Greetings From Romania!

The children have fun getting together
during their time at kindergarten.


These young men at the Acas church,
baptized last October, enjoy singing.


We're Here!
After a delay in Greenville, we arrived at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. just in time to board our flight to Vienna on Austrian Air. Our neighbor on the flight was a design engineer traveling to Russia to “sell” parts for a four-wheel drive combine (to harvest wheat and corn).

For all concerned, the food was good—even though one of the flight attendants was overheard saying that they were short some meals. Bonnie slept the entire flight, during the layover in Vienna, and on the flight from Vienna to Cluj.

The time with Magdi and Arpad (Arpi) and their families was great. Floyd had to purchase a tie in Zalau. The Pap family are gracious hosts. The weather was very cold with a strong wind—brrrrr! The Dalmatian puppies must have been stolen because every dog in Zalau barked on Tuesday night.

Today, Wednesday, we drove to Satu Mare. Just before we arrived in Satu Mare, it began to sleet. By evening, the sleet turned to rain since it was only 38 F. Benjamin Vekas informed us that Zoltan has developed a fever of around 101-102. However, Zoltan hopes to come home—we will see.

Tonight we worshipped with the Acas Roma Church. It was a wonderful time of worship and fellowship. About 30 percent of the church members are in Hungary working in order to find higher paying jobs this time of year. We sang familiar hymns like “I Am Satisfied with Jesus.” When Barnabas Kovacs started to introduce us, the Acas members said they knew who we were. Bonnie shared greetings from Teleios Partners and family. She used Psalm 122:1: “I was glad when they said to me let us go into the house of the Lord.”

We received exciting news concerning the church. One of the young men has started University studies—the very first for the church. He had learned to read at the church. Another member has begun studying at the Bible School in Zalau. The church, mission, and we are so excited by this news. So many Teleios Partners have been involved in the Acas mission. It is one of our oldest partnerships.

The Acas church sent the following greetings to be shared with you and all the brothers and sisters around the world: Acts 10:34-35, “Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” He said, “As Gypsy (Roma people), they know that they are different color, poor, and despised—an unworthy people. (Many people discriminate against them.) Yet, God has made us all brothers and sisters in Christ. Please share with all our brothers and sisters, regardless of their color, race, language, our greetings with love in Jesus Christ.”

One man asked that we pray for his son, Marius, who has cancer. He is in remission but to pray for God’s continued healing of his son. They thank God for his life.

The kindergarten at the church continues to serve all the community. This is a great blessing for the church and community.

So many of the Acas members we recognized as those who were baptized during our other visits with the church. The blessing is to see many who continue to be faithful since we first started coming to Acas in May 2000.



One of the members in the Acas church
reads Scripture as a greetings to everyone.

 

Floyd preaches at the Acas church while
Barnabas Kovacs, an elder in the church and
"caretaker, guide and translator" for Floyd
and Bonnie, translates the message.