a trip to Budapest

I mentioned in my last post that we have been quite busy recently.  One of the reasons for the busyness was due to our trip to Budapest (Hungary) last week.  Our coworker had to make the trip there to pick up new passports for his children.  We were planning to go out of the country at some point in the near future to get my 90-day tourist visa renewed upon re-entry, so he invited us to go along.

Our trip there was uneventful.  We didn't have any lines crossing the border into Hungary, and despite the heavy fog that morning, we made pretty good time.  While our coworker took care of his things at the embassy, Jonathan and I walked around Budapest for a little bit.

St. Stephen's Basilica was just one block down the road from the embassy.  We didn't go inside, as it would have cost us to get in and we didn't have a whole lot of time.  But the outside was beautiful!

"I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Don't you love the black van obscuring the view??

After walking around the basilica, we walked up and down a couple of the nearby streets, peering in shop windows and enjoying the gorgeous day.

Soon we met back up with our coworker, made a couple other quick stops, and got back on the road.  After a couple hours we reached the border, getting out of the car to stretch our legs while we waited for immigration to process everything for our re-entry.  When the officer returned our passports, he declared that I most definitely could not stay any longer than 30 days in Romania.  "Thirty days maximum, and then she must return to America."  We were quite surprised at his declaration, but thanked him and drove off down the road, figuring he was probably just trying to intimidate us and throw his weight around.  Everyone coming into the country gets 90 days... it should be the same for me, too, right?

After we got home, we started looking around online to see if there was some reason the officer would have told us this.  And sure enough, a few months ago immigration laws changed so that one can no longer stay more than 90 days in the country within any 6 month period.  Once you've been in 90 days, you have to be out 90 days.  

This was quite disturbing news, as you can imagine.  We hadn't been in any rush to apply for my residency because in the past you have always been able to go out and re-enter the country to get a new 90-day visa.  Our plan was to get a fresh 90-day stamp, send my passport in to the embassy to get my name changed, and then begin working on residency stuff.  But the Lord had other plans.  Instead of 90 days to work on everything, we now had less than 30.  

So we quickly got all of my passport documentation together and called the courier to come pick up our package.  They said they would come Friday.  Friday came and went with no courier.  We called again that evening, and they said they had it marked to be picked up on Saturday, and that it would still arrive at the embassy first thing Monday morning.  No problem.  Saturday we waited for the courier to come, but again, he never showed.  We called the office again, only to discover that they closed early in the afternoon.  It would have to wait until Monday.

Monday we went into town and dropped our package off at the office.  The lady was very nice and apologetic for the mishap.  She told us the passport would arrive at the embassy by 10 the next day.  Upon leaving the office we walked the couple of blocks to the center of town where many shops, offices, and services are located.  One of the requirements for me to get residency is to turn in a translated copy of my marriage license (since my reason for getting residency is because I am married to a permanent resident).  So we stopped in to inquire about the service at one translation place.  They informed us that they were unable to do it because our license didn't have the necessary colored stamp on it.  It is a certified, sealed legal copy, but here the official documents have colored stamps, so they said they couldn't do it.  So we walked down the street to another translation office.  This one didn't seem to have a problem with our certificate, so Lord-willing when we pick it up tomorrow there will be no issues with it.  The rest of our paperwork will have to wait until my new passport arrives so that all the documentation has the correct identification on it.

There will be lots of paperwork and running to and from offices in the next few weeks, but we are so glad we found out about this new law when we did!  We had been considering getting my name changed first and then going out of the country when my 90 days were almost up.  Praise the Lord we didn't do that, or else we'd be finding out about the law with only a couple days left on my visa to get everything done!

a beautiful promise

I know I said I was going to start posting pictures of my home, but things have been a little crazy since then.  More on that another time, but I wanted to share these pictures of the blessing we saw on Friday!

Mid-afternoon Jonathan called for me to come look out our front door.  This is what greeted my eyes as I looked out across the fields!

It started pretty light, but got brighter and brighter as we watched.

Pretty soon the second rainbow was full, too, though it never got as bright as the first one.

It was so big, I couldn't get the whole thing in my camera.  :)

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.  And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. (Genesis 9:12-15)

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