We invite you to rejoice with us in the good news of God’s salvation. God is so good and so faithful to watch over and protect those who put their trust in Him.
The new year began for us with greater challenges than ever before. We had returned to America during Christmas vacation in hopes of securing a prefabricated steel building that we could erect on the land behind the church to house Logos Christian High School. The building was supposed to cost $20,000. But when we reached our office and looked at the details of the contract, we discovered they had been less than honest about the size of the building, the additional cost of insulation, doors, windows, etc. To get the size of building we needed, together with doors, windows, insulation, and shipping would have cost well over $100,000. We felt we could build something in Romania for less. We praise God for the money that has already been donated toward a school building for Logos. It has been set aside to be used for that purpose. We are still looking at the possibility of getting an existing building and renovating it for use as a school building. That will cost less than building a new building. So our brief visit to America allowed us to prevent making a costly mistake and spend Christmas with our family.
We flew back to Budapest, Hungary a week later than planned because of a bout with the flu. It was a good thing we were rested up. It was a bright, sunny day when we arrived. On the 250 mile drive home, we got caught in a blizzard, then we ran out of gas at the border and had to push the van through both border check points to a nearby gas station. We finally made it to within 10 miles of Timisoara when the left rear wheel came off and went rolling down the side of the road in front of us! By the grace of God it had stopped snowing and we were able to find the wheel and the hub nut in the dark because of the fresh snowfall. After waiting beside the road for two hours in the freezing cold (our friends had forgotten to bring along a jack), we were rescued and given a ride the rest of the way home. Thank God there were no cars or pedestrians nearby when the tire came off or the consequences could have been fatal.
We returned to Romania to find the economy worse than ever. Prices for everything continue to rise. The prices of utilities have nearly doubled. The educational system is in shambles. The teachers are on strike nationwide, demanding higher salaries. (We praise God that our teachers have continued to come to work.) Teaching is still the lowest paid job in the nation. It would take half a teacher’s salary just to pay the utilities in a typical apartment. Pray that this strike will be quickly resolved. We are asking God to raise up sponsors who can supplement our teachers’ salaries which are paid by the government. Even an extra $25 a month would make a big difference.
To make matters worse, the week after we arrived back in Timisoara the worst possible nightmare happened – the hard drive on our laptop computer crashed, causing us to lose all our records and e-mail addresses and cutting us off from e-mail contact with the outside world for three weeks. (That is also why we are late in getting this newsletter to you). Thank God that all our donor records and financial information are safely stored on our main computer in California and Howard had just transferred all the notes from the Bible school courses onto a small second hand laptop we had bought for one of our translators. But our e-mail address book was completely wiped out so the only e-mail addresses we still have are those that Barbara happened to write down in her day runner. If you haven’t heard from us lately that is probably the reason. We are up and running now so if you will just send us an E-mail we will have your E-mail address to respond back to.
Because we had to move the high school classes into the upstairs of the preschool and kindergarten building, we were fearful of the school evaluation project that was begun this year. We had hoped to have a building before that process began but it didn’t happen that way. The evaluation took place in January. Logos High School was penalized 10 points for not having its own building. But even with that penalty, the quality of the program over the last nine years was such that Logos was rated as a "model" school, the second highest category. On top of that, our preschool and kindergarten was rated as "elite", the top category! Praise God! Logos will be able to stay open and these ratings will put additional pressure on the Inspector General to give us a new building. That truly is good news of God’s salvation.
God also answered prayer regarding a very dangerous potential law. The law passed the lower House of Parliament and was sent to the Senate in early January. It was potentially devastating to freedom of religion in Romania. It would have forbidden open evangelistic activities that the Orthodox Church considers proselytizing. It would not have allowed the planting of new churches in a village, town, or city unless 5% of the inhabitants of that location were already members of that denomination or fellowship. A new convert could not be baptized in a church unless his or her parents were already members of that particular denomination. Only members of the sponsoring denomination could send their children to a Christian school. That would make interdenominational Christian schools like Logos impossible. In Romania, everyone who is not already a part of another denomination is considered to be Orthodox. The leadership of the Orthodox Church does not realize that we are not trying to steal "their" sheep but to reach all the lost with the message of salvation, regardless of where or if they attend church.
This potential law was such a concern that the evangelical pastors here in Timisoara met together to pray and to seek ways to stand against it. We met for prayer on Saturday. On the following Monday a group of Senators who are ethnic Hungarian announced that the proposed law was unfair to minorities and had it withdrawn from consideration until next year. Again we can shout the good news of God’s salvation.
As the political and economic situation in Romania continues to deteriorate, more and more people are crying out to God for deliverance. There is a growing desperation to see God move in revival across this nation. The pastors here in Timisoara are greatly encouraged by God’s answer to their prayers. They are determined to meet together monthly to pray for revival and to look for ways to build greater unity within the Body of Christ.
God has given us a wonderful promise in II Chronicles 7:14. As we, God’s people, humble ourselves and pray and seek His face, turning from our wicked ways of religious pride, sectarianism, and self-centeredness, then God will hear, will forgive, and will heal this land. Pray with us that God will bring a great healing to Romania, a land filled with hurting, hungry, disillusioned people who need to hear the good news of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ who died that they might have Life.
Help us to reach out to those in need while we still have the freedom to do so. Your prayers and financial gifts are what make this ministry possible. Help us make an eternal difference in the lives of the Romanian people. New opportunities to meet needs are opening to us all the time. Pray that we will have the wisdom and the resources we need to complete the task that God has set before us. Your gifts to the general fund are particularly needed at this time. Thank you for being a vital part of this ministry. God bless you richly.
We really need you to do something extra this month. Right now our building fund has nearly $10,000 but our general fund is empty. We don’t have enough to meet current operating expenses.