May 2007

On April 11^th through the 18^th we had the honors of hosting Mr. Wendell Mims and Shirley Rigsby (my sister) from First Assembly of God in Clanton Alabama (our home church). Their main purpose was simply to be servants of God and lend a helping hand anyway they could. Amazingly God used them in a profound way that is after they arrived safely from their delayed flight of one day.

Day one: We immediately rush right into working on the building in preprations for our first Sunday morning church service. (We have had meetings there before but

never a Sunday regular service.) With the flight delay it left us with only two days to get the building cleaned from all the dust after sanding what had been plastered. So off we ran early that morning with cleaning gear in hand and a common purpose to make sure all areas of the room was cleaned and ready to paint. After cleaning out all the dust and debris we went straight into priming the walls to prepare for day two, everyone by the end of the

day was covered in white dust but no one complained. Mr. Wendell even used his talent with plaster to repair some areas on the wall and window facing. By the end of the day everyone was tired and ready for baths and I could feel that minds were wondering if their day had been productive. Of course, I have worked with construction enough now that I knew our day went very well.

Day Two: Mr. Nelu, the Romanian worker accompanied us this day. Of course, being the proficient person he is nothing could be painted until he sanded the ceiling

just one more time. So, what did this entail for all of us? You got it! Clean-up gears in hand once again. In the meantime, we all knew before we left that day that we had to have everything set up and the place looking like a church. Everyone pitched in while Mr. Nelu worked on the ceiling and carried all the chairs into the other rooms to begin washing all the dust off so they would be ready to move in before leaving that night. Notice, I said that night! We all had decided that if it meant working late we would. Everyone was extremely tired and wondering when quitting time would finally come. Nevertheless, we were determined to get the room painted and cleaned and everything set up for the service. We even found some plastic stackable shoe racks that Sissy and I put together to make Brother Wendell a pulpit. With all the above completed we felt our excitement growing for church on Sunday morning.

Day 3: Saturday morning Freddy and Wendell were off early for there fishing trip that had been prearranged. Wendell being the fisherman that he is not anything would do except that we give him a day to experience fishing in Romania. We girls on the other hand set our minds to be available to whatever God wanted. Early in the morning I was awaken hearing in my spirit, “Rita, the church building in not in order. You must go back today and I will show you what to do.” At first I hesitated and begin to say, “But God!” Actually the last thing I really wanted was to spend my Saturday in the building working. However, God has a way of truly getting your attention that makes you want to humbly obey His commands. So, I talked with Shirley and off we went following the orders for our day. First, we had to go and find two fresh bouquets of flowers. We then collected our flower vases from home. Then we headed off once again to Ferma Larga to begin finalizing everything. Upon arrival immediately we begin placing the flowers in front of the plastic stand that had been made as a podium. Then we set up a table in the hallway with the other bouquet of flowers, a lamp and candy dish. With all these decorations we could feel that indeed this extra touch brought forth the warmth that was needed to welcome all who would come. Suddenly, Sissy and I felt that we needed to pray and welcome the Holy Spirit presence into the place. Unexpectedly, as we prayed over the pulpit asking God for HIS mighty anointing on the message it felt as if the very presence of God had come into the room. Our prayers seem to increase and we found ourselves moving about the building praying over every chair asking God to open the hearts of all who would sit under the sound of His Word. Then we were lead to pray over Trudy that the translation would flow supernaturally through her for she would be the voice that was actually heard. Needless to say, we had spent our whole day at the building but it seemed as just a few short hours. Praise God that He ordered our steps and that we could be used to prepare the way for God’s Word to be heard.

Day 4: Sunday Morning Church: What an extraordinary Word from God. God had tremendously anointed Brother Wendell with the power of the Holy Spirit for the morning message. It was indeed a profound word as everyone listen with anticipation. To my amassment we had a total of 78 people, not to bad for our first indoors church service. Actually, the room was so full we had people standing. Isn’t it amazing! Our first service and we had already out grown the church. Plus, this was our very first time to have more adults and teens than children. You can believe that I was overwhelmed with delight as tears flooded my eyes. I stood at the window watching all the families afterwards return home from church, you cannot imagine what feelings were flowing through me to finally get to see this vision playing out into reality. To top it all off Mr. Nelu came in his own car loaded with people from Ferma Cojocna. Surprisingly, it was a miracle of God that Mr. Nelu even came at all yet along with his car full of people. After the service, he came to me telling me how he wished we could have a Sunday service like that each week and how much he enjoyed it. I was extremely taken back by his excitement. I had never seen him express himself with such excitement before. Then he begin saying, “Mrs. Rita, we must fast forward the work on the building. Do you want the other two rooms plastered quickly? Also, maybe we can plaster the hallway as well so that it can look nice when the people come in.” What a delight to my ears! For one year we have been praying for Mr. Nelu’s salvation and that God would reveal to him the Truth of HIS Word. It was indeed a glorious day to behold as families for the first time were able to attend their very first church service right their in their own village. To God be all the Glory!

Needless to say, while all the above was going on I was doing the children’s program on the other side of the building. God had pressed my heart to not have the children in the adult service. I have never been much of a children’s leader and indeed this morning was going to be a miracle in the making because I could not locate a second translator in advance. Before service I was praying to God saying, “God, how will YOU do this? I have no translator so only YOU God can bring forth the understanding that these children will need.” Then I just simply lifted my hands toward heaven and open my heart and yielded myself to God and His work. To my wonder as I stepped in front of the kids He indeed took control. My eyes focus on Manny as if God was showing me there lays your answer. As a result I call Manny up, you should have heard this six year old child translating the message, it was as if God had equally yoked our hearts and she was performing almost as well as I have heard Trudy translate. WOW! Only God!

Remaining days: The remainder of the week was used in distributing clothes, working on the foundation house in Cluj and taking a van loaded with old roofing

shingles to a family in a village outside of Cluj. I have wanted to help repair this family’s roof since 1998. Nonetheless, I had never had the means to help, until now after repairing the roof on the building in Ferma Larga. We now had the shingles but little help in getting them loaded so with extra muscles on board I seized the moment. To me it was a promise that I made to God finally becoming completed.

In conclusion: The people in the surrounding villages of Ferma Larga are truly hungry to have a place of worship. We in America take it for granted to have a church and a loving pastor to care for us each week. Nevertheless, that does not change the fact that not every where in the world do people have a place where they can go to church and really feel the heart of God’s presence reaching out to them. My heart longs to offer these people a hope through giving to them their own place to worship God freely. Yes, there are Orthodox churches all around. But the people are hungry for the Truth! They are longing for that personal experience that comes only through knowing Jesus Christ as Lord. Now is the time to give all we can to ensure that the people upon God’s heart is feed with HIS Word and offered newest of life through Jesus.

Please continue to pray for us that God will bless the work that He has begun and that He will profoundly change the lives of all who will come and find that hope HE is offering them.

Thank you Brother Wendell and Shirley for being obedient to God and coming to share God’s love to those who are yearning for wholeness through Jesus.

We thank you all for your financial support each month. I hope this month you have truly felt along with us a sense of accomplishment that your financial seed is working toward ministering God’s love. Thank you all for your help as we continue to serve Christ here in Romania. May God richly bless you and reward you for your faithfulness to give.