evangelism in Constanta

Romania - October 11, 2006 - a report

Things have been busy here in Constanta. I have met with the men in the church several times and yesterday a few of us went out into the park to preach the gospel to passersby. My time spent with James has been profitable. I feel like there are many challenges ahead for the church here in Constanta, but with God's help everything can work out for good - even if it is hard.

As I have already noted many of the discussions we have had involve what will happen with the church here after James will leave in January 2007. I can see that this is a serious concern for the Christians here. If I can it will be my purpose to try to prepare them to trust in God more completely and to commit themselves more fully to being all that they can be as Christians. There are some good hearts here and they will need encouragement as they face their challenges.

Yesterday, I went into the park with James and George. I took my laptop (17 inch screen) and ran a presentation on it (powerpoint). The lesson was entitled "Ai murit cu Hristos?" (Have you died with Christ). We had a number of people stop and look - and several who stayed and interacted with us with the lesson. I began the presentation by asking a young boy if he had time to watch a presentation on the computer. This was only the beginning.

For about an hour people came and went. The young boy helped me by reading the passages on the screen. At the beginning the park security (two men in uniform) came by to see what was going on. I tried to involve them in the lesson and they responded, but left after their curiosity was satisfied that we were not doing anything wrong. But, the highlight of the lesson was a young man who stayed through the whole presentation. We even made an appointment with him to study later that evening. He came and we studied through two more presentations and several charts. I hope the Word of God will find a place in his heart. He promised he would come again next week.

One interesting event that happened while we were in the park was when a man who had been interacting with us took an article out of his bag to show us what Jesus looked like. It was a picture of a young boy that was supposedly taken from computer models of the images found on the shroud of Turin. Accompanying the article was also several pictures of the shroud. As he introduced this into the discussion, I used the opportunity to show how the scriptures will protect us from false teaching and error. By turning to John 20:7-8 and showing what the Bible says about the "linen clothes" - and pointing out that the shroud of Turin does NOT conform to the scriptural description - I was able to convince those standing by that the shroud was "un fals" (false).

I am looking forward to returning to the parks with the laptop. I have determined that the presentation I used yesterday is too long and in some ways too complicated. Even though it is a good study for those who are well acquainted with the Bible, it seems a bit much for many who have little or no Bible knowledge. I am trying to get some different material translated while I am here and we hope to be using that while we are preaching in the park.

I am finding that preaching in the Romanian language has its challenges (for me). I can express myself well enough to be understood, but it is easy for the Romanians to know that I am not a Romanian. But, they do not know immediately "what" I am. Some have expressed the idea that I must be a Romanian who left the country and now I have come back - and for this reason my grammar is not always correct. Others have suggested I am from Turkey, or from somewhere in Europe. A few will guess that I am from America. I do not mind them guessing about my origins as long as they will listen to the message I am trying to bring to them. It is the Word of God that will save men's souls - and this is true in whatever language it is preached.

I have made a small flyer to handout today, it is an announcement for a lesson I plan to preach Sunday if we have visitors. I will talk about Jacob's ladder and show in the scriptures how Jesus is OUR ladder to heaven. If we do not have any visitors, I will likely preach on a different topic, something designed to address more specifically the needs of the brethren here. There are many needs, not the least of which is to do more evangelism. But, if visitors come as a result of our handouts, Jacob's ladder will be the topic for Sunday.

The men here have agreed to meet on a Friday and Saturday (October 20-21) for special studies on the subject of "how to become better teachers". I learned that they had been exposed to similar material recently, but I hope the lessons I have will complement their prior studies. After discussing it with James, I believe the approach of my material will be somewhat different. I asked if they wanted these lessons because this had been one of the concerns that they had expressed to me, that of becoming better prepared to teach and preach the gospel.

The weather has been wonderful so far with cool temperatures and sunny days. The moon has been wonderful each evening (when it was not hiding behind the clouds). I hope the days will remain nice enough to allow us to work more in the park. I hope the message of God will shine brightly from our efforts and reach the hearts of the people. That is all that I can hope for... that someone will turn back to God and a soul will be saved. To that end we pour ourselves out for Christ.

in Him
alan