Mission Trip
We have just recently returned from a mission trip to Romania where God once again showed and confirmed to us that the greatest answer to man's greatest need is for man to know Christ Jesus and Him crucified. We were tremendously blessed to witness God's grace and mercy working into the hearts of many as we went from village to village and from house to house sharing the love of God and His gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. One cannot help but be moved to tears and respond with compassion as God showed us the faces of suffering people. Truly, the love of God includes all and excludes none. In these trips you will find the Book of Acts unfolding in its nonstop race to reach the unreached with great passion and a strong sense of urgency...lives are in the balance and souls are at stake. How much are you willing to take in terms of suffering? How much are you willing to give in terms of sacrifice? Will you join us? We promise you a life altering experience!
Here's a report by Roxann from one of our trips:
Romania, January of 2004
It's difficult to give you a report on the Romanian trip... it's hard to mentally process all that occurred. So much happened over such a short period of time... it was amazing and very humbling. Thousands of lives were touched in many ways, especially including all on the team (consisting of eight men from Tennessee, Pastor Wally and myself). Pastor Wally and Bobby, a Baptist pastor on the team, both spoke to several large churches in Bistrita .
Pastor Wally also spoke at a large youth rally at the Cultural Center. There is a definite spiritual battle happening for the hearts, minds and souls of the Romanian people. Tradition and culture can be hard to penetrate ... BUT GOD ... the hunger of the people is so evident ... even where walls have been built by the evil one to try to hold people in the lies of tradition, you could see some emerging and running to embrace the truth and freedom of the Gospel, others still holding to that tradition, but obviously hungering for more. Even prominent Catholic and Orthodox church leaders were touched by the Holy Spirit and His servant, Pastor Wally during this time. A new day is dawning in Romania. There is strong tradition and incredible poverty in some areas, but at least they do have freedom to hear and respond to the Gospel.
In addition to the city of Bistrita, we visited many villages. We went door to door, speaking to people about our Savior, inviting people to our children's and adult services to be held in the villages, and in a couple of villages, we were blessed to give the first of the Love the Children backpacks. We had no idea what to expect in this regard . . . in Romania, we will serve indigent gypsy families with this program. In other areas of the world, it will be refugee and orphaned children. "The poor you will always have with you" . . . tiny houses, most just one room (usually not much bigger than 10' x 10') for three to eight or more people - a few had two rooms - one of these had fifteen people living there . . . some with just one small window - maybe one light bulb, maybe not . . . clothes hanging outside in the cold and snow to dry or hanging throughout their room . . . small plastic tubs of dirty water to wash the clothes and themselves, I guess . . . some had a table with a pot and a few dishes . . . tiny wood stoves in the corner for heat or cooking . . . outhouses that were not even fully enclosed . . . it's cold there . . . windy, snowy, rainy . . . the roofs of the houses, some were tin, but most had a visqueen-like sheeting . . . some had clothes stuffed in the door frame when they shut the door to keep the cold out . . . in one home, I truly felt it must have been very similar to the stable where Jesus was born . . . it was neat and clean as possible, I guess . . . hard, rutted dirt floor, one tiny window the only light . . . maybe it was just that Jesus was born in their hearts that day . . . anyway, He was there . . .
A few of the villages have a church served by a pastor and a couple of gypsy brothers who are missionaries to their people . . . beautiful, simple buildings the people have built, that are well cared for . . . needing to be finished, but the people are learning and growing in the Lord . . . in one service, seven came and asked to be anointed for healing . . . in another, three were baptized and we had communion with them . . . they love to worship . . . what a joy to be in His presence with His people singing praises . . . Many in the gypsy villages did not wear coats, only sweaters. . . one little girl wore only a sweater - nothing else - and her mother brought her outside... you should see their eyes . . . sad eyes . . . hopeful eyes . . . despairing eyes . . . hurting eyes . . . eyes needing a Savior . . . those eyes would light up with joy and hope during the services . . . children hearing songs of childhood . . . receiving a balloon, a piece of candy . . . a short bit of time when the cares were forgotten . . . Moms and Dads seeing their children with something small, but precious to them . . . hearing the Gospel message and responding, wanting to know Jesus . . . hungry to know Jesus . . . in a village with no Christian church, asking to have a church, begging . . . teen-age boys bringing their friends to be saved . . . such beautiful people . . . precious, precious people in God's sight, He sent His Son to die for them, to save them . . . the harvest is plentiful . . .
Friends, there is work we can do . . . go, love them . . . if you can't go, pray and do what you can . . . your reward is seeing Jesus in their faces, here or in heaven . . . you will never be the same . . . Living for HIM who died to give us Life Eternal, Him who was born once to give us the second birth, Him who loved us so that we can love others...
Blessed to be a blessing, Pastor Wally - Acts 20:24