We are very thankful to the Lord for the witnessing opportunities He has given us during the month of December! The highlights of the month were the outreach in the dorms and the evangelistic Christmas concert. During a few weeks before Christmas we went in the dorms with questionnaires about the meaning of Christmas. We had been praying for open doors for sharing the Gospel and for open minds and hearts. We went in pairs and we were so glad that almost each group had good reports. Almost every time we would end up staying for almost one hour or more in one room, talking with the students about the gospel. What was the most surprising thing for me was that many of the students, who did not seem interested in spiritual things at the beginning of the conversation, listened very, very carefully when we started telling them the Gospel.

I remember three guys who listened without interrupting us for a long time. Very encouraging was a discussion I had with a girl. She respected her grandparents very much, who started reading the Bible a while back and living accordingly. But she told me it was impossible to follow the Bible in such a world we live in. So I got to share with her that being a Christian means to have a new life from God, and He enables you to love and obey Him, and only through Christ's sacrifice in our place we can be saved. I gave her a New Testament and a tract, and she seemed very open and willing to read it. May the Lord work in her soul.

One other day we talked to a girl who was very religious. She told us a lot about tradition and how you need to do many things in order to get to God, and how the dead saints help you if you pray to them. I told her that the Bible teaches us otherwise and that salvation is only by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works. I opened my New Testament to read to her, but she told me: "That is not good" (meaning that the evangelical Bible is not the true Bible). She handed to me her Orthodox Bible. I started reading to her from Romans 3 and from other passages which show that salvation is only by faith in Christ. I asked her if she read the Bible and she said that she is not prepared to and that the Bible cannot be understood by common people.  She said that maybe one day she will read it. It was so sad to see this religious girl who reads all kinds of religious books, goes to monasteries, and keeps the fastings in order to get to God.  But would not read what God had written to mankind saying that we would not understand it. There are so many religious people who just do not accept God's way of salvation, but stick to their own way!  This makes me realize even more the grace the Lord has given me to open my eyes to see Christ as my only hope!

On December 15th we had a big evangelistic Christmas concert. We rented a public hall in downtown Bucharest and gave away almost 10,000 fliers on the universities and on campus. On the day of the concert we had a freezing and snowy day. We were wondering who was going to get out of the house on such a day of bad weather. But to our surprise the 400 seats were filled up very quickly. Some people who came after 7 o'clock found no seats and left. There were probably about 150 non-Christian students. Some left after a while, but many stayed for the whole program. There was a pastor who talked about the meaning of Christmas. We gave away some New Testaments and tracts. May the Lord draw these students to Himself and reveal Christ to them! We even saw one of the students who was witnessed to in the dorms and invited to the concert!

Lately, one of our biggest concerns was the genuineness of faith in some of the students involved in our group. Many of them come from different towns and cities and grew up in evangelical churches. We clearly see the evidence of repentance and faith in some of them. They show the fruit of obedience to the Lord and growth in holiness. But in others, it seems that there is no reality. They consider themselves to be Christians because they agree with the doctrines of the Christian faith and have not gone to live in the world. As I wrote before in October, we studied the book "Wasted Faith" by Jim Elliff in our meetings. We saw the Lord stir some hearts to question the genuineness of their faith. I had two very good and deep conversations with two girls about the state of their souls. It is difficult to know what counsel to give because I don't know whether they are saved or not. Please pray for them to truly repent and believe in Christ. I have a similar burden for other people. Please pray that the Lord would give me opportunities to talk to them about these things if He wants me to. I need much wisdom. In the upcoming four meetings we will read and discuss the first three chapters from brother Charles Leiter's book Justification and Regeneration. We hope and pray that the Lord will use this material to bring salvation to the lost and strengthen the faith of the believers.

Last month I started a new discipleship group with three girls. They are professing Christians and grew up in church. Please pray for this new group and for wisdom in teaching and helping them grow, or in leading them to Christ if they are not saved. Please pray that the Lord will give me discernment and love to know what to tell them and when. I need the Lord's wisdom and guidance so much. As Paul said, "and who is adequate for these things?" II Corinthians 2:16