ROMANIA MISSION REPORT

Day 1
Arrived in Bucharest International Airport and it was a mad scramble for all the passengers to get through the one narrow doorway. 3 check in desks followed which slowed down the queue of people as there was not enough room for us all around the luggage terminal.
As we exited the airport we meet Pastor Catalin from Suceava Maranata Baptist Church and we hopped on the bus to the train station. On the way there I noticed that international landmark no matter how poor a country is, McDonalds and there was a smaller one at the train station as well.
Our train journey lasted for six and a half hours until we reached Suceava. Pastor Catalin had informed us that many missionaries came to Bucharest but not many travelled as far into the country to the remote villages we were going.
We finally arrived at the church at 10pm and meet Catalins wife Paula who had been busy preparing bedding and food for the team. We ended up staying up until 2am as we were meeting Ryan and Eddie who had driven the 10 and a half ton truck of aid all the way from Northern Ireland to Romania. The accommodation was excellent and our hosts left us plenty of food, clean towels and bedding.
Day 2
Up early at 4am as the rooster started its early morning wake up call and again every hour thereafter.
Finally I decided to get up at 8.30am and after breakfast we headed of to the store to unload the aid from the truck. As we unloaded it began to snow but we were soon finished and then some of the Pastors arrived from the villages and we loaded as much aid into their vehicles as we could.
Eddie and Ryan had decided to stay on for a few extra days before going home so our programme changed a little and we used their truck to take some aid of new clothing, shoes and blankets etc to our first village visit ,Bahna village. We set of in a minibus with the truck following behind. You may remember how I once quoted that If you want to know how poor a child is you look at the shoes first well in the villages you notice how poor they are as there is not even a road just a dirt track to gain access weather permitting.
Well it was up over the hills and Pastor Catlin commented that this was a village that not even many people who lived in Suceava knew existed.
Thinks were looking good until the road ended and the mud trail started and then trouble started as the truck got bogged down in the mud and then the minibus followed. How are we going to get all this aid into the village we thought and then the Lord undertook and the calvary arrived with the wagon train of horse and carts to get the aid into the village, the Lord works in mysterious ways but always gets the job done.
We followed the wagon train on foot and upon arriving in the village we stopped at the church and the aid was distributed to the people and then the gospel was preached.



Day 3
More aid was packed at the store into pastors cars and vans for 3 more villages then we were off for a visit to the mental and handicapped centre in Sasca Mica. We stayed in the centre for 6 hours and it humbled us to see the new shirts, fleeces and other new clothing being distributed to those who needed it most.
The Director and staff in the centre are doing the best they can with what is available to them but we could see the sadness and love in their faces that they could not do more. It was a harrowing sight to see elderly women sitting in the dark looking at the wall and others in wheelchairs all day just moving their heads from side to side. The smell of urine on 2 floors was strong and it just showed how great the need is for these people. Pray that this need is meet.
Day 4
Another village visit to Ipotesti village to visit widows. First was Mary who is 86 years of age and has to farm the land you see in the photograph behind the house. The 2nd widow we visited was Elizabeth who is 90 years of age living on her own and suffering from heart problems. Our hearts went out to her as every step she took her balance was shakey and at one point we had to take her away from the stove as her hand was on the hotplate. Both widows received warm clothing and blankets and some food ,please pray for them.
We visited the Baptist church in the town and during communist times when the church was being built the communists came in the night and knocked the walls down. The Christians started to build again and when the communists returned a lone Christian sounded his trumpet just like in the old testament and all the other Christians came to the church and the men stood on the walls while the women and children stood inside so that the church could not be knocked down. From then on it was guarded day and night until the church was built.
Day 5 Sunday
Morning village meeting in Moara village were I sang a few songs and gave a word of testimony while Donald preached. The Pastor is 70 years of age and cannot find a replacement so He is still serving the Lord faithfully.
Evening meeting in Pastor Catalins church Maranata Baptist in Suceava were I sang the song Thorn Upon A Rose and Donald gave his testimony. The meeting was recorded and is on you tube somewhere If you can find it.




Day 6
Visited flood village Tibeni and spent time with the families as well. Prayed with them and gave out aid and bibles. One man kissed Donalds hands and cried and thanked him as they had been promised help from the orthodox church but none had been forth coming
Youth meeting at Pastor Catalins church were I sang 3 songs and gave my testimony. Donald encouraged the young with the powerpoint of the mission work in Ukraine and Belarus.

Day 7
We started early this day as we had 3 villages to visit.
The first 2 villages were Oroftiana village and Dragalina village and then Cristinesti village
Church meetings were taken in the villages and bags of new clothes were given to the families. We then went around the villages to meet with some of the families and encourage them and get to know some more about them . Many of the houses are made from mud and straw bricks and living comes from what you can grow to survive with on your own land.

Day 8
We stopped of at Stefanesti village to visit one family in need from the Pentecostal church before going to another village called Sarata which means salt
We were taken around the village by Michael a Brethren missionary. It was a freezing cold day and it started to snow as we travelled from house to house on yes you have guessed it my friends another horse and cart. We visited Michaels mother who is 85 years of age and has cataracts in both eyes and can not see yet she lives on her own. We prayed with Michael and his mother that the finances would come in to help her as it takes 700 euros to treat one eye. We then visited a Christian woman who`s husband Eli was an alcoholic and after we had visited her we meet her husband on the path and stopped to talk with him. The Holy Spirit started to work and touched this man`s soul in that he emptied the bottle of wine that he had to the ground and cried out from the bottom of his heart to the Lord. Donald had prayed that day that If the Lord wanted us to work in Romania then to show souls being saved. The Holy Spirit had moved in that village as the next man we visited was also an alcoholic called Michael. Once again another soul repented and trusted in the Lord.
Next a family was visited ,the wife was saved but the husband was not and as we left that home also the husband had been led to the throne of grace and thrusted in the Lord. The next home was lived in by a middle aged couple and both of them also cried out from their heart to the Lord. Six souls in all turned to the Lord that day. Remember them in prayer my brothers and sisters that the Lord will strengthen them for the days ahead. What a blessed day it was on that mountain top as the Spirit of God moved it reminded me of Phillip going into the desert for the salvation of one precious soul and yet here we were on a mountain top accessible only by horse and cart seeing 6 precious souls come to the Lord.
It was a busy day and we were tired physically and mentally but we had not finished yet as we still had a home visit to Gabriels family and a Radio interview to do for Radio Vocea Evangheliei in Suceava.
Gabriel lives in a one room flat that was a bedroom as well as a living room for him his wife and his 3 children. Gabriel has a problem with his back and can not work and he has been told that in the near future he will be in a wheelchair. Please pray for this Christian family that support for them will also be forth coming.
After leaving Gabriel`s home we set of for the radio station and were there until 12 mid night to record our interviews. We talked about the mission and gave our testimonies that will go out to the people of Romania to listen to.
On the way home tired and worn out we were stopped by the police who wanted to know what we were doing out so late at night. After checking us out it was time for Bed and I was grateful for it.

Day 9
The morning started with moving chairs to the church in Moara but it was a slow process by car so we used the local removal van, yes another horse and cart which did the job well.
We then travelled to Vama village and on the way I noticed that many of the houses were similar in shape to old western towns and the scenery reminded me of the Swiss alps. We stopped at the pastors home first and had lunch and then the pastor took us round to meet some of the poor families who had received aid. In one home we were introduced to a man of 45 years of age called Valeri who had been bed ridden for the past 16 years and was being looked after by his wife. He had suffered from a stroke and could only say a few words which were Amen and Praise the Lord. He encouraged us more than we did him and we prayed with him and his wife before we left. Next we were introduced to a family of 9 who had received aid. The mother showed us the new clothes and new shoes on her children and she began to cry. She told us that it was the first time that her children had ever had new clothes and shoes as what little aid they had ever received before was second hand. She really appreciated it and was touched that all that she was given was brand new from the Lord.
Next we went to the poorest part of the village which was up a muck track of a hill were at one stage you had to cling to the side of a fence to get past. We could see that water was being collected in a basin from a dirty stream on the side of the road. We visited one Christian family at the top of the hill as well as the many children who came over to us. The family were making baskets from reeds and then selling them for 2 euros to help them survive. I wondered how people survived on this hill in winter time and at night in the dark with no street lighting. I imagined slipping at the top of the hill if it had been winter and not stopping till I hit the river at the bottom.
We hope to do some outreach for the children of this village in the summer so please pray for this. Down the hill we went again only this time we were covered in muck .Into the village church for the meeting were I preached the gospel and Donald gave a word of testimony and spoke on the second coming of the Lord. All in the church were crying and were greatly encouraged by his message.
On the way home we stopped off to visit a Christian family of 11 in Sasca village and all received new clothes and shoes. The father is unemployed and has to leave home soon to find work to feed his children. We prayed with them that their needs would be meet and that the Lord would strengthen them in the days ahead. `

Day 10
A seven and a half hour train journey home and at every stop beggars would get onto the train and beg before being thrown of at the next stop. One man would come up and leave trinkets on the seat in front of everyone to look at and then come back a few minutes later to pick them up. I figured out how he knew if anything had been taken without payment, he left 10 items on every seat and counted them when he picked them up again.
Well the train arrived in Bucharest and a friend of Catalins was waiting to take us to the airport by bus as the taxi drivers would have overcharged the fare when they knew that you were not a local. Arrived at the International airport entered the one room and one long queue for everyone. We were jammed in like sardines as we booked our luggage in. Then through the search and into yes you have guessed it another single room for a departure lounge with no air conditioning and a free for all through the one door way when the flight was called.
A quite night spent in Luton and a power shower before heading home .
The following morning the Luton to Belfast flight was delayed due to an instrument panel fault not once but twice then we were taken of the plane to wait for a new plane to get ready before getting home.
One passenger complained as she had paid for Speedy boarding on the first plane and when we were boarding the 2nd plane a member of ground staff was there to make sure she was speedily boarded first onto the bus for the plane. She was so happy and I was just amazed as to why because she had paid extra money for speedy boarding to be first on to a bus where she was not going to be first onto the plane as everyone else was packed in around her. I even beat her onto the plane and I was walking slowly but at least she was content.

All in all it was a blessed trip and our Driver Andrei was there for us each day driving us and translating as well. As were Catalin and Paula who invited us into their home and looked after us as did their parents who fed us and Andrei`s parents also.
Our brothers and sisters in Christ are doing a blessed work in the villages so please remember them in your prayers and If the Lord touches your heart to support them then get in touch with Donald on the mission website.
Thank you for your prayers and messages of support my brothers and sisters in Christ

God bless you

joseph