June 29, 2009 - Monday - This
past Thursday and Friday I (Scott) served on the teaching
team for another
History Makers "Journey." These journeys are week-long,
intensive retreats where young adults with leadership
potential (as nominated by their local churches or places of
ministry) come together to study and begin practicing
eight core values for history-making leaders. This time
I taught the core value of "Family Priority." A Romanian
friend of mine is the
regional coordinator for these events that are held 2 or
3 times each year. The next one will be in September. It is
very encouraging to teach at these events and interact with
and invest in the young adults (about 15 this time) whom God
is raising up as the next generation of Christian leaders
for Romania. Thanks for praying for this event.
This weekend we attended a crusade-type
conference sponsored primarily the Pentecostal churches in
Arad. The speaker/evangelist was Cecil Stewart from
CCN (Christian Communication Network) based in Northern
Ireland. A number of people were saved over the course of
the weekend, and several healings were reported as well.
Pray that God will bring lasting fruit in the lives of all
who were touched by God this weekend.
Today Lydia is beginning a summer high school
course in Spanish I. She and we would appreciate your
prayers for her to be able to complete the course
successfully by mid-August so she can test into Spanish II
for the regular school year that begins in late August.
Making time for study will be a challenge in her summer
schedule, and she's concerned about losing or confusing her
Romanian language :-). Scott
June 22, 2009 - Monday - Just
to bring all of you up to date... I (Paula) went to a
"western"-style medical clinic in Budapest on Friday to get
another opinion on my mysterious leg infection. After
several people expressed growing concern, I decided it was
time to seek further attention. I was actually thinking I
would need to have the wound lanced, and I didn't want that
done here if possible. To make a long story short, the
doctor feels that the infection just needs more time to heal
(continued antibiotic) and to be kept moist and clean so it
can drain properly. So, I am continuing this course of
action and will depend upon your prayers to bring on the
healing. :-) I am shocked to report that the appointment did
cost me $200...this made me feel more sick than the
infection itself! However, I am trying to remember that this
was not a surprise to God and He will provide.
Yesterday
a dear friend of mine from our church, Roxi, was married.
Scott performed the service in English AND Romanian. He did
a great job! :-) Scott and I were also asked to be the Naşi
(pronounced nahsh, roughly translated as god-parents) for
Roxi and her new husband, Mac. I was thinking during the
ceremony how blessed we are to have gotten to know so many
people...and to love them and be loved in return.
Thursday of this week, I will have the
awesome privilege to sing with a new friend of mine from
England, Lara, who has moved here to work with worship
leaders. It is certainly a blessing for me to "hang" with
her and share our mutual passion for worship and worship
leaders here in Romania. I never in my life imagined she
would ever ask me to sing with her...but she did. (You can
check out her songs on
YouTube under
Lara Martin.) Please
pray for me...this venue on Thursday will be a businessman's
breakfast led by
Cecil Stewart, a well-known Irish
evangelist. I desire to be a blessing...!
Also on Thursday, Scott leaves for the
popular Romanian resort town of
Baile Herculane to teach at
another
History Makers conference with young Romanian
leaders. Pray for his teaching time! Paula
June 17, 2009 - Wednesday - An
update on Paula’s mysterious leg wound. With some guidance
from a medical friend in the US we were able to find a
different antibiotic here that is more specific for
skin-type infections (yes, we can still get most meds here
without a prescription). She has been self-medicating with
this new antibiotic along with frequent cleaning and a
disinfectant solution given by the doctor here. The wound
has improved in terms of being less sore and the size of the
hard area under and around the wound shrinking. However, the
center of the wound is still open, sore, and showing
significant infection. So while there is some improvement,
there is also still a long ways to go.
Paula will finish the first course of
antibiotics today and then begin a second course. We are
also consulting with a doctor-friend in the US and are
considering going to a high-quality medical clinic in
Budapest, Hungary. Thanks for continuing to pray for Paula
and this concern.
June 10, 2009 - Wednesday - A
special request for prayer... Paula has developed a serious
infection in a wound (of mysterious origin) on the calf of
her right leg. She has been to a local doctor twice, is on
antibiotics (starting a second kind today), and is keeping
the wound as clean as possible. As well as this normal
course of treatment, she spent one night with a slice of
tomato tied to the wound (a recommendation of a Romanian
friend to decrease the infection...the doctor suggested a
crushed cabbage leaf). This is the second skin infection she
has had in the last couple of months. This morning she and
the doctor discussed her family’s history of diabetes (from
which her sister died of complications), but her glucose
test came back well within normal limits. Please pray for
the healing of this infection. Thanks!
June 5, 2009 - Friday - We've
recently had a new Christian radio station (102
AltFM.ro) start up here in Arad. One of our good friends
(he's also one of church leaders), Casius, has been invited
to host the morning show from 7-10AM every weekday morning.
The show is a mixture of contemporary Christian music
(English and Romanian), news, current events, and interviews
with different people from the community. This morning, I
(Scott) was the invited guest and was live on the air with
Casius for almost 20 minutes. The interview focus was
twofold: 1) telling people why we are living in Romania,
and 2) a little introduction about what the "Free Methodist
Church" is (Methodism is almost completely unknown here).
Casius' show was also focusing on Pentecost today as this
coming Sunday is
Pentecost Sunday on the Orthodox church calendar, so he
asked me to comment on the significance of Pentecost for me
and the church I represent. To be honest, I was a bit
nervous as I sat down in the studio because I've never done
live radio before, but after we got started talking things
seemed to go pretty well. If you'd like to hear the
interview in full,
right-click HERE and save the mp3 file to your computer.
Then you can play it whatever audio program you choose (or
put it in iTunes and play it on your iPod). Oh, the
interview is in English and Romanian. We chose to do it that
way because, while I do speak Romanian, it is nowhere close
to good enough for radio :-). Scott
May 31, 2009 - Sunday - As I
write this
update I (Scott) am on the train (yes, the new
train cars here have electrical outlets for computers!)
returning from a weekend visit to the southwestern city of
Drobeta-Turnu-Severin.
I've
written previously about my visits to this city and the
growing relationship between myself and
Ionu
ţ
Corlan and the Smirna church plant that he has been planting in this
city. This was yet another visit for relationship-building,
encouragement, and teaching/preaching, and a great visit it
was! Church planting can be pretty lonely at times even in
places where Christians get along well, but in this city
(and Romania in general) there are many divisions and
significant suspicion between different churches and
pastors. So for a church planter like Ionuţ who is
establishing a very different type of church from
traditional evangelical churches in this country, ministry
can be even lonelier.
Spencer, our new
colleague in Arad, accompanied me on this trip (pictured
here with Ionut and Jenni's youngest son). We began the
weekend by attending a Friday evening Bible study led by one
of the church leaders and hosted in the home of a new
believer. Saturday morning Ionuţ gathered his church leaders
and one other church planter from the area (others were
invited but couldn't make it), and I taught some church
planting principles from my own experience and from Neil
Cole's book, "Organic Church." Saturday afternoon and
evening was hang-out time with Ionuţ and his family
(wife Jenni and 3 kids). Then this morning Spencer shared
his testimony and I preached for their Sunday worship
gathering.
For about
two months now I have been working with another church
plant, this one in our home city of Arad. "Adoram" (Hebrew
for "God is exalted") consists of a core group of 20-25
young people (late-teens and twenty-somethings) who feel
God's leading to begin a new church that steps away from some of the traditional expectations of Evangelical
churches
in Romania and that is
specifically designed for and focused
on reaching the younger generations of Romania. No one in
this church has training or much experience in church
leadership, let alone how to start a new one, so God has
brought together their hunger to learn and my calling to
coach and train. I've been teaching nearly every week at
their Thursday night gathering, and a great relationship is
developing.
So as you
pray for our ministry, pray especially for these two new
Romanian churches: "Smirna" and "Adoram." Pray for their
healthy development, for growth in their leaders, protection
from satan's attacks, and multiplication of these "new
wineskins" for a new Romania. Scott
Thanks for stopping by for a
visit. We arrived in Romania in January, 2006. After
several years of ministry in the USA, God has given us an
opportunity to come alongside some great people in Romania who are
living for Christ and wanting to share Him with others. God has
called us to help extend, through leadership development and church
planting, what He is already doing in Arad,
Romania and beyond.
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