It's just one day after another

This morning after I got out of the shower and got dressed, I took a moment to open cards that Karen had packed for me. They were intended for me to open at the halfway point or when I needed encouragement. I'd reached both. My wife is the most wonderful woman in the world, and she had written such sweet words of encouragement that truly lifted my spirit. Thanks! Then, I opened the cards from my boys. Karen had made one card from each and put Jonathan's handprints on his and Andrew's footprints on his. Of course, I got all teary over all three cards. i can't wait to be home with them!

But while I'm here, it is just one day after another that we see God moving and His message of reformation taking root. We had the privilege of ministering at two churches last night. The first was a gypsy church pastored by Pastor Calin Ion. The gypsies in Romania are much like the most impoverished of inner city dwellers in America. They are highly discriminated against, very poor, and mostly uneducated--even to the point of never attending school. Some of their reputation is justified by their actions throughout history and today, admittedly. However, Pastor Calin is doing great works within the gypsy community. His church has about 100 members. Last night was a special service, and there were perhaps 30 people there. Bruce gave a timely message affirming their worth as people while still pointedly challenging them to reform their communities, live differently from the world, and use their unique identity to change gypsies throughout Romania. It was powerful and being amongst them was certainly eye-opening. They were a very emotional people, and the message we brought was certainly challenging for their circumstances and mindset.

We left the gypsy church after 45 minutes and went a few streets away to New Beginning Church, a small house church under the umbrella of Agape Church, the main church in Timisoara we are working with. They are connected with Isaac Matei. On a regular Sunday, they cram 100 people into a room about 12x20 and an adjoining courtyard. The attendance last night was a mix of youth (early college age) and middle age parents/grandparents. They were incredibly responsive to Bruce's message and several of them came up to us afterward with questions about law, creation science, etc. The idea of an all-encompassing Biblical worldview was somewhat new to them, but they grasp the basics already and were obviously eager for more. So uplifting! Florin, our guide, is a member of that church and preaches on occasion. (The regular pastor and his wife have eight children!)

More to come...