in Constanta

Ro 2006 report - 10-8-2006

It is Sunday night and my day is nearing an end. It was a good day here in Constanta. The weather is cooling off, but it has not rained yet. The wind is threatening to bring some rain, but so far it has been nice. Last night the moon was full, but hiding behind the clouds. Tonight it is dark outside - and I have not seen the moon as of yet.

But, this is not a weather report, so let me say something about my time here in Constanta so far. I feel like the church here has welcomed me and the Christians are open to my teaching. Today I preached a lesson on how to revitalize the local church. Vali helped me with some of the terminology and I delivered the lesson in Romanian. I feel it was well received and several said that it was what they needed to hear. I hope that the Word of God will work in all of our hearts to help us fulfill God's plan for His church.

After church tonight all of the Christians stayed and we ate together. The visit was very good and I enjoyed talking with James and Ellen and with all the brethren here. I am looking forward to more times together with them before I leave later in the month. I hope to have time to study with them as it is my purpose here to build them up in their faith.

James has already announced that he will leave in the early part of January 2007. This is presenting a real challenge to the work here. At present there are three men in the church - Vali, Doru and George. With them is George's family - a wife, Rodica, and three children. James, Ellen and Ronnie make up the rest of the church, but as I said they will be leaving soon. From a numerical standpoint things do not look so good for the future of the church here. But, from a spiritual standpoint these few can do so much with the help of the True God in heaven who can do more than they can conceive. Only time will tell what kind of commitment they have made to serve God and how it will hold up in the face of adversity. For surely adversity will come upon this little group here.

I have proposed to have a short series of lessons on how to become better teachers. The men here seem to think that such would be profitable. I hope to be able to prepare some materials in Romanian to go with the lessons. We have even talked about inviting some of the brethren in other congregations to come an be with us for a night and part of the next day (Friday, Saturday). We will see how this develops.

As things stand now, I am staying with Vali and traveling back and forth to James' house for studies and the meetings of the church. It is not such a difficult trip, but it does take some time to go across town on a bus. I am getting the opportunity to travel on just about every kind of transportation that is available here in Romania. It makes one appreciate the freedom that comes with having your own car and being able to go where you want to go - when you want to go.

Let me close for now and say again that I appreciate so much the opportunity to be here. I thank God for the brethren who invited me to come here and the brethren who supported me to come here. May God be glorified by the efforts we make and all fruit that is borne be credited to your accounts. In everything let us give praise to our God for He is so good to us in every way.

In Him,
Alan