Graduating with Honors

We had a wonderful year!

This last year, 2004, we had wonderful students. Eugen Bucurescu, Nicu Carstea, Claudia Olariu and Andrei Nicut graduated from our 8 month ministry training program...and with honors! It was clear by the confidence with which they shared that day, that they had come a long way this year. Each student, in their own way, grew in their character, abilities and confidence in God's working in their lives.

Preparing for Next Year

We are now in preparation for next year's Intern Program. We are in search for another 6-8 students from within our own congregation who have succesfully finished the 101-501 first year courses in our church. They also must prove active involvement in a local cell group and show signs of having a real and serios relationship with God. We wish to invest the following year in their lives and see them end in success and more prepared for what God has for their lives.

Advice anyone?

Urgent Request for Advice!!!

Emma and I are completly committed to our ministry and church here in Romania. We are, however, growing rapidly. Emma and I feel that God may be leading us to return to the U.S. for a time in order to get more training. Emma wishes to study music and worship leading. We believe that with this training, we will be able to better funcion here in Romania long-term. Our church here will be sending us out with their blessing and with the expectancy for us to return.

We need your prayers and help. We have little idea as to what school would be perfect for what Emma wishes to study. Do you know of a school with a very good "Worship Leader Training" program? We would like to try and avoid attending a private university because we just cant afford it. We are looking for something that is maybe 1-2 years long and specifically aimed at this area of ministry. We are not looking for a WASC accredited school, though that would be nice, but just a school that is recommended for this subject. Can you let us know if you have any school in mind that meets these parameters? We would love to stay in the Southern California or Fresno area.

Thank you so much, and we appreciate your prayers as well

Ministering Together

Emma and I often get to minister together. We enjoy so much to be together on the worship team, as she sings and leads worship, and I play the guitar or bass. Every so often, as well, we will sing a duet on stage. We have learned many songs together and love singing them together. This is just one of the ways that we are working here together as a team.

Local Church

Above is Pastor Mihai Tarnaveschi (read his newsletter) and his wife Eliza and daughter Ioana. He has been the pastor now for 3 years since he first started this church with the help of Mission Connection and the Taylor family (pictured below)



Cell Church

Beginning on the 22 of October last year we completely transitioned our church into a Cell Church. What this means is that our entire church vision and purpose are based on two things:

1. The Hope Groups that take place throughout the week (the whole church has been divided into hope (cell) groups)



2. The Celebration Service on Sunday evenings. Around these two aspects does the entire church revolve. This structure is entirely evangelistic in nature and at the same time cares more adequately for the people of the church. Each hope group has anywhere from 4-12 members, who are nurtured by their hope leader; this personal discipleship we feel is a better method for our church than for pastor Mihai to try and care for the entire church by himself. We plan on winning our entire city for Christ, and to do that we needed a structure which could adequately disciple all the people who get saved.



Each new believer (as well as the existing ones) are immediately set on a 1 year training track which results with them leading a hope group themselves (Discipleship Oriented)

At the same time, each hope group has as it's goal to double in size each year; as this happens more and more hope groups will start, and the snowball effect begins (Evangelistically Oriented)

10 More Baptized for Jesus!



This year we have had the joy of baptizing 51 people in the name of Jesus! What a wonderful piece of good news. This year our church grew from 30 members to nearly 75, and we are seeing around 100 people steady each Sunday night in the main service. We are continually thanking God for what He has done and at the same time asking Him for more. Our vision is to see our church grow to at least double by this time next year, and believe that He will do even more than that! Thank you for partenering with us in prayer for the city of Targoviste!

New Church Plant

Church Plant in Moreni

The new Church in Moreni is going great! Eugen Bucurescu, from last year's training program has followed God's leading back to his home town of Moreni to plant a church. Our church "Hope of Life" is fully in support of him as he has just recently moved in to an apartment in the middle of the city.

There he meets with 12-18 youth each Wednesday for cell group; they also regather on Monday nights for prayer, and every Sunday morning they have Bible studies 101-501 just as we do in Targoviste. For the moment, they all travel into Targoviste to attend our main service Sunday nights. However, they are aiming at beginning their own Sunday main service in April after we will hold several evangelistic outreaches!

We are so proud of Eugen and his faithfulness to listen to God and pray and endure unto this point when he is now seeing the fruits of his labor. Please continue to pray for Eugen and Alin (one of our leaders, who has chosen to commit full time to help Eugen).

Eugen is in the process of raising support so that he can continue to live in Moreni and minster. If any of you would like to support him in any way, you can simply send money to the address above for Mission Connection, just as you would send it to Emma and I, but note somewhere on the check that it is for "Eugen in Moreni".

"My Shelter"

New Placement Home

Mission Connection (view website), the organization with which Emma and I work has been in the process of opening a placement home in a nearby village for over a year now. On September 23, this home named "My Shelter" was inaugurated. The village mayor and other officials were there along with a local television station, and many others to celebrate this wonderful event.

There are two families currently living in this home taking care of 8 children, 5 of which are in placement. The vision is to provide for abandoned babies: a home, touch, and most of all love, during their first couple of years, until they are then either placed or hopefully adopted. The home itself will eventually be able to house many more kids, as many as 16.

Praise God for the families who are willing to love these kids and show them God's love too.

Pictured below is founder Paul Grimes, and the Dagaru family and their five children: Estera, Miriam, Andrea, Sarah and Rebekah.

Internship Program

2004 Students

These are our students from 2004. From left, Nicu, Eugen, Claudia, Olimpiu, Emma, Ionut, Chad, and Andrei. What a team!

Working in High Schools

One of the activities that we do in our training program is to present in every high school in Targoviste an anti-drug/anti-abortion program. We reach about 250 students per week, and spend one hour with them. Our program consists of 3 great dramas, several mini-discussions and a word from the health department. We work alongside the city in this project and have great response from both the students and the faculty.



Making a Difference

One teacher recently said, “If this doesn’t reach the students, I don’t know what will”, referring to the fact that we use dramas and skits to educate; she also said, “this is the best anti-drug approach I’ve ever seen”. This woman is responsible for all activities of this sort at her school. Claudia, pictured right, and our only female student says about one particular day, “It was a special day, the students were so enthusiastic…I saw in some girls tears and joy; it might have been the first time that someone ever talked to them about abortion.”

By the way, Romania has the 2nd highest abortion rate in the world after China. Claudia further said, “the dramas really touched them…we went and planted seeds.” One girl, after seeing our program, and especially what we had to say about abortion was so touched that she began to cry. She then approached Emma and began to share about her life and how the doctor said that she’ll never be able to have children. She was so touched by the program that she asked if she could share with the next class about her life and encourage the girls to be careful, and avoid the pain that she goes through. She did great! Claudia says, “I really liked (her) for her courage; she was very open to talk about her life in front of her friends and to give them advice. I am so grateful because I know that we helped her.”



Reaching One at a Time

During the 2004 program, we reached over 2000 high school students with our anti/drug - anti/abortion program. We hit all 12 high schools. The mayor of Targoviste gave us the ok, and the health department collaborated with us by sending a representative to speak alongside us. Each of the high schools that we were in gave us nothing but good reports regarding the effectiveness of our program, and they all invited us back next year! We plan on doing just that, and attempting to reach even more students.

In each of our programs one of our main goals was to establish a connection with the students. We would sit and talk with them before and after the show, and included a few discussions during the program itself. We were pleased to see many of them attend our Coffee House and even more pleased to see some of them come on Sunday night. One student that we met in a high school is currently a part of Emma's and my cell group! Praise God!

Camp “Lunca Bradului”

Summer Camp in Transylvania

For the first time but not the last our church took a group of 60 youth to a summer camp deep in the mountains of Transylvania. The youth in our church were challenged to bring their non-Christian friends in order to go themselves. 25 of the 60 total were non-Christians, and 20 of those 25 made a first time decision to follow Christ and live for Him. They are now involved in our cell groups, and have already been baptized, and now are working through the 201 courses. We praise God for bringing the lost home!



Florin Cucu

One student Florin Cucu (right) testifies, “Before this camp, I did a whole lot of things that God didn’t like, and every day I fought with my parents. Just a couple days before this camp I ran into my old friend Joseph; he said that he just got saved and that God had changed his life, and asked me if I wanted to go to this camp, so I said “yes”. I went thinking to just have fun, but God had another plan for me. On the second day of the camp I too drew near to God and was saved. Now, I have begun to tell my friends about God, and I have the hope that they will change their lives too, because God loves them.” Florin is in our cell group and is doing so well.

Encounter Retreat

85 People attended the Encounter Retreat in 2004!



Burning our Past



Walking out Our New Life

Emma teaches on how to overcome temptation to 20 new members of our church. Emma and I both regularly teach at the "Encounter Retreat", which is held every 3-4 months at a nearby Christian facility.