Early Christmas for Sunday School Class in Vinga

Today, Nov. 27, was our last Sunday before going home for the winter. We took the children in the Sunday School class their Christmas bags. They were surprised and pleased. Liji is pictured with the children. She and Catalina work together teaching the children in Sunday School.

Maria (in the middle) was just a baby when we first came to Vinga. Now she is 8 years old. Her baby dedication was the first one we attended in Romania. Next to her in black is her younger brother.

This little girl can't wait to see what's inside. She is new to the church. We have seen Abel and Dani (on either side of her) grow up and I taught them in Sunday School. Dani's little sister Lydia is growing up fast. She will be 3 this winter.

Below, Buddy shared with the church our goodbyes and assured them of our prayers while we will be gone. We will return in March of 2012.

Visit to a Nursing Home in Arad - Nov. 26, 2011

The sisters in the church from Vinga Baptist and Osana Baptist wanted to do a project for the people in a nursing home. We decided on a bag of fruit and snacks. Enough was purchased for each person to receive one. Also, I had 15 blankets that were given to us by a church in Dothan, and we took them in addition to the fruit bags. There were 15 of us who went to visit, sing with , pray for and just encourage the patients in the nursing home. The ladies sung with us and many of them had tears as we sung. They appreciated the opportunity to have someone come and sing and pray with them. Bibles were taken and given to the ones who didn't have one. As you can see the lady in the picture below received a Bible, along with her fruit and blanket.

This lady also received a Bible.

This precious lady below is 103 years young!! She had a sweet smile as she posed for a picture with her new blanket.

This lady touched me. I watched her as we sung and she sung with us and tearing were running down here face. She was also very proud of her new blanket.

The group singing for the ladies.

One of the sisters from Osana church is sharing a few words of encouragement to this patient.

This lady was happy to receive a Bible and she began to read it. Pray for the Lord to speak to her heart through His word!

Our group is sharing another song with the patients.

This is one of the staff of the nursing home. Her face lit up with a big smile as she was also given a bag of fruit, along with the other 2 staff member there.

This was our first opportunity to visit a nursing home in Arad. The people there are lonely just as they are in the U.S. This time of year they receive more visitors but we need to be aware these people need visits all throughout the year, not just holidays.

"White Friday" in Romania - Nov. 25, 2011

On Thursday November 24, we celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving Day at home, eating too much turkey and dressing and just having an afternoon of rest and relaxing, much the same as many of you did in America. Then all the peace and quiet disappears and you wake up to the chaos of "Black Friday" as it is called in America. The biggest shopping day of the year. Well in Romania neither Thanksgiving or Black Friday are celebrated, but we did wake up to a cold "White Friday" as you can see from the pictures above. This is ice on the trees and ground, it is not snow. As I write this the temperature is 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It is beautiful when you are on the inside looking out, but not so great when you are outside in it. We hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and hopefully this year we can all remember to be thankful every day for the many blessings our Heavenly Father bestows upon us all, each and every day of our lives.

Nov. 19, Ladies Mtg.

Tables set up for Ladies meeting.

Refreshments to be served.

Each lady went home with a gift for Christmas. They were as happy as the children from the Bible Clubs to receive something.

On Nov. 19, we held our monthly Ladies Meeting here at our house. We had 13 ladies in attendance and it was a blessed time of Bible Study, prayer and fellowship. Our lesson was on forgiveness and how important it is to forgive those who have hurt you. Scriptures teaches, if we are not willing to forgive then how can our Heavenly Father forgive us when we do wrong.

Baby Blessing of Ruben Daniel Balaceanu

On Nov. 13, Buddy shared a message of encouragement to the family and church during the Baby Blessing (Baby Dedication as we know it) of Ruben Daniel Balaceanu, the son of the Pastor Bro. Florin in Agrisu Mare. Pictured above is Ruben and his family and the pastors as they are praying for blessings for him as his parents raise him up in a Christian home under the teachings of the Lord.

Missionary Getaway in Budapest - Nov. 7-10, 2011

The Christian Hospitality Network, an organization in the U.S. hosted a 3 night getaway for the missionaries serving in Europe. It was an all expense paid (except for transportation to get there) time of rest and relaxation in Budapest, Hungary. We had a wonderful time. We stayed at a hotel on Margaret Island on the Danube River. On Wednesday we took a walk around the island and took a few minutes to feed the deer who are housed on the island along with horses and exotic birds.

Below is the serving line for the evening meal.

And of course the best part of any meal, desserts!!

This is a husband and wife doctor team who were among the hosting team. They gave free checkups to all who needed them.

Bro. Paul, who is the founder of CHN. He is sharing words of encouragement in the evening worship time we had nightly. He is a blessing by serving the missionaries with this gift of relaxation and rest who are faithful to serve our Lord the foreign fields. We appreciate His faithfulness to serve the Lord in this way.

Early Thanksgiving in Romania

Due to the different schedules of the missionaries going home for furlough this year, we decided to have an early Thanksgiving meal on Saturday, Nov. 5. We had turkey and all the trimmings. 11 were in attendance. Everyone enjoyed the meal and time of fellowship. Among the group were American, British and Romanian. It was a great evening.

Nov. 2, 2011 Bible Club in Arad

We had our Bible Club in Arad on Nov. 2. We shared a Bible story with the children and then we gave them their Christmas bags since we will not be meeting with them again before we go home for furlough on Dec. 1. Emma Balaceanu will continue weekly Bible Club meetings with the children until we return in March.

Passing out the Christmas bags.

Below are 2 pictures of the children looking in their bags to see what they received. They seemed to enjoy the gifts.

Honoring a Faithful Servant in the church

Bro. Gheorghe Ille was honored on Oct. 30, for his 50 plus years of service in the Vinga Baptist Church. Bro. Ille and his wife are moving to Atlanta, Georgia, USA to be closer to their children. It was a day of celebrating and remembering but also a bit of sadness in saying goodbye to a faithful servant of the church. He served by working with the young people in earlier years and also as a Deacon in the church. He and his wife will be greatly missed. Nov. 2 is their departure date for the U.S.

Bro. Daniel & Dorina pictured with the Ille's.

Thanksgiving Service - Oct. 23, 2011

Sunday, Oct. 23, our church in Vinga celebrated what we would call a "Harvest Day" Service in which special thanks for given to God for the blessings of the year and the harvest of fruits and vegetables of the season. Above the youth are sharing in song. As you can see the church has been decorated with fruits of the harvest.
Below is Nelu Fat, the deacon sharing a song and the word "Multumesc" is on the screen which is the Romanian word for Thank you. Thank You God for all of your blessings.

The ladies of the church share a song.

Bro. Daniel shares a message of How we should give God Thanks in everything! After the service we enjoyed a time of fellowship and had a table of fresh fruits and sweet breads to eat.

Oct. 9, 2011

On Sunday evening, Oct. 9, 2011 the area village churches met together for a special service in the village of Sagu. Each church shared in testimony and song. It was a special time together to fellowship and hear the word of God shared.

Oct. 22, 2011 - Agrisu Mare Bible Club & Christmas Bags

On Oct. 22, 2011 we held our last Bible Club for the year. These children are a blessing to work with. We have enjoyed going monthly to Agrisu Mare to share stories from God's word with them.

The children working on their color sheets.

Now for the fun time. Since this is our last Bible Club for the year, we gave them their Christmas bags. We feel they appreciated and loved the gifts they were given. Thanks to your faithful donations we are able to do this for the children. You will see in pictures below the faces of these precious children as they look to see what is inside.

These 2 pictures show the children with the stocking caps they picked out. They will sure help to keep them warm this winter. Thank you for the donation of them!