Just a short post to wish you all a Happy Independence Day!  Please take a moment to think of what those words really signify and what occurred so that those of us who were blessed to be born in the USA can enjoy the freedoms that we have.  I’ll be the first to admit that my country is not going in a direction that I am happy about, but despite all of that, it is still the best place to live on earth.  We all need to remember that and be thankful for the blessings that we have.

Over 600,000 laptops are stolen in US airports each year - Romania doesn’t even sell that many in a year (I doubt that many computer units of any type are sold in one year in RO).  Moral of the story?  Pay attention to your laptop!

click here to read more:

*I was intending to post an article about the corruption and lack of progress in the Romanian government, but there were too many to choose from, so I went with this instead.*

Please pray for Mark Holden as he is flying back to the USA today.  I just returned from the airport (left at 1am returned at 7:15), where Joanna and I left him off for his flight to Vienna.  He will have a layover of a few hours there and then a flight to Dulles.  Please pray that God will enable him to relax and rest well on the flight over the Atlantic.  Mark is planning to drive straight to Upstate NY as soon as he arrives in the DC area.  So, he will be pretty worn out by the time he gets home.  It was great to have him here with us for the past 10 days, and both he and his daughter, Joanna, were able to partake in fellowship with numerous families here in this area. It is a treat for us to have like minded people share in our efforts to minister here, even if it may be for only a short time.

We have a major praise item to share with you all.  On Thursday, we picked up our Residency Cards, which allow us to remain in the country for 5 years at a time.  These cards take the place of visas/passports, and they will be our primary method of identification here in Romania.  If we had not received these cards we would have been forced to leave the country by July 1’st.  We thank God for answering our prayers and providing a legal option for long-term residency in this country.

I thought it was worth mentioning that this blog hit it’s 1 yr anniversary over this past week.  There have been nearly 3500 visitors (not counting spam bots), which isn’t bad considering that I hardly updated it at all over the winter months.  Thank you all for visiting , and please come back often.

Hi all, this is just a quick note to say that our guests have arrived safely.  We went to the airport in Timisoara yesterday to pick up Mark and Joanna Holden. Mark is on our Romania Advisory Board, as well as being the Pastor of one of our supporting churches.  I will get the honor of translating for him in church over the next 2 Sundays; a first for me (eek).  Joanna will be staying here until September, while her father will only be with us for the rest of this month.  This is his first visit to RO, while Joanna spent some time with us here last summer.  We thank God for their safe trip, and we pray that He will bless their time here.

On Tuesday we held our first English classes of the summer here in the village of Bretea Romana.  We had 24 kids signed up over 3 different groups between the ages of 7 and 17.  Out of the total of 24, 19 showed up; that’s actually pretty typical here (or anywhere for that matter).  The groups went well, and the kids all seemed to be enjoying it. :)  I enjoyed it as well, but the vast difference in the abilities of the “students” makes for some rather difficult lesson plans and homework assignments…. hehe  The facilities are a little cozy (8 or 9 teenagers in a -800sqfoot apt / but it’s a great opportunity to get to know some new kids, and to continue relationships with the ones that we met last summer.  Please pray that our brains don’t implode as we try to remember the rules of grammar etc… rules that none of us have studied for 10-30+++ years.

Check out the new pictures that I just uploaded on the Photos page.  They were all taken near our Apt. building a few days ago.  There are several pictures of the garden that we all share here at the Apt. building, as well as some pictures of the streets nearby etc.  Enjoy!

*due to the slow connection here, I was not able to upload larger pictures; therefore clicking on the image will not give you a (much) larger picture*

“We’ll let Romania win the football game if they take back their gypsies from Italy”

*yup, that summarizes how most of Europe feels about Romanians…..*

Dear Family and Friends,
These past three months have been quite an experience for us as we have moved into our village apartment in Bretea Romana. We are in the center of the village and the noise and commotion is something we have to get used to. Our neighbors have been helpful and we see more and more signs of acceptance This encourages us as we reflect on God’s leading and provision. We have spent many days working on our apartment and have more work to do but are at the point where we feel comfortable in our home and are practicing hospitality.

Another new experience has been the application for long term residency in Romania and the request for a 5 year visa. We discovered that Americans must register with the district police if they stay more than 3 days in Romania, and have since been informed that the local police want a copy of all of our documents as well.The visa request involved more time and paper work than we’ve done in the past as we learned what was needed to meet the new requirements. Some of the key documents were the Letters of Recommendation from both our sending church and the church here in Bretea. Resumes, diplomas, essays, etc.were sent to the Baptist Union headquarters and then on to the the Ministry of Culture and Cults(Religions) in Bucharest for their approval. We also had to find a family doctor and buy RO medical insurance for each one of us.  Government fees and taxes for the visas totaled about $525. Fortunately, our request was accepted at the end of May and we expect to have photo ID cards and visas in hand by the end of June. We are very happy to have completed this necessary paper work to be legal residents.

Our ministry in the local Baptist Church continues to be our priority as we lead services, teach, and attempt to meet the needs of the people. The leaders and hosts, Saul and Dora, have been hospitalized with serious health problems for a total of 28 days since we arrived here. We helped with transportation, visitation, gardening, animal care and butchering, and homestead oversight. One morning we were called just before sunup to assist with an emergency health need. Thank the Lord for all the past experience in dealing with such issues in our lives. Some neighbors say that Saul and Dora have had “good luck” with the Americans coming here while others realize that it was God who brought us here to be of service to others. This testimony of our lives has a greater impact than talk alone can have. Please continue to pray for us and these folks as we seek to give God the glory. Also please pray for our youth ministry which involves many children from a new church family and more un-churched children.

On June 20th Joanna Holden, a young lady from the Romulus Lighthouse Fellowship, will be arriving to live with us and help in the ministry. She was here for a short time last year and we’ve invited her to come for a longer experience in foreign missions and to see how the Lord leads in her life as she serves Him. Her father, Mark, will accompany her, assist us, and observe the ministry for 10 days. We are looking forward to their visit and thank the Lord for them. Please pray for God’s blessing upon their trip.

It is the beginning of Summer and this is the busiest time of the year for our ministry in the village of Bretea Romana. The young people finish school this week and we will be offering free English classes in our home during Summer vacation. There will be three levels for young people with the goal of learning English as a second language for education requirements and improving their job options. We also intend to have a class for adults. There is a great interest in learning English and we are happy to help people in this way.

Besides the ministry and paperwork we are working a large garden by this apartment building. It is divided into sections for the 10 families who want to raise vegetables. We have 22 kinds of veggies growing and some of them are not grown by the neighbors. This provides us with the opportunity to share new foods and possibly add some variety and vitamins to their diets. There is a tremendous problem with weeds, insects, and disease involving the crops and I am amazed at the difficulties these folks face while providing food for their families year round. The Agricultural sector in Romania continues to struggle to be modern and efficient.

We want to thank everyone who prays and supports us and this ministry. Many people have given sacrificially so that we can be here. Now that we are established in this town we are looking to the future and what the needs are. It is obvious that our little apartment has limitations as a classroom and that Saul’s meeting room in his home isn’t big enough for a larger congregation. We are not certain how much longer it will be viable or available to us. Please pray that others will help to provide necessary funds for mission property and a small building. The ARMS PROJECT (Archers’ Romanian Mission Station) was begun in 2007 with the goal of raising funds for a permanent ministry location in this village. Anyone interested in giving to that project can specify this when contributing to the RO Fund at Faith Bible Chapel.

All contributions (marked for Romania) should be sent to: Faith Bible Chapel at 117 Jamestown St. in Randolph, NY 14772

Our WEB SITE - www.outreachhunedoara.wordpress.com

In closing we list some specific prayer needs since many supporters have asked for this.  May God’s grace and peace be with you all. Chuck, Barb, and Curtiss

Personal Prayer Requests:
1) Good health and resistance to allergies and complications.
2) Monthly support and ARMS PROJECT.
3) Spiritual growth for us and the local church.
4) Daniel and Whitney Archer - first child is due in July.