May-June 2006 Newsletter

For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade,
then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
Mark 4:28

THEN THE EAR
As I write this newsletter I can look from my desk into my back yard and see a huge apple tree in the middle stages of bringing forth new fruit. It is a very lovely sight and one that generates both hope and appetite. It also reminds me of the normal course of events. This is what is supposed to happen if everything is done right and the environment is friendly. This can also be applied to the work and ministry in the Lord Jesus Christ. Many more factors can play into this area of reproduction. The environment of the last days, materialism, strength of the opposition and others. Many of my fellow ministers are having to work very hard to bring forth fruit in a very unfriendly environment and for those I pray. I have labored also in these difficult fields for many years.

The Lord has enabled us to labor now in a field that, like my apple tree is in the middle stages of bringing forth new fruit. Several souls have been saved in the length of time we have been here and we are enjoying observing of their maturity. New communities have been reached and are taking shape and beginning to look like an actual church.

THE CHURCH AT RACOS
The ministry in Racos Village now has its own building and within just a couple of weeks we will have done the renovations necessary to accommodate the folk who have been gathering in the open for the past 15 months.

THE CHURCH AT BUDILA?
Budila is a small village just 20 minutes from our church in Brasov. We started doing publick ministry and house to house work there about 2 months ago and it has begun to exhibit some real fruit. I take the Lord's van out every Sunday morning and load 20 or more souls, mostly young adults, and bring them in to our church in Brasov. This effort raises our attendance in Brasov to over 50. It won't be long before we will be looking for a building in that community. These are exciting days. Time to grow some leaders.

MATURE FRUIT AT THE BIBLE INSTITUTE
All seven of the men currently in the Bible institute finished the first semester with a very acceptable grade average. These are the future pastors of the churches mentioned above. We will begin the next semester in the early fall. Pray for these men. Their names and ages are as follows…Dorin 34, Istvan 38, Dan 25, Daniel 34, Mihai 23. We have two Peters, one is young and one is old so we refer to the older as 1st Peter 63, and 2nd Peter 26.

CITY VERSUS VILLAGE
The cities here in Romania are not much different than the cities in any civilized country in the world. They are big, dirty, busy, and they offer a great many folk to minister to but, along with that comes the lust for materialism and the adjoining apathy. Brasov, where we live, is a city of nearly 400,000 and we minister publickly here on a daily basis. We hold two scheduled street meetings per week but most of our people are putting out the Word in some fashion here daily. We are quite well known here with the police as well as with the Orthodox church and the general public. Most of the city people live in high rise apartments called blocks. It is tricky for a non-resident to gain access to these private blocks but in the summer many of the front doors are left open for circulation and thereby we can stuff the mailboxes and knock doors.

The villages offer an entirely different lifestyle. There is plenty of livestock about, much activity at or near the river or creek or well. The river or well serves as the local laundromat and "fresh" water source. The kids are always out and about playing childish games in the dirt, dust, mud or snow. They quickly become your friend and will stand in the cold, hot, rain or snow and sing and listen to a Bible story. The older folk will gather too and in inclement weather will offer you their house for shelter. We often accept and gather as many as 25+ in a single room dwelling. The two ministries are so different they cannot be compared…they each have their pluses and minuses but if you love ministering they will both provide ample opportunity for anyone.

PERSONAL
We are all well and happy to be serving the Lord with so much to do. We thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support and invite you to CALL 011-40-268-477-243, SEARCH OUR WEBSITE FOR PHOTOS OF ALL OF THE ABOVE www.streetpreaching.com, or COME and see us on the field.

Serving with you but on the eastern front

Gerald Sutek And the SWAT TEAM for Christ