot of poor Roma families with a lot of children right down the street.  The children have been coming to church for a few years, but we wished we could focus on them in a more effective way since most of them speak Romanian. Therefore, we've had a desire to start a kids club for them on Saturdays, but we just didn't have the people to lead it and help serve to make it go. By God's grace, this year He has brought an amazing team of about 20 people from the church to serve the community.  God brought a leader, a young woman named Jennifer from Canada and the rest of the team are from the UK, United States, Romania, Nigeria, the Philippines, Malaysia, Moldova, Angola, South America, Mongolia.  It's wonderful to see over 11 nations, brought to Romania for various reasons, coming together to impact our neighborhood. Please pray that God will work in the lives of the children and their parents to see them come to know Christ in a personal way.

The initial planning meeting for our new community ministry

The end of March we both traveled to the IBC Pastor's conference which was held this year in beautiful Mallorca, Spain.  We are very grateful to serve a church that is willing to do what it can to help us attend such events.  These are great times to get your batteries recharged and to rub elbows with others who are in the very same shoes as you.  We greatly enjoyed this time away.  We are grateful for the time of encouragement and rest that came from it.

Naty and I enjoying a nice meal in Spain

Finally, I had the opportunity to join the IBC once again in scouting out new cities for potential new International English language churches here in Europe.  This year I joined a pastor from one of our IBC churches in Naples, Italy and three other pastors from Wisconsin.  We went to Valencia, Spain a city that has almost 2,500,000 people in the total area including all of its outlying area's.  While there we had the opportunity to visit with Spanish pastors, other missionaries and other expat's just to determine the viability of a potential new church there.  At this time, the English community does not seem to be as strong as we might have thought it would be.  So keep the IBC in prayer as we determine if this city and many other cities around the world would be spots for new churches.

The team in Valencia, Spain

Much To Celebrate During The Holiday Season

About 8 weeks ago most of the men of the church participated in a men's retreat that focused on being pure in a world full of temptation.  A friend of ours came from Italy and led the retreat.  He challenged the men in a practical way to embrace the challenge of being like Christ in this area of their lives each day.  Many of those who attended said this was a very important time for them.  One said, "Before I came I did not think this would be very helpful, yet now I am committed to trying to find victory in this area of my life."  We praise God for what he did during this time away.

The men who attended this years men's retreat

While the men were gone for their weekend-away, the women's ministry decided to have a day where the ladies could meet for a cook-out, followed by a time of worship and encouragement to challenge each to always have an attitude of gratefulness.  So for both the men and women of IBC that weekend was a blessing for all.

The moth of December created even more reason to celebrate as the church witnessed the baptism of 4 young adults Diana and Eliza from Romania and Gideon and Esther from Nigeria.  It has been encouraging to see the work that Christ is doing in each of their lives.

Diana was one of those baptized in December

Every year the church has it's Christmas program at the beginning of the month, because later in the month many of our families travel to their home countries. We enjoyed our Christmas choir, children's program and a variety of Christmas carols sang in Hebrew, French, Romanian, Nigerian and of course in English.  All this was followed by a time of fellowship at the church. It was a packed house and we are thrilled that we once again had such a good opportunity to share the gospel with so many.

This years Christmas program involved many different cultures

In the Christmas spirit and with a desire to minister to our community, the church organized a shoe-box project that helped more than 30 children receive a gift this year. Once we had fully collected all the gifts a few families from of our church joined us as we distributed the gifts to the shelter.  Those who joined us sang some carols and spent extra time with each child and their parents.  It is a thrill for us to see the church becoming more and more involved with those in need in our community.

The children of Casa Ioana were thrilled by their gifts

As we entered into the New Year we were given the opportunity to travel across Romania to the city of Timisoara to partner with some friends there in the work of training others to do biblical counseling.  This time was well spent as we saw almost 30 come to participate in the training.  We hope that God will bless the work and that there will be some who will complete the training over time so that they will become skilled in helping others through biblical counseling themselves.  So please keep each of these individual's in your prayers as they train to become effective in helping others with their problems through the scriptures.

Training new biblical counselors in Timisoara

On a personal note, we would like to update you that my mom's recovery (Naty's mom) is slow, but moving in the right direction, we believe.  We would ask you to continue to pray for her and pray that God will continue to give the doctors wisdom to help her in her recovery.  We are grateful for each of you and your partnership through the years.  We pray that God will bless each of you with a very fruitful New Year!