Over Eighty Teens are Being Trained How to Lead Bible Lessons Each Week
“LIFE Romania is the place where I go to know God personally. It’s the place where I understood for the first time why Jesus died for me. It’s the place where I made the decision to give my life to Christ. That’s why I am here today, a child and servant of the Lord.” -Lorena
Hear how LIFE Romania has impacted Lorena’s life! She is an amazing example of our strategy to not just evangelize a young person at camp and not hear from them for another year, but to share the Gospel, follow-up, disciple, train, and equip them to make disciples of their own. She is now leading her own Bible study every week as well as discipling many young people through our 12 steps of discipleship program. We praise God for her life and testimony!
THIS WEEK AT LIFE ROMANIA
During this time when meeting together as the body of Christ has become more difficult, it was a joy to hold a youth meeting at a pentecostal church in a small village outside Bucharest this last weekend. This church is a very small, conservative church without any specific ministry for the youth in the area. We came to encourage the young people and fellowship, worship, and pray together. It was exciting to see many of the youth from this area passionate for Christ! Would you join us in praying that many of them would choose to begin the 12 steps of discipleship with us or join one of our online Bible studies?
We were so thankful to have many interns come and help us this week as we prepare Christmas cards and follow-up letters to be sent to our American partners, Romanian partners, and participants in our ministry. In the coming weeks, we will send out thousands of letters to encourage people who are not currently involved in our Bible studies or discipleship program to join us.
TRAINING LEADERS
Every week over eighty teens are being trained how to teach Bible lessons, share their testimonies, evangelize, and lead their peers. Twenty-four of these teens are a part of eight new groups that are beginning in the coming weeks. That means even more young people are developing in their faith and leadership and hearing the Gospel.
SPEAKING TO THE BAPTIST SEMINARY IN BUCHAREST
Recently, I had the great opportunity to speak to a group of pastors and leaders who are studying at the Baptist Seminary here in Bucharest. I presented our ministry to them and expressed how LIFE Romania can come alongside them and be a resource for their churches. They were very interested and passionate about what we are doing. We pray that many more partnerships will come out of this time we spent together!
Elizabeth Petersen
Staff Manager
A WORD FROM A STAFF MEMBER
It is easy to get discouraged during this time where our lives still look so different than what we consider normal. Not having our typical events makes us long for the time with no masks, unhindered community, and the freedom to give a handshake or hug. I am reminded of the passage in James 4:13-17 as James speaks about how no one knows what tomorrow brings.
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
We are living in a unique season of truly not knowing what tomorrow will hold for us. We can choose to live in fear about this or to trust in God’s will and continue to do the right thing and serve Him through the means possible. As I look back on these last eight months full of uncertainty and adaptation, I am more encouraged than ever to see that our God will never be shaken. I praise God as I see more students than ever being trained how to lead Bible studies, share their testimonies, and evangelize every week by our staff. I pray that God continues to find us faithful to Him as we remember the ways He has always been faithful to us and His promises.
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Pray for our twenty-four new Bible study leaders and their new groups. Pray that God will help them and give them wisdom as they lead and that many participants will hear the Gospel and respond.
- Pray for the church we visited in Ludești, that their ministry to their students would grow and that their youth would continue to have hearts for the Lord.
- Pray for our boys, Julian and Eric, to genuinely love Jesus and grow in their relationships with Him.
- Pray for our staff to be cohesive as one team and that God would give us the vision to see the best ways to minister to the young people of Romania.
- Pray for the health and safety of us, our staff, and those we are ministering to while Covid cases continue to rise here in Europe.
CURRENT NEEDS
- We were able to add two more rooms to our office space. However, we still need to raise $500/month to cover the expense of our increased rent.
- We are planning on purchasing two new cameras as our ministry is expanding. This will be a large expense, but a necessary one to help us continue to promote and capture all the work God is doing. Each camera costs $2,700.
- We need more funds for the salaries of new staff members. We are looking to expand our staff as we are in need of more help ministering to our youth.
- We need more funds to pay for our online development. We have to use more online platforms that cost more money and even have dreams of creating an app or new website for our discipleship program. This could cost us upward of $3,000.