SWAT REPORT  # 33    08-23-05

(Heb 4:9 KJV)  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

I am glad there “remaineth” a rest because there is little of that right now…no complaints just comments…I am very happy to be very busy in the work of the King…this is the first day in about 12 that I have had time to write you again…I know some do not even read these but there are a few who actually look forward to them…so for them I apologize for depriving you of your Romanian fix…just kidding.

TWO GROUPS

We are nearing the end of the summer visiting season…we have had 33 guests in our home since April…most from America and most for a week or more…we have more coming in Sept. but we have a brief break right now…WHAT A BLESSING…the Lord gave us the house we prayed for specifically for this ministry and He is using it to house his servants…GLORY TO GOD…We had a group of eight from James Knox’s church last week…they really got a grand tour and they all worked very hard…we took them to the airport in Bucharest and picked up a group of five from a church in Tennessee.  We worked these guys so hard they will be a while recovering…they left last night...let me tell you what happened while these groups were here.

RACOS

We took them to Racos and had our usual meetings but we tried a giveaway program for the kids with balloons and candy…NOT A GREAT IDEA…the parents are not mature enough not to covet, push, pinch, bite, grab, cause a riot and get mad when you decide to end it for safety sake.  Bro. Logan preached very strongly on covetousness the next week and it fostered a somber mood.  The next week he preached more on that as well as “what do you want???  Your sin, or Jesus” and a very powerful young man of twenty wept as he yelled out, “Jesus”…when challenged for sincerity he proved genuine and when dealt with by one of our men he dropped to his knees in contrition and then testified that he had, indeed, trusted the Lord.  Please pray for Dragomil (not sure of spelling). 

While I preached in the Hungarian part of Racos I gave out a challenge for the Lord and a teenaged young man who was sitting in the middle of two of his peers, very definitely raised his hand for salvation and cleansing from sin.  This is so unusual that it is hard for me to believe he is not just mocking but I challenged him again to get up and walk the thirty feet between us…he did, and upon being dealt with…he too trusted the Lord to take away his sin…there were others who were personally dealt with and were saved but not quite as dramatic.  The Lord is using us to do a work in this seemingly forgotten village and we praise His name for it.

DON’T QUIT NOW IT GETS BETTER !!

I WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE

This story happened when we had our big meeting in the Dramatic Theatre but I forgot to tell you about it.  At the end of the meeting on one of the nights Andrew approached me while folks were clearing out and we were putting things away.  He asked me, “Are you nearsighted or farsighted?”  I thought he had lost his last marble and my facial expression must have displayed that.  He repeated the question and I answered, “nearsighted”!   He said, “Let me have your glasses for a minute.”  Incredulously I gave him my glasses.  When he returned them he told this story.  He had been dealing with an old man about his soul.  The man was very interested but could not read the scriptures for himself because he had left his glasses at his home.  He was using that as an excuse to postpone salvation.  When Andrew supplied him with my borrowed glasses he then read Romans 10:9,10 and bowed his head and trusted the Lord for his salvation.  I have never before thanked the Lord that I must wear glasses but I did this time. 

ARACI

Up till now we have only wondered whether Racos was peculiar in their response to simply playing the accordion and gathering folk to preach to.  Well, maybe it isn’t peculiar…maybe it will work in other villages as well.  We drove into Araci (a village about 30 minutes away from Brasov) and started playing and singing and the men from Tennessee gave a few balloons away and then we had a crowd (see photo # 4903).  We had such a good response that Bro. Logan decided to ask the Mayor if we could rent the community center for a meeting the next evening and he agreed.  The next day we went throughout the village and announced the meeting at 6:30.  We had more than the center could hold and so the kids were taken outside for their own program.  Note photo # 4909.   There were 150-200 kids alone and again that many adults on the inside.  Both Bro. Logan and myself preached to the crowd inside and at the invitation over 80% responded positively to the invitation.  We only had three translators available on the inside so they had to gather about 15-20 around them and read the scripture and pray with them.  Note photo # 4926.  We will let the Lord keep track of the accurate number of salvations but there were enough to spur us on to more of the hundreds of surrounding villages near and far from Brasov. 

We have given the contacts to a national who has been trained and has had a burden for this village for some time now…Praise the Lord

The new van has been secured and I will go this coming weekend to pick it up…will tell the whole story and send photos in coming reports…thanks to everyone who sent a penny and/or thousands of dollars