Thursday night

The seminar tonight was very well attended. I guess the Pastors phone calls made a difference. PW spoke tonight on the role of the husband as a Leader and Lover of his wife. It is a very powerful teaching and usually is very convicting. Tonight was no exception and one man who attended without his wife came up and asked for an appointment with PW. So he will meet with him on Friday.

We have several counseling appts. today, friday. It is one of those things that we love doing because not only do we get to know the people, but it is such a joy to see them realize that they can change. Each time we come we have the opportunity to see those we have ministered to in the past and they share with us the progress they have seen or sometimes they are still struggling and ask for more help. But whatever, the Lord is the one who changes them.

The Divorce Recovery preparation is coming along nicely. The Lord put a wonderful ministry in our path before we left that ministers only to the divorced. So we are studying their teachings and the Lord is feeding us so we can feed those who come. Please continue to pray into that particular seminar.

Our weather here is cold and gloomy today. The forcast is for light snow today which is rather unusual for Uzghorod. Jenny told us that Chardon and the area are expecting a foot of snow in a storm that is blowing in. So I guess March is definetly coming in like a Lion but hopefully will go out like a Lamb. Spring is coming so hang in there.,

Love to you all,
PW and Sherry

Missionary Doug and wife Marina with Elizabeth and Pastor Edik.
We had a lovely lunch at Dougs home on Tuesday.

Wednesday

View from our window at Nehemiah Guest House

Jason and Valeria Wisner
Missionaries with Michigan Bridge Ministries

Our seminar started last night at Pastor Edik's church. As is common many times in the city, the seminar was attended mostly by women. Pastor was very cute as he tried to make excuses for the lack of attendance from the men. We told him we understood and that we knew that God would speak to those present. The meeting went very well and PW taught on the Purpose of Marriage.

Today, Thursday, we had lunch with Edik and Elizabeth and he told us that he had been on the phone all day calling his congregation and he told them that we had paid alot of money to come to minister to them and he was embarrassed by the lack of interest in improving their marriages. But we know that God will draw those who need to be there and we are fine whether there are many or few. Please pray for us and for those who come tonight.

There are 20 registered for the Divorce Recover seminar beginning on Monday, some from as far away as Donetsk which is 36 hours travel. We feel extremely responsible to feed them from the word so that they go home on the road to healing. Each one coming is doing so because of a deep need. Please pray specifically that we would be vessels God uses to touch their lives and that it is worth the time and expense for each one.

Thank you. We miss you all. Love, PW and Sherry

Tuesday

We have had sunshine all day today and it was such a welcome sight. Our day started off with several hours of study and prayer time. Then at 1 Pastor Edik and his wife picked us up and took us to a local American missionaries house for a wonderful time of fellowship and lunch. Not only did we enjoy meeting our brother for the first time, but we were able to talk wth Edik and his wife about their expectations for the week of ministry. We did not get back home until almost 6 so after a quick meal of jam and bread we contnued our preperation for our seminars . We begin teaching tomorrow evening at 6 our time.

Hopefully we will be able to do some grocery shopping tomorrow morning and go to the exchange office to get some hrivna.

Please continue to pray for us daily as we begin our marathon of teaching and counseling. The divorce recovery seminar will begin on Monday and so far we have 21 coming from other areas of the country. Not sure how many locals are coming. But we ask you begin to pray specifically for those coming that their hearts would be healed from pain and that hope will be restored.

Blessings, PW and Sherry

We are here and settled

We ended up sleeping from 9:30 last night until after 12:30 today. I cannot remember a time when we slept so long. But it felt good and we feel great. Today has not been productive other than we got settled in our apartment and had a good visit with our dear friends Tanya and Vasiko. Tonight Fila and Kristi are coming to visit. Tomorrow will be a study and prayer day as finish up our final preperations for the seminars beginning on Wed. We told you one had to be flixible over here, well originally we were supposed to start the seminar on marriage at Ediks church on Tuesday night, but today he decided that since tomorrow is national Womens day that he would wait to start on Wed. night instead. We will have to put a lot of prayer into what to teach so that we get the most out of our time with the church.
Well off to the next thing. Blessings to you all.
PW and Sherry

In Kosice

Mom and dad are waiting at the Kosice Airport with ALL of their baggage. :-) Their driver was held up at the border and they are unsure of when he will arrice. As it is Sunday, the airport is very quiet. Mom and dad were the only ones I could see on Skype aside from two guards chatting nearby.

Please pray for the driver to arrive soon and for mom and dad to not fall asleep waiting.

Ready and Waiting

Well the suitcases are packed and the Outlines are done and we are ready and waiting to go. Our spirits are expectant and we cannot wait to see what God is going to do these next two weeks. Please pray for our travel tomorrow, that our flights are on time, that we of course have safety and that the Lord would grace us with leg room for PW. With his long legs the travel is torturous if we are in regular seats, so we will request exit row seats in Washington for the overseas portion of the trip. Hopefully they will be available.

Our friend Rannie from the Philippines sends greetings from the church there. They are currently praying for the Lord to provide them with a new or used lap top computer so that they can show gospel movies in the mountainous areas of the country. If you have one or would like to help with this need please let us know and we will be sure that it gets to him.

God bless you all as you seek HIS face and not HIS hands. The days are drawing close to HIS return and we must be ready.

Love to you all,
PW and Sherry

Sunday and a Wonderful family

Today was our last Sunday to worship with the most wonderful church family alive. We are so very blessed by our congregation. They are true Christ followers from the littlest to the oldest.
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We are close to reaching our goal so please keep praying. God has always provided every penny we need for these trips and we are expecting Him to do the same. Where he leads he provides has been our motto and it has proven true. We are now working on our food budget money.
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The plan is to study tomorrow and all day Tuesday. We still have to put our seminar on paper so that is what we are working on at the moment.
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Please pray for the following:
Time to do what needs to be done before we leave.
Health for our whole family. PW's mom has been under the weather and we would like to see her better before we leave.
The rest of the finances we need.
Our Assoc. Pastor Bill will be caring for the church while we are gone and needs prayer since he also works a full time job. The added responsibility always add to his already full load.
Members of our church - that God watches over them and keeps them healthy and safe.
Our flights to be on time and PW's and Sherry's luggage to arrive with them at each destination.
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Blessings,
PW and Sherry

Our week

Last Thursday we had the privilege of speaking
to this group of Church planters on the topic of Developing a strong ministry marriage.

A huge blizzard has hit our area with over 12 inches of snow.
You can see our car which is stuck half out in the street and the other half in the road. PW is cheerfully clearing our drive. This has been a week of car troubles. On Tuesday Sherry's car broke down and is sitting in a parking lot waiting to be towed to the car dealer.

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME.

9 Days and counting

Wherever does time go? It seems like a year ago that we began thinking about this trip and here we are with only 9 days left . So you need a prayer update. We still have not reached our goal for financial needs but it is trickling in so please continue to pray for this. We need enough money to pay for our food and also a little extra for emergencies and unexpected expenses which always pop up.

We also could use continued prayer as we work on our new Divorce Recovery Seminar. Ministry needs here have kept us quite busy and therefore we have not had adequate time to prepare this seminar the way we would like. God is so faithful though and we know that he will guide and direct our teachings. Anyway, please keep those two needs in prayer.

Can you feel the shift in the atmosphere? With all the wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes taking place it definitely is getting exciting. What an honor it is to live in this season of history. We want to challenge you to preach the word of God to everyone you meet. Time is of the essence and who knows when we will hear that shout and hear that trumpet calling us home.
It is time to repent of any sins that have you in bondage and to start living a dedicated life to our Lord if you are not already doing so.

Grace and Peace,
PW and Sherry

4 weeks

Wow it is hard to believe that we will be on our way in just 4 weeks. We are busily working on our final preparation for our new seminar on Divorce Recovery. Divorce is such a huge problem in Ukraine and many of the people to whom we minister have been divorced and are hurting so badly. So this time we are offering a seminar with topics like overcoming the pain of divorce, how to deal with betrayal, how to overcome the anger, how to forgive, can you remarry biblically and if so when will you know you are ready for a new relationship, how to help your children, the importance of biblical reconciliation and what does it actually mean. These are just a few of the topics we will teach on during our seminar.

We are also going to be ministering on marriage and family at a local church Bible School every evening and both weekends. So between our daytime seminar on divorce and the evening teachings on marriage we will be busy. We are also ministering on Feb. 17 to a group of local church planters on How to have a strong marriage in ministry.

Between this and our local church responsibilities you can see why we need much prayer. We covet your prayers because we need Gods anointing to do what we do. Financially we still need $400 to pay for the expenses of this trip. Please add this to your prayer requests for us. Thank you for your faithfulness in praying for us.

God Bless you all as you serve our soon returning Lord and Savior.

Pastor Wayne and Sherry

Whiter Than Snow

This past two weeks we have been dumped on with mountains and mountains of fresh white snow, well maybe not mountains but you get the point. It reminds me of the words in the old hymn....Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. It is hard to imagine anything whiter or more beautiful than a fresh snow, but the word of God assures us that that is how we become when we give our lives to Christ and accept His atoning death on the cross for our sins. Ponder that miracle during this season when we celebrate the birth of our Savior and remember why He came to earth, to restore us to fellowship with the Father. Take every opportunity you get to share this wonderful miracle with those who are so open to hear this time of year.
Merry Christmas to all
PW and Sherry

Amazing God

It never ceases to amaze us to see how God works.
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We have just recently received two letters from the Philippines that demonstrate this. Our friend Pastor Rannie who pastors in Hinagdanan wrote and asked permission to use our Marriage DVD to offer a seminar since we were not able to come. A week after the seminar we received this letter from another pastor who said "Pastor Wayne, please allow me and my wife to express our heartfelt thanks because of the very powerful marriage seminar offered to us by Pastor Rannie. Through this seminar my wife and I we really understand our role both sides. Even though I am already a pastor but I never understand about my attitude toward my wife mostly I want that my wife always listening to me to my decision and directly speaking I act as a king in my family and toward my wife, but praise be to God because through your DVD tapes my life has been totally changed so one thing I can say keep up the good work" A few days later we heard from another pastor who said " I heard your name from Pastor Rannie and shared your DVD Bridgebuilder marriage seminar. I write you an email because we want to have a teaching materials about couples. Thank you and God bless your family and ministry. "
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Brothers and sisters, this is just one example of how God is working. We are amazed and can only praise our Amazing God. If you would like to help in this ministry with the DVDs, you can send a special offering for this purpose to our church, Chardon Christian Fellowship, 401 South Hambden St. Chardon, Ohio 44024. Just note in the subject line it is for the Bridgebuilders DVDs and it will be used only for that purpose. We would also like to be able to help Pastor Rannie pay for this seminar so you may also make a donation to be given to him. Just put it in the subject line. The custom in their country is to feed the guests 3 meals a day. We have already sent a small donation but it costs several hundred dollars to pay for these meals so any help would be appreciated.
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We thank God for all of you who give and pray. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Home

We hope that over the past few weeks you have felt like you have been on this journey with us. We have tried to share daily what life is like in the countries where we have ministered. We are finally home and I can tell you that it sure feels good. As wonderful as it is to travel and minister to our Brothers and Sisters in foreign lands, and even though they give wonderful hospitality and try to meet our every need, home still feels the best. We had such a good nights rest and are looking forward to being in service at CCF tomorrow.
Thank you to all of you have prayed for us, followed our updates, written us notes of encouragement, and ministered to our church family while we have been gone. Words cannot express how much we appreciate it all. You are such a huge part of this ministry that God has called us to and we do not take it for granted. Blessings to you all as you walk with God and share His word in your mission field. We love you, PW and Sherry

Below are the last pictures we will post from this trip. Hope you enjoy them.



Bucharest Airport in Romania - if you look closely you can see the end of the machine gun the security guard is carrying. There were several soldiers like this stationed around the airport most likely due to the heightened terrorist risk. We wanted to get a front shot, but did not want to get into trouble. They sure did look serious.

Long hours of waiting in uncomfortable seats are part of the travel these days. Thankfully once we got on the plane, we had exit row seats with plenty of leg room and comfortable padding. :>))

Cleveland airport, the end of our journey and both of our bags arrived with us. Hallelujah.

This is what the sidewalks look like.


These are some of the wild dogs that roam the city. Click on the picture to enlarge it.


Niccu, David, Claudia

This young couple have been meeting with us for over 4 years now when we come to Tirgoviste. We first met them while doing a public marriage meeting and they had only been married for two weeks. We have watched them grow in their marriage and now they are raising their first child. We had a good dinner with them and enjoyed fellowship.
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One more day to go and then homeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. As ET said so many years ago HOME. See you then. Blessings, PW and Sherry

Earlier in the day we met with Pastor Mihai and Eliza once again and had lunch with them. All in all it has been a good day.

Life in the city

A worker repairing by hand one of the many city sidewalks that are individual bricks. The streets in many parts of the city are made the same way.

This is the ceiling in the outside portico of the Orthodox church that sits in the middle of the park.

A beggar stands under the portico of the church waiting for handouts.

An Orthodox believer lighting candles for the dead in the portico of the church.

Tuesday

Today was another sunny warm day in Romania. We loved the sunshine for sure. After a lovely breakfast of Eggs and Toast we went to our dear friend, Pastor Mihai's home for a time of fellowship. We talked about a variety of subjects from church issues to private struggles and laughed alot. We always enjoy hearing this pastors perspective on life. He was a street fighter in his BC days and was a pretty tough guy. God has a way of working with us inspite of our past and Mihai is no exception. He has a gentle spirit and a pastors heart for the people. A true blessing to the body of Christ in his city. We ate lunch with them and enjoyed their girls. We will meet with them again tomorrow for most of the day. Please pray for him and his family as they continue to serve the Lord in this city.


Stephie, Eliza, Pastor Mihai, Joanna

After our meeting with Mihai we came back to the hotel to meet with a single mom who just needed to talk. We spent a few hours with her and ended our time with her in prayer. It is heart breaking to hear of the things these moms have to struggle with. The laws in Romania are not as strict as in America on child support etc. so life is hard for them and their children. This young woman is a godly woman who walks with God and loves him with all her heart.


Donna and Addy are a real special young couple in the church. We wish you could see the fire in Donnas eyes. She is so funny and full of passion. A true Latin in blood. Her passion is to honor God and her husband shares the same passion. He works as a fireman but his heart is to one day serve the Lord fulltime. We meet with them each time we come to Romania so it is always fun to hear what God is doing in their lives. We spent two hours with them and ended our time in prayer. Please pray that God provides Addy with a better job so he can support his wife and she will not have to work.

Monday

Today has been a partial day off. Most of the couples in the church work so we minister mainly in the evenings to them. So we spent our morning in the word and just enjoying a rest. This afternoon we walked all over Tirgoviste, I would guess we walked a good 5 miles and PW did not complain once, of course we had to include a stop for ice cream and coffee to ensure that the day was complete. :>))))
We stopped in several different shops to see what the people here purchase and were surprised at how high the prices are for them. Most cannot afford the things offered. We also noticed that the city is improving the buildings. Many are being redone on the outside and new windows, roofs and siding are being provided for the buildings and they are being painted pretty colors. It makes a huge difference in the feel of the city. I guess the money is provided by the European Union to do this much needed work. The other thing that we are always surprised by are the packs of wild dogs that are laying around. They are so cute, but dangerous. Many times they take off and run after children biting at their legs. The contrast is amazing, today we saw a cute little pug dog with a collar and coat on and then a few blocks away these wild dogs.

Adina, Beatrice,Clara, Amalia, Gaby

This is the Popescue family. We have known them since 1999 when we first came to Romania and God has put a special love in our hearts for this family. We are reminded of what Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim 1:2-4. That is how we feel about Gaby and Adina. They are a precious couple who love God with a whole heart. They have lived under circumstances that most of us would have been crushed under, but they have looked to God for help and He has sustained them. God has used them to teach us about the Romanian culture over the years. Anyway, after a 20 min. walk to their home, we spent this evening with them talking about the things that they struggle with but also fellowshiping over all the good things that God is doing. Adina is an excellent cook, tonight she served us pasta with a choice of two sauces, one a cream sauce with bits of meat and the other a tomato based sauce with vegetables in it. Please pray for this precious family and ask God to give them the desires of their hearts.