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!
