Share Jesus Without Fear

August 8th-13th 2005, God sent the team that has helped me with my “Strategy” more than any other team. God knew that I needed them in the worst way. We had recently moved from the country of Moldova and had really been frustrated with some of the strategies some of the teams had been using there. During this same time on January 1st 2005, I was placed as the Team Leader for all of South East Romania. This included five counties, 35 major cities, 874 villages with 2.3 million people! These people are less then 1% evangelized… “My simple job description”….bring hope to every heart!

After four months, I had not yet connected that well, well lets just say NOT AT ALL with the local Baptist churches in Galati and at the time I wasn’t really making any progress in my overall strategy. To complicate matters we had just returned from the states and didn’t have any time to set up for this Bob Houchins Team that was coming in two weeks... “at my request.”

They were coming to teach servant evangelism, Share Jesus Without Fear, (a method of evangelism that I had used many times in the states but had quit using here in Europe), and Prayer Walking. I am looking at my notes back then, “very nervous” “no schedule yet” “no homes for them to stay in yet” “One week to go and no churches have committed to this yet” “God help me!”

Well, I was stressed to say the least. I tried to have everything set up and really just couldn’t get the help I needed here in Galati. But God was really in this one….Bob brought a group of committed young college students that came to teach. They were prepared, confident, young, and fired up! I really wasn’t ready for them but they were ready for the task that God had put on their hearts. Every day they would teach and then demonstrate these principles and methods. Bob, Scott, Nathan, Jamie, Matt, Melissa and Jennifer would literally pour their hearts and enthusiasm into the people they were training.

The end result turned out to be different then what I had originally expected. This method that I had long quit using in Europe became STEP TWO in what is now known as the “Galati Strategy.” Two weeks after this team left we led several people in the Valley to Christ using this method. The first converts were two sisters that ultimately would begin attending Bible Study and prayer meetings at the King of Thieves house. It was when we were leading these two to Christ that we met the King of Thieves. (Danuti)

The Galati strategy is simply this….1) Find one person 2) Ask one question 3) Teach one Lesson and 4) Form one group. This is by prayer walking, using SJWF, the National Bible Reading Campaign and Cell Church foundational materials. So they brought a big part of our strategy. They thought they were coming to train the nationals and so did I! But God had far different plans for this group of young people from Missouri led by Bob Houchins .

Every American team that has been to Galati and works with me KNOWS that this SJWF method is the one that we use! They just didn’t know how God used this team to bring it here in the first place. God also had other plans that were in the wind at the time ….it seems that Jennifer is now Mrs. Scott Bryant!

A faithful wife!

Please be in prayer for the two ladies that live in this apartment. A mother and her daughter (whose name I do know)..Cecilia. They could really use some prayer cover. They are both believers. The daughter goes to Holy Trinity when she can. Normally she takes care of her 68 year old mother who is very, very ill. (You couldn’t tell it by looking at her though.) Last week her father, the husband of this woman that is ill, literally dropped dead in the street. He had a heart attack or something of the sort. The man had a very bad temper and was extremely abusive for the entire 50 year marriage. He was also abusive to the daughter and she is already disabled with a sight problem. They also lost a son in 1973 that was handicapped from birth, probably due to the abuse the mother took while pregnant with him.

I asked the mother, “How did you know that God loved you through all that?” she replied, I didn’t! I then asked her, “Do you know that He loves you now?” she said, “Yes!” and I then asked her, “How do you know this?” “Because of my Salvation!”, was her heartfelt response folding her hands over her heart…. A lady from the church had led her to saving faith only two years ago. I told her God was pleased with her even though it would have been easier for her to leave her husband, that she stayed and took all that abuse like a slave…….. “She said that is what my husband would always say….. I don’t think God was happy with me at all, I wanted to divorce him.” We then read to her from 1 Peter chapter 2 and the first part of 3. This brought her to tears.

I pray that God will use us to bring some hope and love into this home. Pray that some of the people in my leaders training will begin to do some studies with them. Robert and I prayer walk this area every morning and it was with great pleasure to take a Christian audio cassette to them and some bread and juice this morning. Pray that God will continue to strengthen these two dear believers. The mother is scheduled to go into the hospital for another checkup tomorrow.

It is interesting that her husband who had just started going to a 7th day Adventist church one week before his death seemed to have a MAJOR life change. They noticed it in the apartment….. for the short seven days. I am thinking of the thief on the cross! Paul in First Corinthians 7: 16 says to the believing wife… “You wives must remember that your husbands might be converted because of you….you must accept what ever situation the Lord has put you in….”

Led by Nationals

Today, March 25th, 2007 we met in Pastor Ovie’s office to begin training for the express purpose of reaching Zone 9 with a Cell Church. This will include going through the Share Jesus without Fear method of Evangelism, The National Bible Reading Campaign booklets, the Charles Brock studies and watching the Bill Beckham Cell group DVD’s recently created. Many in this group were already working last year at Billa, in the streets and doing Bible studies in homes. We will begin to pray and ask God how we can best reach the people in Zone 9. This was a huge step in the right direction and I am very thankful for Pastor Ovie’s support. He is a key player in this and is allowing me to have a lot of freedom with his people. Pator Ovie and I have begun meeting each Friday at 11:00 to discuss progress, this will be great for me. In this group are very strong committed believers some have already led people to faith in Christ. We will now just coordinate our efforts and try to inflict more pain on the enemy!

Last Sunday, I was allowed to preach and presented Pastor Ovie with a couple of presents from "my part of the wilderness", Western Colorado. I gave him a cowboy riding a horse and holding a calf in his arms like a Sheppard, symbolizing love. Along with that, I gave him a badge shaped like a star that said “Sherriff of the Wild, Wild West!” representing law and justice. I said with out love we run people away and without justice we leave them in their sins. Pastors must have a large dose of both to do our job Biblically. He loved them…..! Plus -there is only room for one Sherriff in this town! Pray for this group and also that we might be able to start a second group soon….we already have people waiting!

Damian-Convert from English Team

Damian is third from the left in this picture. He came to the English classes just to hear his favorite language spoken by Americans as he speaks our language VERY well. He was a translator for the huge steel factory during communist times. The revolution in 1989 was not good for him. He was very, very depressed and really at the end of his rope when he came to these classes offered by the Missouri Baptist. This led to a friendship in which he really began to open up. I was able to go to his house several times and share many things about Christ with him. During this same time frame -I was working at an orphanage and teaching them how to share their faith effectively. I would kind of have a mock trial and use Romans chapter 3 to show that ADAM was guilty and needed to be punished. Well, I got the idea to invite Damian to this and have him sit in the place of Adam. The boys, about 21 of them, literally began interrogating him and discovered that even though Damian read his Bible, went to church, prayed and did all the religious stuff he had never been “Born Again.” Well they prayed for him and this began to stir his heart. Soon there after he gave his life to Christ and is now a “True Believer” as he would say. We have become good friends. He is a great guy and certain that he is on his way to heaven!
Check out the story on our CEE web site.

http://www.hope4cee.org/stories/ontrial/index.html

English Team-Missouri Baptist

This group of men and woman that the Missouri Baptist sent us was incredible. Under the leadership of Ray and Judy Leinenger this couple of weeks ran like a well oiled machine. They were able to teach all levels of English from Beginner to Super Advanced. First, they would have a large session introducing the specific topic for the that day and then move into smaller groups.

The amazing thing about this was that it drew over 120 non believers or so. Each one had the Gospel explained to them in a very non threatening way and from several different angles. The amount of detail demostrated... taking so much care with each individual student really brought glory to God. They were so precise in what they did plus they took a great deal of time learning each students name and welcomed them into the classes day after day. I have never seen a team that was so well organized and was able to get so much work done in such a short amount of time. I understand they are planning a trip to El Salvador this summer. One great result of this team, one of many, was a man named Damian coming to Christ. After the team left I was able to spend more time with him and now he is a “true believer” as he would say. As a result he is a friend of mine and in the next blog I will explain how he came to know Jesus. He came to the classes because he absolutely loves the English language and wanted to learn more. He was so depressed at the time I truly feared for him as did other members of the team. But God was way ahead of him......and used this team to change another Romanians life forever!

"I had to obey God!"

One of the spin off’s of the tennis evangelism was the story behind a volunteer named David Man Singh, a man who was listening to Pastor Jay Raines of First Baptist Cameron speak of the trip to Romania. He somehow felt the nudge of God and decided to go on this trip to Europe. Now this was strictly from having an obedient heart because his heart is for the people from India not Romania. But David did come on this trip, this tennis EV trip. (The one time he did try to play he hurt himself!) Monday morning we walked on to the courts and instantly the manager saw David and said, “See those apartments over there…they are full of people from India.” I decided to have David go over with a translator and invite these people to come to our big event scheduled for Thursday. Well he was rejected. The security was tight to say the least. I tried also and was rejected by more then one guard….more like four or five! They said I had to get permission from the boss. Well, it turns out that the apartments were owned by MITTAL steel company. We would have to go to the big steel plant in town. It employed 40,000 people during communist times but now “only” 18000 people work there. Well, long story short we were rejected on Tuesday. We tried again on Wednesday and this time it went great. We met the guy in charge, Mr. Singh from India. So Mr. Man Singh from Missouri meets Mr. Singh here in Galati, in their native tongue. It was great to see this. We thought Mr. Man Singh was probably Hindu but through the conversation we found out he was a believer. He had a Bible in his desk, he listened to Charles Stanley devotions on his computer and he believed in the Trinity. When I asked him if he believed in the Holy Spirit, He said, “Who do you think brought you here today?…this is a big city!” He said that Jesus was the “Mt. Everest” of all teachers. Well, I replied that is because he made Mt. Everest. We prayed with him before we left. Later that day, after forgetting to ask permission...the very reason we went to him....the guards were not going to let us back in to the apartments until they heard me talking with Mr. Singh on the phone. He told me to have his guards hand out all the invitations for us. This is a great example of how God used an obedient heart. None of the people from the apartments came but they are still there and we are a giant step closer to them! Who did show up…about sixty Gypies from Zone 6, their roots….India and a special guest Mr. Singh!

http://hope4cee.org/stories/reachingindians/index.html

Check out the story on our web site. David also had his testimony put on the local EV television station and translated for many, many more people to hear.

Lanny Wake "The Man"

Look........!

It’s a bird..
It’s a plane ...
It’s a machine ....
It’s superhuman ....
It’s a Russian .....
It’s a Secret Weapon .

or

None of the above

We have been blessed by this man and his giftedness here in Galati. Lanny Wake has a heart for Jesus and a heart for sharing his faith. In what became known as the “It won’t work in Romania campaign” we tried tennis evangelism. It was a great success. Under the leadership of their pastor, Jay Raines ( a great guy) from Cameron First Baptist Missouri, we planned a tennis match in which we would present the Gospel and an opportunity for an in home Bible study. It turned out to be one of the most fascinating weeks of my entire Christian walk. By the end of the week we had met the Director for Trans-world Radio, the director of TV Galati EV television, the national director of United Parcel Service in Romania, we had the first ever repenters meeting in Zone 6. On top of all that through a series of incredible events that I will talk about in the future, we met the man who employees 18000 people here in Galati at the MITTAL steel factory.

By the end of the week Lanny, had played four matches. In this time, we collected 120 names of people of which 103 said they wanted to have Bible studies in their home! Around 78% of those we asked said “yes” to a follow up Bible Study called, “People who knew Jesus”. By the end of the week Lanny had lost all four matches …..or did he? It should be noted that the Awana leader, Nancy Miles and Whitney Wake, Lanny’s daughter were in charge of prayer that week……I don’t think their prayers were bouncing off of the ceiling….do you?

Please pray as we only now begin to follow up on this list of names that statistics say have 1 "Born Agian" believer! Only 1 out of every 100 people KNOW Jesus in our city! They all know about Him, they don't KNOW Him! Pray God will help me to find some national believers who will help me follow up on all these names....

Zone 9 = 42000 people

This area of town is known as Micro 19, 20, and 21. I call it Zone 9 according to the "Galati Plan". I think each building contains about 40 apartments and each apartment probably no more than an average of 4 people. So each four story building would hold approximately 160 people. A 10 story high rise would hold 400 people.

We have 42000 people in Zone 9 which is the equivalent of about 25 villages! There are no Evangelical churches in this part of town. We are planning on working a cell type church into this area which can reach more people than a traditional style church can. Back home in Missouri , in Butler county alone, lives this same number of people with more than 300 evangelical churches in the phone book… (I literally got tired of counting them .....and quit). The closest city to this population where my family is from is Grand Junction Colorado. So imagine this county (Butler), and this city(Grand Junction), without one evangelical church! The city of Galati has about the same number of people as all of western Colorado has. One ladies prayer group that attends Holy Trinity has been praying for years that God would help them start a church here. So please pray that God will open up this part of town with the teams that are coming and that they would help encourage the national believers.

Lenutsa Stenga, DAR lady...!

This picture was taken by my son Andrew sometime early 2005 when we were prayer walking Zone 6. It is the home of some of the poorest people in all of Romania. After prayer walking the city three times I sensed that God was leading me to begin work in the “valley” as the locals call it. I call it Zone 6 according to my plan. This particular lady allowed me to give her six Bibles (of which she probably sold later!). I didn’t have a translator with me but I could ask questions like: “Do you know where you will go when you die?” “Do you have a Bible in your house?” “Do you read your bible?” Would you like a Bible Study in your house?” Well, I took this picture and didn’t return to the valley for almost two months. We had to go to the states for the months of April and June in 2005. While we were there in Poplar Bluff they wrote a news paper article on the work we were doing in Galati. This picture appeared on the front page of the Daily American Republic Thursday June 16th ,2005. We early on just referred to her as the DAR lady.

Our church, Living Word Baptist, was planning a mission trip to Galati in the month of September. We didn’t know what to expect! Well , Teresa Myeres, who would be on the September Team cut this picture out of the paper and began to pray daily for this lady, while at work. After arriving on September 4th, she was able to do a short Bible study from the National Bible Reading Campaign with Leunta (Lenootza). Then only two lessons later, Lenuta gave her life to Christ on September 7th, 2005. Not so long after that her daughter, a young 21 year old lady named Valerica also gave her life to Christ. Two years later, you can imagine how excited Teresa is now , knowing that Lenutsa is waiting to see her again in just one month… this time for the third year in a row. Pray as we try and find a way to start a church in the valley as others are waiting to hear the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. We are just “sinners saved by grace” being used by a merciful God in a magnificent way!

Doru's Aunt prays...

Last year when a team from Living Word Baptist church was doing a follow-up trip to continue the work in the valley we were blessed to work with Doru, a young evangelist from Bucharest. He was doing a great job in the valley and the people loved him and his heart. He brought his aunt up to spend a week with him while the team was here. God, used the efforts of Randy and Teresa Myers and the help of Bogdon as their translator (A convert from the previous years trip), to lead Doru’s aunt to Faith in Christ. We weren’t really sure if her motives were all that pure at the time but as time went on Doru said she did continue to go to church and show a desire to turn from sin. Well, yesterday I received a phone call from Doru who is now back in Bucharest. His aunt went on to be with the Lord. Her funeral is today. Please pray for Doru and his family. She was about the only family he had as he grew up in an orphanage himself. He was so happy the day she came to Christ…. now she is with HIM… Amen!

Dr. Bob Laatsch's help

Another way that an American team was helpful was how God used Bob Laatsch, a Doctor from Living Word Baptist Church. Here is Lorensu (Roland) with his aunt and his cousin, Verile. They are almost as close as brothers. About one month before we came to Galati, their family suffered a terrible loss. Roland’s uncle and niece were in a terrible car accident, it took their lives. He was very close to this family and it literally devastated them. After my computer hard-drive shutdown this led me to Romlotos al HP repair business located one block from our new house. I needed Lorensu’s help and he wanted my “physical help” at the time. After witnessing to him he told me about his cousin Verile who had started binge drinking, after the loss of his father and sister, to the extent of going into a coma. He asked me if I could find a Dr. that would send some medicine to help his cousin stop drinking. Dr. Bob Laatsch came to the rescue in a big way. (Now, what was different about this was the family, Veril’s family, paid for all the medicine. This is not normal for missions abroad. ) After only six months, Veril stopped drinking as much, not cold turkey, but did go back to work. The family in Tulcia is certain that it was the help of Dr. Bob that brought their son, “back to life,” we know that is was with the help of the “Son that did come back to life” that used Dr. Bob’s heart to serve. It was when I was trying to lead Veril to Christ and explain repentance, using Roland as a translator, that Roland came to Christ! Another amazing story how God used my computer crashing for the fourth time on the field, to lead me to a computer technician, that led to hearing about this families tragedy, that led to a restored life and a changed life. Praise the Lord for His guidance and mercy!

Laura gives her life to Christ!

This was a wonderful day for me. Laura, my language teacher prayed to accept Christ. March 07, 2007! This picture is of our very best friend here in Galati, Lorensu (Roland) and his wife Laura. I took this picture nearly two years ago when we tried to have a Bible Study in their house. After this Roland became more and more interested in Christ. One day when I was trying to lead his cousin to Christ using Roland as a translator, Roland came to Christ instead! He then started reading his Bible and even helping me hand out Bibles. He started helping us no matter what we needed he was there. The first year here was very difficult for us and without God sending Roland into our lives we would not have made it. He is the one that fixes computers and anything else that we needed!

Well, today he translated again, only today with his wife, Laura, as she prayed to accept God’s forgiveness through Christ. She asked many questions and finally decided that it was better to go straight to Jesus for salvation instead of through her priest. She had noticed that Lorensu started reading his Bible and that was a big difference from before. Yesterday, during my lesson, she was helping me to say correctly, for the second day, the seven verses we use on the street to witness to people. I could see that she sort of "shut down" spiritually. Today she admitted that she was a sinner and very guilty before a righteous God, she even agreed that her spiritual father was Satan after reading 1 John 3:4-10. She amazed me because she really understood and wanted to “get saved” today! Praise the Lord. Pray for her and Roland as they now have a great challenge ahead of them in learning how to follow Jesus. Now I can't wait for my language lessons, each day...........amen!

True Convert

The first Sunday of every month, all the Baptist churches in Eastern Europe, partake in the Lord's Supper. For me this morning was a double privilege, to be "asked to serve" the meal with Pastor Ovie for one and to "serve" these new converts for another. The Europeans take honor in this and treat the meal with great respect. Pastor Ovie's message made it very clear that a "True Convert" will follow the Lord's command to be baptised. He also made it clear that baptism was a public profession of ones faith and that a baby can't do this...and he said that it is symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. He also spoke about the Lord's supper being, not the actual body and blood of Jesus, but symbolic also.

It was a great day at Holy Trinity for us as a family. We were able to be there when Paula, who repented on Oct. 10th, 2005 was baptised into the body of believers here in Galati. One month before her repentance, September 7th, 2005 Living Word Baptist was doing a "Big Event" at a local club for rent, this club just happened to be next door to her apartment. She litterally was the last person that we handed an invitation to out of 1500 people we invited that week. Although She sent her husband Bogdon instead, Paula repented just over one month from that day!

This week she was under a great spiritual attack as her husband Bogdon started drinking again and caused much strife, her mother also chose not to be there for sin issues in her own life, but Paula would not be deterred. She was baptised into a new church family with eight other people. The Europeans are in no hurry to baptise the first person who says, "I believe", they wait and wait and wait to see if the person shows some growth or at least is serious about repentance. The church was completely full and was also full of Joy in the Lord as they welcomed these new converts. Then, as always, on the first Sunday of the month they partook in the Lord's supper. Those baptised ate for the first time and it was a HUGE blessing for them. I sometimes wish that we took more time in the states to make sure the person is actually 'Born Again" but that would be too harsh and judgemental for our way of doing things. Paula has been incredibly strong through out this entire time, not having much more, then her faith in Christ. I say that in a way that means, no encouragement, no church family for the first year, a husband that was terrible to her, very little to no food for her two children and wanting to leave her husband numerous times. The first real ray of hope came when Christiana, Mama Catie and Mihiela (Pator TiTi's wife) came to begin the little Bible Studies with her and began to pray for her. Praise the Lord that Holy Trinity responded to this wonderful young wife and mother"s needs. Everybody needs a friend in the Lord!

Giants the Land

The passage in Numbers 10:33-36, speaking of the Israelites leaving Mt. Sinai and moving the "Ark" really spoke to my heart as I am reading through the Bible each morning.

The work of mobilizing the great potential that sits in our churches each Sunday was a great challenge to say the least. But it was not the specific work God called us to do here in Galati. While in the states, we traveled over 22000 miles by car, visited ten states, took five classes over the internet, spoke in over twenty churches. The country itself sort of bookended our trip as we started by leaving our oldest son Matthew, at Liberty Universtiy in Virginia and ended up in Highland, California being appointed as associate missionaries with the International Mission Board. God went before us just as he did for Israel, I feel like the Lord did, “hover over us” and He showed us where to "stop and rest." Now that we are “set back down” , we as Moses would pray, “Return O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel (Galati)!” (not that he ever left them....) I pray the Lord will help us pick of the “ark” and move into this city and pray that He would use us, the SBC teams from America and the Romanian believers, “to scatter the enemies” of these precious peoples souls.

After reading this passage yesterday I went into the land of the giants and began to explore and pray again. Yes! There were giants….but my faith was renewed slightly. We have a great desire to follow the Lord’s leading and work towards our goal of planting an Evangelical church in Zone 9 by 2009; This, while at the same time strengthening the group of believers in Zone 6 in the valley.