Jonathan and Kristy's update 09/09/2017

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

9/9/2017

It is harvest time here for us, and our apple and peach trees gave us an abundant amount this year! We got just a few plums, and no pears. We are hoping, praying, and working for an abundant harvest of souls!

I recently had the opportunity to talk about the Gospel to our elderly neighbor. He complained about the other “repenters” (Christians) in the village not getting along with each other. I explained that we shouldn’t judge others, but we should judge ourselves, because we have all sinned and need God’s forgiveness. He agrees, but does not want to accept Christ. Kristy also had the opportunity to talk to him and another neighbor about our Gypsy church, and the other neighbor seemed interested in coming. One of our other neighbors, Silvia, hadn’t walked by our house for a while as she usually does. When I finally saw her the other day, she said she was sick and in the hospital. She actually talked about God, which she never really did before. Maybe the Lord is opening her heart through this sickness. We pray that God’s light will shine through us to those around us as we seek to bring them to Christ.

Ion (Yone) and his mother Marioara (I’m not even going to try to write that pronunciation!), who came to our church many years ago, came back to Romania from France for a few days. Ion is saved. He said he wants to come back to Romania to stay, and obey God and come to church. That was encouraging to hear, and it was good to see them. Please pray that Ion and his family will come back and follow the Lord.

Sara has been slightly more attentive during some of the teen classes, but continues to hang out with people she shouldn’t. A boy was hanging all over her the other day, and last week she was out walking with another teen boy. Please pray that Sara would give her life to the Lord. She has missed church and our school classes a few times. Several teens have been coming to the teen classes, but most of them end up leaving before we’re done. Sometimes that is actually helpful, as they can be very disruptive. Some of the boys were being rude, making vulgar gestures, yelling, and hitting. We need wisdom, grace, and patience in these situations, and appreciate your prayers for this.

After one of our services the other week, Mariana invited us over to her house for a meal. She said she had been wanting to do this for some time, and we were happy to accept her invitation. :o) We enjoyed the food and had wonderful fellowship.

Many children continue to come to the children’s church classes. The other week, I had over 20 of them, and although they weren’t very well-behaved, they were somewhat attentive and knew answers to the lesson questions at the end. That is always encouraging!

I was able to preach to the adults the other week, as my dad was in Armenia on a missions trip. It is always a blessing to talk with our people and encourage each other in the Lord.

The school classes continue to be well-attended. Last week, some kids were outside making lots of noise, banging on doors and windows. It was distracting, and we would appreciate your prayers that this would stop. This week’s school was much better, and the kids were good.

Please continue to pray that God will give us wisdom in each situation, and that we will be a testimony for Him and follow His leading. We continue to be humbled and honored by your support and prayers for us and the Gypsies!

In His service,
Jonathan, Kristy, and Cory

Jonathan and Kristy's update 08/08/2017

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

08/08/2017

Greetings from hot Romania! While the first part of our summer weather was pleasant, this past month has been extremely hot for weeks on end. We cancelled our school class last week because it was 105 degrees!

A few weeks ago, our mayor went out to the Gypsy neighborhood and explained that there are 32 houses built there illegally (including our church building). These houses were built on private land. Some are built over the town water pipes, and others are too close to power lines. In the next 2 years, the mayor is planning to have new houses built (for those that cannot re-build), and destroy all the illegal houses. He will not be rebuilding for those that continue to cause problems of disturbing the peace, or allow their horses to roam around the village, or commit other crimes. We are glad something is being done about the situation, as no one could get legal paperwork because their houses do not have legal contracts. After talking with the mayor, we found out that he is willing to allow us to have a piece of land for our church building, but most likely wouldn’t build a building. We will see what happens.

The teens continue to try our patience. One boy, Valerica, who has been coming to the services occasionally, is often very rude and obnoxious. Last week, he had his phone out and was playing music on it. I asked him several times to put it away, but when I finally told him he would have to leave if he didn’t, then he put it away. Halfway through the teen class, he got it out again and started playing music on it. I told him to leave, and then of course he said he wouldn’t do it again. I kept the phone by me for the rest of the class. Codru (Code-ru), another young boy who is known for his horrible behavior, recently got in a fight. He got hit in the jaw so badly that he broke his jaw and some teeth, and had to be hospitalized. We thought maybe that would teach him to be better-behaved, but unfortunately, he is the same. Sara continues to skip church, and we hear she has been smoking. She is doing poorly in school, doesn’t pay attention during church, and hangs out with girls she shouldn’t be spending time with. Truly, only God can make a lasting change in these people’s hearts and lives through Jesus. Please pray for the young people to turn to the Lord and serve Him.

We had our VBS a few weeks ago, and were very grateful to have a few days of slightly cooler weather for that. Handing out invitations beforehand gave us, as well as Gina, one of our church ladies, chances to witness. The majority of these Gypsies don’t seem to really think or care much about their lives. They just live from day to day doing what they feel like. When confronted with the Gospel, they either simply refuse or make excuses not to put their trust in Christ. Please pray with us that God would work in the Gypsies’ hearts and save them! The children were terrible for the first night of VBS, but the next two nights were much better. I gave the children the opportunity to say the memory verse afterwards, and although many probably forgot about it, one young boy, Mario, did say it, which was encouraging. Attached is a picture of one of the nights of VBS. Only about half of the children are in the picture.

Although there are disappointments in our ministry, it is always encouraging to remember that you are praying for us! Thank you for all of your prayers for us and the Gypsies!

In His service,
Jonathan, Kristy, and Cory

Jonathan and Kristy's update 07/11/2017

I'm a little behind in posting our updates...  I will be catching up on them over the next few days.

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

07/11/2017

God is always good, and He is always working whether we see it or not. We often don’t understand what He is doing, but we can trust, knowing that He is always working and is always doing what is best. It seems that when God works and people reject His conviction in their lives, they become hardened, more rebellious, and irrational. Many of the Gypsies in our Gypsy neighborhood have become this way. Things have gotten a lot worse in the past year or so, with a lot of animosity towards us. My phone was stolen a few weeks ago at church, and although we don’t know who stole it, by God’s grace, we recovered it. Ion (Yone), Mariana’s husband, spread the word that the police could track my phone and find out who stole it. I don’t know that that’s possible, but it did get results! :o) A short while later, the phone was found on the ground outside the church building.

Speaking of Ion, he has come to a few services recently. We continue to pray fervently for his salvation, and ask that you do the same.

A few weeks ago, several teens came to the teen class, but all of them ended up leaving. Several of them said they were bored and just left. Yet when I see them hanging around outside and ask how they are, they say they are bored. I guess they like being bored outside better than being bored listening to God’s Word. Shortly after the service started, Mariana left. She called Sara so Sara left the teen class. After the service, there was quite the commotion at Mariana’s house, and the police were coming as we were leaving. We found out later that someone said Sara and an older boy had been intimate. That’s why the police came. Thankfully, it turned out not to be true. However, Sara is not living for the Lord and often skips church. Please pray for Sara to surrender to the Lord. A few weeks ago, no teens showed up for teen class. Another time, Nelu, an unsaved boy came for the service, and afterwards, a young guy, Rafi (Roffy) came. Rafi made a profession of faith years ago. We had a nice time talking to them afterwards. Last Sunday, two came in to the teen class and left after about 10 seconds. Please pray for the teens in our Gypsy neighborhood!

In the warmer weather, we often hold services outside. This gives the advantage of those around hearing the Gospel being preached, but it does have the disadvantage of many distractions. One week, a drunk walked by a few times carrying a large stereo playing loud music. You can see the attached picture. Ministry with the Gypsies is never dull!

On a positive note, Lusi (Lucy) has come a few times, which is encouraging, and we have been having visitors come as well. One of them is a drunk from the village named Michi (Micky). Please pray for Michi’s salvation. We had a guest preacher, who is an American missionary to Bulgaria, come a couple weeks ago, and many came and heard the preaching. Mariana made some “sarmale” (cabbage rolls) for us to enjoy with the American missionary and some men he had brought from his church in Bulgaria. It was an enjoyable time of fellowship, and we were blessed by Mariana’s kindness.

We had a very good and well-attended first week of school with the Gypsy children! We pray that they will continue to be well-behaved and learn to read and write.

We appreciate your prayers for us and the people we are ministering to, and pray that the Lord will bless you for your part in this work!

In His service,
Jonathan, Kristy, and Cory

What Postal Service?

Dear Supporters,

Here in Romania, things are often done in the most difficult, complicated, and illogical way possible. This can range from everything from getting health insurance to paying bills. This time we are dealing with the local postal system. To make a very long story short, mail is no longer being delivered to our village. Supposedly, once a month letters will be brought to the local town hall, but the last time this was done, no announcement was given to let people know when it would be, and the mail was left in a pile for people to rummage through. So really, anyone could just take any mail they wanted! We can supposedly go to another town's post office to see if any packages are there, but the last we heard, these also were just accumulating unorganized in a back room, and the postal worker was not willing to go look through the pile to see what was there. So we are requesting that you not send anything to our Romania address until further notice. We are hoping that things will get resolved so that we (and the rest of the village!) can again receive our mail in a timely and efficient manner. Please pray with us to this end, and we will let you know if and when mail delivery has resumed.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

In Christ,
Jonathan, Kristy, and Cory Heisey

After the Storm

What a mess…

A lovely double rainbow appeared afterwards.

One of the plum trees fell during the storm and apparently hit the apple tree, which was split down the middle of the trunk (or at least, something hit it). So unfortunately, we lost both trees. Thankfully, the harvest was basically over, so we didn’t lose all that fruit.

You might also notice that the outhouse is missing behind the shed. We were going to take it and the shed down in the near future anyway - this just made us move the time frame up a bit. You might have also noticed that toilet paper was strewn around the yard in the first picture.

Thankfully none of the reed panels broke. They were jus tied onto the the metal frames, and the ties broke. So we can remount them. We may have to fill in a few gaps on the ends, as some of the reeds slipped off the ends, but that shouldn’t be a problem, as we have extra. Some of the metal panels bent, but we were able to get them fastened back on at least well enough for now. We could even see the cement posts moving in the wind after the reeds came down!

Corn husks were flying everywhere during the storm - even way up in the sky. Our fence was full of them afterwards. :)

I thought this peach tree was going to come down in the wind, but thankfully, it held on.

Later on, another set of rainbows appeared. They were much larger, but not as full or bright.

The shed lost much of its roof and some of one of the walls.

What’s left of the outhouse is behind the shed on the right, up against the cherry tree. Pieces of the shed’s roof are on the ground.

Eight people died from the storm. Two were in a park when it hit, and a tree fell on them. Many lost parts of their roofs. Thank the Lord for keeping us all safe!

During the Storm

A few weeks ago, a horrific storm went through the area causing lots of damage and the loss of 8 lives.  We were without power for only about 12 hours, thank the Lord, but we didn't get our internet back for nearly a week.  They called it a "hurricane" here, but I'm not sure you can actually have hurricanes far from large bodies of water...   It looked pretty tornado-ish to me, though we don't really get them here.  Anyway, here are some pictures and videos.

Jonathan and Kristy's update 06/12/2017

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

06/12/2017

 

It often seems as though we are having little impact on the people here. As I have been reading through Acts, it is amazing how thousands of people were getting saved and baptized, and people were turning to the Lord every day, giving their lives to Him and being changed. Although we certainly desire this and pray for it for our Gypsies, we are very grateful to the Lord for every victory, great or small. Thank you for praying for us, and I hope you are encouraged to read some of the victories we’ve experienced these past weeks!

 

The first encouragement was from two of our church ladies, Gina and Mariana. Our church neighborhood is quite muddy and dusty, so the church floors need to be swept every week. Normally we do it when we get to church. However, one week, Mariana and Gina took the initiative to not only sweep but also mop the auditorium floor. It was a small gesture, yet it was a blessing and encouragement to us!

 

We had our last English class with the children at Casa Rafa (Cossa Roffa). Though they can be a handful, it is exciting to see them learn, and be able to freely share Christ with them also. We look forward to starting classes again when the next school year starts!

 

Speaking of school, we are planning to start weekly school classes with the children in the church neighborhood again. They have been asking about it, so I’m glad they are looking forward to it! Please be in prayer for our school classes, that children will come, and especially that they will learn to read and write. Please pray for wisdom for us as well.

 

A few teens have been coming to the teen classes, but unfortunately, they haven’t been very attentive. Even if they’re not well-behaved, it’s still encouraging to me if they are learning. The last teen class was a little better, and we pray that the teens will come and their attention will improve so they will learn from God’s Word.

 

The children’s classes are generally well-attended, at least at one point or another! Usually, several will come at the beginning, more will come in during the class, some will leave, etc. I am so often reminded of the phrase from the Bible: “sheep without a shepherd.” They have no direction in life and just do whatever they feel like doing. A couple weeks ago, the children were quite rude and obnoxious, yelling, swearing, and being loud. For most of our church services, it is necessary for someone to stand guard outside because of these children. Please continue to pray that the Lord will work in the children’s hearts.

 

We praise the Lord that our fence is finished! We are obligated by law to have a fence around our property, so it’s good to be legal now :o) and it does make us feel safer. Thank you for your prayers for our safety.

 

It was a blessing to have Adi (Oddy) and Lusi (Lucy) come to church again recently. We hope they will continue to come faithfully. It was also a blessing to preach to the adults while my dad was on a missions trip in Armenia. We are always glad for the opportunities the Lord gives to share His Word.

 

Thank you for all of your prayers for us and the Gypsies. It is a blessing to have you supporting us!

 

In His service,

Jonathan, Kristy, and Cory