By the second of October, I flew over to Romania with Trisha M., my girl-friend, with her sister Tamara and her brother Tylor. We travelled for a week, visiting the HeartCry missions in Romania. The goal of our trip was to expose Trisha to the area of ministry where God has used me for almost ten years. Because we are seeking God's will for marriage, the trip to Romania played a major role in us discerning God's will. Trisha has prayed that God will open doors for her in Eastern Europe and it looks like what we are experiencing now is a part of God's answer to her prayers.

The first place we visited was Rimnicu Sarat, where Dr. Cosmin C. and my sister, Christina, serve the Lord in the establishment of a church. It was a good time of encouragement and getting to know each other. Trisha met my mother and siblings. She saw the church and the area of work. We continued our trip to Brasov where we are praying about planting a church and establishing the HeartCry office for Eastern Europe. It was a great time as we visited missionary Alex P. and his family and travelled to see the area that surrounds the city.

After two days we drove to Hungary to visit a missionary in the city of Estergom. Trisha's grandfather (pastor Don R.) was a missionary in Hungary and established this church. After a number of years, the ministry was continued by a young man who was trained by pastor Rice. The church has a good dynamic through it's testimony in the area.  Estergom is a very well known Catholic center where they have one of the largest cathedrals in Europe. The time spent in Estergom was a real blessing. We visited a couple of Christian families and friends of Trisha. We also participated in a youth meeting where I preached about having high standards for living a holy life.

On our trip back to Romania we stopped in Budapest to visit a missionary that Trisha knew from her missionary trips to Hungary in previous years.

The second week in Romania had a different dynamic as a large choir from the USA came to serve on a concert tour. We joined the choir and travelled with them for the rest of the week. We began by having two concerts on Sunday, October 11. I translated God's Word for pastor Todd B. who was on the trip with the First Baptist Church of Paducah, KY, choir. We continued to have concerts and preach God's word in other churches. In all these churches the choir sang and the pastor preached God's Word. The time was a time of joyful serving before our glorious God. We also did missionary work in the hospitals, evangelism on the streets, visited poor families, and conducted children, women and youth meetings in churches. I shared the Gospel every day to about 70 people in the hospital! We ended each day with a concert in a different church. This was a major mobilization of a number of churches from the south-eastern part of Romania. Believers invited unbelievers to come to worship and listen to the choir and the preaching of God's Word. One thing that was particularly a blessing was my meeting with a number of God's men in Romania.

A great time was in visiting the mayor of the city of Moldova Noua. We went to the city hall where he received us. We shared what God had done in the city by the sacrifice of many American believers for the cause of the Gospel. The mayor was a bit distant, but he came to a concert with his wife, and was visibly touched by the Spirit of God.

Another great blessing was visiting an orphanage that I would visit once in a while in the area of Prilipet-Bozovici. This was an interesting experience. I had planned to get the whole choir into the area, but two days before the concert we had so much snow that the roads were blocked. Consequently, we were not able to do the concert and visit the orphans.  However, the morning we were to go, we were informed of a way to get there. Although the driving was longer, we were able to go there to see the children for about two hours. Oh! What a joy to see again these angels. There is a close connection between me and these children and also the brothers, Charlie and Gaby, that minister there. Pray that God will continued to use this place for saving these little souls. The choir left, and we returned to Bucharest. On the way to Bucharest we stopped at the mission in Pucioasa where we served Sunday, October 18. I preached God's Word and Trisha played the piano. We spent a good time with Nicu and Daniella, the missionary couple from Pucioasa. Then we had another meeting with Florin and Mariana S. and Marian Simona B. They are ministering in the area of Fieni. In the evening we served in Holy Trinity Baptist Church where I had a short message and Trisha played the piano.

This trip has been an amazing time of ministering to God's people and preaching the Gospel. I encourage you to pray for the amazing work of God in Romania. We are blessed to be able to preach the Gospel freely, visit hospitals, witness on the streets, and go from door to door. We do not know how long we will have this freedom, but as long as we have it, we pray to be faithful stewards of God's Word.