 |
| View from my window at sunset |
An entire month has already passed since I returned to Romania from home assignment. It’s been a very FULL month of travel, getting caught up from while I was away, and resuming my regular responsibilities.
Pastors’ Retreat: Less than a week after returning from the US, I joined Nazarene pastors and missionaries serving on the Central Europe Field for a retreat in Croatia. Dr. David Graves, General Superintendent Emeritus, was our special speaker. The theme of the retreat was “Abide,” based on the words of Jesus to his disciples in John 15 to abide in him. Personally, I found the retreat to be a refreshing way to restart the normal rhythms of life and ministry after 7 weeks of home assignment in the US. Click here to check out the article about the retreat (including highlights video).
By the time I returned from Croatia, 2 full months (packed with 14 flights!) had elapsed since I had left for the US at the beginning of March. I’m so glad that I don’t have any more trips planned in the foreseeable future! It’s so nice to stay in one place. During these past few weeks, I’ve been getting back into my normal responsibilities, resuming projects that were on hold while I was away, and setting priorities for the months to come. May, it turns out, ended up being quite a productive month. Here are a few of the highlights:
- I finished the administrative tasks relating to my home assignment – like turning in receipts for reimbursement and recording the funds given by churches where I spoke. Not all of the funds have been processed yet, but so far, the total is over $10,000! Oh – and the Eurasia Region communications team just published an article about my home assignment. You can read it by clicking here.
- I went to the city of Târgu Mureș to pick up my new residence card (which is valid for 5 years).
- After months of waiting for the courthouse to approve changes to our organization, we finally received the legal document that is needed to update our information at the bank and to proceed with selling a church-owned property.
- With my new residence card and the legal document from the courthouse, I successfully updated my personal information and our organization’s information at the bank so the new church treasurer who was elected last fall could finally be issued a debit card.
- A few days later, I had to go back to the bank after we realized that they had mistakenly issued the card for the wrong one of our bank accounts.
I’ve met with our accountant, district treasurer, and District Auditing Committee to make sure our finances are taken care of with accuracy, transparency, and integrity.
District Auditing Committee - I’ve had several meetings on Zoom and in-person, working out the next projects and priorities for our district. We have taken the next steps towards a couple big projects we’re working on. (More details in a later newsletter.)
- I worshiped in all 3 local churches (Bucharest, Sighisoara, Tigmandru) on the district. I translated in the Sighisoara church for visitors from the US on Ascension and Pentecost Sundays. I met with each of the 3 pastors to catch up on recent highlights and challenges of local church ministry.
- Three weeks in a row, in 3 different churches led by 3 different worship leaders, I sang the song “Lord, I Need You. Every hour I need you.” I thought back to the theme of the pastors’ retreat in Croatia, the words of Jesus in John 15, and my daily reliance on Him. (“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”)
 |
| My cat likes her new box. |
Two months is a long time to be gone. I had to catch up on everything!
- I went grocery shopping for the first time since February!
- I've been to the dentist and ophthalmologist for regular check-ups and took my cat to the vet for her deworming pill.
- I’ve spent time with friends over meals and playing games.
- I’ve attended the special Ecumenical Prayer week services and the Gospel choir’s spring concert.
- While in Târgu Mureș to pick up my new residence card, I spent the afternoon doing some shopping in the stores we don’t have in Sighișoara.
- I enjoyed taking walks both here in Sighișoara and through a park in Bucharest.
- I keep saying that I need to put the summer tires on my car, but it keeps getting left for “tomorrow.”
 |
| Gospel Choir Concert |
As you’ve probably gleaned from this newsletter, a lot of my responsibilities focus on resolving administrative issues. There are a few giant administrative hurdles to overcome in the coming months. Please pray for smooth and quick resolutions to these issues.
There are many developing ministry opportunities – for me personally, for other Nazarene missionaries in Romania, and in the Nazarene congregations on the Romania District. Please join me in praying for these 4 areas of ministry: discipleship, equipping leaders, church development, and compassionate ministries.
I look forward to hearing from you, too!
 |
| The small Orthodox church in town where one of the Ecumenical Prayer Services was held |
No comments:
Post a Comment