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
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