2017 Behind Us 2018 Ahead of Us

We have so much to catch you up on. As many of you know we have been through a tremendous time of transition over the past 24 months since Bill's heart attack. During this time we have seen God's faithfulness in extraordinary ways. We are going to attempt to catch you up on all that has happened. First, we want to thank each of you for your partnership in the gospel. Many of you have either given of your time through prayer or through tremendous financial sacrifices to assist the work here in Romania and Moldova. We want to begin by saying, "Thank You!" We wish each of you the Merriest of Christmas's and a very blessed and fruitful New Year!

This past July Bill was asked to come to Munich, Germany to participate in the initial ordination council meeting of a brother from Germany who is seeking to enter the ministry. While we were there we also had the joy of participating with friends in a pastoral transition in our sister church. It is great to see how our sister churches all around the globe are building up the Kingdom of God.

With Our Friends & Ministry Partners In Munich

This summer we were able to participate in the continuing work among children and young people in the Republic of Moldova. There were many children and almost 300 teenagers who attended the summer camps. Many heard the gospel for the first time and the indigenous leadership there continue to do a wonderful job leading the way.

Children's Bible School In Moldova

To begin the new school year the church had its annual picnic to welcome back all our families and individuals who had been traveling throughout the summer months. It was a real time of fellowship and encouragement for all who attended. It is always a good way to kick off the new school year.

Shortly after our welcome back picnic we were able to get away for a short vacation to Israel. This was a good time of rest and relaxation and a great opportunity to expose the family to land of the Bible. We are so grateful that we had this opportunity together.

At The Empty Tomb - He Is Risen!

In October our small group had an opportunity to serve our community. A local public school close to the church was in need of assistance in painting some of their classrooms. We volunteered to help them with this to show them and the children the love of Christ. Maybe the best part of this opportunity was the effect it had on those who served. Many said it was very encouraging to have the chance to let their lights shine in this way.

Painting The Classroom With Friends

The beginning of November the men of the church went away to the Romanian mountains for the church's annual men's retreat. This was an extraordinary time of fellowship and encouragement in our walks with Jesus Christ. Many of those who attended said this was the best retreat the church has ever had. We are so grateful for what God did during this time.

The Men Enjoying God's Creation Here In Romania

 

In the middle of the month we were asked to participate in the annual Scottish Caledonian Ball of Bucharest. This affair is an annual event to raise money for Light Into Europe. LIE is a local charity ministering to the needs of the disabled in Bucharest. It was not only an honor to attend, but it was useful to rub shoulders with approximately 400 other expats in the city of Bucharest. This was a great opportunity to develop relationships in our city.

The Scottish Caledonian Ball

As we moved to the end of the month we encouraged the church to gather for a time of Thanksgiving. This was a wonderful evening as many guests joined us for a time of giving thanks followed by a time of Scottish dancing. We were so grateful for all those who attended. It was a great time of worship, fellowship and thanksgiving.

There Was A Good Crowd for Thanksgiving

Scottish Dancing During Our Thanksgiving Celebration

The beginning of December was a joy as my brother and some close friends from my childhood stopped through while here in Europe. One of my friends is the pastor of a church just north of Louisville, Kentucky. While they were here, my friend who is a pastor shared the morning message in Sunday worship. His message was on point and challenging to all who were in attendance. It was very encouraging to see each of them.

My Friend From Kentucky Sharing In The Worship Service

Before many in our congregation got away to celebrate Christmas with their families, the church hosted it's annual Christmas Celebration. This was a great time to celebrate the birth of our Savior, as well as, to share the good news with those who have yet to believe.

Our Children Did A Great Job In This Year's Celebration

 

It has been an outstanding year. A good year of recovery and health restored, praise God! A good year of continued growth as a family; the girls cannot wait for the adoption to be legally completed. Finally, a good year in seeing God's continued faithfulness to us as a family and to the ministry. We thank you once again for your continued partnership in this work. We pray God blesses you and yours above measure throughout 2018.

Growing Through Times of Transition

As we reflect back over these last months much has happened. We want to update you on the comings and goings of the Tully's and the ministry here in Eastern Europe.Yet, before we do, we want to thank you for your perseverance and patience with us. As we have been readjusting to life after the heart attack we have had to learn how to better balance all our responsibilities. One of the things that has suffered a bit during this time of growth and transition is our ministry blog. So for those of you who may have been wondering what happened to us and how we are doing, we simply say thank you! Thank you for your patience throughout these past 18 months. Thank you for continuing to demonstrate your faithfulness to the work of ministry God is doing here and to our family. Finally, thank you for your continued friendship. During this past year we have been so blessed by the out pouring of love that we have felt in so many ways.

As we reflect back one thing we forgot to report to you about was our time of thanksgiving as a church in November. We have been doing this for several years and this year was extra special as many from the church participated. It was a wonderful evening to celebrate the blessings of God in each of our lives. All those who did participate seemed to be encouraged as we celebrated the goodness of God in our lives.

The Church's Time of Thanksgiving Together

As we entered into the New Year the church had its annual evening where it celebrated the love that God has given couples in the church for each other. We had our annual Couples Night Out! This was well attended as well. It was very encouraging to here husbands brag on their wives and wives share about how they admired their husbands. As is the case in all marriages, it is hard work to have a good one. Yet, it was encouraging for us to see how God has been working in the lives of the couples in the church. Seeing God teach the men how to love their wives as Christ loves the church and to see the women growing in their abilities to be that perfect helper for their husbands, was so encouraging. 

IBC Couples Night Out

As we entered the early part of the month of March we traveled with the church up to the Romanian Mountains for our Annual Weekend Away with the church. This year we took the church to a facilities up in the mountains that offered horseback riding, as well as, all the other outdoor activities that one would normally find in the mountains. We spent two wonderful days in the word and in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in the church. This was a really encouraging time for each one who was able to participate this year.

 

The church's Annual Weekend Away

Later in the month of March we had the opportunity to go with the girls to Athens, Greece so that we could participate in the International Baptist Conventions Annual Leadership Conference. This was an encouraging time to be able to rub shoulders with other pastors from other international churches around the world. It is always helpful to spend time with your brothers and sisters who are on the front lines of the ministry in the international church movement. Since we drove to Athens from Bucharest this year, we also had an opportunity in transit to take in many of the ancient biblical sites as well. We had an opportunity to go to Mars Hill in Athens, to ancient Corinth, to the site that represents ancient Berea, to Thessaloniki and to ancient Philippi. What an encouraging time this was, not just in spending time with other pastors, but in being able to visit the same places where the Apostle Paul and his companions walked.

 Teaching at the IBC Leadership Conference

 Visiting Ancient Athens

Finally, just like other believers around the world we celebrated the resurrection of our Savior this past Easter at the church in Bucharest. We were encouraged by a good crowd that morning and by the presence of several visitors. We pray that God will bless the message that was proclaimed by causing those who attended who have never trusted Christ for salvation to turn to Him and find forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We would ask that you would pray along with us that God would increase the fruit of the church; that it would result in a great harvest of souls for the glory of God. A large portion of the Easter service was video taped for many of you around the world who were not able to participate with us as we celebrated Christ's resurrection in Bucharest this year. If you would like to watch and see all that happened that morning, please click on the following YouTube link. It will take you directly to the recording where you can worship and celebrate along with us. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh55tmMOLCs

 Easter at the church in Bucharest

Learning To Do Ministry Again

As we write today we trust that each of you have had a wonderful Merry Christmas and are experiencing a blessed New Year. We have had a very low key holiday season with the girls as the doctors encouraged us to do so. This has given us a bit of time to reflect back over this past fall as I have been able to reintroduce myself to the ministry here after a long season of health challenges. Since my return we would testify that we have seen the Lord bless as the church has continued to press forward for the glory of God and the furtherance of His kingdom here in Romania. Below we will try to get you caught up on all that God has done.

When we say, 'learning to ministry again', we mean that we are learning to do ministry in a way that satisfies the doctors and in a way that is still useful and beneficial to others. This has been a bit of a change as we have had to learn how to do things with less emphasis on the amount of time invested and more emphasis on improving the quality of the time invested. This has certainly stretched us and to some degree has caused us to have to learn to do things in a way we have never had to do before. During our time away many in the church stepped up and served in ways that they had never served in before just to help the church continue. Upon my return there was a temptation to return to my role as it was before. Yet I have had to learn to let the Lord use others in the ways that He was using them during my time away. This certainly has freed up a great deal of my time to focus more upon things like study, prayer and helping those in crisis. This was not an easy thing for me to learn, but it has certainly been beneficial to us as a family and beneficial to the church as well.

The end of October we had to return to the states for a short visit. During our visit I had a follow up visit with my cardiologist. We do praise God as we received a very positive report from the doctor. He gave me permission to go back to our work without any real limitations. In addition, while we were there Mina say her endocrinologist as well. They ran a new A1C test (which is the test to determine if one is diabetic) and Mina's results were almost perfect. This was a great encouragement to Naty and we praised God for what appears to be great progress with Mina's health as well.

Once we returned back to Romania we went back to work at the church. Soon after our return the men of the church went away for our annual retreat with the men of the church. It was a great few days as the men of the church were challenged to adopt the disciples of becoming a godly man. What was most encouraging for me personally was the involvement that many of the men had in personally helping and conducting the retreat. From my observation, many were blessed and challenged as we returned to our lives back in the city once the retreat came to a conclusion.

 The Men Enjoying Some Biblical Encouragement Around The Fire

 The Men Having A Good Biblical Discussion

As we entered into the month of December all the festivities for Christmas began. The second Saturday of the month we celebrated at the church our annual Christmas Celebration. Many visitors from the community came and joined us as we celebrated the birth of Christ. A few weeks later the church celebrated Christmas day as well. It was a wonderful month of remembering all that God has done for us in Christ.

This Is A Clip From One of Our Past Christmas Celebrations, Enjoy! 

During the Christmas season this year we challenged the church to do more to assist those less fortunate in our community than we had ever done before as a church. Therefore, we collected and distributed almost 100 gifts this year to children and families directly around us. We were thrilled that the church embraced this challenge and that so many were exposed to love of Christ and the good news during the Christmas season. We would ask you to pray for these families that they will soon respond to the message of the gospel that was shared with them.

Above Some Members of The Church Collecting Gifts

With the arrival of the New Year came an abundance of winter. Some are thrilled with all the white stuff, yet for me, I am thrilled at the safe return of many of our members as they make their ways back to Romania from their holiday travels. 

Our Recent Weather In Romania

As we enter this New Year we want to take a moment to thank you for your continued partnership and friendship in the work of ministry here in Romania and Moldova. We are thrilled that God has given us this opportunity, some might say a 2nd chance, and we trust that God will continue to bless the work He has given us to do. We pray that God will bless each of you with a New Year full of fruit that will last for all eternity to the glory of God. We thank you once again and trust that you will know the rich blessing of our God in 2017.