November 2012
Serve Romania Update
Jim and Brenda Brosch 
Serving in Eastern Europe 
Based in Timisoara, Romania

 click on the Outreach tab to find Serve International.


Happy Fall Ya'll!


...from the beautiful country of Romania!  It's hard to believe how time has flown by since our last update. 

We've passed the year and a half mark of living in Romania and still know how blessed we are to be serving here.  Even though we experienced new and unexpected challenges these past few months, GOD has shown us His hand and urged us in pressing on.


In this update we praise God for:
  • New Believer Baptisms in Mioveni, Romania 
  • Varna, Bulgaria:  Evangelism mission 
  • Croatia and Serbia: Go 4 Jesus evangelism campaign
  • Republic of Moldova - new Bible Training Center for Pastors (BTCP) class 
  • Carașova, Romania - God is answering your prayers!   
  • Upcoming Plans, Praises and Prayer Requests 

We know that many of you pray for us daily and we are comforted by this. Please continue!! We know the value of your prayers and need them more than ever.  

 

Your Fellow Servants of the King,

JimandBrenda
Jim and Brenda

New Life in Christ
Village of Mioveni, Romania
Seven people who accepted Christ as Savior in March, followed the command of the Lord in baptism this past August!  Ken Westfall, from Denton Bible Church, traveled with Jim to Mioveni for this special event.  It was a great blessing to be able to encourage the church and share the gospel with others.  Please pray for the new believers as they seek to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.


Above: (lt) Jim with Pastor Iosef and new believer  (rt) A happy church family
  
Above: (lt) Husband and wife waiting to be baptized  (center) The family of God excited to celebrate baptisms
(rt) Pastor Iosef's family, assisted by Ken Westfall, prepare a delicious feast! No celebration is complete without some grilled Romanian mici!

 

Sharing the gospel in
Varna, Bulgaria

In late August, we traveled to Varna, Bulgaria, with a team of Romanian pastors. These men are wonderful examples of servanthood and have hearts to reach out to their Balkan neighbors with the gospel. We split up into teams to serve alongside Bulgarian believers to visit homes in the city and in villages around Varna.  
 
Varna lies on the coast of the beautiful Black Sea. However, only a few blocks away from the beach you'll find a country which is impoverished and full of the darkness of witchcraft. Believers are few and the opposition is fierce. It was a challenging, yet rewarding experience!  

 
Above: (lt) Sharing the gospel (mid) Mitka, our translator (rt) Brenda sharing with the young women
  
Above: (lt) Headed into apartment blocks to share the gospel  (mid) A gift from Nadia, a sweet young girl who one day wants to be a missionary (rt) Church in Varna
Above:  Brothers Daniel (lt) and Stellica (center) work tirelessly to plan and organize evangelism campaigns. Shown here speaking with various hosts of teams in respective areas. (right) Brothers from Romania who served on the Bulgaria team.
 
 Go 4 Jesus Evangelism Campaign

"..sharing a simple gospel message!"

In early October, the Go 4 Jesus campaign was held in Cakovec, Croatia, organized by a German missionary to Croatia.  His vision is to reach the lost in 9 Eastern Europoean countries by training evangelists, followed by village evangelism.  Over 80 multinationals gathered in Cakovec, to learn more about how to share their faith, to pray for their assigned country, then hit the road to share the gospel.  Our team from Romania was involved with evangelism in Croatia and Serbia. 

Croatia

Above: (lt) Evangelism training (center) Jim teaching how to share using the evangecube
(rt) Bayash (gypsy) villagers come out to hear the gospel
 
Above: (lt) Mihai, one of our Romanian brothers, with the group assigned to Croatia
(rt) Believers in a nearby Bayash village, assisting with sharing the gospel


Serbia 
 
Above: (lt)  Jim and Mihai with our hosts in Serbia
(rt) Believer whose husband will not allow her to attend church 


To God be the glory for many who heard and received the good news with joy!

    
BTCP (Bible Training Center for Pastors)
in Romania and Moldova
 
New BTCP class in the Republic of Moldova
 
  


 


BTCP Advanced Class
Mike Scheer and Matt Eck visit with Doina (translator), during a break in BTCP in Talmaciu, Romania.
Sam Buliga visits with pastors in the background.


Advanced training in expository preaching continues in Talmaciu with pastors and elders from across Romania.   Matt Eck, Serve missionary to Vienna, Austria, joined the teaching team this time! Mike Scheer, Tim Ford and Sam Buliga from the US taught in Talmaciu, then Jim, Matt and Tim continued on to the Republic of Moldova where a new class has begun. Brother Viorel from Dorohoi, Romania is the heart behind this new venture.  The men from Moldova are enthusiastically embracing the teaching.  After this past class, one pastor said, "I no longer want to just preach my opinion;  I want to preach what the bible says."

Have you been praying for the
Village of Carașova?

In October 2011, we told you about the village of Carașova, where there is no evangelical church and only a handful of believers. It is full of families with teenagers. Many of us have a burden to reach them with the gospel.  However, there have been many obstacles in the past few years, including a mayor who refused to allow the church to open. 

It seems that God is working in Carașova! In addition to monthly weekend visits by teams from our Timișoara church, a Romanian missionary couple just completed a stent there and may possibly return. In the most recent 3 day mission, five families were willing to hear the gospel message! Also, there is a new mayor in place!  We are expectantly waiting to see God continue to open doors. Please continue to pray for this village!
 
                     
                     

Top: Team from the Brethren church in Timișoara visit families in Carașova   

Bottom left:  Christi helps a lady in the village package the cheese we bought from her 

Bottom right:  The building we hope will someday be the church in Carașova                        

   


 
We praise the Lord...
  • for our long-stay Visa which was approved (after a long, complicated process) for another year. 
  • that neither Jim nor the other person was injured in the auto accident he was involved in last August. 
  • for Brenda being able to travel and quickly arrive in Texas for a 3 week stay (early October) to help seriously ill family members AND that everyone has recovered and God was ever-present and merciful. 
  • for exciting new opportunities in local villages with the Timișoara Brethren church (Biserica Creștina dupa Evanghelie) AND with the Serve Austria team (more to come soon on this....)  
  • that IGC (International Grace Community) the new international outreach church here in Timișoara, continues to develop and grow.
  • AND we are still ever so thankful for our friends, near and far and for the house God provided which allows us a place for fellowship, plus a less congested traffic area!   
 
Upcoming
Plans and 
Prayer
Requests

 

  • November - Carașova and Iablinița village outreach
  • New small groups meeting in our home to learn Bible Study Methods
  • December - Meeting in Vienna, Austria with Serve Austria Team 
  • December/January - In Texas for Christmas and DBC Missions Conference
Please pray for
  • Small groups forming this month - included are some non-believers who are "open" to hear God's word 
  • Women's ministry - a new study beginning this month in Timisoara area is Knowing Our Wonderful God. Pray that our study books arrive timely and many women are added to the groups this year. 
  • Our spiritual discipline - that we remain committed to prayer and obedience to God's word so we will represent Him well.
  • Diligence, ability and confidence in using the Romanian language.
  • God to lead us in His sovereign plan. 
And those who know your name, put their trust in You,
for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.  Psalm 9:10

 
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Serve International

Serve is the outreach arm of Denton Bible Church. Serve exists to glorify God by cultivating, equipping, and mobilizing Christian leaders worldwide. We believe the most strategic way to impact a culture is through its churches. Therefore we strive to serve local churches by strengthening their leaders so that they can more effectively accomplish what Christ has called them to do, make disciples.  For more information on Serve International, see
the Denton Bible Church website.

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940 382-1761
2300 E. University Drive
Denton, Texas 76209