Working with Romanian Church LeadersThe principle of what God called us to do in our ministry in Romania, is to spend time with leaders of evangelical churches and Christian foundations, to encourage and enable them to be more effective in their ministry.
In order to achieve this we have spent longer and more frequent amounts of time in Romania to develop closer relationships and build up trust in what we have to offer. It has been apparent in the past, we along with many other people from the west, have failed those whom we tried to serve, by building up their expectations which ultimately were not fulfilled.
To overcome such problems in the future we set out by means of Pastor and Leadership away days, to corporately relate to them listening to their views and observe their reactions to the topics of the day. Leadership, Change, Understanding the Organisation, Finance and Improving Personal Effectiveness in a Christian leadership role, were all topics that showed up frailty in the ability of most of them to communicate well, outside of preaching.
By initially operating these awareness modules we have been able to develop new relationships and spend more time getting to know leaders on a one to one basis. This has been so revealing, in as much as individual leaders, having the opportunity to listen to other leader’s comments and reactions in Away Days, has been a catalyst to encourage them to be more open with us in our one to one discussions.
Most of the leaders appear to be lacking in basic communication and business skills, yet it befalls them to manage the activity and finance of their organisation with little understanding and help from those whom they serve. Comments like “what is a business plan” from a person who is contemplating buying land and building on it, along with a complicate
d development which has considerable revenue consequences, causes us to shudder.This year has seen God bless us. We have established an infrastructure of encouragement and enablement for Christian leaders in Romania that has surpassed our expectations. What started with a few leaders is now many, reaching from North of Arad county to Orsova in the south on the Serb border, to Petrosani in the county of Hunedoara in the Carpathian mountains. To visit these points on the compass from our base in Siria can involve up to 6 hours of torrid roads and some exciting moments!
We have to admit to having been stretched to respond to some requests for assistance, but with help from Mike, Heather, Veneice and Kevin’s visit, we were able to advise and participate in 
HBC at Micalaca Baptist Church. This was a resounding success and now 2 other Pastors want to do this in their churches. Ovi Dragan the MBC Pastor immediately offered help and the resources he has left from this year to enable this to happen. He also committed to do Jonah in MBC next year.
HBC at Micalaca Baptist Church. This was a resounding success and now 2 other Pastors want to do this in their churches. Ovi Dragan the MBC Pastor immediately offered help and the resources he has left from this year to enable this to happen. He also committed to do Jonah in MBC next year.All the Pastors want to get involved in our proposed new health screening programme. It is based on care in the community evangelism, so we are introducing a training and development module to enable them to see this in action in every church, including the Joshua Family Centre in Petrosani.
The process of getting this stuff off the ground was difficult initially, but as we shared the idea of the church using care in the community as being a practical tool for evangelism, the pastors started to get excited about the prospect of their churches learning new skills. Next year indicates our diary is already filling up with requests to go and visit and share one to one, on ways to progress these elements.
We have been able to help individual pastors who are involved in the BBC Pastor Sponsorship, not just delivering money to them, but also responding when some of them asked to be part of
our development programme. They all have different needs and are at different stages in their ministry, but all have the same desire to learn more! There is no doubt these pastors have in the past and continue to benefit from the sacrifice sponsors in UK make to help them. It is also apparent there is in a need to regularly review this process, to ensure it continues to be effective in the ministry of those who have committed their lives to God’s work.
The one to one process of spending time with leaders has been so hard and draining for us. When people open up during this process, lots of stuff comes out that can never be revealed. Confidentiality is at the centre of it and the content of what is said often causes us great concern and we have to give God it all, because we can’t respond in our own strength. Please continue to pray for us because this is the only way we can resist satanic intervention in our work.
We now praise God every morning in our prayer time. He has provided us with a base in Siria, owned by a non Christian, with all we need to be able to live in Romania to standards equal to, if not better that we enjoy at home. We have quickly learnt how to understand the culture and language and are free to make new friends. The friends we have made in the last year have multiplied and our Romanian mobile phone constantly rings. This is not only a means of giving the pastors credibility in the eyes of those they care for as a provider, but also spreads the gospel of practical evangelism.
The process of getting this stuff off the ground was difficult initially, but as we shared the idea of the church using care in the community as being a practical tool for evangelism, the pastors started to get excited about the prospect of their churches learning new skills. Next year indicates our diary is already filling up with requests to go and visit and share one to one, on ways to progress these elements.
We have been able to help individual pastors who are involved in the BBC Pastor Sponsorship, not just delivering money to them, but also responding when some of them asked to be part of
our development programme. They all have different needs and are at different stages in their ministry, but all have the same desire to learn more! There is no doubt these pastors have in the past and continue to benefit from the sacrifice sponsors in UK make to help them. It is also apparent there is in a need to regularly review this process, to ensure it continues to be effective in the ministry of those who have committed their lives to God’s work.The one to one process of spending time with leaders has been so hard and draining for us. When people open up during this process, lots of stuff comes out that can never be revealed. Confidentiality is at the centre of it and the content of what is said often causes us great concern and we have to give God it all, because we can’t respond in our own strength. Please continue to pray for us because this is the only way we can resist satanic intervention in our work.
We now praise God every morning in our prayer time. He has provided us with a base in Siria, owned by a non Christian, with all we need to be able to live in Romania to standards equal to, if not better that we enjoy at home. We have quickly learnt how to understand the culture and language and are free to make new friends. The friends we have made in the last year have multiplied and our Romanian mobile phone constantly rings. This is not only a means of giving the pastors credibility in the eyes of those they care for as a provider, but also spreads the gospel of practical evangelism.
We also seem to have been adopted by every teenager we meet. These young people are hungry for The Word and we are conscious the pastors are now more aware these young people are the future of their churches. Tradition within some of the established churches seems to be getting in the way of progress that will attract the young to the church. Division within the leaderships over such tradition, that developed during the communist regime, is becoming a barrier to the young who want to worship in a more free and open form.
Managing change in these and similar circumstances is at the centre of our ministry because the Pastors cry out for help in such matters. While we can help by corporate learning activity in the form of away days, it has become apparent because of the differing needs and levels only a one to one can deal with their specific needs and short comings. The security this method provides means the pastors can open up without embarrassment that would show them up in front of their colleagues. We will struggle to maintain this impetus without help next year.
So we seek to recharge our batteries during the winter and do as much preparation for next year as we can. By means of using SKYPE internet telephone and web cam, we can continue to interact and help, but it is not a substitute for face to face discussions.
Air travel arrangements and problems have added to the uncertainty of getting to and from Romania and as the last trip has identified, it’s a long way by road, although we quite enjoyed the nights out on the way. Beryl has managed very well and has a special ministry with the wives and children of those we serve.
We look forward to next year and continue to praise Him who called us to this ministry.
Please pray for our ministry and if you feel you can help in a practical way, talk to us. We will be happy to provide more detailed information to help you discern the best way to be involved in this productive and practical way of spreading The Good News in Romania.
In His name
Dave & Beryl
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