Friday, May 25, 2018

Jonathan and Kristy's update 5/09/2018

5/9/2018

It is encouraging to be able to share the latest happenings with you, and know that you care and are praying for us and our work! We are all doing well, and God does work through your prayers, so please keep praying!

After putting in all the proper paperwork, we were finally able to get Marci’s Romanian birth certificate. Our next step is to find a good flight to Bucuresti to go to the Embassy there and get her American passport and report of birth abroad. Thank you for your continued prayers for safe travels, friendly and helpful people to deal with, and that all would go smoothly.

A good friend of ours, Walter Stevens, who is a Gypsy evangelist from the States, came a few weeks ago. We had special services with him, and we also had a Bible study done in the Gypsy language (Rromanes) for those in the Gypsy neighborhood who know Rromanes. Most of the Gypsies we are currently working with no longer know their language, so everything is normally done in Romanian. The Bible study done in Rromanes was a special treat, and we had a good number of unsaved people come and hear the Gospel. Afterwards, we spoke very directly to Gicu (Jee-cu) and Ion (Yone), Mariana’s unsaved husband, about their need to be saved. Unfortunately, they did not want to make a decision for Christ, so please keep praying for their salvation. After the Bible study, one of the elderly neighbors who was very sick wanted us to come. He was bedridden and could barely speak, but after having the Gospel explained to him, he said he wanted to receive Christ as his Savior. A few days later, he told us how he now has peace in his heart where there was once fear. We were rejoicing that he put his trust in Christ to save him! God took him home to heaven a little over one week later.

There have been a good number of teens coming to the teen classes at church. There have been a couple of services where they were pretty quiet and attentive. It was a very pleasant surprise! What a blessing it is to be able to actually communicate God’s truths to them! The father of one of the teen boys, Ramon, just had a heart attack and died. I’m not sure whether Ramon will stay in the area or not (I’m not sure where his mother is), but please pray that God will work in his life.

Lusi, Gina’s daughter-in-law, came recently to church again. Please pray that she will come faithfully and grow spiritually. Ion (Yone), a young man who got saved in our church years ago, came back to Romania from France for a visit. Please pray that he and his family would come back to Romania and come to church. This is their desire, but there are some details to be worked out that we know God can take care of. It has been encouraging to have him in our services while he is here.

We are grateful for your prayers for us and our Gypsies! It is a blessing to know you are behind us!

In His service,
Jonathan, Kristy, Cory, and Marci

P.S. Enjoy the picture of Cory playing his accordion, and some teens that came to our service recently.


Jonathan and Kristy's update 04/09/2018

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

4/09/2018

We are so glad that spring has finally arrived! :o) We missed the sunshine, and are reminded by its warmth of God’s light that shines in our hearts. Thank you for praying for us as we seek to be lights for Him to those around us!

Our most exciting news is the birth of our newest family member, Marci Jo Heisey! She was born on March 19th, weighing 7.1 pounds, and measuring 20 inches long. Baby and Mother are doing well. We are in the process of trying to get the birth certificate, after which we will need to go to the American Embassy in Bucuresti to get her passport and report of birth abroad. After that, we begin the process of getting her Romanian residence permit/visa. The latter is normally a very unpleasant and difficult experience, so we would appreciate your prayers for us as we get all of these documents! Please pray that God would give us wisdom, safe travels, friendly and helpful people to deal with, and that all would go smoothly.

We were so blessed to have Kristy’s parents with us for a week and a half right after Marci was born. Grandpa and Grandma were a big help, and we greatly enjoyed our time together. The grandfathers did a baby dedication for our two children, which was very special. We were sad to see the grandparents leave, and Cory is especially missing them being here. Leaving family can be one of the hardest sacrifices missionaries make, but in the end, it will all be worth it! We will all be together one day in heaven, and we wouldn’t trade God’s blessings and peace for anything else!

We continue to see family members come to our weekly in-home Bible studies. Mariana’s two children, Lola and Alin (Ah-leen), who made a profession of faith years ago and were baptized, have come to the Bible studies, and we pray that God would turn their hearts back to Him.

A number of teens have been coming to the teen classes. We often have a game/activity afterwards, and thankfully, it hasn’t been too chaotic. A couple weeks ago, the teens were very quiet and attentive. Hopefully we’ll see more of those kinds of weeks! I continue to share the Gospel with them as directly as I can. Rebeca also came to the teen class last week. Please pray that more young people would be saved, and that those that are saved would live for the Lord. I have been able to have somewhat normal conversations with a few of the teens, which is an improvement from barely being able to say, “Hi” without them either yelling or ignoring me. Mariana says that they are worse than people who live in the jungle! I think she’s right! :o) But we’re grateful for improvements!

We celebrated our Easter this past Sunday. Gina and Mariana made sarmale (sar-mahl-eh [cabbage rolls]) and chicken salad for us in exchange for some American desserts my mom made for them. Gypsies make the best sarmale, and we thoroughly enjoyed them!

Thank you for praying for us and our ministry, and for your support as we give God’s Word to the Gypsies in Romania!

In His service,

Jonathan, Kristy, Cory, and Marci
P.S. Enjoy the family picture, and also a picture of a recent teen activity!