A Departing Toast

Through my life, I have made many homes.  From Texas to South Korea, from South Korea to Texas, from Texas to Louisiana, and now from Louisiana to Romania, I have moved.  And each time God made that place home for me.  My home no longer is The States.  My home is the center of God's perfect will.  That is my home.

However, I can't deny the family and home I have found here in Romania.  The lessons I've learned and those who impacted my life have written themselves on my heart.  And this year...I got to see God move powerfully!

I've learned about the authority God has placed in us...and how powerful that is.

I've learned more about the power the gospel, and how that simple encouragement of "Jesus loves you" can mess someone up so bad.

I've learned that time set aside for one person, will disturb eternity and change its future.

To the Petre family I would like to thank you all for all of your amazing hospitality.  You treated me like family and welcomed me into your home without hesitancy.

To David, we will always be like Jonathan and David...Let's go slay a giant together.

To the Arsene family, thank you also for your amazing hospitality.  I still remember when you guys feed me in March of 2010 when the volcano exploded.

To Sorin, you really are a man of God with destiny and a future.

To Florin and Liz, thank you for being awesome inspirations in my life.

To Mihai Tudor, Bro, you were a good friend of mine this year.  I'm gonna miss our coffee afternoons.

To Pastor Mihai, thank you for being such a supportive senior pastor this year.  We couldn't have functioned well without that.

Honestly, this list could go on.  There are so many special people here: Claudiu, Bogdan, all the Ludesti guys, Oana, Carmin, etc.  There hasn't been a single person that I wouldn't toast to.  And so as to not keep everyone from their day, I salute you.

The naked were clothed, the hungry fed, the lost found, the oppressed freed, and the sick healed.  God moved in every way he promised in his word.  He has been my adventure this year...and I'm excited for the next year.  What happed here was only the beginning...and this makes me thrilled.

So, with this I toast:

Romania Pentru Isus Hristos!!! (Romania for Christ)

The Count Down Ends...Graduation

Well, tomorrow our first year students graduate, and the very first year of MCR will be over.  I'll be heading home early Wednesday morning, as will the rest of our team depart to their homes.  It's a bitter sweet moment.  There is excitement about graduation, but we've done so much ministry and life together that goodbyes are kinda hard.  And, as this countdown is ending, we have had another great week of ministry.

Starting with this past weekend, Thursday-Sunday, we had Experience Master's.  This was an opportunity for high school graduates to check out our program and the ministry we do.  One of the ways we showcased our ministry was through a program we called Mission Experience.  This was an interactive drama that toured through our building from scene to scene. 

When the Experience Master's students entered the first room, they found themselves in a typical gypsy home with a character named Valentine.  Valentine, played by David, was a gypsy boy caught up in racism, and how that lead to him stealing and his eventual involvement in sex trafficking.  In the third scene, Diana, played by Oana, was kidnaped by Valentine.  Then, she led the audience to her room with her customer waiting for her.  There she told about what she had seen in that home, and how a twelve year old girl had been killed trying to escape.  As the exchange of money happened, the last character, Alin, played by Sorin, was introduced.  His story told about how his parents had abandoned him to work in England for more money.  So he had a pocket full of money and looked for love in all the wrong places.  This is just a very basic overview of what we did.
The reason I tell you about this, is because it was the highlight of the week for many of our visitors...because all of this was based on real stories of people we minister to on a regular basis.  They even got to meet Valentine at one of the micro kids.  One girl said this, "I always looked down on prostitutes, and men who did those things.  I never thought that what they need was love.  The drama caused me to think in a totally different way."  As the drama closed Florin told our visitors about what we were doing as a Master's Commission to bring justice to these issues...many were crying as their eyes were opened to the truth.

That weekend we also ministered in a youth camp in front of hundreds of youth.  We did our last Micro Kids in Teist, and supported Eugen in the last youth night Master's Commission will be part of till next year.  As always, God moved and lives were touched.

To wrap up a tough but rewarding year, we took all of our students out to the beach, for a final time together.  We hugged each other, worshiped with one another, and prayed together.  I'm gonna really miss these guys...and I can't wait to do ministry with them next year!
So tomorrow night the countdown ends as does this first year of ministry.  However, our heart to see God move powerfully doesn't change.  Though we all may head our separate ways, our ministry will still continue.

Thanks again for all of your support.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...

The Countdown Continues...Crossroads Missions Team

This past week was a great week of ministry for us.  As each day brings me closer and closer to my return to the USA, I have seen God move in increasingly amazing ways.  This week, we had the privilege of ministering with the Crossroads Mission Team from California!  I love it when we host teams because of the community and the amount of ministry we get to do.  More hands working, means more ground is prepared at one time.  This group that partnered with us was a phenomenal group, and our ministry this week was powerful!  Three events from this week that I want to highlight are the Teist ministry, evangelism, and youth ministry outreaches.

As we do every week, we did a Micro Kids at both Ludesti and Teist.  Both of these Micro Kids were very successful and unique.  I was put on car guard duty in Teist and was, therefore, held back from Micro Kids.  What was cool about this, though, is that I got to connect on a much deeper level with many of the adults from the village.  I was able to communicate with them on a very friendly level.  So much of ministry is based on relationships.  It's how you see needs and then know how to fill them.  It's the start of knowing how to pour out good into hearts and understand them more clearly.  Let's be honest, the people we let affect our lives the most are the ones we love the most.

It was also my joy to do a food drive, with the mission team, there in Teist.  We gave out bags of food to the thirty-five homes in the village and were able to talk about God's love for them.  As we left each home we blessed them with a prayer, reminding them of how important they are to God.

We also did more evangelism this week and many more people gave their hearts to God.  The story I would like to highlight here, however, doesn't come from one of our scheduled times of evangelism.  The day the mission team had shown up, God had challenged me with this scripture: “Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, "How can I help? (Romans 15)” God really began to challenge me to take those moments of ministry that are extremely inconvenient for me.  Like when I’m rushing from place to place, or when it really costs me something.  Ministry costs you in general, but it seems like God rewards great sacrifice.  Example: Jesus dying on the cross for us.  Nothing can be more inconvenient than dying.  And yet in his great sacrifice, his reward was all of mankind.

So, when I was in a rush to make it to a friend’s house, and a guy stopped me because he heard me speaking English, I stopped.  This guy was about to leave Romania for work in Italy, and very depressed.  He was sitting on the sidewalk sharing his last beer with his friends, when he called out to me.  As soon as we began speaking, he spilled his woes to me.

He said, “There’s no hope in Romania.  We’re all poor and everyone hurts one another.  How can you have any hope for this place?”

My reply, “Because I have Jesus.  He is my hope.”  Hope is the acknowledgment of promises, and thank God that we serve a God, who keeps all of his promises.  There is no hope without promises. 

And so I began to share Christ with this man.  God moved on this man’s heart, and he gave it to Christ.  Right there, with his beer and friends on both sides of him, we got to pray.  Here is where I began to see a great smile stretch across his face.

“I’m excited I get to go to Italy!” he said, “It’s God’s plan for me.”  For eight months, I have gotten to see what a blessing sacrifice is.  When you slow down, observe, and give out of inconvenience, you are rewarded with moments like this.  You get to see the five loaves and two fishes feed five thousand people!

We also did a lot of youth ministry.  One event I want I want to highlight here is the Noua Creatie youth group opening in Moreni.  Eugen, the pastor that we help with the youth group in Targoviste, opened his own church in Moreni, and we, with the Crossroads Church mission team, got to be part of it!  Pastor Travis from Crossroads was the speaker, and at this event our conservative estimate says seven youth gave their hearts to Christ!!!  This was a phenomenal start for the church and we couldn’t have done it without this team.  Let me just say that I really liked them.

There are so many more stories about last week, but I’ll tell you guys more when I get back in America.  It still blows my mind that God called me here as a missionary…and it blows my mind to think that in about two weeks I’ll be back in America, only to be shipped back out in January.  God is amazing!!! 

Thanks again for all of your continual support, can’t wait to see you all, and God bless!     

The Countdown Begins...

I have a question that I would like to ask you.  First, think about every gift God has given you.  Think about every talent you have...and now, let's say that if you wanted to be a Christian, you would have to give up your God given calling.  Tell me, would you still choose to follow God?

You see, the Bible tells a story about a master who divides talents (sums of money) to three servants.  All but one multiplies what he was given.  That one is then throne out of the master's presence...so now tell me, would you still follow God if the church told you that you couldn't multiply your gifts?  Put yourself in the shoes of a boy who loves to act or a girl who loves to dance...and is now told the call of God on his life is a sin.  As a Master's Commission, this is one stigma we constantly find; and a legalistic bondage that we are breaking.

Last week a group of Americans came to Targoviste to do a crusade.  We got to help them out by helping invite the city.  In the process of doing so, we received a lot of favor.  Enough favor, that were given the rare chance to do a very risky thing...perform a drama.  The drama we did was the same drama we did on tour.  This drama was about the effects of spiritual oppression on the country, and how God was raising up young people to serve him.  As we performed, some people walked out.

It wasn't because they were offended by the content, but merely that it was a drama...and drama was a sin.  However, the next day, one of the lead Romanian pastors said this, "I know a lot of people walked out when Master's Commission did their drama.  But you cannot deny that the Holy Spirit fell.  If this was wrong, then God wouldn't have come down.  We know that it was right, because of how he moved during the drama."

God really has had his hand on this drama.  When we were on tour I remember people crying, because they knew that what was said was true.  I remember seeing people come to know Christ because of what God did through that drama.  And, that night, The Holy Spirit moved on people's hearts.

I tell you this story to give a platform of what I want to say next.  This year I was a missionary, who was discovering what works, what doesn't work, and what needs to be done in Romania.  Well, this wasn't a one-time go people.  A few months ago God confirmed in me that I would be coming back next year.  I know now that I will be coming back with these two forms of ministries in mind: fine arts, and men.

From the previous story before, it's obvious why there is a need for a fine arts ministry.  One of the things I've noticed is that Romanians are a very artistic driven culture, and are deeply touched by the arts.  Music, acting, dancing, etc. make the big impacts on their lives.  Many Romanians won't become Christians, because they find a lot of fulfillment in doing what God has made them to do, and won't give it up.  There are no Christian dance teams, so they dance in the clubs. I could go down the list but I think you have the idea.  So I really want to give Christians a platform to exercise the talents God has given them.

I will be writing tour again for Master’s Commission Romania, working on the media side of things, getting films, sound, etc. together and developing a core team for fine arts ministry.  One of my visions for next year that I'm really seeking the Lord out on, is a fine arts competition as part of three big events related to the arts.  As more planning, counsel, and prayer go into this I'll have a better idea of what I can and will do.  These are just some ideas that feel right in my heart right now.

I also will be coming back to found and build a men's ministry known as ISI.  Since before my first year of Master’s Commission in The States, God has been speaking to me about starting a men's ministry.  I personally never thought it would be so soon, or me be so young.  However, it has been confirmed in me and my counsel that now is the time to get it rolling.  My deep attention to men’s ministry was spurred from something I saw during one of the crusade nights.

In the park there was a free concert that I felt the need to see.  Somehow, I felt like it would be important.  The first act of the show was a very seductively dressed woman, who did not hide her agenda.  During the concert the night before many people were talking during the performance, but that night, they were all silent.

I had heard that Tarvoviste was the center for many of the mafia rings of Romania from a first year and friend of mine, David.  I had heard from Pastor Shawn that pornography dominated the male culture.  I had heard people talk about the rise of gang violence and abuse.  I had heard these things but had never truly seen these things until that woman walked up on stage.  And then in that moment I saw it...all of it...

I figure that in that moment no one was trying to hide their struggles but willfully gave themselves over...and in that moment of all their open doors...God opened up my eyes to see things as they really were.  I could see the signs of gang and mafia life.  I could see the signs of the abused girls.  I could see the signs of drugs.  I could see the hypnotic effect of what hours of pornography can do to a man.

I may be a man of God...but I am still a man.  So I grabbed a youth student who was with me and left.  That whole day, and days to come, I was haunted by the bondage I had seen that night...and I sought God out, asking him to free those men.  So, I really do have a heart for starting this men's ministry, ISI, here next year.

As time goes by I will be keeping you updated on how everything is going as I prepare to launch these ministries next year, and how the Master's Commission Romania program is doing.  I say this, because on July 27 I will be heading back to The States to see my family, meet with ya'll, and earn more funds for next year's ministry. In the meantime, please keep the last month of my stay here in your prayers.  God is doing a lot in people's hearts during this last crunch time of our stay.  We want our First years to finish strong.  And we desire to see God to continue to move in incredible ways!

Also keep our upcoming events in your prayers too.  We are hosting another American team, and we will be taking them with us during our ministry in the girl's home, nursing home, youth nights, food drives, etc.  This group is a phenomenal group, and I really want to see God do some amazing things in them and through them.  For those who have gone on a mission's trip before, you know that if you're open to God, he'll do some amazing things in and through you.  After they leave we will be doing an event called "Experience Master's."  This gives young people a chance to experience master's commission, and the ministry we do, as a student for about four days.  Our hope is that this will build our program as well as motivate young people to change their communities.

Thank you for all of your support.  If you live in Texas or Louisiana, I will be seeing you really soon and can't wait to meet with you and tell you more, face to face, about what God is doing here!  God bless.