Go Ye Fellowship in southcentral Europe

Italy (click here for a secular summary of Italy)

The view across the spiritual landscape

While living in Italy from 1986 through 1990, I noticed that the Christian landscape was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) with a small number of legalistic groups to add spice. The RCC emphasizes works for salvation and the other groups require certain platitudes in order for you to be accepted: wearing a head covering, not wearing a cross, being baptized a certain way. In few of the groups I saw were the essentials of Christianity (love and personal purity) high priorities. The soil was indeed hard and people rather disinterested, but the Gospel they were given was a stone to swallow instead of bread to nourish.

Now: A group called the "Popolo di Dio" is stressing the essentials of Christianity and experiencing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in very relational ways. Thousands of Italians have come to Christ and have a life that demonstrates it. God is moving!    A revival has begun in Italy, with thousands coming to know Jesus in a personal way.   Take the Vicenza group as an example.  It is one of the first that Cristina started.  Yet, even there, over 90% of the group have become Christians in the past 3 years.  Some are now reading the Bible for the first time in their lives.  As a result, there is a great need for teaching. 

 "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Lo, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingcom of God is in the midst of you."---Jesus (Luke 17:20b-21)

How difficult this verse is for many of us missionaries to understand or practice!  So many are accustomed or trained to think "The Baptists are Christian but the Pentecostals aren't."  "It is OK to work with the Catholics but not with the Presbyterians."  "It is fine to bring to light the weaknesses of the Orthodox, but not those of the Evangelicals."  We are tempted to think that the Kingdom of God follows denominational lines.  Being from an ecumenical and Evangelical Presbyterian background, I don't understand this and often step on denominationalist toes.  I believe that there are members of the Kingdom in each denomination and, yes, even outside the church walls.  It is my job to minister to anyone in any denomination who has ears to hear.  Just like in Jesus' era, often the men of the cloth are most plagued by presbycusis (inability to hear high frequencies) and the "sinner" is the most receptive.

The believers at the Hospitality House of Vicenza, Italy, and I have had a relationship that has gone back 15 years to when I was stationed there as an Army captain. One week, we had Gary Bradley, a Navigator missionary, make the point even more strongly.  Absolutely no county in the US is seeing a net growth in attendees of Christian churches.  I don't know if that was percentage-wise or numerical, but that was a strong statement, nevertheless.  Clearly, we are not reaching the lost but church-shuffling.  He called those present to radically rethink their missiology. I would venture to bet that this is true in Italy and Romania also. 

This is what we are doing in Italy and Romania.  Not taking the traditional approach, God's People are using lifestyle and experiencing God to bring the Gospel to others.  It is ecumenical and outside the bounds of denominations, which makes many people nervous, but it is clear that the Kingdom of God is in the midst of us for lives are being changed. 

Personal

After my heart breaking over the needs of God's People in Vicenza, the most difficult part of Aurelia's and my life is putting aside our devotion to God and His work to look out for each other and ourselves. As our premarital counsellor advocated to me, it is a time to put away the selflessness of single life.  If I don't take care of myself, I clearly will fail to provide for my family.  All the things that God has been working in my life will now be reworked!  Talk about stress! The first thing that has to go is Paul's and my perspective that "to die is gain."  I must take care of myself, physically and mentally.  I must start taking time out.  Next year, I hope to take a vacation with Aurelia--our honeymoon.

You are part of my support team.  I'm totally convinced that I have the most godly and supportive friends in the whole world.  It was GREAT in October seeing so many who have been friends for so long.  Aurelia was very impressed if not intimidated by the cultural and educational levels of them all.  She enjoyed sharing fellowship with true Protestant Christians after seeing so many legalistic groups and borderline cults around us in Romania.  The difference impressed her and gave  her an appetite for more.  She has been witnessing to everyone now--she is on fire and encourages me now!!! Hearing her tell her testimony was a real blessing for me.  I hadn't known that she considered that I brought her to know the Lord and she testified to her best friends that God had used me to change her from being "very egotistical".  A distinctive of our work is love and integrity from a personal relationship with God instead of legalism. Don't think I'm fooling myself, I don't expect the legalists to get the message as they didn't get Jesus' message.

After four years of dating and waiting, Aurelia and I got married on May 30, with the church ceremony following.  To see more wedding pictures, click here.  In Romania, the church has turned over marriage rights to the state.  They won't marry you in the church before you are married by the state.  For me, that was a serious sell-out of the institution of marriage which God ordained, yet the non-Orthodox give the firstrights to the State.  A missionary here points out that the Orthodox get around this by believing that in this Orthodox country, the state is the church, but that is another discussion.  Despite the diminished importance they give to the church wedding, with family already on their way it was too late to move the ceremony to another country. 

Our pre-marital counselors were many, some who did not have commitment to follow through on their promise and one who was too close to me to be objective.  Finally with  Sandy Wilson  did a great job and remained committed until the end. That end was later than expected as the US visa promised in 90 days took a year. (Who said our government could count anyway?)  The supposed one-day visa pickup at the embassy became a two-week process.  Finally all the church and US government beaurocracy was completed and we were supposed to fly there September 12th--plans interrupted by Bin Laden.  Each time was like someone took a scalpel to my heart.  The scar tissue that developed made me begin to not feel anything or care about it all.  For any man this is a trial, for if you reading this are a woman, you know that for a 37 year-old woman this was a nightmare.  I don' t know how many times over the period Aurelia told me, "It's not worth it, I already don't want any more."  Yet, she was quite the soldier patient to negotiate around all the landmines set by the evil forces through Repenter churches, terrorists, and our own government.  I Corinthians 10:13 implies that the more one matures, the more God will test him.  Clearly, we have grown tremendously.  One way that I have grown is in prayer.  Marriage has sure helped me be "constantly in prayer" as Paul recommended. (I Thessalonians 5:17)

During the marriage preparations and now during marriage, I have become impressed with the schooling that the Moldovans had under communism.  The difference in refinement and education between Aurelia, who went away to high school, and many others who had "normal" childhoods under communism convinces me that she knows what it takes to make a real difference in the lives of the impoverished children who make the TB hospital their home.  I see more than ever that Aurelia has some of the experience necessary to meet the challenge ahead.

 "When you offer a lunch or dinner, don't invite your friends and brothers, neither your parents, nor your rich neighbors who can in turn invite you and you will have your reward.  Instead, when you offer a banquet, invite the poor, the deaf and the blind and you will be blessed because these can't return the favor.  You will have your reward at the resurrection of the righteous."---Jesus (Luke 14:12-13)

Undoing this Christian training has been the most difficult for us (as likely is for most newlyweds).  Like any Christian single, I have spent a score of years serving those who can't repay me--the refugee, the persecuted, the poor, the orphan, the AIDS child, ....   For a month starting in August, I found myself home-bound, serving Aurelia who was often bed-ridden with a spinal inflammation due to an old dancing injury.  How I struggled with this!!!  I felt so selfish helping her knowing that she would be able to repay me when so many Romanians were in need .  ...and people told me that marriage was supposed to make me less selfish!  Another change:  The salary raising that seemed so selfish to me has now become a way that I as a man must provide for (and express my love for) my wife.  Financial support is a major concern now, for I have a duty to my family.  Spiritual maturity in marriage seems to be a different path than one in celebacy.  That may be the only way I have come closer to God so far, but that is a start and I wouldn't trade marriage to Aurelia for anything in the world.

In my training to become an emergency medical technician, one of the first things I learned is "do not become a casualty yourself." Our marriage counselor encouraged me to focus more on what I like to do instead of my habit of doing what needs to be done. This should decrease the likelihood of burnout. This coincided with my boss's advice to get into a supportive environment.  God guided each of us that I should have time in a culture where I would have the support of Christian peers and take a year from projects to devote to relationships with my wife and others like the Scriptures advocate. Armed with what I thought to be God's clear guidance and will I went to America to get the visa the embassy said was available to me. God disagreed with what people had believed they heard from Him and I returned empty handed and the ministry about a thousand dollars poorer. This violated my faith that God guides His Church and I got very confused. But my foundation in Jesus the Rock was strong enough that I could carry on unwavering and curse was turned to blessing, as God did much more this year than any of us could have hoped.

The following is the proposal I made to supporters last year and the way God fulfilled it.

In this year of transition, what has remained constant?

1/4 of our ministry is still to children with AIDS in Romania.

1/2 of our ministry is to orphans

We are still motivating people to missions.

I (sorry, WE) still depend on your prayer, encouragement, and financial support.

I still focus on teaching the basics of Christianity and have increasingly have developed a team of local partners. It is good to work in a prospering Christian movement with adults who are seeking after the Lord.

Our long-term vision remains the same

1. Anchor the Popolo (Vicenza, Italy) in God's Word

2. Partner Italian churches with churches around the world, including the work we have been doing in Romania.

3. The work with AIDS children will continue with our support and the supervision and partnership of Greater Europe Mission.

AIDS work, Timisoara, Romania

Researchers Andresen and McNamara from my alma mater,  Boston University, have found that if you were spiritual and you had intact or good frontal lobe function, you were better off in terms of overall health.  What this showed us is that stimulation of the frontal lobes by being religious may provide protection from the worst aspects of illness and might even have an impact on buiding up the immune system."(Bostonia. Spring 2001, p. 36)  This shows that the work we are doing not only prepares the children for the hereafter but helps heal these sick children.  Perhaps this is why I have had only one sick day in my entire career.  The John Templeton Foundation surveyed American consumers and found that 54% "want doctors to get training on incorporating patients' spiritual needs in their treatment plan."(Health and Healthcare Networks.  February 1999, p. 84)  That number is probably higher in a culture like Romania's where the church is linked to the state.  This means that we are working where we are wanted, not forcing or buying our way in. Erika's work continues in two hospitals in Timisoara.  She has started counselling the parents as well. We expect that developing a  Romanian "HIV Anonymous" website to support HIV patients will develop some synergy.  Developing our partnership with HIV Anonymous may yield some good literature also.

Another focus that is central to our work is preparing children in Romania to live lives that will be pleasing to Heaven and productive on earth. The orphans and poor children at Valea Iasului Hospital are given a chance that they wouldn't have otherwise. In Romania among the poor and homeless, the most wide-spread disease is TB with an increase of 130% over last year.  This is heartbreaking.  Even sadder the poverty is that most are waiting for some miraculous intervention to change their fate instead of believing that they can do it themselves. Instead, just as there is an infatuation with the lottery, Romanians await their number to come up via a foreign benefactor like foreign capital or entry into the European Union to instantly bring prosperity. Technology companies talk about intellectual capital being necessary for their success in business.  A country can be rich in resources, but the most important kind for any country are intellectual resources--the knowledge and wisdom of how to effectively use their other resources.  In November 2001, the Assistant Minister of Education was on a talk-show called Tuca on Antena 1.    Romanians have more than their share of scholastic olympians but the minister said that the average Romanian child today are taught only half as much as their parents were. Outside of the major cities, this is a severe deficit here. "There has been an alarming decline in school enrollment rates in Romania since 1992.  According to statistics published by the Romanian government, more than 400,000 children have abandoned school in the past eight years.  Enrollment in secondary school (grades 5 to 8) dropped 20 % in that period - with no corresponding decrease in population.  Contrary to the belief that the state education is free, there are significant hidden costs (textbooks, notebooks, warm clothing, uniforms, boots, meals, fees for classroom materials) that make it difficult or impossible for low-income families to send their children to school.  Studies suggest that economic pressure on families is one of the most significant factors in the decline in enrollment rates, and gypsy children are disproportionately affected by it.  Under Romania law, children who have been out of school for two years or more are legally barred from reentry.  The number of children who no longer have access to education in Romania is staggering." (Report from "Back to School" organization in Romania) Poverty keeps parents from buying school materials.  That is why you helped us provide hundreds of notebooks and pens to the poorest of the poor and the orphaned children at this TB hospital.   As reported by InfoBeat, the UN Development Program published an 86-page in July 2001 stating that the "Internet could raise living standards.   Poorer countries can raise their living standards by changing laws, building technology infrastructure and training workers to use the Internet."  We have taken notice and have maintained our computer applications classes at Valea Iasului. Aurelia continued to work with Oana (now 10 years old) developing her reading comprehension, building on the reading foundation we developed prior years. After we started with her when she didn't know her alphabet last year, Oana is one of the best children in class now. Thus, instead of being lost, bored, and disruptive, she is now well-mannered enough not to get thrown out of class. This should enable her to become less needing of private attention. This is in conformance with studies that show "a strong link between the literacy skills children possess upon entering kindergarten and their subsequent school performance." (Wilson Quarterly, op. cit)  Mariana continues to grow and develop at home. With Mariana gone, Aurelia has  turned her attention to Manole, another child we have known for the several years he's been in the hospital.  Like Oana, he has needed help also with reading comprehension. Additionally, Aurelia taught Cristina an 11-year-old child with no mother. She can't read and has a problem pronouncing r's.  She had to learn 'L' from Aurelia.    I'm proud what Aurelia has taught Oana as she reads better than Cristina despite being 2 years younger.  If we get to continue with her, we should be able to bring her up to normal. Rodica built upon her numerical knowledge to add the next 50 numbers to her repertoire. We also have taught her how to read. Apathy was prevalent among the 80 children at the TB hospital, until we started rewarding them for achievement each semester.  Now, they literally claw their way over each other to be chosen for tutoring and  cry   when they can't get instruction but every 3-4 days. The change in virtually all the children is remarkable. The Education Director has commented that there is less vandalism now confirming that in Romania, just as in America, "studies reveal a link between student reading difficulties and other problems, such as dropping out or committing crimes."  ("The Magic of Head Start"  Wilson Quarterly Autumn 2001, p. 107) "It's hard to find a federal program more popular than Head Start." starts the article, "enjoy[ing] bipartisan favor, with its budget quadrupling to $6.2 billion." However, "The jury is still out on Head Start['s effectiveness]" (Currie J Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2001) "The average child attending Head Start now 'exits that program in the summer before kindergarten being able to name only one--yes, one--letter of the alphabet.'" (Whitehurst GJ. Education Matters. Summer 2001) Well, in this annual report you see that the work we are doing with your help here is much more effective and economical.   The cost of Head Start is $7700 per child. Even if Aurelia had no other ministries in the community in Romania and Italy, the annual cost per child for the same results through our ministry is $1700. Your donation to Go Ye Fellowship in Romania goes 4 times farther than your tax dollar.  Most foundations give only 5.5% to charity, (ibid.) while over 90% of the dollars given to Go Ye for work in foreign countries gets sent there.   In additional to our development programs, this fiscal year we conducted a construction project to rennovate the bathroom of the hospital.  It was financed by a church in Trento, Italy.  The director told me, "You think of this as only a construction project.  The kids see it that they are now living a normal life where people care about them.  They now have toilets like the rest of the world and once they learn how to use them, they will feel comfortable in the real world."  To the left is an example of how the toilet looked before and to the right is an after shot.   Click here for details. Rathna's work with the nursery school children has been of vital importance to their future lives. A National Institute of Health study has found a link between "child aggressiveness and day care - The more hours that toddlers spend in child care, the more likely they are to turn out aggressive, disobedient and defiant by the time they are in kindergarten." (http://www.srcd.org/pp1.html)  In the hospitals where we work, the children spend not 8 hours but thrice that.   We need someone with a degree in education to come work full-time. Please pray for this person to arrive quickly.

Valea Iasului Hospital,  Romania

  A Glimpse into 2003

            Here is where I get to present our  projections for the future of Go Ye's ministry here in southcentral Europe. Our vision  narrowed from the removal of our community computer education program but has widened to incorporate Italy.    I will break down our plan into those two countries. 

1. It seems likely that I will get my visa.  Aurelia's will come later.  The American embassy says that it should not be hard to get hers once mine is in hand.  We will see.  Please pray that both these occur.
2. God's People in Vicenza have invited me back to teach more lessons.  I hope to relay some of the extensive training I have received in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 
3. The biggest obstacle is the funding.  Please pray for more support.
   

2003 will have its challenges and opportunities. Through God we can make the best of both.  Aurelia, Erika and I join all the children in thanking you for your participation in this ministry.  It is an exciting era .

^{Respectfully submitted.}

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