During this visit we had our annual Missio International Board meeting. It was so good to see most of you in person again! Thank you for your dedication and hard work, as board members, on behalf of MI and MLI. May the Lord bless each one of you!

Rev. Eugen Groza

Greetings to you all in the name of Jesus our Lord! Missio Link International is committed to building relationships between people and communities for the advance of God’s Kingdom. We believe with all our hearts that as God’s people, the church, we are one and we should work together. When we stay together, we are stronger, we learn one from another, we help each other and we serve our Lord, each other and the people around us more efficiently. Unity is a great testimony about God’s presence in us. This truth is to be lived out, it is not an abstract teaching. At this moment I want to express my thanks and deep appreciation for you and my satisfaction for the way our partnership is going and growing. Thank you for being such faithful and patient partners. I give thanks and praises to God for you and I am so encouraged and blessed through you. Many came to know Jesus as their Savior; many have been restored to their walk with the Lord. Many children at risk have received help to continue their education, to recover their dignity and have hope in life; many elderly people have been fed. All of this was possible because of your dedication, love and generosity. Thank you so much!

As we come close to the end of this year I want to express my hope that our partnership with you will continue. I believe God is working through this partnership and great things are happening as we work together. I hope this partnership is an encouragement and a blessing for you as it is for us all in Romania. I know that we all face new financial challenges, but we believe God is Sovereign and we are in His care. We do pray for you all and we love you in the Lord!

Once again thank you so much for your dedication, love and generosity. You are in my prayers. May the Lord bless you richly!  Grace and peace to you and your families from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Yours in Him,

Rev. Eugen Groza – President

Thanks to our faithful partners and donors on one hand, and a committed and professional team on the other hand, the moments of memorable delight and happiness for the children assisted by MLI have increased in the past six months.

DEBORAH HOUSE

The summer began with many exams for the girls, and with high-school and university applications. In September three of the girls (Alina, Ana and Brenda) started high-school and Simona started the University. After a few weeks of stress and excitement, the girls had a week with lots of fun playing in a camp at Alpinis with the Christian Life Fellowship team from Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Coming home, they attended a basketball camp in Timisoara organized by Christ Church of Oakbrook and Lawndale Community Church from IL, USA in partnership with Bethany Baptist Church from Timisoara. Good times didn’t stop there: a team from Mt. Bethel UMC – Marietta, GA visited us. While part of the team worked to fix and replace the showers at Deborah 1, the women did Bible studies, crafts and music with the girls. At the end of July, Bryce and Vio Norton, from Mt. Pisgah UMC – Atlanta GA, USA came to DHC. At the beginning of August, all the girls from the DHC with the staff and the staff families spent two weeks in Northern Ireland at the generous invitation of Christian friends from this beautiful country. In the evenings the girls visited the churches and sang as sign of appreciation for all the generosity and during the day they visited the beautiful land of Ulster. Invigorated by the fantastic care and love they had experienced during the summer the girls returned home and got ready for a new school year.

In the fall, a team from Task Force Romania, England, visited DHC and continued working at the attic of Deborah 2. We very much appreciate their effort since in the past two months three new girls came to DHC, and today the center exceeds its capacity.

HARMONY

While the children from Recas and Lugoj Children Homes were on vacation, some of them being on camps or visiting the few relatives they keep in touch with, Doru and Rodica continued to visit them and the boys from Buzias Juvenile Prison. Doru organized a trip to the ancient Roman capital – Sarmizegetusa and the girls from DHC were invited along with the children from Recas, Lugoj and Buzias. This kind of common activities have become regular for MLI – Children at Risk.

At the Buzias Juvenile Prison, even during vacation when the boys have a large range of activities, approximately seventy boys (from a total of one hundred and twenty) voluntarily choose to attend Doru’s classes.

At the beginning of the school year the total number of children who receive assistance from MLI in rural areas was of 134. The children come from very poor families, often they are left with the grandparents while the parents immigrate to Western Europe looking for jobs. 134 children receive protection from abuse, neglect and school abandonment.

ASPIRATIONS

After months of prayers and concern for their daughter’s life and health, Dragos and Florica brought their baby girl Daria to a service of dedication in church. We all, along with the Mt. Bethel UMC Team had the honor to rejoice with the young family. We are grateful for them and we have the responsibility to continue to keep them in our prayers and to walk with them.

Visit from WABC in Timisoara

Shane Bowling and a group from Washington Avenue Baptist Church, Cookeville, TN visited us in Timisoara and met with some of the Romanian pastors they partner with (some for over 12 years).

Basketball camp in Timisoara

Christ Church of Oakbrook and Lawndale Community Church from Chicago, IL area have sent a basketball team and coach for a sporting outreach event in Timisoara. On the Romanian side the event was done in partnership with the youth from Bethany Baptist Church. Sports are a very efficient evangelistic opportunity. Romanian youth were very much drawn to engage in basketball with good players from the US. Then they were open to talk about life and faith and connect to the local church in Timisoara. We pray that the Gospel seeds planted in this way in the hearts of many young people will grow in their hearts and help them to encounter God.

VBS in Campeni area

Pastors Florin Botar and Aurel Rodean organized a Vacation Bible School in Campeni and the surrounding villages. More than one hundred children attended, the majority coming from non-believing homes. Grace Church from Normal, IL is partnering with the pastors and the work in Campeni area for many years now.

The church in Sohodol held a special service of thanksgiving on its 10^th anniversary of the new building. On this occasion Pastor Eugen Groza was invited to preach at a special evangelistic meeting.

• Alpinis letter (dec.09) – page 1
• Alpinis letter (dec.09) – page 2
• Alpinis letter (dec.09) – page 3
• Alpinis letter (dec.09) – page 4

The last very important command our Lord gave to His disciples and to all of us before He ascended to heaven is the command to make disciples. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matt. 28:19). Sadly enough the church as a whole does not do a good job obeying it. It is a very strong feeling today in the Christian mission world that the greatest need of the world today is the need for making disciples. For some years I have had a very strong desire to invest these years of my life in making disciples and training leaders. I started about two and a half years ago with seven men and now there are over 150 people involved in this program. These are present and future church and community leaders all over Romania. I was pleasantly surprised to see the desire of many to grow in spiritual maturity. This program is a team effort and is diverse in the methods of training; from one to one mentoring, to small groups study, intensive training and conferences. The year 2009 was a very good year; the program was implemented in a new area of the country- east Romania, so now the number of regions where the study is going on is five. The leaders for the new area are Pastor Tifrea and Pastor Handaric. Regarding the importance of these studies for the people who are involved, the best would be to let them talk about it:

For sure MLI studies are an unmerited blessing from God, for us. By far these are the best studies I/we ever did, including the Seminar studies. As the area Pastor and leader I see the very positive impact these studies have had on our lives. It helped us to consolidate and clarify our doctrinal believes, to deepen our walk with the Lord and to prepare us better for serving the Lord and others. I see without any doubt people serving better, others that never served before are beginning to serve and be involved. These studies helped also our family life, prayer life; we know each other better and the fellowship between us is warmer. We are very satisfied with these studies and are thankful to God and to everyone who helps us. We are very thankful to brother Eugen for thinking about us and our area, an area where very few people come to help! Thank you very much!
Pastor Cigher Sorin

Studying the Bible through bible study groups is great, the best I may say. It truly helped us a lot to grow in our faith, to strengthen our relationship and to increase our ability to serve. It is our vision to make disciples and these studies help us a lot. The studies are accessible to all of us, are well structured and very efficient. I also graduated from the Seminary in Bucharest, but these studies prepared me much better for ministry than the Seminary did. Thank you so much for your love and dedication in helping us grow in our faith.
Pastor Iosif Pop – Fetesti

Since we started BEE studies the relationships between us are much better and that can be seen in the whole environment of the church. These studies help us to listen better, serve better and be able to minister more efficiently. It is not right to leave the voice of this world to direct our lives; we have to teach others from the Word of God how to be dedicated Christian mothers, wives and servants of the Lord. Through these studies you help us do that. Thank you so much!
Elida Pop – Fetesti

BEE study motivated each one of us to a deeper relationship with our Lord; in general each time when we meet we shared things from our personal time with God and that is very motivating to us. BEE studies do not stop at the theological level but are very much oriented to the practical, ministry level and that we find very helpful. I think brother Eugen did a great job when he chose this study for us. I/ we are very happy about these studies and are thankful to all who help us do them.
Pastor Valentin Fat – Timisoara

Bible study groups are a tremendous blessing for the people involved and also for the whole church and community. In my churches the BEE bible study groups are the engine for all the church ministries. It is a great difference between those who are involved in studies and those who are not; the difference has to do not only with the biblical knowledge, but also with the enthusiasm and the vision they have for ministry. Since we started such training in the church there are ladies involved at the community level in ministry, there are missionaries who are working in other small churches and evangelists who do a better job preaching. I/we are very thankful to God and to all the people who are helping us to be able to study the Word of God.
Pastor Florin Iosub – Carpinis

BEE training brought to our church a lot of enthusiasm. Everyone involved is ready to accept the challenge of such a study and the impact in their lives is so clear. I see them growing month after month; they grow in their family life, prayer life, teaching and preaching the word of God. I am so thankful to all those who made possible these studies for us.  May the Lord richly bless you!
Pastor Viorel Dumitru – Giurgiu

First of all let me say how thankful I am to God and to all of you who made these studies possible for us. I am deeply moved that you thought about us, people from these very poor parts of Romania. I look at all these studies as a blessing from God.
Iulian Stoian – Missionary at Slobozia

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Most of the training takes place in small groups, but larger gatherings helps to know each other better, to build up relationships and friendships! The first event was a conference organized at the end of January 2009 by Zionsville Presbyterian Church for the pastors and missionaries MLI works with, from south Romania; MLI was part of it! During the month of May 2009 I had the first session of intensive training at Alpinis – MLI retreat center. The study was about the parables of our Lord in the Gospels. Kenny Woodhull was the main speaker. The study was very useful as some of the participants said:

For me the MLI intensive training session at Alpinis, meant a spiritual enrichment.  I learned why the Lord used so much the parables, how to study, interpret and apply them.  This time opened for me new horizons regarding my relationship with God and His people. It really was a time of spiritual growth for me and I thank you so much for making it possible for me. There are not too many people who are willing to invest in the young generation as you do. Thank you so much!  Ovidiu Jurca (Intensive training -May 2009)

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At the beginning of September we had our annual Pastor’s Family Retreat, over 45 couples came and it was a great time of fellowship, spiritual and physical refreshment and celebrating God’s goodness. The speakers were Mr. Sam Polson- Senior Pastor at West Park Church in Knoxville, a long time supporter and friend, also Jeff & July Sanders from the same church. Jeff is the Mobilization Pastor and July leads the women ministry. Here are some of thoughts from the participants:

This was a wonderful time, a time we had been expecting for a year, our souls looked forward very much for a time like this. During these days we were better prepared to serve God and serve others.  Thank you so much; May the Lord bless you!
Pastor Florin & Magda Botar

For both of us it was a very fruitful and encouraging experience. We were renewed in spirit and body and we did find the answers for some of the decisions regarding the future. This conference showed us we do not have to be discouraged because everything is possible to those who believe.  Thank you so much from the depth of our hearts!
Pastor Teofil & Monica Tifrea

Thank you so much for the invitation to be part at MLI family conference! It was for both of us a wonderful time; the teaching was exactly what we needed. God knows our struggles and our hearts. My wife was so blessed by Julie’s teaching, she is a special lady! Thank you so much!
Pastor Mircea & Cristina Ursu

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The end of September and almost the whole month of October I had the second session of intensive training and about fifteen people for the first marketplace seminar. All of these people were professionals, business people and four young pastors. The speaker for the marketplace seminar was Prof. Paul Stevens from Regent College, Vancouver BC, and Kenny Woodhull; for Church Based Leadership the speaker was Dr. Ed Scearce, Senior Pastor of Grace Church, Normal IL. Ed visited Romania even during communism; he is a long time friend of Romania.

I am overwhelmed by your love! Thank you so much for thinking about us and investing in us! It is amazing what you do, and I do not know anyone else who does these kinds of things in Romania.

The study in Ephesians was great and your love is overwhelming. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Florin Tudorache

This study in Ephesians is a new challenge for me to change some of the priorities of my life so God would get the glory in all I am and I do. Thank you so much for these excellent days!
Pastor Adrian Neagu

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The study is going well, at this moment there are about 15 pastors involved in studying it and teaching it in five different areas of Romania. We are making good progress in advancing with our studies even though most of the people involved are working. The courses we have studied up to now are: Galatians & Romans; Christian Life; Overview of the Old Testament; Overview of the New Testament; Creative Partnership; Calm My Anxious Heart, Spiritual Mothering , Evangelism & Discipleship and Living By the Book.

I thank you all so much for your support in prayer and for your generosity. I am overwhelmed by your dedication; truly you are an encouragement and an example for me. I am thankful to God for each one of you and I am looking forward to continuing our work together for His glory. Without your involvement we cannot do what we are doing. I love you all in the Lord and I thank you for your friendship and partnership in ministry!

Your partner in Romania,
Pastor Eugen Groza

The Church in Babadag ministering in the Nursing Home for Seniors
One of the regular ministries of the church in Babadag is to the elderly in the local nursing home. There are 114 people in the nursing home, and Pastor Cornel Mos-Man leads a group that visits them on Wednesdays and Saturdays every week. On Sundays people from the home who wish to take–part in the worship can get a ride to church and have lunch, 28 of the elderly came on June 21″ for a special day of celebration with the church. Pray for this outreach of the church in Babadag. Pray also for their summer outreach to children in the area. The children work takes place outdoors every week in the summer with games, songs and Bible lessons.

Christian Center for children in Campeni area, central Transylvania
In February 2009 Pastor Florin Botar and the church in Ponorel started a new project – a Christian Center for children. Activities include English lessons, as well as games, Christian songs and Bible studies. This outreach started in a public school with twelve children and the number has now increased to thirty. Pastor Florin has planned two Vacation Bible School events in two other villages in the area, Sohodol and Bara de Aries. Pray for this work especially as they are considering planting a church in Baia de Aries.

Leadership Conference in January – Zionsville Presbyterian Church, IN has facilitated for the S’h year consecutively a conference where pastors, elders, missionaries and Christian workers from three cities in the south of Romania – Giurgiu, Alexandria and Fetesti – come together to receive teaching in Scripture and to share and learn about the ministry in every area. Jack Jordan from IN taught from 2 Corinthians about Christian Ministry. Thank you ZPC and Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, IN for investing in growing leaders in the churches you partner with.

The church in Bicaz area
Pastor Beni Handaric ministers in three towns in Bicaz area, north east of Romania, since the early ’90s. Pastor Beni brings together leaders from all three churches to be trained as part of MLI’s Church Based Leadership Development program. This year it feels like a fresh start in the churches as seven people have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior.

Family focused ministry – Pastor Viorel Dumitru and the church in Giurgiu have taken a few days in February to minister especially to couples and families. They went on a retreat and had a Romanian couple, a pastor and his wife, who led the retreat looking at the Biblical perspective on marriage as well as discussing medical and social issues. We witness a dangerous threat to family life around the country especially as many choose to work for extended periods of time outside of the country leaving children with relatives or single parented.

Florin Iosub