Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Jonathan and Kristy's update 4/6/2016

NEXT GENERATION PREPARATION
„But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” I Corinthians 1:27
 4/6/2016
 
The past few weeks have flown by, and the busyness has certainly increased! With my parents in the States on a reporting trip, we are taking over some of their responsibilities and taking care of their house (not to mention the fact that, out of the blue, life and schedules in Romania can change quite quickly!). What seems like it will be a quick trip into the city often turns out to be an all-day event. We are grateful, though, to be busy for the Lord! When you are serving Him, He doesn’t let you get bored. :o)
 
We would ask for your continued prayers for us to get Cory’s residence permit. We went to pick it up a couple weeks ago, but were told it wasn’t ready yet as it was delayed. We tried again last week, and it was still not ready. We plan to try again on Thursday, and are praying that we will be able to pick it up, Lord-willing.
 
Teens coming to the church services is a rare thing these days. It often seems that dogs that wander into our services are more faithful and well-behaved than a lot of people! Rebeca did come once, and although I have made contact with some of them, they just don’t seem to be interested in coming to church anymore. Please pray for the teens in Mosnita (Moesh-neetsa).
 
Children, on the other hand, always come! For one of the classes I taught, they were not really paying attention, but we had a nice time of fellowship with the adults after the service. The other day when I taught the children, they were extremely good, very attentive, and did great with review questions from the lesson!
 
There have been lots of visitors coming, and it is exciting to be able to share God’s Word with them. We have been having services outside, as the weather is beautiful. This gives opportunities for those hanging around outside to hear the preaching, even if they might not come to church. Radu (Roddu), one of the main drunks in the village, has been coming quite often. He informed me that he likes my preaching the best, better than even Brother Pete’s and our co-worker’s! :o) Unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a complement as he is usually drunk when he comes. But we pray that the Lord will work in Radu’s heart through the things he has heard from God’s Word.
 
Thank you for your prayers concerning our house contract and land deed. I went with the previous owner, Mrs. Condre, to the notary and got it taken care of. It was good to see Mrs. Condre again (she is a believer) and catch up with her. Praise the Lord for quickly and smoothly resolving the issue of our contract and land deed!
 
We would ask for your prayers for our protection. The other day, Kristy and I both felt a strong sense of spiritual oppression. During a trip into town that evening, within about 15 minutes, we almost had 3 accidents! I think people were praying for us, as the Lord obviously protected us from harm. Drivers (and in some cases, pedestrians) can be crazy and unpredictable here. They often seem to be paying zero attention to what is going on around them. Our neighbor just brought a petition for us to sign to the mayor regarding the crazy traffic on our newly asphalted road. Most vehicles pay no attention to the speed limit, yet there are many children that play on our street. We do appreciate your prayers for our protection.
 
Thank you for praying for us as we minister to the Gypsies here. We are blessed to have you behind us as the Lord uses us here!
 
In His service,
Jonathan, Kristy, and Cory
 
P.S. Please enjoy the picture of Cory enjoying his time with one of the ladies in our church. He loves people! :o)