Like every year, we had the opportunity to carry the good news of Christmas twice. Its been several years since we first started to go caroling to Filipeni on the 7th of January. Filipeni is a village where there is no evangelical church. We continue to pray for this village. We want to have evangelistic events there whenever we can.  So we went to this village and caroled, presenting the gospel to all the people there. People usually invite us in when we go caroling. This is a good opportunity for them to hear the gospel.

Another family from church and two teenagers with my wife and I visited the families of some kids that attended our kids' programs. Their parents were not Christians, neither did they attend any church. We shared the gospel and prayed for them. We pray that the Word will change their lives.

Regarding the youth meetings, we started to meet again with the students on Thursday nights. They sometimes bring their colleagues and friends along. We share the gospel with them during the program.  The end of the meeting seems to be a more special time as the young people that are involved in this ministry spend time and talk to the new comers.

My wife talked to several girls last week. After telling them that they should have a personal relationship with God, one of them, Cristina, who was from a Christian family, asked her what it meant.

I talked to a group of young men and after asking them where they lived and what they studied, I challenged them with a question about their faith. They couldn't give an answer but they brought another young man along the next Sunday. I pray that these meetings will change their lives and no matter where they go, they'll be saved. We also pray that God will use them.

Another aspect of the ministry is the young people from the church. Some of them are very devoted and help with the Thursday meetings. I am glad to see that some of the students have a good reputation in the dorms where they live. They usually bring several people with them to church. We pray that other young people from our church will be more dedicated too and find their place in God's ministry

I continue to work with the youth leaders from our area. We get together on a monthly basis but also informally. It's been almost three months since I started to help Ion, a youth leader from a neighboring village. I help him with ideas, Bible study and sometimes, even financially, when needed. Many youth leaders feel discouraged because of the spiritual and material hardships. That's why they need support, prayer and even counseling. We are now studying together with all the youth leaders something about purity and preparation for marriage. We had good feedback when we did this study via email with some young people from our church. That is why I suggested we should study it together and see how it could help them too. Their reactions were mostly positive as they said it would help them a lot when talking to young people.

We keep praying for guidance and strength from the Lord regarding the ministry here.