Open Bible Convention

Nancy enjoyed the Women's Breakfast with her sister Leona Venditti

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity.  Very early Sunday morning, June 16, Pastor Simi took us to the airport in Cluj and we flew to Chicago for the Missionary Summit and Open Bible National Convention.
On Monday and Tuesday was special training for missionaries that centered on staying safe in dangerous situations such as international travel or hostage-taking.  Although the training was intense, we enjoyed being with the other Open Bible missionaries and with ministers who lead short-term mission trips.
The Open Bible National Convention began immediately after the Missionary Summit. The speakers and meetings were very encouraging and inspiring.  We especially enjoyed the times of prayer with Open Bible brothers and sisters from across America.  Of course, one of the best parts was meeting with many friends and making new acquaintances.
We love Open Bible Churches and are joining in prayer with thousands across America for a mighty move of the Spirit of God in our churches and across the country.

"Remain in Me"

"I am the vine and you are the branches."

The home we live in has grapevines on the property and it is interesting to watch them grow. When we arrived in January, all we saw were the woody vines, but when spring arrived, the leaves and branches started growing everywhere.  Not long after that we started seeing tiny green grapes growing.  This reminds us of the words of Jesus in John 15:4-5: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
We truly can do nothing without Jesus.  Our language and culture skills are minimal, but God is working anyway.  We praise God for the signs of spiritual growth we see in the church and we look forward to much more fruit in the future.
News update:  Last week we received our permanent Romanian license plates and car registration and should have Romanian car insurance later this week.  Praise God!  Thanks to a lot of help from our Romanian friends, we are finally done with official paperwork!
Very early Sunday morning we leave for the US to attend a missionary summit and Open Bible National Convention followed by a few days with our family.  Please pray for safe travel and for God to accomplish in and through us all he has planned.
We will let you know how the grapes taste when they are fully grown. 

Roses

Spring has been wet and cool here this year.  Some of our Romanian friends have joked that they wish England would come and take their weather back.  But the rain has helped every green thing grow.  We are enjoying the beautiful roses and other flowers that our landlords planted years ago. Heinz and Rozmarie are our missionary friends  from Switzerland who worked for ten years with the Open Bible Church here.  Since they returned home, they have graciously allowed us to enjoy their house and garden.  Thanks, Heinz and Rozmarie!
Please pray for the church board meeting tomorrow evening.  Important plans are being made and we all desire that they will be God's plans, not ours.