After a strange beginning of 2020 (nothing if not a year to remember), we're expecting A Summer For The Books! The month of June involved the norm (at least the new norm these days): we've continued our first full month of live and in-person youth meetings and church service meetings, David resumed his monthly preaching, and Rebeca resumed her live worship team practices. After spending so many months doing services and meetings online, we've continued to share our Sunday messages on the church's Facebook Live website while conducting them live for those who are well enough, and would like, to attend. July was much the same, all of it done with appropriate social distancing and safety precautions. But let me address what that looked like “on the ground floor.” A friend from Iowa helped me find some good lapel mics that we’ve been using for the sermons, as well as for videos for Youth for Christ Romania (see them here). We are so thankful we’ve been able to use our talents and abilities (and these tools!) to bless this church body! We want to grow in our professional ability to share the Word of God with others at this new stage of ‘ministry in the midst of a pandemic,’ even when we have to learn to be flexible. Like many of you, we have learned that ‘the best laid plans of mice and men’ can fall away in extreme circumstances. In June and July, we had to cancel camps and YFC staff retreats, and plan other youth events to keep up with the youth here. We had a nation-wide Youth for Christ event called "Run4Mission" where we all ran or walked to raise money for the activities happening this summer. Some of the youth in our church participated alongside us. We had to do it locally instead of meeting as a larger group at the central Romania camp, Poarta Oilor. We praise God for the support YFC-Romania received to continue doing its ministry. The church received some money from sponsors to buy a 9-passenger van, so my father-in-law, brother-in-law and I went to Germany to purchase it and it's already proven to be a big help and blessing in the ministry. We did a camping trip that was great and the youth will talk about for years to come! Though it was shorter than we’d planned, we got to show the youth how to play "Hey COW!" (Hey Vaco here) and the Hot Pepper Challenge – which I'm pretty sure is a youth group rite of passage! One girl remarked, "the things we do for you," after much cajoling, which Rebeca connected with the serpant tempting Adam and Eve. (Just to be clear, David isn't sure that such an interpretation is faithful to the text! 🤣) We set up movie nights to view things like The Chosen (see a post about that show here), and held regular youth meetings. We had an 18th birthday party (it's when someone officially becomes an adult in Romania) for one of the girls who comes to youth group now and then, and her friends were able to come to the church for the first time. Please pray for her, as her great-grandma who raised her (her mom left when she was 5) has cancer and only has days to live. You may remember, Simona, from our live presentations while fundraising in the States last year. Her great-grandma, her dad, herself, and her boyfriend are not Christians and we're praying for their salvation. The times with youth were fun, but we also dealt with more serious matters involving hurting youth, adults, and providing needs for those who couldn’t get out or didn't have enough food. Rebeca did most of that during the week, as she learned of a need, and David helped as well when people came to church on Sundays. We gave them food that was generously provided by Children's Hunger Fund (CHF). We also want you to know the stress of COVID-19 on our families, our work, and the government here in Romania has been taking its toll on us personally. We are in regular prayer for all of you, especially since we know the financial strain this has taken on every home. Please let us know if we can pray specifically for you during this time. Prayer, Praise, & People Here's a snapshot of the ministry right now:
SPOTLIGHT: Jenci & Emese NagyEmese serves with Youth for Christ Romania in a way that often has me asking, "What DOESN'T she do?!" I met her and Jenci the same time I met the rest of the YFC Romania team, in September 2018. She has a wonderful smile and a welcoming spirit about her, which will become evident as you read her SPOTLIGHT. Watching her walk around and talk to various people during this regular staff retreat meeting, she was quick with a laugh and a smile, all the while carrying her lovely child. But enough of my thoughts, let's listen to her words, and I hope you see the amazing opportunity to be a part of their generosity in the future! Hello, everyone! David and Rebeca are my co-workers in the ministry of YFC Romania and they asked me to share with you about ourselves. Thank you so much for the opportunity! Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your life with us, Emese! Now it's time for our UNITY QUESTIONS, which I hope people enjoy as much as I do! I appreciate these "slice of life" questions, how these things bring us all together. So Emese...
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December 2020
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