Kristen

Well, it is Friday afternoon of our sixth week. We have finished all of our reading sessions and the only thing left is for us to have our last party with our readers and to give them their certificates. Today has been a difficult day for some of us. Saying goodbye to new friends that we you have spent hours talking to over the last six weeks is a very difficult thing to do. Some tears have already been shed and I am certain there will be more tonight. However, as we go we will continue to pray for our new friends and plan to keep up with them over the internet. We want to petition you to continue to pray for our readers. Pray that the seeds that we have planted will be watered and that God will make them grow.
We thank you for all of your prayers and support and look forward to seeing you again soon!
Some of Paul's words......
"We are workers together with God. So we beg you: Don't let the grace that you received from God be for nothing. God says, 'I heard you at the right time, and I gave you help on the day of salvation'. Isaiah 49:8
I tell you that the "right time" is now. The "day of salvation" is now.
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
La revedere!

Greg

I have this suspicion that when I see most of you, you're going to ask me, "How was you're trip?" Thank you for asking, but I'm not sure exactly what I'll say. I am already struggling with how to explain the scope of this journey. Maybe the same feelings that Jonah had when he returned from his little adventure and his friends and family asked him, "How was your trip to Ninevah, Jonah?" Now, I'm definitely not saying that I am having a comparable adventure to Jonah's, but maybe some similar inexplicable feelings.

You might say, "Well, give us an example of what happened." OK, without betraying the confidence that some readers have placed with me, there is one person who's had an amazingly difficult road to travel. Before every session, I pray for every reader and ask that God will give me His Spirit so that I say only what God wants me to say and to be quiet and listen when God wants me to shut up. This person told me that they feel trapped in their life right now and that in our reading sessions, they feel a peace that they can't find anywhere else. I told them that God sent me here because God wants them to know that He cares about them.

Many people could easily explain that the reason this person feels peace is that I am merely listening to them. We are sharing our lives with each other and this is therapeutic for them. I can easily see the logic behind this way of thinking, but I am giving you only ONE example! There are MANY more examples that prove to me that God wanted us to be here in Romania at this exact time. Something happens everyday that reaffirms to me that God is blessing this project. The timing is perfect, the place is perfect, we and the readers are perfectly matched. We could never have planned these things ourselves. My plans come out OK, at best. In fact, my timing, if anything, is usually really terrible! I believe that God is using my poor timing to prove to me how great His timing is. Since giving up on my plans, His plans are working out very well.

Thanks for all of your prayers! I fully believe that God has answered them. We've had a few struggles, but prayers have made everything to work out well!

" 'The heavens are higher than the earth. In the same way, My ways are higher than your ways. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts.' The Lord, Himself, said these things." Isaiah 55:9

Danny

Buna ziua! This is week 5, which means we only have 2 weeks left. Our time here is flying by! It is amazing to see God working in the relationships that we are building with our readers, and it is very difficult to think about how little time we have left with them. At this point in our trip, we are all beginning to see that we are leaving soon and we are trying to spend as much time with everyone as we can.
In other news, I was given the opportunity to preach, on Sunday morning, and as I was speaking, I could feel the Spirit guiding me and speaking through me. It was a very emotional experience, and one that I will never forget. It was actually a little overwhelming to know that God was actually using me in that moment to speak to the congregation, and I had to pause several times and take a deep breath because I had tears welling up in my eyes. Like I said, I will never forget that experience. Sam got up with me in front of the church and quoted the Golden Rule. Afterwards, I asked him if he like helping me with my sermon, and he said, "Yes! I always wanted to preach, and I was wondering when I would ever get to!"
After church, we had a large group over for lunch at our apartment, and then Andrea, one of the local Christians, took us to a stand that sells "Original American Donuts". They were certainly original, and they were donuts, but they were not like any donuts I've ever had in America! Anyway, I have a reader waiting for me, so I will close this post by asking you to all continue praying for us and our readers. Have a wonderful day!

Photos

Click HERE to link to the Needels' photo site to see more photos!

CYNDI: A typical day

I thought you might be interested to know what a typical day is like on our project.
6:30-8:00 a.m. Get up, get ready for the day, breakfast, etc.
8:10-8:30 a.m. Team devotional time
8:40-8:55 a.m. Walk to church building
9:00-1:00 p.m. Reading Sessions (any time we have free we shop for food, communicate online, and entertain Sam and Claire)
12:00 Cyndi heads home to cook lunch
1:00-3:00 p.m. Lunch, rest, take care of housework and clothes cleaning, etc. (oh, and, entertain Sam and Claire)
3:30-8:00 p.m. Reading Sessions (any time we have free we shop for food, communicate online, and, of course, entertain Sam and Claire)
6:00 p.m. Kristen heads home to cook dinner and get the kids ready for bed
8:30-9:30 p.m. Dinner, clean-up, etc. (and don't forget to entertain Sam and Claire)
9:30-11:00 p.m. Finish up laundry and chores, prepare for devotional time, etc. (and now we must...entertain Danny, Kristen, Greg and me...heeheehee)
11:00 p.m. Fall into the bed for some well needed rest

As we go about our work each day, we hope that we can live out the spirit of Philippians 2, and it starts like this:
"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."
Philippians 2:1-4

Just a couple pictures from the party

Party Time! ---Kristen

We are in the middle of week three here in Constanta and things are continuing to go well. We now have 22 readers and still have time to pick up new readers and make it through most of the book of Luke. Last friday we had our first party and it was a big hit! We celebrated the fourth of July, roasted hotdogs, had watermelon and played games. At the end of the party we played a firework show on the internet and sang the national anthem for them. Ten of our readers came to the party and some of them brought guests. Several of the church members came to the party as well. Please continue to pray for all of our readers and for the church here. We pray daily that God will fill us with His spirit and that Jesus will shine brightly in our lives. Also, don't forget to pray for Danny as he prepares the sermon for this Sunday. It is so encouraging knowing that we have such a wonderful family back home praying for us. There is no telling how many times your prayers intervened just when we needed it the most! Thank you all so much!

You can comment now!

It's Greg again. I've been trying to fix the problem so you can all comment. I have changed some settings on the blog so that anyone can comment (thanks, Anna). So please give it a try. We love hearing form everybody!!!

I want to give a special thanks to everyone who prayed for me and my preaching on Sunday morning. Your prayers were answered and I spoke about when we are weak in this body, God makes us strong. Everyone was surprised at how relaxed I was and believe it or not, I spoke for 45 minutes!!! (I can't believe it either!) God spoke through me and I felt very convicted.

God has been answering all of our prayers! Thank you for praying, we are blessed by all of you.

That's enough from the "Blog Hog." I'm going to lay low from blogging for a while. I hope you come back to read about our mission from my wonderful co-workers.

Some help

This is Greg, again. Your comments are very much appreciated. Thanks to everyone who has tried. Some have said that they are having trouble commenting, so here is some help with that.

In the upper right-hand corner on my page in Romanian is a link "Autentificare" which means "authentication" according to Google translate. So in english, look for something like this on your page and click on it. Then, if you have a Google account, enter your address in the space indicated. If not, click on the "Get started" link below to create a Google account. This will let you comment on our blog and there is no obligation in doing so, that I am aware of.

Thanks to everyone for following our story as it happens. I hope that this info is helpful to you. God bless.

Greg

We have really been challenged and blessed since arriving in Romania. We are also finding out why God chose to place us in Constanta at this time. The missionary family, Ady. Luma, and thier two boys, Daniel and David, are enduring a very difficult time because Luma's mother is very sick and may not have much time left. They obviously regret not being able to help us in all of the ways that they would like, but they still, even in the midst of this trial, are caring for us in the ways that they can. Please pray for them.

Many times in the past, God has sent Cyndi and I to places where we could be an encouragement to ministers and missionaries. What a wonderful blessing to share this role with Danny and Kristen here in Romania. The church here is small and really seems to need encouragement right now. Of course, we are hoping that the people that we are sharing Jesus with will see the church as a place to come to share struggles and joy. We are praying to God that He will help the seeds that we are planting to grow.

I was asked to preach a sermon this next Sunday morning to the our new church family here in Constanta. I agreed even though as most of you know, I am no preacher. Someone once told me, "Preachers preach and song leaders sing." They were trying to tell me to quit talking in between songs that I was leading. I also recieved a C in my college speech class. I say all of that to prove that my human abilities to speak are feeble, but I believe that God can do anything with anyone. And I believe that He can use even me to encourage a struggling congregation even in a foreign country. How can I turn down such an opportunity? Please say a prayer on Saturday night for me. (Danny agreed to speak next Sunday.)

When I show the world my human limitations, that gives God the chance to show his power in me. Please pray that God will use all of us and our human weaknesses to be glorified this week. And PLEASE pray for our readers and our reading sessions. We are all learning to love them and feel a desparate desire that they find the hope that only Jesus can give.

Greg

I have recently posted several pictures from our first week in Romania. Expect a blog post within the next few days since posting the pictures for the first time took awhile. Click here to see the pictures and I'll type to you soon.

Danny

Good morning from Constanta! It has been unseasonably cold here the past few days. One reader even told us that in the mountains to the west of us they had snow on the ground this morning! Regardless of the weather, it is very beautiful and we are certainly blessed to be here.

We had a wonderful worship service yesterday morning. We have been made to feel very welcome and loved by the members of the church. I sense that they are genuinely excited about having us here and about the work we are doing. Greg and I both were able to participate in the worship service, and the next two weeks he and I will be speaking. Neither of us is a preacher, so please pray for us that congregation will be blessed by the things we say.

When church was over, all of us introduced ourselves to a gentleman who was visiting from Germany. He said his name was Ciprian, and that he had actually been converted to Christianity through reading with an LST team! The year was 1989, and he was living in Mannheim, Germany. He was an athiest, but answered an ad for LST because he wanted to improve his English. Through reading the stories of Jesus and observing the way that the LST team members lived and interacted with one another, he became interested in Christianity. He said it took a while, but he eventually believed and was baptized. It was incredibally encouraging to meet and talk to someone who is now a strong Christian because of spending time with people just like us. I know that if I ever get discouraged during our time here, I will think of Ciprian and be reminded of just how important this work is.

In the coming days/weeks, we will be letting you know about specific readers that have become very special to us or that we feel are showing an interest in Jesus. For now, I ask that you continue to pray for us and for all of the 20 readers we currently have on our schedule.

Blessings,
Danny

By the way, James had mentioned in a comment on a previous post that he had been mispronouncing the name of the city as 'Constanza'; that is actually pretty close! The second 't' should have a squiggle attached to the bottom which makes it pronounced as 'ts', so the actual pronunciation is 'Constantsa'.

Kristen

Hello everyone!
Today is Wednesday afternoon. This is our third day of reading sessions and they are going really well. The people here are very kind and helpful. Yesterday one of my readers took three hours out of her day taking Cyndi and I to a grocery store. And another of my readers brought us all bagels to enjoy. It is amazing how quickly people are ready to share their lives and their beliefs with us. Several things have brought Ephesians 2:10 to mind, "these works were prepared in advance for us to do". It really seems like we are here at just the right time for some of my readers and I suspect the others would say the same thing.
Something that is rather funny is that we are beginning to enunciate our words when we talk to each other too, and last night when I was reading over one of my lessons I heard their accent in my head. :) It made me laugh so I wanted to share that with you.
The kids are having a good time, and hopefully we will soon find more fun things for them to do. Right now they are enjoying playing with the missionaries 13 yr old son in the mornings. Well, I have another reader coming soon so I will talk to you later. I hope you all are doing well!

CYNDI:

It is Monday afternoon in Constanta, Romania. The sun is shining, the breeze is gentle, and the sea is sparkling. This is our second day here and all is well. Yesterday we met with the church in the morning and they provided us with a potluck lunch to welcome us. We had our LST information meeting in the evening and signed-up 16 readers. Today we have had several more people come to sign-up, so word is spreading about our program. We began our reading sessions this morning and we are getting very positive feedback.

I want to take just a minute to praise the Davis family. They traveled for 36 or more hours from the time they left their house in Russelllville to the time we arrived at our apartment in Constanta. All the time riding in cars and airplanes or waiting in airports. That isn't easy for anyone, especial little children. I can honestly say, I don't recall any major outbursts of emotion or defiance from either Sam or Clare. (I'm not sure you can say the same thing about me :) They were amazing, sitting quietly when necessary and playing whenever possible. This is mine and Greg's first time to be on an LST team with children, and we weren't sure what to expect, but we are so proud of the Davises! They are doing an amazing job of guiding their children to be pleasant people and teaching by example what is important to them.

Now it's time for me to prepare for my next reader. Please be praying for the hearts of those we are working with here in Constanta.
Blessings, Cyndi

Last Minute Preparations

Hi everyone, this is Greg typing. We are all working very hard to get all of our "to do" lists done before Friday! The worst part for me is to remember to write EVERYTHING down. I may be in the middle of one task, but I'll remember that I haven't put something on my list, so I need to stop what I'm doing and write it down. I hate doing that, but if I don't, there's a good chance that I'll totally forget it until I'm sitting on the plane.

At this point, everything is bitter-sweet for me. I don't like "good-byes" at all, but do want to connect with everyone before we leave. At the same time, I'm really excited about meeting new friends who I may know for the rest of my life. These mission trips are always too much of an emotional roller coaster for my taste, but the payoff is SO meaningful and well worth the ride. The very best part is knowing that I'm doing God's will. I don't always get to feel that way.

I hope that all of you supporters feel that you are also doing God's will! You have really amazed us with your generosity... and I'm not easy to amaze! :) I still want you all to know how much gratitude we have for how you've showed us that you love to do God's will.

Please lift up prayers for our future readers and for our preparations and travel. Don't forget Sam and Claire as they fly for the first time. We will all need a protective blessing from God as we fly half-way around the globe. We truly believe that He will be faithful. Thanks for everything!

2 weeks and 5 days

We are getting close to the start of our trip and have many more things to do to prepare. We are excited about meeting the missionary, Ady Lupascu, and his family, as well as the people of Constanta! Thank you for reading our blog, we will have more to say when our mission starts!