SWAT REPORT # 57    05-29-06

SOMETHING OLD………… SOMETHING NEW

In a medium sized village called Budila…we have been working the work of the Lord.  On the occasion of photos #5701, 5702, 5703 these scenes took place directly in front of the Orthodox church right after the priest drove off.  In #5701 Dorin, one of our Bible institute students is giving a convincing witness to a man of the village.  Dorin is a former professional soccer player who achieved quite a bit of fame.  When he got saved some years ago he quit soccer cold turkey and the press media said he had lost his smarts in an article in the local news here.  He is a very strong witness for the Lord and one of our faithful street preachers.  In Photo # 5702 Something old is hearing and seeing something new.   The stone wall they are sitting one divides the dirt road from the church property.   Brother Logan is giving the simple plan of salvation to an old Orthodox man and in photo #5703 Bro. Logan, the old man and Andrew pray for more understanding as another old crony looks on.

We went to Budila last week instead of Racos…first time we have missed in 57 weeks.  The reason was…….Bird Flu…they had quarantined Racos village and no one was allowed in or out.  It was supposed to last 30 days but was lifted after only 8 days.  The Racos gang was back in our church this past Sunday morning.  Budila is a village just 20 minutes to the east of Brasov.  It has a population of approximately 5,000 with many Gypsies among them….this village poses great prospects for another church very soon.  We are a bit thin on manpower…as it will be quite some time before our Bible students will be able to take over these works.  We look forward to Bro. Chuck Zander coming just as soon as possible  to help ease this lack of ministers.  If you can help him get here we would all appreciate it.

Photos #5704 and 5706 show the street meetings we have now in Budila…we have had upwards to 200 in attendance at these…these photos were taken early on in the street meeting and they hadn’t all gathered yet…but the news quickly gets around or they hear the accordion or the truth horn…and they come in mass.

Photo #5705 shows Cornel and Mary along with our Mary Bethany.  Cornel and Mary are faithful now in our church and they are a tremendous blessing.  They are missionaries in their own right working full time with college students.  There are four universities in Brasov so they are kept busy.   Cornel plays the piano in our church and also the guitar and Mary makes herself useful among the young ladies of the church.  Both are excellent witnesses and Mary led three young ladies to the Lord in our meetings in Budila.  Pray for this couple as they are living by faith and have a lifetime ahead of them of serving the Lord.   They said they went to every church in Brasov before they settled on our church…it is our blessing I can assure you.

Police Encounter that Grabs you

In Photo #5707 you can see a not so complimentary photo of one of our illustrious police officers.  On this occasion we were preaching as we have for going on two years now.  Brent Logan was preaching and reading the Romanian Bible when an officer came up from behind and grabbed his arm, talking furiously in a violent attempt to get him to quit.  When any officer mishandles a situation this badly it really stirs the flesh so Bro. Logan pulled away and talked furiously back to him…He demanded to see our ID and then demanded to see our permit…Quite a melee developed…we demanded to see his ID…he tried to keep Bro. Logan’s ID and only flashed his…no deal man…it got hotter…he grabbed Robin’s arm in an attempt to stop her from passing tracts…I got hotter…his superior was called and some semblance of sensibility returned…after a brief explanation and fending off the officers blatant lies we demanded the name of the officer…this turned out to be a very most difficult thing to obtain.  To make a long story short we did get his name…his superior was most disgusted with the conduct of this officer…we have our attorney working on a formal complaint and we do not expect ever to see that officer again.  For someone to authoritatively countermand a violent order from a police officer and come out on the winning side is quite uncommon here and the leftover communist mentality is having a hard time adjusting to it.  If we are going to teach our men how to stand on the front lines for the Lord Jesus Christ we can not only teach this in Bible institute but we must set a strong example before them.

Our first semester of Bible institute ended this past Saturday with all the students passing and quite a few making strong “A’s”…if was a very good start.

Attention:  My family and I will be gone from June 2-June 16…Don’t try to call either the home or cell phones in Romania…we will be ministering in Spain, Gibraltar, Spanish Morocco, and Portugal…I will file another SWAT REPORT when we return.

Your all season soldier for the Lord on the eastern Front