THE  MINISTRY  IN  TEREBLECIA

I was there five times this month. I preached three sermons and led two Bible study meetings in which we continued to study Titus. After the church services I offered counseling to 10 people from the church. I also visited 6 families, 2 of them are very young. It is sad to see them fight and going through difficult times. I spent 4-5 hours with these two families.  We talked and prayed for them. I have never seen young families have such problems since I became a pastor. I have to spend hours, days and weeks to counsel them. The reasons they fight are insignificant ones. They have their own demands and whims and they don't want to let themselves be changed by God.

We took a written test with the church on 2 Timothy and I was glad to see that people read on a regular basis. They all did well. The test challenged them to read and study the Bible. I believe in the power of the Word to change lives.

THE  MINISTRY  IN BAHRANESTI

God helped me to visit the church there four times. I preached twice and started a Bible study on Philemon and Jude. After the church service I counseled six people from the church and talked to one of the church's neighbors. I told him about repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ. He was pretty resistant at the beginning but he eventually admitted he needed to repent so that he could be saved.

I also visited four families with whom I prayed. There is a lot of work to do in this church, the people here are weak in their faith, they spread gossip instead of studying and living the Bible.

THE  MINISTRY  IN ODESA  AND  TRANSCARPATIA

Two other gentlemen from the church and I left to visit the area of Transcarpatia at the end of April, beginning of May. I visited several villages there. There is a Christian family in Biserica Alba and there is also a church, but we don't have a missionary there. The village is inhabited by around 10,000 people. Our prayer is that God will provide a missionary family from this village. I preached there too and spent one hour praying for the salvation of this village. After that we left for Slatina. There is a church of about 50 members there. I preached there also. We left for Dibrova in the evening. There is only a mission there and seven Christian people in a village of around 10,000. We need a missionary family there too because the actual missionaries (from Romania) are supposed to go back home within six months. The need for ministers in the Romanian villages is greater and greater.

On Sunday morning we went to Poroscovo where they were going to dedicate the church. Most of the kids there will not go to the Ukrainian schools so they cannot read. There is a church there and also a missionary family, Ion and Gabi P. (they used to minister in Bahranesti). Many people came to the dedication service. I preached the gospel both in Ukrainian and Russian so that they could all understand it. The people who live in this village speak an older version of Romanian mixed with Russian and Ukrainian. Around 30 of them received Christ and are going to be baptized. The children have lessons every day. They are taught to read, write and learn Bible verses in the Romanian and Ukrainian alphabet. The missionaries there told me that they could not even hold the pen or draw a line at the beginning.

There are many things to do in this area as there are several other Romanian villages that no one cares about. They live so poorly, similar to the tribes in Africa.

In the afternoon, we left for a village named Mircea. We found around 40 children and 15 Romanian families there. They lived as if they did not belong to anyone. We are thinking and praying about reaching them with the gospel too.

I will have to visit Dibrova and Slatina next month.

THE  MINISTRY  IN  CERNAUTI

I met together with the other missionaries to have fellowship in the Word, pray and share experiences from the mission field. After that, we planned the activities for the following month.

We visited the churches there too. We went to Pasat where I preached. After the service I offered spiritual counseling to four people. God provided support for them to lay the foundation of a church building, and Lord willing, we'll build up the walls and put up the roof this summer. People in our culture will not go to someone's place to pray or hear the gospel. They want to go to a specific building. That is why we want to finish the building.

Vancauti is another village where we have a mission. There are only seven Christians in a village of 4000 people. I preached there and two visitors came to church. From this village, we left for Tarsauti and I preached there. I encouraged the people to help the ministry in Vancauti. After the church service, we had fellowship with five ministers and their families. We prayed together for the local ministry.