Dear brother Pastor and Church,
I want to greet you with two Bible verses that are a great motivation for us to persevere and do our best in the work that God entrusted us with. Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24 – 25 “24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” I pray that this Word of Truth will keep us focus on the purpose and the prize that God has for all of us. I have a lot of good news that we want to share with you and here they are.
At the beginning of June, we have celebrated Children’s day. We gathered all the children from our churches at the church in Severin and we had a special program with them. We prepared couple of songs that we sang in the next church service, we played with them fun games and of course we made them hotdogs, popcorn and cotton candy. After the children party Sammy and Becky took the teenagers to a youth meeting that was held by the Baptist Church in Motru. It is a church that is close to Lupsa, a one hour drive from Severin. It was a great time of fellowship with the teenagers from three different churches from that area. They invited a Romanian Christian singer. The message was about the lessons we learn in the storms of our lives (Mathew 8:23–27). It was a great time and our teenagers enjoyed it.
Also, in June we finished our AWANA program with the highly anticipated AWANA store. Thanks to your prayers and generosity we could prepare the stores for the two clubs that we have in Severin and Rogova. Again, the children were amazed by the items they could buy from the stores with their points. It was a good motivation for the next season which will start in September. Thank you again for your generosity and for praying for these children and their families. You are a big blessing for all of them.
At the beginning of this month, we organized the youth camp at one of Manna Worldwide facilities, Father’s House, Campulung. The camp was fully funded by Manna Worldwide. What a blessing for the teenagers that spent five days at camp! We had 38 teenagers from three different churches. The theme of the camp was “Claimed at the Cross”. The morning devotionals were held by missionary Kyle Briar and brother Marian from Father’s House. The evening messages were preached by Sammy, my son‐in‐law, and his colleague Pastor Laurentiu. We had a great time of fellowship and again the Gospel has borne fruit. At the end of the camp, we gave the teenagers a time to reflect on the price that was paid at the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ and decide if they want to respond to His calling. Eight teenagers surrender that night. Praise the Lord! Please continue to pray for them and pray for those who are still undecided.
About the situation in Ukraine, we continue to send supplies in the areas that are affected by war but in June all the funds went for the people that were flooded by the destruction of the water dam Kakhovka in the Herson area. They needed fresh water because all the wells were flooded. Also, we sent other supplies such as diapers, medicine, non‐perishable food since they are out of electricity and can’t refrigerate the food. Please continue to pray for the Ukrainians, that in the midst of this war they will open their hearts for the Lord of Peace, Jesus Christ.
We are preparing for the VBS programs that we will have in our churches. The theme this year will be “Wild Wild West”. We need to prepare all the decoration and to buy all the snacks. We still need $1,000 to cover all the cost for the VBS.
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