Dear friends and family,
It is little more than a month from now that I leave for Belarus and Romania to take that next step in the ministry God has called me to. Things have changed a lot since my last email, and I wanted to make sure that you knew the latest. Also, I've copied below part of the text of a summary document prepared for the trip that has some specific prayer requests. It follows below.
When planning for this trip first started, our team was six members strong. For various reasons, however, three of those members have since decided not to travel with us this year. That leaves only two of us traveling to Belarus and three of us traveling to Romania. While all of this was being sorted out, I was frustrated and disappointed, wondering what God was doing. Now, however, I can see Providence at work. The remaining team is very strong, and there are good reasons why this small team will be just right. So, I remain excited! Also, many of our plans for Belarus have changed due to team members not traveling. Our time there will revolve a lot more around support and encouragement than extensive teaching. The Church in Belarus is battered and worn from years of fighting earthly authorities. We're going there to build them up and give them fresh messages from the Word with which to build the body up.
So many of you have asked about the progress in planning, and your support has been unmatched. I am truly blessed to have you on my support team. In the specific prayer requests below, I would particularly stress the need for prayer for my family. Karen is, as always, wonderfully supportive of my ministry and participation in this trip. Nonetheless, she is very anxious about being here alone with two small boys for such an extended period. The enemy has already been working overtime to make the days surrounding any sort of meeting or planning regarding this trip as chaotic as possible here at home. I implore you to please stand in the gap for Karen and the boys while I'm gone!
Belarus and Romania Trip, Fall 2005
PURPOSE
This will be the second KPC team to visit Belarus and the first International Reformation team from KPC that travels to Romania . The Belarus trip comes after substantial inroads were made in 2004 when a team visited and taught a conference on several aspects of International Reformation, including family, conflict resolution, government, education, and media. The Church of Jesus Christ in Minsk invited a team back in 2005 to teach more specifically on Christian education and incorporating a Biblical worldview in such schools. The relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ grew from initial contacts made in Lithuania in 2002 and a short trip that Bruce and Stephen McDowell of the Providence Foundation made to Minsk in the spring of 2003 to teach a conference. This year a small team will travel to Minsk for four days before joining the additional team members in Romania for ministry there.
Isaac Matei, a native of Timisoara, Romania, was formerly a student at Regent University. While here in the States, Bruce was able to establish a relationship with him. Isaac has invited Bruce and a KPC team to minister in Romania and begin building the foundations of Biblical Reformation in that formerly Communist country. Pastors Bruce and Nate visited Timisoara briefly in the summer of 2004 as a part of their trip to survey the various eastern European nations in which KPC has taught over the last several years. They determined that Romania was ripe for reform and that God was opening doors for the expansion of the International Reformation there.
This year's trip will be aimed at laying a foundation of Biblical worldview principles in Romania, surveying the land, engaging in spiritual warfare and focused prayer, and sowing seeds for the reformation of another country within our 20/30 window of focus. As a KPC International Reformation team has not visited Romania before, we will endeavor to form relationships with leaders and learn about the country and culture so that more ministry appropriate to the specific situations in Romania can be affected in the future. Christian education will have a specific role in this trip as it has been identified as one of the first and primary needs in the country. We also hope to visit key historical sites in several parts of the country as these are interesting and provide us with context and perspective for our ministry.
Specific Prayer Requests
visa approval for Isaac Matei to travel back to Romania from Seattle
visa approval for Bruce Anderson and Scott Walter to enter Belarus
for planned meetings in Romania to be confirmed and appointments aligned
protection and peace for team members' families
for safety for Bruce and Scott while in Belarus as the political situation is tenuous
for plans for education seminar in Belarus to come together
divine appointments throughout the trip
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