a visit to Parcul Dendrologic

Last Saturday Jonathan took me to the Dendrological Park not too far from us.  We don't have a car yet, but my bike arrived with our shipment a couple weeks ago, so we were able to bike the 5 miles or so there.  It was a beautiful, sunny day in the high 50s, and we had a lovely time!

on our way

We rode on this road to Bucovat ("bu-co-vuhts").

Bucovat is the next town down the road from us.

The combination of the wind and the dirt road
made biking a little difficult at times.

approaching Bucovat

going through town

We passed many flocks of sheep along the way.

Eventually we turned onto this paved road
leading to Bazos ("bah-zohsh").

Yes!  There are mountains nearby!  :)

Shortly after reaching Bazos, we came to
the entrance of the park.

We left our bikes at this hotel/restaurant near the entrance.

It was a beautiful walk, through fields and forests.

This fallen log provided a place for our picnic lunch.

I don't know what this is...
but it was kind of cute!

The sky was so blue!

leaving the park

We had a lovely time!  We'll have to go back once the trees start blooming.

For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. (Psalm 135:5)

Jonathan and Kristy's February prayer letter

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

With the Gypsy ministry, things are often up and down. February was a bit of a “down” month, but we are excited to see that the Lord is working, and we look forward to what He will do.

There have been a couple times this month when no teens came to the teen class. There can be a few reasons for this, but the main one seems to be that they just don’t feel like coming. They have nothing in particular to do, but they still would rather just stand around outside and do nothing than come to church. Recently, several of the young people have been a bit obnoxious and disrespectful. Sometimes when people are confronted with God’s Word, they become bitter. Please pray that the young people that are saved would come faithfully to church and live for the Lord, and that those that don’t know the Lord would come to know Him as their Savior.

In the last prayer letter, I mentioned an unsaved boy named Gugu. He was recently hospitalized, and they found that he has a brain tumor. We hope that the Lord will use this to get Gugu’s attention, and ask prayer for his salvation.

It is a blessing to have my Romanian health insurance taken care of. Praise the Lord, it went unusually smoothly. Thank you for your prayers! Once we get Kristy’s name changed on her passport, which will hopefully be done this month, we can begin the process of getting her a permanent residence permit, as well as Romanian health insurance. Please pray that we will get these accomplished quickly and smoothly. Kristy is also starting language lessons soon, Lord-willing, and we would appreciate your prayers for that.

A few weeks ago at the Tylers’ church there was a seminar for teaching children. We had the opportunity to take Rebeca and two of the ladies from our ministry along to that. It was good for them to learn a bit about teaching children, and we hope that some day soon, one (or all!) of them will want to serve the Lord in this way. The Christian fellowship with the Tylers’ people was an encouragement to them too.

Ion (Yone) keeps coming to the reading classes. His son-in-law, Gicu (Gee-coo), came to one of the classes a couple weeks ago and did very well. Ion has been doing well in his reading too. Please continue to pray for his salvation, as well as Gicu’s.

The work on the house has started up again, and we are hoping that the exterior will be finished soon. We were able to get our land surveyed, and now that we know where the property lines are, we are hoping to put in a fence. Florin (Flor-een), the Christian man doing most of the work on the house, keeps finding different issues with the house that need to be fixed or done before he can put the final coat of plaster and paint on the house. Although we are ready for the work to be finished, it is a blessing thatFlorin knows to check on these things, thinks things through first, and does a professional job.

Although it is still a bit cold in the evenings and mornings, the weather has gotten a bit warmer during the day, which is a blessing. We are enjoying our wood stoves, but are looking forward to hopefully installing a heating system in the house by next winter.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. We appreciate each of you, and are blessed to have you as part of our ministry with the Gypsies in Romania!

Serving Him,
Jonathan and Kristy Heisey

Jonathan and Kristy's January prayer letter

(Forgot to post this one last month... oops!)

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

 

I’ve always heard that the older one gets, the faster time seems to go. That seems to be an accurate statement! Even though January is one of the longer months in the year, it flew by. It was a very busy month with adjusting and settling into somewhat of a routine for Kristy and me. It has been rather difficult to actually have a routine, as almost every day brings new things to do, places to go, ways to minister, and duties to tend to. Kristy and I are very much enjoying the bliss of marriage life!

 

January is the month when the house taxes are to be paid, Romanian health insurance needs to be renewed, etc. Just paying for the Romanian health insurance (which we need to have, even though we have international insurance) took about 3 hours. Next week, we are planning to go and actually get the renewal of the health insurance, which will probably take another few hours. This does provide some opportunities to talk with people and share the Gospel as we wait in the long lines! We are also in the process of getting Kristy’s last name changed on her passport, as well as getting her a residence permit. Please pray that we will get these accomplished quickly and smoothly.

 

The teen classes have been going well. Rebeca has been coming to them faithfully. After one of the classes, I was able to talk to Ionel (Yonell, a saved teen boy) and Gugu (an unsaved teen boy) for quite a while. They were very chatty, and it was nice to spend some time with them, and talk to them about the Lord. Gugu has seemed interested in salvation recently, so please pray that he would understand the Gospel and accept Christ as his Savior. Ionel has been coming to the services more frequently, which is a blessing. Please pray for his spiritual growth.

 

The children’s classes have been going well. They certainly are a wild bunch, and it’s exciting to see them learning from God’s Word. Tica (Tee-cuh), Ionel’s younger brother, got saved a few weeks ago. Please pray for him to come faithfully to the services and to desire to serve the Lord.

 

Kristy and I were blessed to have another wedding ceremony with our Gypsy people from church. It was a nice time of fellowship, and it was good for them to be able to see us exchange vows, since they couldn’t be at our wedding in the States. We also had a third wedding ceremony for the folks from the Tylers’ church (an American missionary’s church which we attend Sunday mornings). They were very happy we had another ceremony just for them. So, now we’re really, super-duper married! :o)

 

Kristy and I have been enjoying our new home, and are getting used to getting fires going in the wood stoves every day. The work on the exterior of the house has stopped for the time being, due to the cold weather. There is also much to be done still on the interior of the house, and we appreciate your prayers for these needs as well.

 

It was wonderful to be able to spend New Year’s with my sister Joanna, her husband Bruce, and my nephew and three nieces. We also had a nice time of games and fellowship with some of the people from the Tylers’ church. What a blessing good Christian company is!

 

The reading classes continue with Ion, and he is slowly improving. The last class went very well, and Ion did great. Please continue to pray for his salvation.

 

A couple weeks ago, one of the older ladies from our church passed away. The wake nights and funeral went very well, and the Lord gave many opportunities to share the Gospel with the family.

 

Everyone is very happy to have Kristy and me back, and we are excited to be able to serve the Lord together here. Please enjoy the attached pictures of our two ceremonies here, as well as a picture from one of our recent church services. Thank you so much for your prayers for us and our Gypsies!

 

Serving Him,

Jonathan and Kristy Heisey

home

One of the great things the Lord has done for us is to provide us with a home.  And it's a lovely little house in a perfect location.  It's sturdy and well built; it has its own well full of good water; it's at the end of our street, right after the pavement ends and the dirt road opens up to go to the next village.  Fields currently stretch out on three sides of us, and no street lights are nearby to obscure our view of the stars.  While the house isn't finished yet, the Lord allowed Jonathan to meet Florin, a wonderful Christian contractor who has done the bulk of the work for us, given us advice, and been invaluable in so many ways.  It is wonderful to have someone so trustworthy and knowledgeable working on our home.

Most of you will never visit my home, but I'd like to show you around anyway.  Stay tuned for more posts introducing you to my home and village.

The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. (Psalm 126:3)

making sarmale

The other day Jonathan and I made sarmale, a traditional Romanian food consisting of rice, onions, and usually pork wrapped up in sour cabbage leaves (think unshredded sauerkraut).  We left the pork out of ours, but they turned out delicious!

First you buy a head of sour cabbage from the piata and separate some of the leaves.

Then you cook up the rice, fry the onions, throw in a few spices, and mix.

Yum... we ate the leftovers just by themselves.

Next you wrap the rice mixture in the cabbage leaves.

Arrange the sarmale in a pot and let cook for a while.

Finally, enjoy!  :)

After dinner, we stuck the pot of leftover sarmale on the windowsill outside so as not to take up so much room in the refrigerator.  The next morning, the pot was still on the windowsill, but the heavy lid was on the ground, right side up.  (??)  We're not sure what kind of creature could lift the lid, but apparently their efforts were not worth their time, as only one sarmale looked like it had been nibbled upon.  Apparently whatever removed the lid doesn't like sour cabbage too much...  No matter: we just reheated them well and enjoyed the leftovers.  :)

windows of Heaven

It was always my fear that I would someday live in a house that had tiny windows... or very few windows... or old windows that wouldn't open or were painted shut.  I knew that, wherever God chose for me to live, He would give me the needed grace to live there, whether it had lots of big windows or not.  But as I would pass by houses void of windows on entire sides of the structure, I would pray that God would be merciful and give me a house with windows.

And He did.

Today the sun is shining, the temperature is near 60 degrees, and a strong breeze is blowing across the plains.  What a perfect day to open up our huge windows to let in some fresh air!  Yes, God gave me large windows.  Indeed, if they were any bigger, they would be glass walls instead of glass windows.  The windows are large, letting in lots of light; they are new, allowing them to be opened in two different directions; and they are many, with no room being deficient in natural light or airflow.  What a wonderful God we serve!

before the bedroom was finished

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.  Malachi 3:10

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth forever.  I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.  The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?  I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.  This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. (Psalm 118:1, 5-6, 21, 23, 28-29)