Dear Prayer Partners,
Well, I am now at home after my adventures in Eastern Europe. I am tired but happy! The trip was a success in lots of ways and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was in it from the beginning to the end. Thanks so much for standing with me in prayer. It meant the world to me!
I already sent an update after the Belarus portion of my trip to those
who committed to pray daily (about 25 of you!). The time in Belarus was wonderful, difficult, fun, dangerous, fulfilling, tiring, emotional and exacting! It really was all of those things! The goals set out for the trip were met and it was clear that God was at work among the children, children's workers and churches of that dear country! Our American team had terrific unity and we ALL felt God leading in very real ways. Due to security concerns, there's not really very much I can tell you in writing, but if you would like to have more detail, I'm more than happy to call you. And I mean that! Please let me know if you'd like to have the "inside scoop" on the trip and I'll fill you in! For now, please know that if you were praying, God bless you! I needed it every step of the way and God answered your prayers!As for the Romania portion of the trip, I have lots to say! I spent a few days in the capital city of Bucharest with our friend and coworker, Alex Bruda. We had the privilege of sharing in a church on Sunday morning and
shared briefly with the team of Sunday school leaders. The next day was spent conducting interviews for a second member of our Central Europe resource team who will hopefully join us in April. We have had 18 Romanian applicants for the position and are working through the process of determining God's will in the matter. Some wonderful Christian people have applied and I enjoyed meeting many of them. It was encouraging to talk about EGM with folks who are so dedicated to the task of reaching children!I was supposed to take the night train to Cluj, but a low-cost flight was arranged at the last minute. After a late-night flight on a very scary airplane, I arrived safely in Cluj for the Romania EGM board meeting then drove with the team to the conference center for the national conference. It was a treat to meet each of the attendees. Our team was rounded out this year by Jan Kraushaar,
a short-term ministry missionary from California and Nabila Hanna from Cairo, Egypt. This year, only 7 people out of 90 came on scholarships! At the conference, we had an unprecedented response to the offering taken. Even though fundraising is a new idea to Romanian Christians, 25 Egyptian children were given an opportunity to go to a Christian camp as a result of the fundraising efforts. We shared on the topic of "Spiritual Reality for a Virtual Generation," helping teachers meet kids where they are in the age of technology with the truth of God's Word. As always we were well received and the fellowship was so very sweet!
I'm praying for YOU today that God will express His presence to you in very definite ways and also show you how just how valuable your ministry in prayer can be.
Trusting Him with you,
Joe
