We continued our work in Patrauti de Sus. God was with us as He blessed us with His grace.

My wife and I and two other families get together every week for fellowship and learn new songs. We've become good friends in Christ as we feel a bond together. We support each other in prayer and share our burdens. Personally, I feel encouraged by these meetings.

This month has been special as we had another young man from Crasna who is around 35 years old join our group. He plans to marry a young woman from our church, Maria. This special young man is full of energy and always ready to help with the ministry. I started meeting with him and another young man, Nicolae. I get to encourage them and teach them to preach. I used to do all things by myself but now I have their help. Nicolae has already started to help with the prayer meeting by sharing a short message with the church. He gave his life to Christ not long ago. Having an orthodox background, his family used to persecute him.  But recently, his mother and brothers have started coming to church. Nicolae's family have been going through a hard time as their house was damaged from the flooding in our area. Our church helped them which changed theiir opinion of us. I do my best to stay close to them and help. We pray for this family every Sunday morning at church.

Another thing that brings us joy is the new door that God has opened for us. Constantin T. is 65. He is a very intelligent man as he reads a lot. When we invited him to come to church, he gladly accepted. Now, he never misses a service even though he doesn't understand everything and still has many questions. I took him with me to the Crasna to visit the church there. There were guests from Romania that sang wonderful songs. Constantin liked it very much. I pray that God will give this very bold man light and call him by name.

We have evangelistic nights twice a month on Wednesdays. We usually have guests from Romania who help us. It is a reviving time and a blessing for all of us. The pastors usually come with choir directors which gives us the opportunity to learn new songs. The people from our church said they feel strengthened by the time of fellowship. We do our best to keep in touch and deepen our relationships.

This month we've had the opportunity to be socially involved in the people's lives. We helped those whose houses had been damaged by the flood. The Ukrainian churches sent relief to the damaged areas. We collected clothes and food and took them to Storojenet and Patrauti de Sus. My brother and I have been there twice. The house of someone from our church was also damaged. The place where we meet was a little flooded as the walls got wet and there was mud on the floor. It smells like mold.

We pray that God will provide the money we need to finish the new building. Many people from our church helped others clean their houses. They were surprised, but happy and they thanked us. It's been very important for me because I also got to know people from the village I have been praying for. I have had the opportunity to share the gospel with two brothers from Patrauti whose names are Alexei and Gheorghe. They were very receptive and realized they didn't know many things from the Bible. One problem we face is that although people come to church and listen to what we preach, they won't repent.  These two young men helped us fix something on the church. They were very receptive but they just couldn't understand what repentance meant. I pray that God will convict them in their hearts.

I continued my preaching in Patrauti and the churches in Budinet and Crasna. I also preached in Dranita at a baptism service. My sister and my grandmother were baptized. We also helped with the kid's ministry. Even though they are only a few, God gives us grace.