much - but not many!

Today I want to introduce you to my ware-house team.
Fritz is 70, and was mayor in a nearby town. He and Gustav (68 from Switzerland) come every Tuesday and Friday to help in the ware-house.

Timo (16) is Fritz's grand-son. He comes whenever I ask him to.

Missing in the picture are Klaus (68) as well an Ulrich and Paul (66) who come once a week or as often as they can.

No great numbers - but good fellowship - and hard work!

Remember us when you pray for wisdom to understand what we need to do that day with the limited manpower we have. Also, we praise the LORD for minimal personal damage (accidents etc.).

soup eaten not nearly so hot as it was coocked!

God answeres prayer!
I informed you of the struggles of my dear friends and fellow-missionaries in Romania: Robert & Jody Frye.

Their recent communication is a real encouragement as well as proof that the LORD is alive and well!

Read for yourself:

Dear Walkers,
First of all, thank you for all your prayers. It is evident that God is continuing to give us strength, resolve and peace about our mission here.

Tonight, we met with the priest and his wife in their home here in our village. We were a little surprised that they welcomed us in so nicely. Basically, the young priest, (25 years old) denied that he said anything agianst us, or that he told the children that they were not allowed to come to our house. He did say that they were not behaving in church so he threatened them to scare them, but he didn't say how. When we asked if he said he would have their grades changed at school if they continued to see us, he avoided the question, and never really admitted one way or the other. We know how gossip is and we aren't believing what everybody says, but are also realizing that he isn't telling us everything either. All the same, we had a very peaceful discussion. He wanted us to know that his bishop is concerned and really doesn't want him having much to do with us. He said that if we hand out material the people in the village will be upset, and that we shouldn't put on our programs, that the "children of Ighisu Vechi invite you", because it will make people mad. At the end, he said he really doesn't care what we do, as long as we don't encourage the children to do bad things (which he said he was sure we were not), and to not be respectful of others. Robert told him that our purpose is to show the children a Christ-centered life, not just tell them. The priest re iterated that religion really should be left for the church to take care of, ,and to only those people who choose to come to the church. We didn't argue about anything, but all the same, we know that this will not be the end.
As we read in the Bible, we are rejoicing at this opportunity for our faith to shine. We will continue to pray for the strength to live a life worthy of the calling that God has given us, so to silence all manner of ill that men may say about us. We are exremely grateful for the relationships that God has allowed with our neighbors, even though they claim they are devout orthodox, they didn't believe all the things that have been said about us, and for this we are thankful. Even so, we will not be surprised at the next battle, for God tells us that we must be ready for the storms to come in this manner as said in I Peter 3:14-15
"But even if you should suffer (which we don't feel we have yet) for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;"
Earlier today, Robert and William took the teenage boys on a hike through the hills to a nearby village in preparation for spring camp. They ended up at our friend's office, which happens to be a policeman. He is orthodox also. We have talked about him previously in some other newsletters. The Lord has allowed us to spend some time with him in the past, and we are on good terms with him. Robert took the boys inside to get warmed up. He asked Robert how things were going in Ighisu, and Robert explained some of the problems we have been having with the people and the priest. Nicu, the policeman, sat the boys down, and explained that they are free to choose whatever they want to believe. He reassured them it is not against the law to believe something other than orthodoxy. Robert was very surprised. He didn't really expect this response. He encouraged the boys to listen to Robert and follow his example, because he said that Robert does what is right. We praise the Lord for the support He provides for us, even through those that are not believers. The boys came back revived and feeling free from fear.
Please continue to pray as we continue to work with the kids, and try to live a life that shows the truth and light. May God bless each of you.

Continuing On,
Jody for us all

EU - and EU Opportunities

Today marked a new event on my calender: Since Romania is in the EU, it is now possible to send boxes to Romania hassle-free.

We do business with a bus company (similar to Greyhound in the US) that embarks from our area to Romania every Wednesday and Saturday.
Up to now, we have utilized their services to transport folks. Today I sent 6 packages on a trial run.

Iris is a German nurse who has been serving in Romania since 1991 and has adopted two Romanian girls. Her brother sent her a gift.

A missionary in Scottland, Fred Stonehouse, sent a large box to the Romanian Bible School where he teaches itinerately. Fred and my folks have know each other. They were members of different mission societies, but both worked in Bavaria not very far from eachother.
So this cooperation has been carried over to the next generation.
Fred's daugther Laurilee is a teacher at the Black Forest Acadamey, a Christian Boarding School here in our town Kandern that was founded over 50 years ago to serve missionary children.

The son of a brother with whom Matthew and I worked closely with while starting the church in Weil am Rhein (1976 - ) was in Romania last summer with his youth group. He is a youth pastor about 20 miles from here. I understand that one of his vehicles broke down, and this family he has sent 4 packages of groceries to through me, took the whole group in for 3 days till the vehicle was road worthy again!

This trial run will be interesting for us, as if it works out well, it would offer the opportunity to send boxes between our truck loads, especially if smaller quantities have specific individuals as destinations.
They charge roughly 0.65$ per pound, and it goes into the companies depot in various cities along their route.
The recepient has to go to the depot to retrieve the shipment.

To send Iris's package by mail would have been 23$. I payed 6.75$ this morning!

It is our desire to serve and encourage our faithful brothers and sisters serving the LORD in Romania - and by being able to respond more rapidly, we can benefit their ministries when the situation calls for it!

So we are greatful to the LORD for providing more opportunities which in turn are providing more flexiblility - improving our usefulnes for HIM!

Do pray with us that these much desired goods will reach their eager recepients on Monday!

Mark

Monday, Jan.22 - 4:30 pm - a truck needs a return load for Hungary, and was waiting in Basel, Switzerland (right acrossed the border from us).
We had just been informed that a Hungarian mission was in great need for clothing for their second hand store (they support various mission projects with the proceeds, like a Christian radio station in Cluj, Romania) - so we told him to come.
Now - on such short notice, finding engough personell can be a real challenge.
In the picture you see Timo (16) and Gusti (68) - they shouldered the brunt of loading 1800 boxes = 15 metric tons into that truck.
I was able to help to about 1 PM when I had to leave to take care of the paper work. I returned at 3:30 PM with Remy (19) and Fritz - Timo grandfather (70) came along at 4 PM.
The truck was ready to roll at 5:30 PM.
At about 1:00 AM on Wednesday, winter literally fell on us. Temperatures just dropped below freezing and loads of snow fell out of the skies.
But our truck was already out of the snow front - and pretty much able to stay ahead of it!
So the LORD is good in providing such perfect timing, as now we cannot use the fork truck, and would have had the freezing inclement weather to suffer, would the truck shown up today, as orginially planned!
As all the goods have been carefully presorted and packed, the folks on the receiving end should be pretty happy with what they are getting!

freedom of religion - in Romania ????

Dear friends,
I am most fortunate to enjoy the fellowship of very fine co-workers.
Robert and Jody come from Crawfordsville, Indiana and have been in Romania now for a number of years.
They moved out into a small village near Sibiu - Ighiseu de Vecci - where they bought a house with plenty of acerage around it to start a Christian conference and retreat.
The LORD opened many doors into their community to fellowship and share the Gospel.
Now the Orthodox priest is offering stiff opposition, and using all his influence to stave off the well developed interest in the Gospel and contact to Robert and Jody.
Today I need to share their latest prayer request and ask you to take this matter with you before the Throne of Grace!

Here are Robert and Jody Frye:
Just wanted to keep you abreast of the situation and some interesting happenings today. Thank you for continuing to pray for the kids in our village and the work here. Just today, the children came to tell us that they have been prohibited by the priest to come to our house anymore. The three boys that came to tell us said they were going to come anyway, but the other children can't come because the teacher also told them that if they came, she would give them bad grades in school. Needless to say, the children are afraid. So we went to talk to the preist, after praying quite a bit, but he won't be back in town until Saturday. Then we went to talk to the teachers. After a good discussion for about 1 1/2 hours, we think they understand us a little better. Some people, including the priest, were upset because we handed calendars out, with Bible verses on them. We apologized for upsetting them, and explained that the verses are from the exact same Bible that they have.
After alot of discussion about Orthodox being the religion of Romania, we agreed to "work together" to help educate the children of the village, which is what our purpose was to begin with. We reminded them that the director of the schools invited us to work with the children, and also the children had a great desire to continue meeting once a week. I guess one of the boys, on Sunday was making fun of the priest, and they said that he must have learned it from us, so this prompted a little more discussion. We explained that we encouraged the children to show respect to everyone, but we can't be responsible for what the children do when they aren't with us. We will talk more with the children tomorrow, if they come, and explain once again that they need to be respectful. Then we visited with the councilman of the village. He told us what the priest said on Sunday also. He said he argued with the priest afterwards, because Romania is a free country and the people have a right to go where they want and do what they want, and there is no law against them coming to our house. He didn't say how the priest responded. He said we can continue to use the village building anytime we would like. Then we went to our cell group in Cisnadie. We were late quite a bit, after speaking so long with our neighbors. It was such an encouragement to hear the prayers our fellow laborers said on our behalf and the encouraging scripture they gave us. Our pastor read in Acts chapter 5, the last part, where the disciples were brought before the high preist. Our church was very supportive and wants to come out and be more a part of what is happening here.
It was just like Acts 6, when the false witnesses came forth to tell lies about what the disciples said. The teachers were saying we were teaching the children bad things and saying bad things about what we are doing, so we invited them to come anytime and be a part of it. I asked them if memorizing scripture is offensive to them, and they said no. I told them that is all that we have done, except playing some board games and card games. They agreed that this was good. They said they will work together, but we will see how long that will last.
Please continue to pray as the battle rages on. Also, please continue to pray for the priest. Saturday will be a testing day for us all. We pray that God will keep us calm and assured of the call and our purpose.

Keeping you all in our prayers.
Robert and Jody

P.S. - Come back tomorrow for news on the truck we loaded yesterday!

revival of the blog

after a long absense - I decided that this blog might be a real help to y'all who might be wondering: "What is he up to"??

The next items on my itinerary:

1. Preparing a truck for Hungary
2. Preparing a truck for Romania
3. Trip to Romania in March
4. "Home assignemt" vom 27. March - middle May

You might find it worth your time to look in at his blog, as I intend to keep it current - so can can keep up with us here - and how our lives are developing!

Romhelp

Romhelp