Give Thanks

Emma Marie

Vivy, Daniela and Flori

Psa 95:2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise.

Last Thursday Randy and I joined 7 other Missionary couples to celebrate Thanksgiving. One couple joined us from Moldova and another couple will soon be moving to Braila. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and a great thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings!

As I reflect on our blessings from God, quickly I realize how impossible it would be to count them all. My salvation, my marriage, health, family....on and on and on. The pictures I have attached to this blog are just 2 blessings that I chose to expound upon. In January we were truly blessed to become Grandparents to a precious little girl named Emma Marie. Instantly she won our hearts. What a pleasure and absolute joy it has been to be Grandparents, even at long distance. Randy and I are so thankful God has given man the knowledge to develop computer technology and skype which allows us to interact with Emma very frequently. It is our desire to have a spiritual influence upon her life as well as her 8 year old sister Kimber's. As Grandparents, we want to see our Grandchildren accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Please pray for Randy and me that God will help us to be the Godly Grandparents that Emma and Kimber deserve. We are indeed so very thankful for Emma Marie and Kimber to be a part of our lives.

Vivy, Daniela and Flori are only 3 of the young ladies from Galati who were in the weekly Bible study group at my apartment in Galati. They came to Bucuresti and spent the night with Randy and me. What a joy to have them in our home. I miss this group of young ladies, as well as Katie, Gabby, Andrea and Larisa who aren't shown in the picture. All of these young ladies are very special, they have grown and matured in their walk with the Lord in the nearly 2 years that I have known them. I am very proud of them and their love for God and their willingness to serve him. They have been a blessing to my life. God richly blessed me when He brought them into my home each week, I will be forever thankful.

I am truly blessed and so thankful, God is so good. I hope each of you took time out of your busy schedule to ponder over all your many blessings.

Emanuel Baptist Christian Church

BISERICA CRESTINA BAPTISTA EMANUEL

Randy and I would like to introduce you to what we will consider our home church while we are here in Bucuresti. Emanuel Baptist Christian Church is located in the Southeast section of the city, this area is tagged "Berceni". Vali Radu is the Pastor of this flock of approximately one hundred. EBCC's congregation greets you with a firm hand shake and a very warm welcome that truly encourages you to sit down, enjoy the service, praise and fellowship.

Pastor Ovi of Holy Trinity in Galati and Pastor Vali are acquainted with one another.
As we said goodbye to Pastor Ovi and thanked him for all his help while we were in Galati, we told him we were attending Emanuel Church, he was pleased.

Biserica Crestina Baptista Emanuel and Pastor Vali has asked us to partner with them to instruct and encourage the congregation in evangelism. Pastor Vali is very eager to get out into the community of Berceni which encompasses the church and work with Randy to train his people how to evangelize the neighborhood for Christ.I will be involved in Bible study groups. There will be a group with the college age young ladies of the church and also a Bible study with the women of the church. The goal for these young ladies and women is to invite lost friends to the meetings.
We are extremely excited to receive this invitation to be a part of something of such importance as teaching and disciplining others.

Please pray for us as begin this new ministry. Pray that as God goes before us we will always follow his footsteps, that we will be a Christ like example to those following our leadership. Pray for Emanuel Baptist Christian Church and their burden to reach out to the lost in the community that many seeds will be planted and that they will see lost souls saved.

This Is Not Disney World

This is one of the remaining original gates of the wall that once protected the old City of Brasov, Romania. The town of Brasov was founded by Teutonic Knights at the beginning of the 13th century, no, this isn't Disney World!

Randy and I have recently moved to Bucuresti. Our team mates Bob and Margie Craig are hosting a short-term mission team from their hometown Hannibal, MO. Last week they wanted to take the team on a one day excursion to Brasov for a visit to the Black Church. The Black Church earned it's name from the great fire of the 1600's which destroyed the entire city and left the church severely damaged and covered with soot. We were invited to join the team for the day and thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship with people whose hearts are for "Missions" and sacrifice so much to come and work along side those of us on the field toward the advancement of God's Kingdom.

During the week in Bucuresti Bob, Margie, the team from Hannibal, Randy and Jeremy worked on the streets with the college students. This is Bob's target group. They made many contacts, passed out gospel tracts, talked to the students about Jesus Christ, and handed out New Testaments. There are up to 250,000 college students in the city of Bucuresti, pray for Bob and Margie as they work to develop relationships and start Bible studies with some of these students.

Randy and I would ask that you pray for us as we develop our new ministry here as well. We have attended a very nice, warm and friendly church here in Bucuresti. Randy is planning to meet with the Pastor to see just how he can work with him to be an asset to his church and community. Our team leader, Richard Clark has been more than helpful and encouraging since our arrival. He has assured us of nationals available and willing to help us with our ministry for translation and encouraged us to use them as much as necessary. We are excited to get out and get things rolling. Winter in rolling in and soon our work will be mostly limited to the metro down in the subways. We covet your prayers and thank you for your faithfulness in lifting us up to our Heavenly Father.

Randy and Dawn Nicholas

Randy and I have had the privilege of meeting Randy and Dawn Nicholas, who arrived in Bucuresti about the same time we returned from the States. On this cold blustery evening we had taken them to Kaufland for a supply of groceries and snacks for their upcoming language classes.

Randy and Dawn were one of the last Masters units that will be coming out of The Mission Board. Due to the economic crisis and how it effected the Southern Baptist Lottie Moon Christmas Offering of 2008, many changes and cut-backs have been made. At this point in time there will no longer be a Masters Program. They are both very thankful to have made it in before the final cut was made. Randy and Dawn, after completing their language course, will work in Braila, Romania with Troy Geddess.

During their remaining time here in Bucuresti, it is a pleasure to worship, fellowship and form a new friendship with these nice people from Tennessee.

We ask that you would make it a matter of prayer that each and every one of you would dig as deep into your pockets as you can for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year. There is much at stake and many missionaries that want to remain on the field serving the Lord. We thank you for all your prayers.

Sharing Jesus With The C.I.A.

Mat 19:14 Jesus said, "Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Last Wednesday night, Sept. 16Th, I had the privilege of being the guest at the C.I.A. meeting at Bethel Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO. Kimber, Emma's big sister invited me to come speak to her class. Each member of the class received a badge for getting to meet and interview a "real live missionary"!

I was warned by Michelle, their leader, that the group thought I was a celebrity. I assured them that I was an ordinary person just like them, no one special; just a person that loves Jesus and had answered the call the go and tell the good news about Jesus Christ to men and women and boy and girls in Romania.

The boys and girls watched a 5 minute dvd with pictures of Romania, I talked a while and then we had a question and answer session. They were very attentive to the dvd, asked very pertinent questions and were a very polite audience.

I presented each of the children with a bracelet from Romania and asked them to pray for Randy and I and the people of Romania each time they meet on Wednesday night. I was richly blessed to share with these precious children about God's work going on in Romania. Who knows, God could call out one of these children to be a missionary someday.

Home

My Pastor Donny Emmons (on the right) and my associations Director of Missions Matt Tanner. I am very blessed to have these Godly men in my life. They are great encouragers.

Hello everyone, I know it has been some time since you have heard from us here on the blog or by emails.
We arrived in Kansas City to meet our family who lives there which includes Emma. We have been having a great time getting to know her. We have been traveling a lot to be with other family and friends. We still have several stops to make.
It has been good to get to go to some of our churches who pray for us, but we have only had time to visit a few of them. This past Sunday I was at our home church Living Word and at our old home Lone Hill. I had previously been to FBC Cameron, FBC Charlestown, and am planning on being at First Liberty this Wednesday. We have been encouraged at every stop so far. Our family and friends are taking very good care of us. I want to thank them all for the kindness and love that they have shown for us.

Our Bags Are Packed...We're Ready To GO!

This picture is a little exaggerated, we don't have THAT many bags! However, 2 days ahead of our flight time and we are packed!

Folk needless to say, this is a time of which we have eagerly been anticipating. Randy and I are both so excited. It's like Christmas in our apartment,we've made a list and we've checked it twice. How dreadful it would be if we left behind even one of the special little things we have picked up for Emma, our precious Granddaughter! Not to mention all the other important things we mustn't forget.
Randy and I are going to enjoy every minute with our family and friends back in the States. We both have been blessed with wonderful Christian families and friends who have been an important prayer support for us these last 17 months on the mission field. Spending time with them will be a refreshing soothing ointment to our body and souls.

On another note, are you ready to go? When your time comes to travel, are you ready? Do you have your ticket, your boarding pass are you clear to proceed with no problems? I'm talking on a spiritual level, when you die and leave this world, are you going to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus Christ or eternity in Hell with Satan? Have you checked the destination on your ticket? I'd advise you to do some serious soul searching, the Bible says our life is but a vapor. Your appointed time for travel from this world could arrive at any second and catch you not prepared! Choose for yourself where your destination will be. God's word also tells us that it is not His desire that any man should perish.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Please heed the word of God, be ready, be prepared when your time arrives for travel...Be ready to go!