Dear brother Pastor and Church,
I want to greet you with 1 Chorintians 15:20‐22 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”.
As every single year in the past, we rejoiced with our brothers and sisters from Lupșa, Rogova and Severin celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Once again this year we could shout “He is risen! Our faith is not in vain, our sins are forgiven, we were set free from the bondage of sin!”. The Easter program was amazing! The children had their special programs, the mandolin orchestra played three songs, several brothers and sisters sang songs about the resurrection and, of course, the Gospel was preached. We had many visitors including a group of three men from Uganda, that came in Severin to work in construction. They spoke english well, so we could translate the sermon for them.
My daughter Becky started a new Bible study with the ladies from the church. They are enjoying their time of fellowship in the Word of God. They have time to discuss their problems and pray for each other. Last Sunday they had a visitor, a lady that came for the first time. Her name is Madalina. She enjoyed the time spent at the Bible study and at the end she opened her heart and share some of her problems. Please pray for her that she will continue to come and get saved.
In April, we also had the special AWANA meeting with the children and their parents. It was a really fun day! We played games together. The parents were so excited to play the games with their children. Some of them are really busy with their jobs and do not have time to play with their children. We had a time of worship and preached the Gospel. At the end we had pizza and a lot of desserts. We are thankful for the new people we have met through the AWANA program and we are praying that one day the seed that was planted in their heart will grow for the Kingdom of Heaven.
At the end of this month we will end this season of AWANA. Of course we will close the season with the highly anticipated AWANA Store, where the children can use all their points to buy the cool stuff they want. As in years past we are trying to raise $2,000 for both clubs ($1,000 each). Please pray that God will provide all the funds necessary to make this possible.
I want to thank you for your faithfulness. I am so blessed to have you by my side in these difficult times. I want to thank you for all your prayers and support. You are in my prayers and in my heart.
With love in Christ,
Rica Gonciulea
Your missionary to Romania