ZBINDEN MINISTRIES, Inc.

204 Patricia Ln

West Frankfort, IL 62896

618-932-8221

www.zministries.org

 

Greetings in the Matchless name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

          Thank you so much for your prayers while Joy and I were in Romania November 10 – 16.  I have asked Joy to write the newsletter this time since she was with me. 

I’m so excited about the trip – I’ll put the strictly ministry related stuff first so folks can read that and ignore the rest if they want/need to…

Friday:

·         Arrived safely – thanks to all for the prayers the fact that we made our flight from Paris to Budapest and that our luggage arrived safely attests to being covered in prayer for the trip

Saturday:

·         Services at Dretea

o   Accompanied by B.M. and Beverly Cave from Lexington, S.C. – Florin had told Bro. Jesse that we would be going and he was welcome to send a few folks along if he wanted to – we hadn’t seen B.M. and Beverly since our last trip w/ Bro. Jess in ’96 so it was a special

Treat

o   Florin took their children’s hand me down clothing to the 10 children (all the children in the village) who attend the church – these are children from 3 different gypsy families

o   One of the church ladies told Florin how much they appreciated the clothing but told him “don’t forget their feet next time”

o   That evening as we were fellowshipping at the Muresan’s home, B.M. and Beverly told Florin they wanted to buy shoes and socks for all the children

o   One woman is 89 yrs. old and gets to church 1 hr. before services so she can pray – she was saved later in life.  Her daughter was saved a few yrs. ago and is quite faithful, both in attendance and in working in the church.  Her husband is not yet a believer and sometimes does not allow her to participate as she would like

·         Services at Bedeciu

o   B.M. and Beverly accompanied us here as well

   

·         Bro. Immanuel (or perhaps Emmanuel) pastors both of these churches – the combined attendance is less than 50 but he serves these congregations faithfully

Sunday:

·         Dedication at Ilva Mare

o   The service started outside the building, after dedicatory prayers and statements from various people, the ribbon was cut and the first thing to go in the church was a Bible that was carried by one of the girls in the church

                           

o   Those in attendance were the church members, the band and a soloist from Bistrita Baptist Church, the mayor of Ilva Mare, a representative from Cluj Baptist Association, Bro. Jesse Powers, the principal from the school, the pastor from the Pentecostal church, Bro. Pogaceanu from Iclod who gave a big discount on the windows and doors, and many, many others

o   There were songs and testimonies and greetings and great rejoicing – the service lasted close to 3 hrs. and we had to rush through the celebratory meal (good cabbage rolls, great roast pork and OUTSTANDING cookies w/ some kind of a nut filling in them) in order to leave for the…

·         Dedication at Baciu

o   Those attending were Bro. Jess, a representative from town gov’t, the pastor from Cluj Second Baptist (the church that planted the mission at Baciu), representatives from Cluj Baptist Association, a group of men from Second Baptist in Cluj who did an absolutely phenomenal job with the special music

o    Bro. Jesse and Joe preached and many men gave greetings or charges to the church

o   The meeting was followed w/ a fellowship which was actually held in the sanctuary as they have no fellowship hall

Monday:

                On Saturday, we gave an older man in Dretea a ride home.  His wife could not attend services as it is too far for her to walk.  She can walk in their home and in their yard but does not have the strength to walk the few blocks to church.   After church, I asked Florin if we could go back to Dretea on Monday to visit the wife and when B.M. and Beverly later said they wanted to buy shoes for the children, Florin suggested we combine both tasks.  So, he organized getting the sizes for the shoes and took the Cave’s shopping to get them.  That afternoon, we delivered them and visited the older couple I mentioned earlier.  Everyone was thrilled w/ their new shoes and socks!

 

                I would like you all to pray for something.  When we were delivering the shoes to the homes, I noticed that both mothers had bruises on their faces.  The first one, especially, was rather withdrawn.  There was a man in the yard when we first arrived at the second home but he left before we had a chance to reach out to him.  I have not been able to get these families off my mind and would like to ask you all to join me in praying for them.  My prayer has been:

·         That the men in these families would be exposed to the gospel

o   That God would lift up someone with a burden for these men who would reach out and offer friendship to them despite the barriers

§  The living conditions

§  The prejudice against gypsies

§  The issues in the gypsy culture that make befriending them difficult

o   That they would be saved

o   That they would be disciple in being godly husbands and fathers

o   That through their salvation, their families would see and respond to God’s saving, life-changing grace

·         That the women would experience God’s saving grace

o   That they would find peace and comfort in Christ

o   That they would train their children to know him

·         That the children would respond to the loving care being given to them by the ladies of the church and come to know Christ and to grow in grace

·         That the women of the church in Dretea would

o   Not weary in well-doing

o   Have the wisdom of Solomon when interacting with all members of the families

o   Work in unity as they minister to these families

 

As always, I want to thank each and every one of you who supports ZMI.  It is truly exciting to watch God at work in His world and a blessing to be able to obey His great commission. 

 

In His Love and Service,

 

 

 

Bro. Joe