Document

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Women ofGod on theMission Field

HeartCry

HeartCryin EasternEurope:RomaniaMoldovaUkraine

August - SeptemberVolume 17

Baptism inMoldova

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HeartCry Missionary Society

Statement of PurposeThe chief end of all mission work is the Glory

of God. Our greatest concern is that His Name begreat among the nations, from the rising to the set-ting of the sun (Malachi 1:11). We find our constantmotivation, not in man or his needs, but in God, Hiscommitment to His own glory and our God-givendesire to see Him glorified in every nation, tribe,people and language. The HeartCry Missionary So-ciety is dedicated to the task of fulfilling the GreatCommission through sponsoring national pastorsand missionaries in the foreign field.

Principles of Ministry* Every need of this ministry will be obtained

through prayer. We may share our missionaryvision with others and even make known to themthe specific tasks which the Lord has laid on ourheart to do, but we may not raise support throughprodding or manipulating our brothers and sis-ters in Christ. If this ministry is of the Lord thenHe will be our patron. If He is with us, He willdirect His people to give and we will prosper. IfHe is not with us, we will not and should notsucceed.

* We intend to never enlarge our field of labor bycontracting debts. This is contrary to both theletter and the spirit of the New Testament. Insecret prayer, God helping us, we will carry theneeds of this ministry to the Lord and act accord-ing to the direction that He gives.

* We will not compete with other biblical missionagencies, but use the resources that God has givento us to work in partnership with them. If theLord directs, we will sacrifice our own goals andresources that other mission works may be helpedand the Kingdom of God increased.

* In meeting any need, those of us who are sup-ported financially by this ministry will be thefirst to sacrifice all things necessary for the willof God and the advancement of His Kingdom.

* We will not measure the success of this ministryby the amount of money given, Bibles distrib-uted or national missionaries supported, but bythe Lord’s blessing on the work.

HeartCry Magazine

A ministry of the HEARTCRY MISSIONARYSOCIETY

EDITOR, Paul David Washer

ASSOCIATE EDITOR, Rosario Washer

MANUSCRIPTS, Rita Douglas

PRODUCTION, King’s Publishing

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HeartCryAUGUST - SEPTEMBER

2000

In this EditionPage 4 From the Director: Stepping through the open door of missions.Page 8 George Stancu (Romania). Bringing his people to Christ.Page 11 Pavel Sandu (Moldova). Winning the lost to Christ.Page 12 Pavel Hadczy Pop (Moldova). Faithful under fire.Page 13 Alexandru and Simona Palade (Romania). Taking Christ to the Campus.Page 14 Ion and Ani Tomeci (Romania). Making college students into disciples.Page 15 Dumitru Capatina (Romania). Finding blessing in hardships.Page 17 Toma Marian (Gypsy - Romania). Testimonies of grace.Page 18 Ion and Suplimenta Marin (Gypsy - Romania). Working in the Lord’s harvest.Page 19 Nae Marian (Gypsy - Romania). The traveling evangelist.Page 20 Samuel Stoica (Gypsy - Romania). Taking the Gospel to the Gypsy.Page 18 Stephan Gae (Romania). Romania’s Mr. Sunday School.

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HEARTCRY MISSIONARY SOCIETY

From the Director

“The purpose of the HeartCry Missionary Society isthat God be glorified through the proclamation of the Gospelto all nations. We believe that God’s greatest concern is forHis own Glory and that the motivation for all that He does isHis great love for His own Name. We believe that “man’schief and highest end is to glorify God and fully to enjoy Himfor ever.” (The Larger Catechism of the Westminster Confes-sion). We believe that man cannot know God, be reconciledto Him or become a recipient of His grace apart from JesusChrist, crucified for our sins, risen for our justification andexalted above every name. We believe that the Church findsit purpose and relevancy in fulfilling both the greatest com-mand and the greatest commission. The first and greatestcommand is to love the Lord our God with all our heart andwith all our soul and with all our mind. The first and greatestcommission is to go and make disciples of every nation, bap-tizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and theHoly Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that the Lordcommands.

HeartCry director, Paul Washer (at right) praying for the Church in Eastern Europe and throughout the world during aBible conference at the Holy Trinity Baptist Church in Bucharest, Romania. Unlike ever before in the history of Christian-ity, doors are opening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

After two thousand years of Christian missionary en-deavor, over half the world has still not heard the Gospel ofJesus Christ. As we begin this new millennium, we stand atthe threshold of countless opportunities to preach the Gos-pel where it has never been preached. To tarry, is to miss outon the greatest open door the Church has ever known. It isnot a time for small visions, narrow minds and tight spirits,but a time for boldness, courage and dependency upon thefaithful promises of God. It is a time for taking up crosses,counting things lost and following the Master. It is a time forcutting the rope, lowering the sails and running with thewind of God! For all these reasons and more, the HeartCryMissionary Society is trusting the Lord for more grace andmercy, that we might take greater responsibility in the King-dom, draw closer to the front line and plunge further into theheat of the battle. Our greatest desire is for the Lord’s stan-dard to be raised on every continent, in every nation andamong every people that the prophesies might be fulfilled inevery way:

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“For from the rising of the sun even to its setting,My Name will be great among the nations.”(Malachi 1:11, NASB).

“After these things I looked, and behold, a greatmultitude which no one could count, from everynation and all tribes and peoples and tongues,standing before the throne and before the Lamb,clothed in white robes, and palm branches werein their hands.” (Revelation 7:9)

There are nearly three billion individuals in the worldwho have still not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If thisdoes not move us to sorrow and compassion, if this does notpain us, then the sincerity of our Christian confession shouldbe in question. Three billion people without Christ, withoutGod and without hope in the world. Believing as we do in thegravity of all this, should we not be disturbed? Should it notmake us willing, even eager to do all within our means tomake Christ known among the nations? Should it not capti-vate us and keep us from less important endeavors and de-sires? Should it not blind us to ourselves and our own wants?Should it not obsess us and drive us to duty? The answer toall these questions is found in the very heart of our Lord andHis apostle Paul:

“And seeing the multitudes, he felt compassion forthem, because they were distressed and downcast,like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said toHis disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the

workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of theharvest to send out workers into His harvest field.’”(Matthew 9:36-38, NASB)

“I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, myconscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in myheart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed,separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren,my kinsman according to the flesh, who are Isra-elites.” (Romans 9:1-4a, NAS)

We are commissioned to see to it that the Gospel of theKingdom be preached to all nations and to every creatureunder heaven. Other than loving God, this is to be our mag-nificent obsession, the flame to which we are drawn danger-ously close. Can you think of a greater, more glorious en-deavor in the world than to be involved in this War - to putdarkness to flight, set captives free and raise up the bannerof Christ to the Glory of God? The question is simple, theanswer is settled - “No, there is nothing greater.” There is nogreater reason for man to give his life than for the Glory ofGod in the proclamation of the Gospel to the world. This isour high priority, second only to loving and enjoying God.”

Two years have passed since I first wrote these words inan article for the HeartCry magazine, and yet they hold evenmore meaning for us now than then. Without a doubt, we areliving in the greatest era in the history of Christian missions.Throughout the world, God is opening doors to preach the

“He felt compassion for them, becausethey were distressed and downcast, likesheep without a shepherd.”

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Gospel where it has never been preached before and to workamong unreached people groups that have been closed forcountless centuries. God has placed before us the greatestmissions opportunity in the history of Christianity. World-wide evangelism is now a real possibility. We can take theGospel to every person in our generation if we are only will-ing to respond to the call and walk/run through the doorsthat God has opened before us. We must stop looking inwardand instead look outward to the fields that are white untoharvest. We must think globally. We must make the unreachedpeople groups of this world our priority. We must stop con-cerning ourselves with building mega-churches and startthinking about the countless cities, towns and villages wherethere is yet to be a single Church. We must pray and bewilling to follow God even if it means coloringoutside the lines of traditional missionarymethods. We must see the awesome po-tential of using national missionar-ies to reach their own peoples at afraction of the time, cost and ef-fort that it takes to train andsend missionaries cross-cul-turally.

There are godly, God-called men and women inalmost every nation of thisplanet that have the knowl-edge, dedication and zeal tobe used of God to reach theirown people, but often timesthey lack the financial sup-port necessary to carry outtheir calling to the fullest. Theymust slave away twelve hours aday in the work place to provide theirfamilies with a few meager necessitiesof life, and then spend their few wearyhours away from the job doing the work of theKingdom. This is a terrible waste of manpower, espe-cially when one considers that in many places throughoutthe world, the average income is less than $200 a month. Thismeans that in many unreached nations of the world, severalnational missionaries can be supported for what it wouldcost to send one American to the foreign field. Often times,national missionaries do not need monthly support, but fi-nancial assistance for Church construction, pastor’s librar-ies, Bibles, film projectors, or transportation such as bicycles,boats or mules to travel from village to village with the GoodNews of Jesus Christ. When these needs are met, the effec-tiveness of the national missionary grown exponentially andthe Kingdom of Jesus Christ is advanced on the earth.

In the last few years here at HeartCry we have seenexplosive growth in conversions and church plants, simplyby helping national missionaries and pastors carry out thework that the Lord has called them to do. I am constantlyamazed and humbled by what these national missionaries areable to do with the meager support that we send them. Many

things that I was not able to accomplish after working tenyears as a “foreign” missionary in Peru, I see my Peruvianbrothers accomplish over and over again at a fraction of thecost. The same is true in all the other countries where we arenow working. The national missionaries are carrying out theirministries to the fullest and God is being glorified throughthe advancement of His Kingdom. In Peru, the church plant-ing movement in the North has grown by another 50 churchesin the last year and is now passing 600 churches. In Para-guay, convicted felons and other prisoners are being set freeby the Word and Spirit of God. In Romania, there is a greatharvest of souls, not only among the Romanians, but alsoamong the Hungarians, Serbians and Gypsies. In Moldovaand the Ukraine, wonderful testimonies to the power of God

are pouring into our office. In Nigeria andZambia, the story is the same - God is

raising up men and women to an-swer the call to carry the Gospel

to their own peoples until ev-ery creature has heard.

Here at HeartCry,there is so much going onthat we have little time tobreath. It seems that inevery communicationwe receive from aroundthe world, we hear theman from Macedoniacrying out, “Come andhelp us!” In Peru, Biblesand discipleship materi-

als are needed for the newconverts, churches need to

be built and the seminary westarted last year has outgrown

its building. In Romania andMoldova, the harvest is ripe, but the

laborers are few. Hundreds of congregationsand mission points struggle without a trained mis-

sionary or pastor. Among the Gypsies of eastern Europe,there has been an explosion of new converts, but few menand women equipped to meet the need of church plantingand discipleship. In Africa, there are thousands of nationalmissionaries working long hours in low paying jobs to sup-port their families. They pray for even the most meager sup-port so that they might be free to work full time in the Lord’sharvest.

All these needs are not a burden, but a joy. For our Godwill meet all our needs according to His riches in glory. Andin the end we will stand with the multitude from every nation,and praise the Lamb who was slain and who lives forevermore. May the God of missions fill your heart with passionfor the harvest.

Paul David Washer

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ReportsFromEasternEurope

Mission Points

& Church Planting

Mass Evangelism

& Open Air Preaching

Personal Evangelism

& Discipleship

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Brother George Stancu is pastor/missionary in four sepa-rate works in the following cities in Romania: TurnuMagurele (37 baptized members), Traian (26 baptized mem-bers), Segarcea (34 baptized members), and Calmatui (30baptized members). The following is a report from HeartCrydirector in Eastern Europe, Sorin Prodan.

Brother George Stancu graduated from the Baptist Theo-logical Seminary in Bucharest in 1994. Few pastors who gradu-ate from seminary go back to their poor villages. Most seek abig church in the city that can pay them a good salary. How-ever, immediately after seminary, George returned to his vil-lage of Turnu-Magurele to start a church that would be awitness for the Gospel among his people. Because of hiswillingness to sacrifice, Brother George has been recognizedamong the leaders in eastern Romania as a truly dedicatedservant of God. In 1995, he was married and George and hiswife now have a two year old child. His wife, Lidia, is a womanwho is very dedicated to the Gospel. She shows great re-spect and consideration for her husband and his ministry.

The county where George and Lidia work is very poorand has almost no evangelical witness. While George was inseminary, he never stopped praying for the great needs in thecounty of his birth. He knew that the towns and villages werefull of people that did not know God, their hearts were empty,and their eyes were closed. George knew that no religion orritual could fill their heart, but only Jesus the Son of God andSavior of the world.

When George and Lidia first arrived in Turnu, the few

believers that were there warmly welcomed them. They re-membered how George had served them before he had left forseminary and they were glad to see him back. With increasedpower George took up his work in the little church. His mes-sage came with authority and the irresistible power of Christ.The church began to grow and soon it was full. The churchbegan to pray for a new place and God answered their prayers.They have recently received a parcel of land where they willone day build a church. George is not only a gifted preacher,but also a talented musician. He has taught the young peoplehow to play different instruments and now they have a smallorchestra of mandolins. George trained them to sing and evan-gelize in the streets and plazas.

Other than his work in Turnu, George has also startedmissions in three other villages: The mission in the village ofTraian now has 26 members. The people of Traian are verypoor farmers who must struggle to simply survive. They livenear the Danube River and live mostly on the fish they catchfrom the river. They meet in a very old building that is danger-ous and should be condemned. The mission in Segarcea has34 members and the mission in Calatui has 30 members.

In the last two years, George and his church from TurnuMagurele have also opened three other mission points in thevillages of Lunca, Salcia and Calmatui. The beginning of thepreaching point in Salcia is an interesting story.

Three years ago George visited the village of Salcia thatis located about 15 km from Turnu-Magurele. The place hada powerful Orthodox influence. The priest who worked in the

MissionaryGeorge StancuBringing his people toChrist

HeartCry missionary George Stancu and a group of new Christians on the day of their baptism.

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village had vowed that during his lifetime no EvangelicalChristian would preach the Gospel in his village. He eventhreatened to kill those who dared to enter his parish with theGospel. George, however, is a courageous man. Without mak-ing his presence known or telling any one that he was aBaptist, he went into the village and bought an old house.The second day the priest discovered that a Baptist hadbought a house in his village, but it was too late. There wasnothing he could do to stop the sale, but the old priest didnot give up. He gathered together some of the bad men anddrunks from the village and they broke into the house, stolethe things that were inside, and broke out all the windows.Every time the house was vandalized, George would repair itand begin again. Finally a Christian woman from the areaasked permission from the Church to live in the house andwatch over the building that the Lord had given them. Shewas a very courageous woman, and from that moment, noone broke into the house.

One day, when George visited the new church, he foundthe priest and many people from the village gathered in frontof the house. He was not afraid of them and entered thecourtyard. The priest told him to leave the village or he wouldset fire to the church. The priest swore and cursed, but Georgespoke to him gently and with great respect. It was at thatmoment that the people began to see the difference between

George and the priest. When the priest saw that he could notfrighten George he encouraged the people to become vio-lent. One of the brothers who stood in front of George toprotect him was beaten up by the bad men who were in thecrowd.

Regardless of how they were treated, George did not filecharges against the priest or the people, but forgave them.Then a few days later the priest filed charges against Georgeand the Baptists. He also falsely accused George and thebrother who tried to protect him. George could have been inmuch trouble, but the Lord intervened and the police discov-ered that it was the priest and his men who instigated theviolence. The police then went to the priest and warned himto stop his persecution immediately or he would have troublewith the law. The priest was very angry with the decision, buthad to stop doing harm to the Christians. Now, by the graceof God there is a beautiful group of 25-30 Christians whogather together in order to praise God for His wonderful work.When I had the privilege to meet the Christians who hadsuffered so much for Christ I was greatly encouraged. I lookedinto their faces and realized that they had paid a great pricefor their devotion to Christ.

Please pray for George and his work in Teleorman County.There are four major cities and 200 villages in Teleoman andyet only 1000 Baptists in ten churches and ten small mis-

Brother George Stancu is a talented musician who is using music to make the Gospel known among his people insouthern Romania. Here he is teaching the mandolin to a group of young Christians in one of the many churcheshe cares for. They will use their music skills to play in the church and to perform in open-air music concerts. Aftera crowd gathers to hear the music, George preaches the Gospel and declares God’s command that all repent andbelieve the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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sions.The following testimonies are from the daily life of

George and the Christians who serve with him.

Recently, we visited an elderly sister in our church thatis 88 years old. She can no longer come to church and so wevisited her with our choir and sang in front of her house.When we finished singing, her son came out and spoke withus. He is not a believer, but was very impressed with ourmusic and especially our concern for his mother. We invitedhim to our church the next morning for Sunday services. Toour surprise and great joy, he was waiting at the doors of thechurch before any of us arrived. He was very hungry for theGospel, and rejoiced greatly in the worship. It was a specialday for him. Since that day, he has been in church everySunday and demonstrates a genuine interest in the things ofGod and salvation. We think that soon he will repent of hissins and trust Christ as Savior.

A few weeks ago we had a special experience at thehospital in Turnu Magurele. God opened the door in thedirector’s heart so that we could sing and share the Gospelwith those that were ill. After our singing, one of the nursesbrought us money that she had gathered from the sick peopleto pay us for our songs. She told us that it was a custom inthe hospital to give a gift to those who entertained the sick,but we refused to take anything. Finally, she asked us howshe could reward us for our kindness to the sick people. Wetold her that if she really wanted to do something for us thenshe could visit us at church. To our great joy, she came tochurch with her entire family. When I greeted her at the door,she said that she wanted to see the group of people whogave without asking for anything in return. She is now com-ing to every service in the church and we believe it will not belong until she is brought to repentance and faith.

Recently in the church in Traian, we had four eveningsof evangelism and each night about 25 non-Christians tookpart in the services. One night I saw somebody who wasthere for the first time and whom I knew very well, because hehad been my teacher in secondary school. When the servicewas over, he expressed his desire to have a talk with me andimmediately he mentioned that he wanted to talk with meabout the Bible. He had read it, but he did not have the Spiritof God to guide him. It was very difficult for me to tell thisman, who had once taught me mathematics, that his intellectwas not enough and that he needed to be converted. I toldhim that regardless of his professional training he could notunderstand the Scriptures apart from the guidance of theHoly Spirit of God. My old professor demonstrated that hewas very concerned by what I was telling him and expressedhis desire to continue the conversation. He asked me to givehim some Christian books concerning certain subjects inwhich he was especially interested. The next week, he at-tended one of our regular services and I gave him some morebooks to consider. Please pray that God will give him lightand will help him know the truth.

On a recent Sunday evening, I saw a young man enter

our church for the first time. When the service was over, Italked with him for a moment and realized that he had manyquestions concerning our faith. I also discovered that he hadcome to church without being invited. In God’s providence,he was taking a walk in the neighborhood of our church,heard us singing, and entered out of curiosity. He confessedthat what attracted him the most was the young people’sprogram, which consisted of several songs and hymns. Hetold me that the songs we had sung that night were verydifferent from anything that he had heard before and that hedesired to sing the same way. I told him that what he desiredcould be his, but only through knowing Jesus Christ. I alsotold him that, in order to praise God, it was not enough for usto know how to sing or play an instrument, but we must knowGod personally as Lord and Savior. Please pray for this youngman. He continues to attend our services, but has not yetshown evidence of conversion.

We have recently begun a new work in the village ofLunca located about 20 Km from a very important strongholdof the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox priests that live thereare very proud that there are no Evangelical churches in thearea and they consider this to be their greatest success. Ourpresence in their village has greatly annoyed them. They areconstantly protesting against us and threatening to do usharm. They are even threatening that if any of their owncongregations even consider becoming a Christian they willhave some unpleasant surprises. Regardless of their threatsand lies about us, the people have begun to accept us. A fewmonths ago, an entire family from the village took part in ourservices for the first time. They were paying great attentionand we could read on their faces not only interest, but alsogreat joy. At the end of the program, I talked with them anddiscovered that they had come to our services with the de-sire to “learn the true way that leads to God.” They told methat they were tired of living a lie, sick of their religious hy-pocrisy, and were ready to start a new life. They also told methat they had already considered what the Orthodox priest,their friends and relatives would do to them if they trusted inChrist, and that they were ready to follow Christ no matterthe cost. Please pray for them as they walk the narrow road ofdifficulty and persecution.

Four months ago a young man from the same villageshowed great interest in the Word of God. His name is Eu-gene and he is 22 years old. He lives very close to the placewhere we meet. In the beginning, he was very afraid to beseen with us. He knew what his family and friends would sayto him if they knew that he was associating with the Chris-tians and was very frightened. This month, however, his atti-tude has changed radically. God has strengthened him andset him free of his shame and of his fear of people. Not onlythat, but God has also moved in his father’s heart. WhenEugene is scheduled to work on Sunday, his father goes towork in his place so that he does not miss the worship andthe preaching of God’s Word. Please pray for Eugene and hisfamily. Please pray for this area where I work. The fields arewhite for harvest, but the laborers are few.

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Pavel is working as a missionary in the following vil-lages: Valea Mare (38 baptized members and 60 in atten-dance); Costuleni (12 in attendance and no baptized be-lievers); Boldureti (8 in attendance and no baptized believ-ers). In the following are a few of the many testimonies fromPavel’s ministry.

Among the people from the village that were walking tochurch one Sunday, I noticed a thirty-five year old womanwho was dressed like a beggar. We are always having beg-gars who come to the church and so when I saw her waitingfor me after the service I was sure that she was going to askfor money or food. I could not have been more mistaken. Thefirst thing she said to me was, “Pastor, I am looking for thetruth.” After a long talk, I discovered that she had been study-ing the Bible to discover whether the doctrine of theAdventist Church was true. Through her study of Scriptureshe had come to the conclusion that keeping the Sabbathand “doing” the right things was not enough to save her.After leaving the Adventist, she went to the Orthodox Church,

but could not find the peace for which she wassearching. Finally, one day, she visited a neighborto borrow something that she needed and thatneighbor invited her to our church. The very nextSunday she came to our church, heard the Gospeland gave her heart to Jesus Christ.

Several months ago, a family from the villagecame to our church. At the beginning, I thoughtthat they were gypsies, because the color of theirskin was much darker than the Moldovian people.At the end of the church service, I spoke to them,and I realized that they had a very different accent,that was definitely not gypsy. I soon discoveredthat they were Muslims from Uzbekistan who hadcome to Moldova in search of a better life. Theirnames are Gheorghi and Natasha Abdujalilov andthey have two children, Ana and Neema.

At the beginning of their marriage they had avery good life and were very wealthy. Everythingbegan to change when Gheorghi began to gamble.Eventually he lost everything, including hisfurniture and even his wife’s wedding ring.Natasha, his wife, tried everything she knew tomake him free from the demonic power of gambling.She even went to the monasteries and asked thepriests to pray for her husband, but there was nochange. Finally when they arrived in Moldova,someone told her that I was the village priest andso she came to me to ask for help in prayer. I toldher and her husband that I would pray for them,but that true freedom was only found in Jesus.They began to come to church every Sunday andin a few weeks they gave their lives to Jesus. A fewmonths later they were baptized and grew to becomevery good Christians and faithful members of thechurch. Gheorghi became a very good student ofthe Bible and was always sharing his faith with

others. Gheorghi tells all his friends that Christianity is thebetter than the Muslim faith because in the Muslim faith onemust do everything and yet still there is no assurance ofsalvation. In the Christian faith, Christ did everything for Hispeople and they can be assured of salvation through restingin Him.

Then one day Gheorghi came to me and shared that hemust go back to Uzbekistan. His reasons were clear. His familywas Muslim and he was afraid that they would die in their sinwithout Christ. That day, he and I began to pray together andask God for the proper moment for him to return. Last month,Gheorghi received a phone call from his family in Uzbekistan.His grandmother had died and left her apartment to him. Hisuncle offered him work as a mechanic, and had also found ajob for Natasha as a janitor in a store. After the phone call weboth agreed that it was time for Gheorghi to return to hispeople. The church prayed for them, and sent them back toUzbekistan with Christ in their hearts and the Gospel on theirlips. Please pray for them that they might be able to bewitnesses for Christ among the Muslims.

MissionaryPavel SanduWinning the Lost to Christ

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Pavel works in the cities of Greban (population: 6000)where there are 4 baptized members, and Ramicul Sarat(population: 40,000) where there are 12 baptized membersand 20 in attendance. These are two of the most difficultareas in all of Romania. The Orthodox priests maintain rigidcontrol over the people and threaten them so that they willnot listen to the Gospel.

I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lastmonth I preached 12 sermons and taught 14 Bible studies. Ialso made 20 pastoral visits and over 20 evangelistic visits.As a result, a new unbeliever is now coming to the churchand has begun to read the Christian books in our library.Although it may not seem like much to many, it is a greatvictory for us.

In our mission point in Greban we have many troubleswith the authorities and the Orthodox priests. In June, wetried to organize an evangelistic meeting to show the Jesusfilm and preach the Gospel, but the priests threatened to beatus up if we invited people to see the film. Then, because ofthe pressure of the priests, the authorities took away our

permission to hold the meetings. Also, the priests threatenedthe people that they would not allow them to be buried in thecemetery if they attended our meetings. This put great fear inthe hearts of the people, because the Orthodox own the onlycemetery and it is a terrible thing in this culture not to beburied. The priests also slandered us and told the people thatwe were Satanists. When they discovered that we had dis-tributed Bibles to the homes of the people, they entered withthe police into each house and confiscated their Bibles.

Please help us to pray for the people, the priests and theauthorities. Last year, when a family decided to follow Jesus,the Orthodox priest threatened them and cursed them. Inspite of the terrible things that he said, the new converts tookcourage in the Lord and preached the Gospel to him. He wasvery surprised to hear the Gospel that we preach and Godhas changed his attitude towards us. Please pray for him alsoto be saved.

In the month of July, in spite of the persecution, Godallowed us the privilege of sharing the Gospel with manypeople in our village. A group of Christians from the UnitedStates visited us for 7 days (23-30 July) and helped us toevangelize in the parks and streets. After a few days of wit-nessing and handing out tracts and New Testaments in thepark, the authorities made us leave, but many people fol-lowed us to the mission where we were able to continueteaching them the Word of God. More than 50 people heardthe Gospel. In the middle of the week, we left Greban and heldevangelistic meetings in the church building in Rimnicu-Sarat.Every evening, between 10 and 20 unbelievers responded toour invitations and arrived to hear the Gospel. The time spentwith our guests from the United States was an encourage-ment to me and to our church members. We are now morewilling to witness about our Lord with more zeal and courage.I pray and hope that the seed that was sown will bring forthmore fruit for God’s glory.

A few of the believers in Greban. They need your prayers asthey struggle to share Christ in the midst of opposition.

MissionaryPavelHadczy PopFaithful under fire

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Alex and his wife, Simona, minister on several campuses inRomania. In the last few months they have baptized 18 stu-dents on the campus of Sibiu and eight students on the cam-pus of Tirgoviste. The focus of their ministry is one on oneevangelism and discipleship. We have included a scheduleof last month’s activities to give you an idea of their ministryand devotion to the Great Commission.

1. Door to door evangelism and personal discipleship.2. Weekly prayer meetings with students.3. Campus wide fasting for the harvest and spiritual re-

newal among Christians.4. Two campus wide evangelistic meetings with 120 un-

believers in attendance.5. The planting of a new student work on the campus of

Tirgoviste. Alex led a team of students and missionariesand the Gospel was shared with 40 students.

6. Alex led another evangelistic team on the campus ofSibiu. Contacts were made with 20 students who werewilling to listen to the presentation of the Gospel.

The following are a few short testimonies from Alex andSimona’s ministry report.

Recently God put in my wife’s heart the desire to visitevery family in our neighborhood and to offer each person aNew Testament. It was a big step of faith for her and Cristine,a student she is currently discipling, but to our great joy,there were many people who accepted my wife’s visit. Onegirl named Irina who loved this world very much, becamevery disturbed after she heard the true Gospel and could notfind peace. It was because God would not leave her aloneuntil she repented of her sins and confessed Christ as Lordand Savior.

My wife and I having been praying for a girl to baby sit

our children while we are on the campus witnessing anddiscipling new believers. Without mentioning this need toanyone, God sent us a girl named Oana who was not a Chris-tian. My wife shared the Gospel with her and showed her theJesus film. She had never heard the Gospel before and herheart was deeply searched and broken by the Holy Spirit.Almost immediately she confessed her sins and trusted inJesus as her Savior and Lord. I must confess to you thatwhen she first came to our house we were afraid because shewas not a Christian, but now we praise God because He senther to us and used us to bring her the message of salvation.We believe that her conversion is genuine because we cansee that she is very thirsty for God.

The conference for prayer and fasting has turned out tobe a very important moment in my walk with God. During thefast, many of us were deeply searched by the Holy Spirit ofGod. Dan, Silviu and Razvan are three of the students whohave been serving with me in personal evangelism. Since thefast, they have had more passion for God and the task oftaking the Gospel to the world. Silviu, a student that I havediscipled for three years, was challenged to join me in evan-gelizing the university in Sibiu. I have waited a long time forhim to catch the vision of fields that are white unto harvest,and now he is ready to give His life for the Great Commission.There was also another young disciple named Claudia, whohad many obstacles in her life that kept her from a deeperwalk with Christ. Although she confessed Him as Lord, shewas still drawn by our worldly culture and the vanities of thislife. Since the fast she has been a completely different per-son. She has renounced many things of the world and ea-gerly participates in our prayer meetings and Bible studies.

This month we held a campus wide meeting about abor-tion and it had a great impact on those who attended. Weinvited a lady from Provita, who works in a Christian founda-tion, which defends pregnant women and helps them seethat abortion is wrong. There were about 60 students whocame for counseling after our meeting. Even the dean ofBrasov University came and expressed his concern for hisson who was living in immorality. The dean is not a Christian,but we prayed for him that God might work in his life and thelives of his family members. Through the meeting and ourprayer, God has given us favor in his eyes and now he isgoing to allow us to organize many other meetings. God hasalso opened a door for us with the Student League (theycontrol the student activities on campus). Last year theyrefused to let us hold meetings for the preaching of God’sglorious Gospel, but now God has worked in their hearts andthey have agreed to allow us to organize many evangelisticmeetings in the different halls of the University.

One last bit of good news! This year God has given mea student from the Republic of Moldavia to train as a mis-sionary. His name is Lilian and he has been called by God towork in Moldavia among the students in Chisinew. He isready to go and begin the work on campus, but he needsbetter training to be effective. Please pray that I train well mynew young Timothy.

Missionaries Alexand Simona PaladeTaking Christ to the Campus

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Ion and Ani TomeciIon (Bebe) and his wife, Ani, serve with Alex and Simona onseveral campuses in Romania. The following is a personaltestimony of what God is doing in and through their lives.

We greet you in the Name of Jesus Christ. We are alwayspraying for spiritual revival and renewal in Romania. Thesituation here has changed a great deal in the last severalyears and it is obvious that the Romanian young people arebecoming more and more closed to the Gospel. Day after daywe can see how our generation is being drawn away from theGospel and biblical principles by the worldly, carnal things ofthis life. Many are seeking to be like the West and they arelearning many immoral things from television and films thatare bringing about terrible changes in their way of talking,dressing, and thinking.

Here in Romania, we are in great need of spiritual men

and women with a vision and a calling from God. We under-stand that real change only comes from God and we rest inHis hands, but at the same time, He has put a desire in ourhearts to seek revival that His glory might be demonstratedin our country. We pray and fast that His Name be sanctified,that His kingdom come, and that His will be done. We do notknow how God will answer our prayers, but we know that thispassion in our hearts comes from Him - to see Him glorifiedby all people and by all nations.

Recently, I was doing door to door evangelism in thedorms with my disciple Sergiu. We knocked on one door andwere invited into the room. There were four male students inthe room from the city of Resita. They knew Sergiu and be-gan to mock us and our faith in Christ. When Sergiu saw theirattitude he wanted to leave, but I knew that we needed toendure their mocking so that Sergiu would learn to be a strongsoldier of Jesus in the face of persecution. One day he wouldhave to stand on his own and even disciple others, thereforeI knew that it was a necessary lesson for him to learn. Whenthe students saw that we were not going to leave, one ofthem asked us mockingly: “OK! Tell us how we can have arelationship with God as you have!” I knew the boy who wasmaking fun of us and so I looked directly at him and began totalk to them about their sin and the holiness of God. Thewords pierced into their hearts, the mocking stopped, andeveryone became very serious. I was amazed to see thechanges that God worked in them. At the end of my message,one boy said: “I do not live in this room, and therefore I couldhave been anywhere else tonight, but your God brought mehere to hear these words that you are speaking. If I do notrepent now, I will be the biggest sinner in the world becauseI will have rejected God.” It is wonderful when God worksamong us with great power. Sergiu told me later: “I almostcannot believe how God changed the situation and how Heworked in their hearts!”

Charo Washer(far right) with afew of thestudents whohave beendiscipled by Alexand Ion.

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Dumitru Capatina is a deacon in the Baptist church ofBrinza (Southwest Moldova). This church has an elderlypastor who was very traditional in his work and not veryopen to missions. In spite of his pastor’s lack of interest,Dumitru started a mission in the village of Pelenia, 50 Kfrom Brinza. In time, the pastor saw that God’s hand wasupon the work and that He was using Dumitru in a wonder-ful way. He also saw that Dumitru had a missionary’s heartto take the Gospel to the unreached.

Dumitru started the mission two years ago in Peleniaand now there are 22 members. The mission is located in anold abandoned storefront. Dumitru is a good teacher andevangelist. It is obvious that God has blessed and equippedhim to be a missionary. I greatly appreciate his dedication.For two years he traveled and worked in the mission at hisown expense. During the day he worked at a gas station tosupport his wife and seven children, and at night he trav-eled to Pelenia to preach the Gospel. In time, he could notresist the call any longer and renounced his only employ-ment in order to dedicate himself to the mission. He alsocontinues to serve in the church in Brinza as a Bible teacherand deacon. Recently, Dumitru has shared with me his de-sire to start another mission close to Pelenia. Whenever hehas an opportunity, he preaches the Gospel. He travels agreat deal and preaches the Word to the unreached. Thefollowing is a brief testimony from the life and ministry ofDumitru.

I was born in 1958, in the city of Brinza, located in theRepublic of Moldavia. My parents were not Christians, butmy brother and I began to attend a Baptist church in the

village when I was 16 years old. It was there that I repented ofmy sins and confessed Christ. In 1979, I was baptized andadded to the church. During the same year, I was married to adear Christian woman in our church named Ana Ciobanu.

In 1988, God called me to serve Him in the work of mis-sions. He helped me to understand that it is not enough for aChristian to sing in the choir, but the church needs servantswho will preach the Gospel. My calling to missions came atthe time of my mother’s death. Seeing her in the grave mademe realize that life is very short and that I would soon die andstand before God. I also realized at that moment that peopleare always dying without Christ. I know without a doubt inmy heart that on that day God called me to be a missionary ofthe Gospel. It is now my task to preach the Gospel of salva-tion to my generation.

During the years between 1994-95, I studied missions inthe Bible College. Towards the end of my studies, I began tosense God’s leadership for me to be a church planter in thevillage of Pelenia. I began my work in 1997 with seven elderlypeople who professed faith in Jesus Christ. The next twoyears I dedicated myself to personal and mass evangelism.Because of my need to support my family and the mission’sdistance from my home, I could only visit the work once aweek. Nevertheless, through the testimony of the Gospel,the village began to change its attitude toward the Gospel. In1998, God blessed us with our first baptism and four peopleidentified themselves with Christ publicly. In the followingyear, we had another baptism of six new believers. We nowhave 20 members in the church and a children’s group ofbetween 15 and 20. God has truly blessed us in every way.We have rented an abandoned storefront for six dollars a

Dumitru CapatinaBlessing in Hardship

Dumitru preaching in the mission in the village of Pelenia. In spite of the poverty and hardship of Southwest Moldova, hehas persevered in the Great Commission to take the Gospel to all peoples.

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month and I am now able to travel to Pelenia and carry out thework as I should. I thank God for the help and support Hehas given me through you.

My family is fine. We have many children, and we thankGod for His care. I know that God is working in my family andthat each one of us (even the smallest child) has an importantplace in God’s plan. My prayer is that God will give me morewisdom and passion for the mission work. It is my greatestdesire to serve the people in the love and humility of Christ,and to teach them about Christ and His salvation. During thelast few months, God has blessed me with good health andpower from on high to carry out my work as a missionary.

Since Pelinia is a farming community, I recently held ameeting and showed a film about a Christian farmer whotrusted in the Lord to sustain him in the difficult work of afarmer. After the film, I sowed many seeds in the hearts of themen. I preached to them about the truth that God is the sourceof all blessings - spiritual and material. It was a blessed dayfor everyone who came.

Recently one of the Christians in our church died. At thefuneral home I was given the opportunity to preach the Gos-pel. Many people who do not know God came to the funeraland learned how Jesus could save them from their sins andthe punishment of hell.

This month we had our yearly business meeting at ourchurch and I presented to the Christians my vision for preach-ing the Gospel to all that are within the reach of the church. Ialso proposed many places where we can have evangelisticmeetings to preach the Gospel to the lost. The church wasvery excited to give itself in a greater way to the Great Com-mission.

I have begun our youth ministry once again. Before lastwinter, I was working very hard with the children and youth,but when winter came I had to stop. We had no meeting placeand there was too much snow to continue the meetings out-

doors. After much prayer, God has given us a place to meetwith our brothers and sisters and to preach the Good Newsto the lost. There is much work to be done on the small, oneroom storefront, but through God’s faithfulness we will soonhave a presentable place. At this moment we are praying forwood, paint, cement, and chairs.

This month two people repented and another seven lis-tened as I preached to them the Gospel. I try to witness to allthe people in the village and to be their friend. Last month, Iorganized a little choir. The director of our village culturalcenter directs it. He was converted in our mission throughthe preaching of the Word of God.

The following is a testimony from Elena Baboianu whoheard the Gospel preached by Dumitru Capatina. After-wards, she repented of her sins and confessed the Lord. Sheis now growing in the Lord.

“ I appreciate the dedication of brother Dumitru here inPelinia. Because of him, many people have the opportunityto hear the Gospel, turn from their sins, and believe the Gos-pel. Dumitru has many qualities that we all respect - love,honesty, and humility. He is also a good Bible teacher andevangelist. He has won many people to the Lord and throughhis personal example he encourages the brothers and sistersto live the real Christian life. He zealously watches over theLord’s flock and does not allow sin to spread in our church.Because of this, our church has a very high standard of god-liness and a good witness to the lost. He has organized manyevangelistic meetings in the last few months and the numberof believers has multiplied. Now we have double the numberof people in our mission than we had before he came. He isvery dedicated to the mission, and has worked very hardwithout any economic support. He is a good man for ourchurch and the people of our village. He is a man of God.”

Dumitru and Sorin Prodan (HeartCry director in Romania - at right) visiting a family of believers in the town of Pelenia.

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Toma is presently working in three mission points amongthe Gypsies in the country of Romania: Tunari – a village of3,500 where there are 12 baptized members and 25 in atten-dance, Dimieni – a village of 250 people where there is onebaptized member and ten in attendance, and finally Tamas– a village of 2,500, where there are 25 baptized membersand 30 in attendance. The following are a few recent testi-monies from Marian’s ministry.

Florica Dogaru is a 52-year-old woman who became analcoholic when she was 17 years old. Everyone in the villageknew she was nothing but a drunk. Nobody loved her orcared for her soul. Even her family would have nothing to dowith her because she was such a disgrace. When I visitedher, she told me, “I don’t know if God is able or willing toforgive all the sins that I have committed in my lifetime.” Itaught her the Word of the Lord from 1 John 1:8-10 about thegreatness of God’s forgiveness. Because of this, she criedout to God and asked Him to forgive her. Now she comes tothe church and worships God with us. One Sunday, she heardme preach about the love of God and it made her see that sheneeded to be reconciled with her brother against whom shehad filed a legal suit. Immediately, she renounced her rightsand dropped her legal battle with her brother. Please pray forher to remain on the narrow path with Jesus.

Lucian Cretu is a young man and he lives with his familyin Dimieni. They are the poorest and most immoral people inthe village. They do not work, but survive by stealing from

others. One day I invited him to church and to my surprise hecame. When he heard the Gospel, he repented of his sins,and trusted in Christ as Savior. I believe that his conversionwas genuine, because immediately his life began to change.Please pray for Lucian. His father is a drunk and tries to forcehim and his two brothers Sandu and Mihai to drink with him.Also, his relatives and friends constantly ridicule him, whenhe comes to church to worship God. In spite of all this, hecontinues to keep the way. I thank the Lord for this boy andhis testimony. Please pray for him and for his dedication tothe Lord.

Tudorita Gradinaru is an elderly woman who now at-tends our church. Many times she heard a voice which toldher to come to our church to hear about the salvation of God,but she could not obey. She wanted to attend, but her hus-band would not allow it. Every time she made the attempt tovisit us her husband would beat her or shut her out of thehouse so that she would have to sleep with neighbors. Fi-nally, God saved her from this terrible experience. Her hus-band suddenly died and now she comes to church withoutany problems. She was baptized this month and has becomea very dedicated believer. She does not feel alone becauseshe has the presence of God in her life. Her entire neighbor-hood speaks many bad things about her because she hasconfessed Christ publicly through baptism, but she contin-ues to come to the church faithfully with her three girls. Thisis a very great encouragement for the other believers in ourchurch who must also suffer.

Elena Tocila is a 45 year old woman and mother of fivechildren. I met her and her husband one day when I washanding out Gospel tracts in the street. After sharing withthem, they invited me to their house to hear about the salva-tion of God. They had many questions from the Bible and Icould clearly see that God was working in their lives. After afew minutes, Elena put her life in God’s hands. She declaredto everyone in the house, “I have found the true way!” Be-fore her conversion, she lived a very evil life and had manyevil habits like drinking alcohol and smoking, but the day shemet Jesus her life completely changed. She now tells thechurch that she can sense the Holy Spirit’s power in her lifeand it has helped her renounce and even overcome many ofthe bad habits that once controlled her. When the villagepriest heard that Elena had been converted and that her en-tire family was attending the church, he tried to stop themwith threats, but Elena was not afraid. She simply told thepriest that she was free to worship the Lord according to thetrue way. Elena’s testimony is evidence that the wonderfulpower of God still changes people and enables them to livewithout the bad habits of sin.

Finally, please pray for the mission in Tunari. The city isthe stronghold of the Gypsy Mafia, the most dangerous Mafiain Romania. They traffic stolen cars, sell young girls intowhite slavery and prostitution and deal in the sale of illegalguns. Because of their violence and corruption, the city ofTunari is not a safe place to live or minister. But in spite ofthis difficult situation our work continues. In the last fewmonths, we have baptized six new believers. Also this month,we have obtained permission from the government to build achurch. My house is now too small to hold all the people whoare coming to our services.

Toma MarianTestimonies of Grace

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Ion and Suplimenta Marin are HeartCry missionariesamong the Gypsies in Cornetu, Romania. In the past year,the church that Ion pastors in Cornetu has grown from 120to 365 members. In the following are a few short testimoniesfrom his ministry:

A few months ago, I was making a pastoral visit at thehome of Dragutav Romanescu, one of the sisters in ourchurch whose husband was not a Christian. She had a verydifficult life because her husband was a terrible drunk andgambler who spent all of their income drinking with his friendsand playing cards. The moment I arrived, the husband be-came very nervous and angry, but I continued to talk to himany way. After several minutes, his attitude towards me be-gan to change and he asked me some very important ques-tions about the Bible. I used the Word of God to answer hisquestions and to show him that it was not good for him to beso angry at those who desired to serve the living God. I toldhim that he should be very careful not to do or say anythingbad about his wife because she was a believer in Jesus, andthat God would protect her from him because she was Hischild. The next day I was very surprised when I heard thatthis man was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a verybad illness. He was placed on a very strict diet and prohibitedto drink or smoke. In spite of the medicines and the diet, hishealth did not improve. At his most desperate moment, heremembered my warning to him. He felt guilty because he hadpersecuted his wife because of her faith in Jesus. In the fearof the Lord, he immediately asked forgiveness and began toattend our church. Finally, one day he stood before the entirechurch, confessed his sin and professed Jesus Christ as his

Savior and Lord. After this, he shared, with tears in his eyes,how God had worked in his life. He is now preparing for hisbaptism.

Recently I had to visit the mayor of our village becausethe Orthodox priest did not want the Christians to be buriedin the public cemetery. As I talked to him about the problem,he told me a wonderful story about how God had used ourchurch in his conversion. He explained to me that one day ashe was walking past our church, he heard someone insidewho was praying and crying out to God. As he listened to theprayer, he became convicted of his sin and cried out to Godfor salvation. On hearing this testimony, I was overwhelmedwith joy and opened my Bible to explain to him the way ofsalvation more clearly.

Finally, there is a man named Stanel Ivancea who lives inour village. He was a very bad man with many evil habits likedrinking and gambling. All the money that he earned, he andhis wife spent in the bars and gambling casinos. One day, hiswife became very ill and they became afraid. I used this op-portunity to speak with them about their spiritual conditionand their need for salvation through the Gospel. After sev-eral more visits, the wife was the first to repent and be bap-tized. After her conversion, her husband treated her horribly,but she remained a faithful witness to Christ. Finally, afterseveral months of persecution her husband was also con-verted. From that moment until today, he has been changedby the Holy Spirit. Not one of his bad habits or immoralityremains. Many of the people in our village say that they areamazed at the changes in his life. I think it is wonderful whenGod uses a famous sinner to demonstrate His power to changepeople.

Ion & SuplimentaMarinWorking in the Lord’s Harvest

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Brother Nae Marian is a HeartCry missionary amongthe Gypsies in several villages of Romania. The following isa brief report from his ministry:

During the past few months I have been involved inmany evangelistic campaigns in different parts of Romania. Ifirst traveled through the south of Romania and preached inmany villages of Giurgiu that had never heard the Gospelmessage. Most of the people were very closed to the mes-sage, because they were only interested in themselves andthe pleasures of this world. But some listened to the messageand confessed that they want to know more about the way ofsalvation. Because of them, we stayed in the villages for threedays and taught them the truth of the Bible. For the rest whorefused to hear we could only intercede that God would opentheir hearts and minds to the Gospel.

Last month, some brothers from the Moldavia Republicinvited us to preach the Gospel to the Gypsy communities intheir country. Throughout the entire missionary journey wesaw that the Gypsies desired to hear the Gospel and we had agreat open door before us. Our first preaching opportunitypresented itself to us at a Gypsy wedding. Since we wereguests from Romania, we were allowed to speak to the people.We rejoiced to see the people’s openness and enthusiasm forthe Gospel. While we were in Moldova, we visited the greatcity of Chisinew and preached in the Gypsy neighborhoods.We began our evangelism in the open markets. Each day weplayed our instruments and sang our music in the middle ofthe market until a crowd gathered and then we preached tothem the Gospel. Many of the Gypsies left their businessesunattended to hear our songs and listen to the Gospel. Theyrejoiced to hear us sing and preach in the language of theGypsies. It was wonderful to see the joy on their faces andthe tears in their eyes as they listened to the songs and theGospel message in their own language. A large number of

people came to us and believed on Christ. We prayed forthem that God would confirm their salvation.

After one week in Moldova, we were invited to a Gypsybaptism in the town of Simleul-Silvaniei in Northwest part ofRomania. We rejoiced to see how God is working and towitness the spiritual revival that is now among the Gypsies.One year before there was not one church or even one GypsyChristian in Simleul-Silvaniei, but the seed we planted oneyear ago is now bearing fruit. The church now has 60 mem-bers and at the last baptism, twenty-three Gypsies publiclytestified about their faith in God. It is truly amazing how Godhas worked and transformed so many hearts in this place.For us it was a real joy to see the wonders of God among ourpeople. We know that the revival is the result of the grace ofGod and not something produced by us.

In one of my evangelistic visits, I met a family with agreat desire to hear the Word of God. It was one of the poor-est families that I have ever encountered. Since they aregypsies, no one wants to give them work and like most othergypsies they are isolated from the rest of society. The chil-dren cannot read or write and the must find food in the citydumps. Even though the food is mostly rotten and full ofinfection, it is all they have to survive. I was very moved inmy heart when they told me with tears that the Orthodoxpriest would not baptize their children because they had nomoney to pay him. I used this as an opportunity to explain tothem that although baptism is important, it is not for childrenwho are unaware of the Gospel, but for those who have bothunderstood the Gospel and placed their faith in Jesus Christ.After preaching the Gospel to them, two people publiclyconfessed their faith in Jesus.

Nae MarianTraveling Evangelist

Brother Nae teaching Gypsy children in the park ofFerentari. One of the most dangerous districts of Bucharest.

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Brother Samuel Stoica is a HeartCry missionary amongthe Gypsies in several villages of Romania. This is a briefreport from his ministry.

During the past few months I have had many wonderfulmoments in God’s presence and saw many people touchedby God’s love. In all our open air evangelistic preaching inthe streets and plazas, I saw many people whose hearts weresearched by God’s Spirit when we sang our songs andpreached the Gospel in our Gypsy language. Through allthese things I am encouraged to sacrifice myself more andmore in the work of the Lord. We must preach until all peopleunderstand the Word of the Lord and His message of salva-tion.

During one of our open air meetings I became aware ofboth the spiritual and economic poverty of my people. Afterour preaching a Gypsy man came to me and said: “It is verytrue what you have said about God and righteousness, butwe are poor people who must do everything in our power tosurvive. Most of us are nothing more than scavengers. Wewander throughout the city and garbage piles looking forscraps of iron or anything else that we can sell to feed ourfamilies. If we do not find anything of worth, then we areforced to steal vegetables from the farms and gardens ofothers. We know very well that this is sin, but we cannotreturn to our homes at night and tell our children that wehave nothing to give them to eat. We must stay alive and wemust feed our children.” When I heard this, I was very sad

and my heart was broken for my people. I asked God to helpthem.

This month we began a literacy class in our Gypsy churchin Cornetu. Many people who do not know Christ came tothe classes and they are very happy that they have the op-portunity to read. They are especially grateful that their chil-dren will learn to read and write.

In our mission point outside of Cornetu, we have begunto see the blessings of the Lord. A few months ago, theowners of a meeting hall allowed me to use their building topreach the Gospel and start a church. We now have a smallgroup that I am preparing for baptism. The task is difficult butthe Lord is faithful to help us. Last week, I invited manypeople from the town to the hall and showed them the Jesusfilm. Many of the Gypsies cried when they heard Jesus speak-ing in the Gypsian language. Our people are very sentimen-tal. Throughout the film the Holy Spirit searched the heartsof many people and there is growing interest in the Gospel.Please pray for me that I will be an example of faith and lovefor the people who come to our mission. We have a goodstart, but we need much prayer.

Please pray for my father. He is very sick with an infec-tion in his blood. The doctors operated and sent him homeeven though he is still not well. Also, please pray for my wifeand I. We have a new son named Michael. He is a greatblessing for us. Finally, please pray for me to have courage inGod’s work and to pass through every problem trusting inGod.

Samuel StoicaTaking the Gospel to the Gypsy

Samuel uses his musical talent as a means ofcommunicating the Gospel to his people.His joy is contagious.

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Brother Gae is the President of the Children’s BibleSchool Teachers Association in Romania and has been train-ing Sunday school teachers for more than 20 years. Hisgreatest goal is the evangelization of every child in Roma-nia through Sunday School. Because of his faithfulness un-der communist persecution, he is now one of the most re-spected ministers of Christ in the country of Romania. Thefollowing is Brother Gae’s monthly report and some of thetestimonies written by others that have attended his SundaySchool training programs:

My work in July was focused mostly on the preparationof sermons, preaching and the preparation of exams for thisyears final session at the Sunday School Teacher’s College.The exams dealt primarily with the Study of the Old and NewTestament, Systematic Theology and Methods for TeachingReligion. For the final exams we invited the seminary profes-sors of theology to review the students work and to examineeach student through one on one interviews. All of our 18graduating students completed the exams successfully. Itgives me great joy to know that each student will be capableteachers of the word of God within their respective churches

This month, my study manual was printed and madeavailable to the churches. It consists of 294 pages and deals

primarily with methodology, application and tests, and is de-signed to help Christian High-School teachers who teachreligion in the State schools. It can also be used by SundaySchool teachers within the churches or for anyone who needshelp in their ministry with children.

The following are testimonies from Fellow Ministers andFormer Students about the blessing of brother Gae’s work:

Valeria Bighin:As President of the Bacau Association of Sunday School

Teachers in Romania I have known brother Stefan Gae since1990, when the Baptist Association of Sunday School Teach-ers was formed. As president, brother Gae has made it pos-sible for every Sunday School teacher to be instructed onhow to communicate God’s truth to the children of thechurched and unchurched. Brother Stefan is an expert in teach-ing others how to evangelize children and teach them thefoundational truths of God’s Scripture. He is a gift from Godto all of us and has exceptional grace for teaching children inmeekness and communicating to them how to become truefollowers of Jesus Christ

Recently I accompanied brother Gae and another groupof teachers from the towns of Timisoara, Arad, and Cluj toChisinew for a meeting with the Sunday School teachers there.

StephanGaeRomanian’s Mr.Sunday School

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It was an wonderful time and we saw much fruit. During theentire conference, brother Gae worked tirelessly and was anextraordinary encouragement to all of us. Many of the youngpeople who attended went away with an even greater hungerfor God’s Word.

It is my prayer that God will give to brother Gae bothgood health and the power to continue on in this wonderfulministry and not become weary on the path.

Ioan Vujdea:I thank God for the opportunity to study with brother

Stefan Gae. He is a great teacher who helps us know God in agreater way and to communicate His truth to the children. Healso helps us to see the great love that God has for the chil-dren and the importance of the children’s ministry in thechurch. Our ministries have been enriched by brother Gae’swisdom and by all the teaching materials he has prepared forthe Sunday School teachers throughout Romania. I am pray-ing that God will bless him with health and wisdom so thatthis great work may continue. Also, I am praying for all ofyou who support brother Gae. I know that it is a great sacri-fice for you, but it is a great help for us.

Gabriela Vujdea:A few months ago I was challenged to work with the

children in our church. I accepted this opportunity to servethe Lord, but was totally unprepared. I did not know what to

teach the children or how to keep their attention. Because ofthis, every Sunday school class was torture for me. I felthorrible because I knew I was failing the children. When Ibecame desperate, I began to pray that the Lord would helpme find a way to clearly communicate His truth to the chil-dren. I prayed for two months and after this time God sentbrother Gae to my city for a five day training course for Sun-day School teachers. He was a great answer to my prayers.He spoke about the importance of the children in God’s planand taught many principles directed towards the teachingthe children. Through the conference, God touched my life,and changed my attitude completely. I can now see the Lordusing me in the children’s ministry in my church. The chil-dren also have seen the change in my attitude and they seeGod working in their lives. I am very glad that God sent brotherGae to help me. Thank you for supporting his work.

Patricia Neag:I attended brother Gae’s Sunday school conferences in

the city of Sibiu. Each course was very helpful to those of uswho work with children. The courses helped us to deepenour own understanding of Scripture and to communicate truthto others. Throughout the entire conference, God spokethrough brother Gae and taught us many things. I pray thatGod will grant me the grace to demonstrate the same dedica-tion that has been so evident in the life of brother Gae throughthe years.

Brother Stephen Gae teaching Sun-day School teachers at a rural retreat.It has always been his passion toreach as many children as possiblewith the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Peru:In the country of Peru we are supporting eleven Peruvian church planters andevangelists. We are also providing funding for Church construction and theconstruction of the School of Missions in the Northern Peru where in the lastseveral years more than 500 churches have been planted. Our missionaries areamong the coastal peoples, the peoples of the northern Andes and the AguarunaTribe of the Amazon Basin.

Paraguay:In the country of Paraguay we are supporting the prison ministry of nationalmissionary Dino Ortiz. In the last few years, countless young men have been rescuedfrom the bondage of human depravity and sin through the power of Jesus Christ.

Romania:In the country of Romania we are supporting twenty Romania church planters.While the doors are open we must do our best to saturate this beautiful country inthe Gospel of Jesus Christ. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Ourmissionaries are working among the Romanian people, as well as the Gypsy,Hungarian and Serbian peoples.

Moldova:In the country of Moldova we are supporting six Moldovian church planters. Fromthis impoverished nation God is redeeming a people for Himself, forgiving their sinsand granting them an immeasurable inheritance. We must be quick to respond tothis open door and work for the Master in His harvest. Our missionaries areworking among the Moldovian and Russian peoples.

Ukraine:In the Ukraine we are supporting four Ukrainian church planters. This is a newfield for HeartCry, but God has been faithful to let us see an early harvest. May thelater harvest be even greater. Our missionaries are working among the Moldavianand Russian peoples.

Nigeria:In the country of Nigeria we are supporting two Nigerian church planters. Despitesevere persecution and even martyrdom, the Gospel must be proclaimed until everyNigerian has heard the wonders of God’s salvation.

Zambia:In the country of Zambia we are supporting four Zambian church planters.HeartCry is working in cooperation with Zambian church leader Conrad Mbewe(affectionately called the African Spurgeon) to plant churches in this most needyfield.

Where in the World is HeartCry?N

igeria - Zam

bia - Peru - P

araguay - Rom

ania - P

eru

- P

arag

uay

- R

oman

ia -

Mol

dova

- U

krai

ne -

Moldova - Ukraine - Nigeria - Zambia

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HeartCry Missionary Society

What part of “Go”do you not understand?

Matthew 28:18-20

HeartCry Missionary Society

c/o Waldo Baptist Church6970 Waldo Church RoadMetropolis, IL. 62960

Non-Profit Org.U.S. PostagePAIDBrookport, IL.Permit No. 10

Email: [email protected] Page: www. heartcrymissionary.com

Ph/Fax: (618) 564-2770