New Year. New Responsibilities. New Opportunities.

La mulți ani! Happy New Year!

Since my last update, there have been several important changes here in Romania: the number of COVID cases dropped, Romanian students graduated from European Nazarene College, the Romania District has a new district superintendent, and there's a new approved missions project to support congregations in Romania.

EuNC Graduation. At the Romania District Assembly on November 14, we celebrated the accomplishments of 6 Romanian students who have completed their studies with European Nazarene College. Five completed the course of study for ordination, four of whom also received EuNC’s Diploma in Christian Ministry, and one received EuNC’s bachelor-level degree. Click here to read more about this milestone for the Romania Learning Center. 

2021 Romania District Assembly on Zoom

At the time of the assembly, Romania was experiencing a surge in cases, forcing us to hold the assembly on Zoom and delaying the ordination of 5 ministers until a time in the (hopefully near) future.

Please pray for these ministers who have been equipped through EuNC. Pray also that God will direct new students to study with the Romania Learning Center in the coming months.

New Responsibilities. Also at the district assembly, I was appointed Romania District Superintendent. For the past 3 years, Josh Herndon has served in this position. The Herndon family is now transitioning to a new assignment in Italy. Along with my new role as district superintendent, I will also become the president and executive director of our legal organization here in Romania. Please pray for me as I begin these new roles, for the District Advisory Board as we work closely together, and for the continuing process of restructuring the legal organization in the coming months so we are better positioned for ministry.

New Opportunities:

Licensed Ministers (pictured at the 2019 district
assembly) are now candidates for ordination

1. New Approved Missions Project: Local Church Sustainability
Now that our pastors have completed their theological studies for ordination, we want to equip the local churches to support their pastors. Since these congregations are small and include many members from disadvantaged communities, tithes alone can’t support a pastor’s full-time salary while also covering all the bills.

It has long been our desire for each congregation to develop local sources of income (such as developing a small business or renting out a church-owned property) to supplement tithes and offerings. While we don’t want to create a scenario in which the local churches become dependent on donations from the US, we have created a special project fund so you can help us support the pastors while they jump start these activities. Click here to read more about this project.

If you’re looking for a project to support in 2022, I’d like to encourage you to make an investment in the future of Nazarene congregations in Romania.


2. Home Assignment in 2022 & 2023
In less than 2 months, I’ll be returning to the US for my first home assignment in 3 years. Nearly all of my speaking engagements will be at churches on the Mid-Atlantic District, which is both my home district and Links district. I still have some openings in my schedule, which include Sunday evenings, Saturdays, and weekdays. If you’re interested in having me share with your church or small group, you can view my schedule by clicking here. Please pray with me that COVID won’t interfere with this home assignment.

I’ve also begun planning my home assignment for just over a year from now: Spring 2023. I will be on the New England District for part of that time and am scheduling other district tours at this time. For more information, click here. 

I'll close with a few photos from recent months:

My kitty enjoying a nap (and the view) while I'm in a Zoom meeting

Over a year ago, we transferred a few hundred books from the Veritas library to
the EuNC Learning Center library. I'm almost finished cataloging them. 
(This is a photo collage of our ever-growing library in Sighisoara.)

Fresh coat of paint on the House on the Rock

This fall Romania experienced record numbers of COVID. As new restrictions went into place, the numbers started to fall. Only after Christmas have the number of new cases started to creep upwards again.

Advent worship service in Țigmandru