Romania Missions

Now that another trip to Romania has been completed I am once again in the "Evaluation" and "Future-Seeking" mode of thinking. This is the 6th trip I have taken to Romania, 4 of which I have planned and led myself. Many times when I return from one of these trips I am so exhausted that even thinking about going back in a year seemed too difficult. This year it is different for me. I have not returned home exhausted but am actually renewed with many thoughts about the next phase of ministry in Romania.

God is revealing a renewed sense of His Vision for this work. With our existing partnership in tact, we now have the opportunity to partner with a dynamic ministry where Missions is a regular part of their DNA. I have struggled with trying to provide leadership where the cultural dynamics are so different than they are here in our country. I believe we all want the same things but there is a differentiation in how to go about accomplishing the dream.

At this time I believe God wants us to begin planning on taking two trips to Romania in 2011. I also believe it is time to share the opportunities for Mission work in this part of Romania with other Mission-Minded churches so that more resources can be accessed. Our small band of Believers have been able to accomplish some things in Romania. But, there is so much more that needs to be done; much more than our small group can resource.

It is nothing short of miraculous what God has already done in and through us in this Romanian partnership. I stand amazed that a simple country boy like me has been able to travel around this world and meet some wonderful people who are so close to my heart now. I feel as though I have family all over the world. I was in Brazil on a mission trip in 1990 and a few months ago my translator while on that trip found me online. We have been talking periodically since then. Our hearts were knit together by our partnership in the Gospel Ministry 20 years ago and those feelings of brotherhood are still strong.

Please join me in praying for the work that still needs to be done in the village of Sanger, in Northern Romania. This is a place where opportunities and blessings await those who have a desire to serve God with any talents you may have. No one is too old (we have taken people in their 70's) and no one is too young (our last trip included an 8 year old boy). There is always something for everyone to do. As I have stated in the past, if you have any interest in being a part of Romanian Missions please let me know. You can email me: chuck@connectingpointchurch.cc. Please don't hesitate to follow God's call. You will not regret it!

Musing on Romania

As I write this blog our team is preparing to start our long journey back home. We have spent the better part of two days enjoying some great fellowship, eating some great food, and just having fun with our Romanian partners in this ministry. I have not watched any television since our arrival in Cluj last week. When you are not constantly in front of the TV it is amazing how much time there is to share in people’s lives. Our Romanian friends love to laugh and sing. They play some silly games but it is fun just to watch how people react. I laugh so deeply when I am hanging out with these precious people.

I believe our worship experience here in Cluj was a blessing for our team yesterday. We shared in the evening service with our Romanian partners who worked in the camps with us. Matt, Jennifer McCurley and Justin shared their testimonies. They did a great job. Then we attempted to sing “Our God is a Mighty God” in Romanian. That was interesting. I was asked to share a message about how important it is for us to build a strong Christian foundation into our children. They had so many children present and their children’s choir, praise ensemble (older children singing with microphones) and a young girl who played the violin blessed our hearts. They have so many gifted children in their church. It was a great service!

This is the time when my thoughts are dominated by evaluating the work here in Romania. I ask myself many times how long this partnership will continue and how much further the Lord would have me to go with it. When I am at home I get overwhelmed many times by the costs of taking these trips. This makes me think it is something I should stop doing. Then, when I am here I feel like the Lord wants me to go and share the vision with many of my Pastor friends and ask for their support. I would love to see more churches get involved in bringing teams here to do ministry.

Since my perspective is always different upon returning to the American lifestyle, I am resolved in my heart and mind today that God is in charge of the things that are unknown to us. As long as God continues to make the needs here known and continues to provide resources for the work that needs to be done, I will continue to do whatever He instructs. I have been to Romania enough times now that I can be assured that my motivation for continuing is not just to get the opportunity to travel and see the world (even though this is something I do love). God has spoken deeply into my heart while here in this great country. He has convicted me concerning my own personal walk with Him and the amount of time I am spending in His Word. In the past I would spend hours studying God's Word in preparation for preaching. This is something that has been neglected and I will be changing this.

I have also been convicted how accepting we are in our churches of things that are highly offensive to our Holy God. The more we compromise on His holiness the less of His power we will see. We need to learn a lesson from our Romanian brothers and sisters on praying both in our personal times with God and in our worship services. It is ironic that we are coming here to help them and in reality we are the ones who need to be helped.

Update from Sanger

Another week of working in the village of Sanger, Romania has come to an end. The weeks do pass by very quickly but after everything is finished, I am very exhausted and ready to start the long journey towards home. We leave this small farming community and head back to Cluj which is one of the larger cities in the country of Romania. We will spend the rest of our Saturday and Sunday with some very precious and hospitable friends. We will worship with one of the fastest growing churches in Romania (Christian churches). The Pastor and I have become wonderful friends. He has graciously welcomed me into his home and allowed me to preach in his pulpit each time I have come to Romania. I always look forward to seeing him and his family.

Many times when I am at home I think how difficult it is to make this journey. For those who come, great financial sacrifice is made. This includes not only the costs involved in making this journey but also the loss of income while we are here. Each time we come I have men who are self-employed to come and help me with construction. Not only are they giving up two weeks of gainful employment but their employees also have to make a sacrifice. Considering all these costs it makes me wonder if this is something I should continue. Then I come back and hug some of the most loving children I’ve ever been around. I witness genuine, deep-seated JOY among Christians who have so little of the world’s possessions. I listen to people pray and, even though I cannot understand a word they say, I am moved beyond description. They pour their hearts out to God in prayer.

I many times think how far we have come to help our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and to share God’s loving salvation with any who will listen. Our journey (one way) is a little over 5,000 miles. But it is actually God Himself who traveled the greatest distance to help us. He came all the way from eternity, from the realms of His own glorious Kingdom so that we might have a way to be made right with our Creator. His reward for traveling such a long distance was scorn, rejection, persecution, suffering and death. In light of our Lord’s great sacrifice I realize how little I have done by coming to this country to help people who have now become very precious to my heart.

It never fails that when I come here my blessings are much more pronounced than the ones received by those whom we are here to assist. The Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive. There is no doubt that this is the TRUTH! The future for this village in Romania is growing brighter because of God’s goodness to me and so many other Believers I am privileged to share my earthly journey with.

I hope this is only the beginning of greater things to come in Romania. I hope to go back home and fervently strive to raise funds and recruit laborers so that we can make this dream of a Christian camp and retreat center a reality in the village of Sanger. With a place for young people to come any time they want to play, learn about the love of God through Christ, and grow up with concerned, caring adults the Kingdom of Heaven will grow stronger in this oppressed section in Northern Europe. I ask for your prayers and am not ashamed to ask for your financial support. And, if you want a renewed perspective on how blessed we are in America, make plans to make this journey with us – perhaps as soon as May or June of next year.

Update from Romania

If my memory serves me correctly (something less dependable in my 50’s) I believe this is my 6^th trip to the country of Romania. I have tried to recollect what happened in my heart the first time I came to Romania that sparked an interest to return. I know God definitely had more in mind than I could have possibly imagined at that time. Ron Taffer, a friend and fellow minister, was God’s instrument to get me over to this country. I remember one day we stood in the middle of the street in a small village called Barbosi (pronounced Bar-Bosh), looked up along the beautiful countryside, and discussed whether or not we felt like this was a long-term assignment. I know that “Moment” must have been designed by God because it is still so fresh in my heart and mind after over 6 years.

We met together as a team on Sunday (by Team I mean our American team along with our Romanian partners) just to talk about the week, pray together and basically get better acquainted. There were many heart-felt words shared in that gathering and many tears shed as we poured out our hearts to God in prayer. This was another one of those times ordained by God because it was something that could not have been planned by me. I think the expectations for this trip were surrendered in that session (at least they were for me). And, it is such a great thing that God gave me this “redirect” time because the construction aspect of this trip will definitely not be what I had hoped for. In coming over here I thought that we would surely be able to complete the work on the bathroom. But, with the delay in getting materials and the work of the plumbers to get all the water ran to the bathroom as well as the drains for all the “exhaust” we may not even be able to complete the walls and get the toilet and sink installed. But that is OK! God has HIS own plan for this trip and I am just honored to be a part of it!!!

I think that times like this when things just don’t “come together” as we imagined, God has His own way to remind us that HE is in Charge! From the methods He chose to enter His own world and the way He accomplished the WAY for our Salvation, we understand that He alone can influence daily schemes of life to insure that His purposes will be accomplished. We all have a choice to make every day whether or not we will allow God to be in charge. However, none of us has control over the ways that God chooses to work things out according to His perfect design.

I am not sure where you are or what may be going on in your life at this time but I can assure you that God has your life in His thoughts and you are definitely on His heart constantly. He is working! And much of what He is doing may seem strange or may be unpleasant but I assure you that He knows exactly what He is doing. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150:6)

Sunday in Romania

Our worship service with our Romanian brothers and sisters was a blessing to our hearts this morning. Paul and Jennifer shared their testimonies together and then T.J. shared his story of how God has changed his life. It was a blessing to hear again how God has changed these special people who have made this incredible journey. We are privileged to share in such a special experience with the people here in Romania but also with the team members who are here together. It is my prayer that each of these who have come from America will grow closer to the Lord and to each other.

Through the years I have been blessed to go overseas many times with many different people. As I look back over these years it is amazing how many people there are who have gone with us who are now in full time mission work overseas. God can touch your heart on these kind of trips in ways that exceed anything else we have experienced with Him. I wonder if God will speak to any of our current team members about doing mission work full time? There are many needs here in the village of Sanger and it is just one of many villages with little or no Christian influence.

Please continue to pray for our team. So far everyone is doing well physically. We are eating good and I think everyone rested well last night. We will assemble our teams together this afternoon to worship and share together and to make plans for the week that awaits us. I am able to access the internet in the village now so I should be able to send more regular updates. May God bless you for reading this blog and for the thoughts and prayers you are sending up to Him for us.

Safely in Romania

I only have a few minutes to share so I just wanted to let everyone know that we are safely in Romania. It has been good to see our wonderful friends here and to meet new people. When we arrived on Friday there was so many things to do that we were not able to get much rest. I had no sleep for over 32 hours. Maybe just a few minutes on the plane. Then we were invited to go to the Youth Meeting at Betel Church in Cluj. There were at least 100 or more college students, some great worship, and we heard from a mission team that spent a month in Tibet. I was asked to share a "small" message. It was an honor to speak with these very intelligent young people. Many of them were believers but there were many who were not. After a 3+ hours service we had a great meal at our hosts home and I don't think a bed ever felt better. Tomorrow we will have a dedication service for the building. This is the first time we have had to come back since completing the building last year so they are looking forward to having a service with us. Our Brothers and Sisters here have been looking forward to our return so we can all thank the Lord together for giving us the land and the new building.

We will begin our construction work and the children's camps on Monday. We are looking forward to seeing the children again. Some of them have been at the church today. They are the ones who make this work so rewarding. Please pray for us to get some things completed on the building. But, most of all pray for us to do something positive in someone's life that will make a difference in their eternity! We are here now and the opportunities are in front of us. With God's help we can see God do something that will bring GLORY to HIM!

Heading Back to Romania

We have a team of 8 headed to Romania to work on the church we built last year. On this trip we hope to complete work on the bathroom, finish a room inside the building, and pour concrete for the front steps. More importantly, we are going to be sharing God's love with some beautiful children who live in the village of Sanger. Sitting here in the Charlotte airport waiting to board the plane to Munich my heart and mind are focused the wonderful people God has allowed me to meet over these past 6 years. I have to admit, in my old age, I do not enjoy the length of time it takes to get to Romania. If it wasn't for the experiences God has given me in the past it would be very difficult to make myself sit on airplanes for 15 hours.

That's really like our lives. Sometimes the journey to our destination is not that enjoyable but we are willing to take it anyway because of the experiences we anticipate. Maybe we are supposed to be more "in tune" on the less desirable parts of our journey. There are probably many things God is trying to teach us. Please say a prayer for us as we embark on this long journey. We await what God has planned for us but also want to experience all that He has planned on the journey. Gotta go get on the plane.