"HOPE DEFFERED MAKES THE HEART SICK"
Pro. 13:12
This Scripture gripped our hearts as we stepped off the plane in Timisoara,
Romania on April 20. We had returned to Timisoara to help celebrate the 10th
anniversary of Logos Church that we helped to establish during the six years we
lived in that city. The church was an outgrowth of Logos Christian High School,
the first Christian school in Romania, which opened in September, 1990. From
there it has grown into a preschool through college level educational system
with 600 students.
Yet as we arrived in Timisoara and headed for the church, the overwhelming
feeling all around us was not one of accomplishment and victory but of
hopelessness and despair. Because the Orthodox Church calendar is different from
that followed by Western Europe and America, we were able to celebrate Christ’s
resurrection twice – first in England, then in Romania the following week. This
should have been the most glorious time of celebration as we remember the great
price paid by Jesus Christ to redeem us from the power of sin and to restore us
to a right relationship with God the Father.
Everywhere we looked there were signs of prosperity – new apartment
buildings, modern high rise office buildings, and even a new western style
shopping mall. The beggars on the street corners had disappeared and everything
looked upbeat and bustling. Yet there was this sense of hopelessness. What had
happened to our beloved city that had paid such a high price to see freedom come
to Romania?
When we first visited Timisoara right after the fall of communism in
December, 1989, there were burned out stores and bullet holes in the central
square but there was also great hope for the future and great joy at their newly
won freedom from communist oppression. Now 16 years later, there are outward
signs of prosperity but the fire of hope was but a dying ember. The people of
Timisoara may have more things than they had dreamed of in 1990 but they had
lost their hope.
Romania is in the process of applying for membership in the European Union.
Three years ago there was great expectation that membership in the EU would end
all their problems and enable them to become "just like America". Instead they
are caught in a struggle just to survive as they face Western European prices
while still receiving communist era salaries.
In the last 16 years, gasoline prices have gone from 17 cents a gallon to $5
a gallon! The exchange rate for the Romanian lei against the US dollar has
jumped from 70 ROL - $1 to 30,000 ROL - $1. When we left Romania five years ago,
the rent for our apartment was $50 a month. Now just the utilities (gas, heat,
water, trash) for a similar apartment are about $80 a month per person. That
does not include electricity or telephone. The average salary in Romania today
is $200 a month yet most goods cost more there than in America! Credit is freely
available so people are still able to buy things such as computers and
televisions but the interest rates are very high.
For the average person, life has become a struggle just to survive. Add to
this the devastating floods along the Danube River and massive corruption within
the government and it is easy to see why the people of Romania have lost all
hope.
BUT GOD…
As we reached Logos Church and slipped into the regular Thursday night
service already in progress, we were overwhelmed by the loving welcome we
received. What a joy to see people we had discipled growing in their faith. New
Believers we had led to Christ during our last visit three years ago were eager
to share their testimony of God’s amazing grace at work in their lives. As
Howard ministered from the Word of God, heartsick souls were healed and hope
began to revive.
Because of "Holy Week" activities, Howard preached Thursday, Friday, and
Resurrection Sunday morning, reminding the people that only Jesus Christ was
their living Savior and their source of hope regardless of outward
circumstances. We discovered that Logos Church has been praying for us at every
service since we left Romania to go to the Philippines five years ago. The Holy
Spirit showed us how their prayers (together with yours) had been a major reason
for the victories we had experienced on Mindanao. The pastor of Logos Church
introduced us as Romanian missionaries to the Philippines who just happened to
be Americans. On Sunday evening, he asked us to share our slide presentation
about what God has been doing on Mindanao. The people at Logos were deeply
touched to see what God has done in response to their prayers.
Then the most incredible thing happened. Some dear friends of ours came up to
us after the service. They said, "We want to help your work in the Philippines",
and handed us 4,000,000 lei (about $120)! We were overwhelmed and humbled by
their sacrifice. The following Thursday, Howard thanked the congregation as a
whole for their generosity in the midst of their financial struggles. When he
did that, something broke in the heavenlies. Another person came forward after
church and gave us 100 Euros. Then another 100 Euros! Every time Howard
preached, he would thank the people for their overwhelming generosity. It only
caused them to give even more. Then the anointing and presence of God would
increase until there was an open heaven over the city.
Members of the church began to share how neighbors and friends began asking
them the reason for their sense of hope and joy and how easily they were able to
lead these people to receive Christ as Savior. The Holy Spirit used the needs of
new Believers halfway around the world to remind the Romanian Believers that
hope and blessings have very little to do with material possessions and very
much to do with having a heart filled with love for God and compassion for a
hurting world. Through their sacrificial giving, God restored hope to the hearts
of the Romanian Believers and that hope became a magnet drawing the lost to
Christ as Savior and Lord.
By the time we left Romania to return to America a month later, the Romanian
Believers had given more than $1,000 for the work in the Philippines. Based on
their average salaries, it would be like a church in America giving $10,000!
Their giving created such an open heaven that the presence of God filled the
sanctuary and hope was radiating from the lives of Believers as they went about
their daily lives. That hope in the midst of hopelessness was like a bright
light shining in the darkness and hurting hearts were finding salvation in
Christ.
Revival is coming to Romania. Nothing can stop it as long as the Believers
draw closer to Jesus Christ and find in Him that hope that is an anchor
regardless of the storm. Yes, there are difficult days ahead, but the same God
who protected them in the past will continue to make them more than conquerors
through Him.
CONTINUED BREAKTHROUGH ON MINDANAO
God is continuing to move on Mindanao in response to your prayers since our
visit in March and early April. We have completed the paperwork to purchase the
headquarters building in Tagum City. The final purchase price was only $15,000.
The down payment has already been made and monthly payments are just $300 a
month for 36 months. God is so good!
The new church in Kapalong in finished and work has already begun on the new
church in Calabcab. The foundation is currently being laid for the expansion of
the church in Uraya as well. More than 50 students have enrolled in our Bible
school to be trained as pastors and church planters.
God even sent us an unexpected blessing. Datu Oscar, the head chieftain of
the Talaingod tribe, contacted Pastor Allan Asang, our Filipino Director. He
told Pastor Allan that he had been given an opportunity to buy a low mileage
2000 Mitsubishi 4X4 diesel van for just $3,000 but he didn’t need it because he
already had a car. So he asked the company involved to sell it to Church
Triumphant instead. So we were able to buy a $15,000 van for just $3,000! This
means we will no longer have to rent a van for transportation to and from the
airport or, more importantly, to take ministry teams to our churches in remote
villages at the end of the roads. What a wonderful tool for evangelism.
God is on the move in response to the prayers of His people. We can look at
our circumstances and become frustrated because things are not going the way we
think they should. Or we can look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who is at work in our circumstances to draw us closer to Him so that in
Him, we also can experience breakthrough and become more than conquerors for His
glory. Thank you for your love and support through your prayers and faithful
giving. God bless you abundantly.
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