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.

The end of Sunday

We started our day today with a breakfast that was typical Romanian. A plate of sliced lunch meats and a pepper and tomato beautifully displayed on a huge plate. Oh and a breadbasket for us to make a sandwich. Since we did not have to be at the church until evening, we spent the morning studying and praying and then took a walk in the park. If you scroll down a few posts you will see the beginning of our day and then you can finish up with this post which has pictures of the evening. Sorry it is backwards, I get confused sometimes when I try to post the pictures. I forget they build on top of each other. Oh wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll. We heard Pastor Bill preached another fantastic sermon. Thanks Bro. Hope you all enjoy the day and feel like you are a part of the time here as you look at the pictures and read the commentary. Blessings to you all. Love, PW and Sherry


Florine and Liz

This young couple met with us, over pizza, after service tonight to talk about their upcoming marriage. They have been friends for 3 yrs now and Liz is from Louisiana and he is from Tirgoviste. They met while she was on a mission trip and have been building their relationship through email for quite some time. They are going to be heading up the Masters Commission school here at the church for the next 9 months. This school is for the purpose of preparing young people to minister. They are all about building the Kingdom of God. Please pray for them to have an easy adjustment period to married life so they can effectively minister.

Here Wayne and I are standing in front of the court house. It has recently been restored and was too beautiful not to take a picture for you jto see.

Sunday

PW with our Gaby Pastor Mihai
he is our translator
and dear friend.


Alexis, Nikki and her mom.
Nikki is the young mom who if you remember
was going through betrayal by her husband the
last time we were here. PTL she has peace now
and she and her daughter are doing very well. You
can see the joy on her face.


This is Adina. She is working with the young
people in the church here and had many questions
during our seminar the other night, She has asked to
start writing us so that she can ask questions and get
counsel as she continues this ministry.

Praying over a couple. The worship band.


This is the congregation of Hope and Life Church
in Tirgoviste Romania. The church is made up of
mostly young people and couples. They meet in
the school auditorium each Sunday at 6 p.m. If
click on the pictures you should see them waving
hello to all of you.
PW preached a message on hope to them. It was
quite powerful and when asked to respond almost
all said that they had come to a place of having no
hope that life would change for them. Even though
they have jobs, the salary is not enough to pay for
a place to live plus provide food. PW talked to them
about the need for an eternal perspective and not a
temporal one. PTL the message hit the mark and
God ministered to our brothers and sisters and
reminded them that hope is in Him not the world.

Sunday in the park. On the left gathering of old men playing checkers or
chess, view of the tower of the Orhodox church poking through the trees
and a father and son strolling down the walk. The parks are full of people on
Sunday afternoons. Lovers sitting on benches, families holding hands,
plus dogs in packs laying around. It is a very interesting way to spend a day.

Country of Contrasts

Our Hotel - brand new


The resturaunt down the street



Click to enlarge this and you will see the run down building
in the back. These are all surrounding the hotel and in use.

Young people

Tonight we ministered to this group of young people.
They varied in age and were very interested in building
good relationships with the opposite sex. They had tons of
questions and were very interactive as we shared with
them some principles from Gods word to help them.
Thanks for praying for us. Because of your giving and prayers
you also helped minister to them. Just think of how much fun
it will be when you finally go home to the Lord and get to meet
all of these people you helped inpact with the word.
Love, PW and Sherry

First day in Romania

Isn't she adorable? I could not help myself.

Juliana was one of the first young women we met in 1999 when we made our first trip to Romania. We attended her wedding and then lost touch. As God would have it, she was working at the our hotel and remembered us. What fun it was to reconnect and catch up on her life. She has become the mother of 2 children and is still walking closely with the Lord.

These are some of the young couples we met with this morning. We talked about Gods view of money and worked on making budgets and talked at length about their particular struggles with finances and counseled them from the word on how to overcome the challenges they face in this area. We had a wonderful time of fellowship over "Pizza", PW's favorite food. They ordered it in his honor.
God is good.

Last leg of our journey

Well we have arrived in Tirgoviste Romania. We got up at 3:30 a.m., left the school at 4:15 and spent the majority of the day in the air. We are tired but excited about the upcoming week. We start teaching in the morning at 10 when we will meet with the couples from the church and then at 6 we will meet with the young people. Sure would appreciate the prayers,
We will post pictures tomorrow or the next day when we are thinking more clearly.
Blessed weekend to you all. Preach em a good one Pastor Bill. :>))))
PW and Sherry

Last day in Latvia

Boys fprmed a socker team The students do work each
for some fun after classes day to pay for school.



Daniel and Damarias Natasha - school secretary
Director of School

Well today was our last day of teaching. We spent 7 hours in the classroom and then spent another hour answering questions at the end of the day. It was a great day. We actually finished our outlines. Hallelujah. We were not sure if we would get finished. Today we gave the practical application stuff plus made up the test. The students assured us that they learned a lot and that their hearts were challenged. One Pastors son said that the Lord really dealt with him during the teachings. PTL for His conviction. Two students asked for our email so they could stay in touch. Remember we had asked the Lord to give us at least two and He did.
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We are packing our bags now because we have to be up and leave by 4:30 a.m. to drive to Riga and then we fly out at 7 a.m. Please keep us in prayer tomorrow as we travel. We are having to go way out of our way to get to Bucharest due to the cancelled flight. So we will visit Brussels airport and then fly to Romania. After we arrive we will have a 2 hour drive to Tirgoviste, the city where we will be ministering for the next week. We will try to post when we get a connection, but if you do not hear from us, please keep praying.
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Blessings to you all,
PW and Sherry