Photos from Dale Downing:

Dead to self                        Buried with Christ                  Raised to a new life

Dear Jan,

WE are back, but worn out and excited. We had a great trip. I do not know what kind of report that you want, but here goes.

WEI Team Goes To Romania.

It was an exciting time with 327 total Bible Studies. Going with me were four other workers: Elvis and Kay Istre of Abilene; Naoma Guinn of Livingston, and Yvonne Davis from Little Rock, ARK. All five of us taught from the WEI booklets with 64 students. Many of these students came two or three times per week. Two of the teachers had students who were willing to be taught every day. All of these students were invited to the Assembly of the Church on Sunday and a few of them came and enjoyed the Worship Services. Although there were no baptisms while we were in Cluj, many Seeds were planted and God will give the increase at His appointed time.

The Romanian Easter Holiday came on May 5th, but some students began to take time off from their WEI studies as early as 7 days before that date. It was disappointing that the number of studies drop each week. Had it not been for the holiday, there would have been more than 400 Bible studies for the month long adventure.

It is amazing to watch these students, whose ages vary from 18 - 65, become so interested in the Bible stories. In the beginning, they are only interested in improving their English , then they are hooked on the joy of knowing the Bible. Many begin to see very early that their infant baptism did not save their soul. However, they are slow to change from their old religion. Also, parental influence or objections play a big part in their hesitation to become a true Christian.

Jan Towell sent me ETR Bibles and WEI Lessons to deliver to a few students that she has been teaching. I delivered them to her young university student, but was unable to schedule any time with him. By the time that I met with him, my schedule was already full.

It was a great joy to serve the Master by teaching His message using the WEI material, which is perfect for one-on-one studies as well as email use. Find a non-Christian in your neighborhood and try using the WEI material with them.

For the Master,

Will Odom

The Langley's

The first weekend in May we rented a van and drove my car 9 hours over the mountains to the city of Pitesti in southern Romania. The Pitesti church of Christ hosted their second national youth seminar for ages 14 -30. A total of eleven of us from Oradea made the trip and enjoyed a wonderful weekend of bible study and fellowship with approximately 300 other church of Christ youth from many different cities in the country. Vasile Iuhos and I taught break out classes, and our Alin led the entire auditorium seminar in most of the singing. The theme of the seminar was "Serving the Master". Everyone enjoyed a very spiritually uplifting time together.

We just concluded a three month teaching and sermon series centered on the theme of commitment, dedication, and devotion. Vasile taught the Sunday morning class from Old Testament texts, while Romeo and I rotated the sermon presentations from New Testament texts. Adinel presided over the Lord's supper. They all did an impressive job of preparation and teaching. For the next three months Vasile, Romeo, and Adinel will rotate the Bible class and Lord's supper on the theme of, "The Nature of God". I will present a sermon series entitled "Invitations in the Bible". We are so blessed to have these three capable men willing to assume and serve in leadership roles with our church family, and in the Kingdom at large.

Vasile continues to lead us in a study of "The Key to Knowledge" series at our Wednesday bible study, and our once a week prayer group in different homes was again well attended. We have registered all the students necessary (60), for our summer WEI bible teaching campaign which begins on July 7th, and have begun a waiting list. We enjoyed our monthly fellowship meal together last Sunday, and for the month averaged 27 in attendance.

INSPIRATIONAL HIGHLIGHT

Recently it has become evident to Angie and I how blessed by God we are here in Oradea. A great challenge for many of the young churches of Christ in Romania, has been the lack of mature male leadership. We are so grateful to have several men and a few boys who are developing into ready and willing participants, teachers, and leaders within our spiritual family. Vasile who graduated from Sunset Bible Institute in Athens is a very capable preacher, teacher, and even song leader when necessary. Romeo and Adinel are also developing into excellent teachers and seizing every opportunity to study and present lessons. Alin Ardelean at the age of 18 takes his song leading ministry very seriously and has developed into one of the finest song leaders for his age that I have witnessed. Sorin Stafie at the age of 15 is always willing to lead public prayer and even volunteers to prepare and present devotional thoughts at every opportunity. Romeo and Sorin have both told me that they have a desire to one day serve as a preacher and teacher of God's word. There is nothing sweeter to a missionaries ears than to hear those words. Their enthusiasm inspires us all.

PRAYER REQUESTS AND MANY THANKS

Many thanks to Harvey and Vernon Starling and the churches of Christ in Pitesti and Craiova who hosted the National Youth Bible Seminar. As usual it was very well organized and a spiritually uplifting experience for all. They organized great bible classes, fed us, housed us, and put up with us. Thank you! Thank you!

Again we owe great thanks in advance to this years WEI teachers who are scheduled to come at their own expense and spend 2 to 4 weeks teaching Bible using the WEI material. Your sacrifices toward the expansion of God's kingdom will not go unnoticed. (Heb. 6:10)

Please keep this campaign in your prayers as teachers will be traveling long distances. Many precious souls will soon be meeting with them to learn about the one, true, loving, and gracious God in heaven. Is there anything more exciting than that?

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