Last night in Romania - 2008

It is late Monday night and Ben and I have packed to return home tomorrow. There will be a lot of clothes to be washed in WV when we get home. We have been gone for three weeks and it has been a good trip to Romania. In many ways things have gone well, in some ways better than I expected.

Yesterday we received word that Charles Nicks arrived safely in Constanta and will begin his work there. The brethren in Constanta do need encouragement. It had been my plan to bring George Badara with us to Pitesti to work in the gospel, but that just did not work out. Perhaps there will be another opportunity to spend more time with George. I hope the church there will find a way to get things together and move forward in their work for the Lord. There have been many setbacks in the work in Constanta in recent years, but there remain a few who hold to their faith in Christ. It is my earnest prayer that they will find a way to establish what remains and move forward in their faith.

The brethren in Bucuresti seem to be doing well. They received us for two weekends with politeness. It was truly good to see Christians that we have known for years and even meet a few new ones. Although there seemed to be some concern about things written on this blog after my last visit in Romania (October 2006), there should be no further reason for concern after this visit. They treated us very well and it was a pleasure to be here.

I would be remiss to not say anything about how Cezar was a most gracious host. When in Bucuresti we stayed in his apartment. At present Cezar seems to be doing very well, but we learned that recently he had a serious infection that was life threatening. To look at him now you would never know it. It is our hope that his health will continue to be good and he will have strength and energy all of his remaining days.

Liviu came by to see us tonight. We talked some about the work we did in Pitesti and even discussed future possibilities for even more work to be done there. In Morgantown, WV we are planning a seminar for evangelism (cf. Evangelism2go.com - look for the 2008 seminar button) for this coming November. I told Liviu that I would try to interest some workers to come to Romania to help in an extended effort for next summer. IF things can work out for men to come, perhaps we will be able to lay a foundation for a scriptural work in Pitesti. We will see what we can do - and what the Lord will do for us.

I want to thank all who have followed our work through this blog. I am new to "blogging", even though I did this on a previous trip. I find it a good way to get information to people around the world, almost immediately. I wish that the trip back home could be as fast. If all goes well we will be in Pittsburgh, PA before midnight tomorrow - and then to Morgantown, WV sometime after midnight. Keep us in your prayers as we travel. Until next time, we remain yours...

in Christ,
alan and Ben