December - 2009

 

Dear loved ones at MBC,
 
   We celebrated our 8th year anniversary on Dec. 6 and we praise God for bringing an attendance of 300 though short of what we have prayed for. We know that God has a purpose for everything and it was a great joy seeing lost souls turn to the living God. Help us pray that we can disciple these souls so they will also grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 

   Malasiqui Bible Church is sending four of our elders to the Bible School at Golden State School of Theology (GSST) where Bro. Marcelo had his formal bible schooling. We thank God so much for calling these leaders of our church to be trained and be equipped so that someday they in turn will pioneer churches in different towns and cities in Pangasinan, which is the vision of Pangasinan Bible Mission. This is a local mission put up by Malasiqui Bible Church that will be responsible in equipping and sending them as local missionary pastors who will be assigned to pioneer churches in Pangasinan. We urge you to please help us pray for the success of this local mission for the evangelization of the lost souls in Pangasinan.
   We thank you so much for your spiritual as well as financial help. We know that these had been a very great help to us in reaching souls and discipling them.                In His love, Pastor Jaime and Carmela
 

Dear Milan Bible Church,

     I want to thank you all for your love and faithfulness in your prayers and continual support. Nothing can be accomplished without prayer and I am very thankful for the privilege of laboring together with you for the Lord.
     This year has been full of new opportunities to serve our students both at CIBB in Iasi, and at FBTC in Schitu Duca. The classes we offered at CIBB are: Hermeneutics, Soteriology, Church History, Orthodoxy, Evangelism and Discipleship, 1 Thessalonians – Filimon, Worship and Music, Anthropology and OT History Books so far and this week will be our final class on Marriage and Family. It is a blessing to have a variety of classes which offer our students both academic and practical training. Considering our Orthodox context, the class on Orthodoxy was extremely welcome so we would know the differences in theology between us and the Orthodox. The class was followed by another very practical one on how to love and witness to the lost world while Worship and Music pointed us to our own worship. We look forward to the next class on Marriage; the teacher is a very gifted preacher and teacher. Please pray for our students that they not only take the classes but use them in their personal walk with the Lord and be a light in this dark world.
     As a Bible school we are trying to serve not only our students but also anyone interested in auditing our classes. Therefore, we had people coming from different churches to several of them, one of which was Worship and Music taught by Pastor Kutnow, Orthodoxy and Evangelism and Discipleship, and we expect quite a number of people to come for Marriage and Family.
      On June 6 is our CIBB graduation. Two of our faithful students will be recognized within a church service and be offered their diploma. We are thrilled that they didn’t let anything get in their way and will graduate after 4 years of hard study. One of them is a math teacher and the other is a grandmother. Their names are Catalin Minzala and Violeta Tabacaru. Please pray for them and that they will be used by God wherever they are and be an example for others to follow.
        FBTC is the Bible school in Schitu Duca where after 2 years of learning 7 students will graduate on May 22. There is a first there for which we are thrilled and extremely grateful: the first woman graduating at FBTC (Faith Bible Training Center). Her name is Aurica Radu. She is the first in her family to graduate. Her husband is also our student and will graduate next semester, while recently her daughter expressed her desire to also come to classes. The church this family comes from is a small village church with about 20 members and is struggling to survive their many problems. Yet every year we have more students coming from that place. If that’s not God, who can it be? The director of the school, David Maynard, was asked to help them grow spiritually and he goes there twice a month preaching, helping them start a new work in another village close by, and mentoring some of the church leaders. It’s a slow process but God is at work and progress can be seen. We pray that the practical classes at Schitu Duca, many of them focusing on discipleship, the thing most lacking in very many churches, will bring lasting fruit. As in anything we do, if anything is being accomplished we know it is God, not us. So to Him we want to give the glory for He alone is worthy of it.
        Rody Maynard continues to put together the women’s magazine and I continue to translate the material. We pray it is a useful tool to bring awareness of the great need for missions, and that not just among men but that women need to get involved also.
        My ladies Bible study group continues to meet faithfully twice a month studying about witnessing. We thank the Lord for that material because it has made us see the need and responsibility we as Christians have to take the good news to our loved ones, our friends and others who come our way. Please pray for our group; each of us faces many problems and we need the Lord more than ever. These women strive to grow spiritually and honor the Lord with their lives; it is such a privilege to be with them and see their deep commitment as women of God, wives and mothers.
     There are many other things the Lord has allowed me to be a part of: translation in churches: Iasi, Ten Sticks, etc., at Bible studies (2 new groups recently started in Iasi), in villages, at the ordination of a deacon, a women’s conference, a future men’s conference, etc.  The women’s conference was in Schitu Duca and 30 women came. The subject was on raising children and teenagers. We had a good time and pray the conference was helpful as we know it  met a great need here in Romania.  May the Lord be glorified in all the work that is being done in His name.
     Thank you again for being part of such a wonderful work here in Romania. We need your prayers in a special way now, when part of our CIBB team – the Kosobucki family – goes back to America and Liviu Ursache steps in as the new director. We pray for the Kosobuckis and thank the Lord for them; and pray also for Liviu that the Lord be with him and with the rest of us.  
In Him, Marcela 

New works: Dagata, Grajduri and Iasi 

      

  After a day of witnessing in Dagata

 Ten Sticks Women’s Missions Group (we go there monthly) 

 Students

 A Child Dedication

 A Deacon’s Dedication

   The Women’s Conference