Imagine.... ...a ministry with TOTAL TRANSPARENCY... ...where the missionaries are held accountable.... ...Where you know what they are doing because they daily post pictures of their activities.... ...Where they write clearly on a website what they believe and are teaching... ...Where they don't have hidden agendas or grudges, but instead respect people with different opinions... ...Where they care about your ideas enough to ask your opinion in surveys... ....Liv-n-LetLiv...a different way of ministering...as you always imagined it could be.

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"We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to be proud of us, so that you may be able to answer those who pride themselves on a man's position and not on his heart." The Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 5:8) The purpose of this annual report is not to boast of the outstanding success that God has given us in the past year. Instead, like Paul says, we wish to show that it is the character of a person, not his position that makes him a success in God's eyes. After you read this report, we hope you will be moved to praise Him for His grace and glory.
VISION	FOCUS
Our work in southcentral Europe is determined to be the ministry of choice for people of integrity who desire to provide the immigrants and outcast with the grace of the Gospel and hope for a better tomorrow.	WHERE	Ministering to those considered the least of these.
	WHAT	Our focus is the education of Romanians, Italians, and Americans. We impart hope for this life and that to come.
	WHEN	We are primarily concerned with long-term development.
	HOW	We work through relationships and with integrity.
	WHY	Our stance is clear and unmistakable. The reason for our work is the Glory of God.
Parameters of Romanian ministry
Target: Who? Immigrants Youth	What? General Education Spiritual Education Evangelism Discipleship	Why? Of Europe's Children with AIDS, 60% live in Romania. 1,895 children have died of AIDS between 1990 and 1998. 86% of those with AIDS are children.* Romania has lost its faith--88% think that the church has lost its ethics. Romania has lost its hope--Most think that to prosper you must be dishonest.** The immigrants are in a foreign country and are outcast, maltreated, and taken advantage of. "Romania probes child HIV infections for first time." The Business Review. November 9-15, 1998. p. 2 UNAIDS fax to SCOP dated March 4, 1998. *Romanian news survey July 1999.
Vision Our long-term vision remains the same: Build a bridge of grace from Italy to Romania. Our short-term vision is to minister to those considered the least of these.
The Year of Our Lord 2005 Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2005

Organization of ministry

Orphans with tuberculosis: Romania

Training was conducted in computer, reading, math, and Christian character.

Immigrant ministry: Germany

Run 3 Romanian Bible Studies.

Became Secretary of first Italian Toastmasters club.

Became Advancement Coordinator for Germany's oldest Boy Scout troop

Media Publications: Romania

Articles published in Romanian, Hungarian, Serbian, and German in 12 countries.

Integrity InterNetwork continues.

HIV Anonim becomes Romania's #1 site of choice about AIDS and is #2 site about abstinence, receiving 6203 visitors during the year.

Christian mobilization

Casa Biblica holds third place among Italian Christian bookstores.

iBiblioteca is largest Romanian Christian library, receiving 15,619 visitors during the year. (+51% from 2004)

Missions Central opens as a way for churches to learn how to select, support, and manage missionaries

The purpose of this annual report is to update you on our progress in 2005 and share with you some of our planned directions for 2006.

Organization of annual report

Forward: The European Church

Ministry Reports:

Tuberculosis

Immigrants

Publications

Christian mobilization

Financial Report

A Glimpse into 2006

The European Church

"Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need." (II Corinthians 8:14)

This is God's desire for the church. There are many who live this out. While I was earning an engineering manager salary, my tithe supported numerous missionaries and children with an outstanding group, Compassion International. Now, in our time of need, we depend on God's people. In April, while we were back in Romania, the kids learned the computer and also we were able to bring several hundreds of dollars worth of clothes that Germans and Italians sent to them. They virtually mob us for what we can give them (bottom) but in the end, we get to see many cute, happy customers. (left)

We try to be the opposite of what Jesus saw in the religious leaders of His time. "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them." (Jesus Christ~~Luke 11:46) We also know that not a jot or tittle will pass from God's Law and "there is nothing new under the sun." Thus, when we get discouraged by seeing the same thing as Jesus did, these words encourage us to not let others swerve us from the path that Jesus set. We see God as helping us grow in our appreciation of the fellowship that we have His people. It's all part of the growth process. But not everyone has the same reaction.

Many people across Europe are disenchanted with the church and are looking for something more than religion. Materialism and missteps of the church have helped put Europe in what is being called the "post-Christian" period. Compared to other continents, Christianity is growing much more slowly here. Consider:

Seventy percent of the evangelicals live in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. Only 30 percent live in Europe and North and South America. ¹

Christianity is growing 50 times faster in Africa and 43 times faster in Asia than in Europe. ¹

Among major regions of the world, only among Europeans and the Arab Muslim block, is God's movement at a standstill.

The growth rate of Christianity is a NEGATIVE 0.4% and growing increasingly negative! Meanwhile atheism, eastern religions and the occult are growing at as much as 5 percent. ¹

There there are a higher percentage of believers in Nepal and Japan than in Poland and Spain. ¹

Missiologist C. Peter Wagner points out that "In more than 50 nations of highly secularized Europe, many people who are numbered as Christians have never heard the gospel."

Meanwhile, the EU nations are increasingly restricting Christian activity. In 1999, English law mandated that all Christian radio stations in the country must be closed, putting it in the same league as China and Saudi Arabia regarding religious freedom. The Department of Culture backed the policy, saying that new stations should focus on the tastes of the majority. Capitalism and democracy are being taken to the extreme. England is also considering a law that will classify preaching one's religion as "hate speach" punishable by law. Under a similar law in Australia, one former Muslim who taught a church seminar about the less-known teachings of the Koran has been arested.

Also, Christians are finding themselves in the same position as the persecuted American colonists in 1776--taxed without being represented. In October, Italian Cabinet Minister Rocco Buttiglione was rejected² by the European Parliament as EU Justice Minister because of his traditional views on homosexuality and marriage. The EU wouldn't reconsider its opposition even though Buttiglione said that despite his personal views, he would still uphold the laws of the Union.

What is the result of the removal of God from society?

The holocaust of the unborn has replaced the holocaust of the Jews and Christians. In Romania, 3 of 4 lives are snuffed out in this way. The acceptable age of killing has increased. In Holland, 31% of pediatricians have killed infants and 20% of these murders were conducted without parental consent.

Divorce, unwed parenting, and homosexual couples are increasingly tearing the fabric of the family and providing a confusing "familial" environment for children.

The Protestant work ethic has disappeared with the Protestants. While the work week for Americans is 45 hours a week, among the French it is 38, Italians 40, and Germans 37. We had laboratory tests done in Munich's Max von Pettenkofer-Institute in November and it took 10 months to receive the results, despite calling three times, writing twice and faxing once! A lab in Romania did the same job in about a week! Of course this is just one experience but increasing numbers of people are leaving western Europe for treatment elsewhere.

Women in Germany are discriminated against in business, with none of the top companies having a female CEO.

People will tell you that Germans no longer have the excellent reputation for honesty they once held. They German and French governments passed the EU's requirements for controlling debt and have held Eastern European applicants to it, while ignoring it themselves. This has led the Dutch and other countries to suggest sanctions.

Fewer German youth have a college education than their American peers.

Of course, none of this means that the Germans or other Western Europeans are inferior or less loved by God, just different.

What are our programs intended to do? In this annual report, you will see how we are addressing these issues.

Only by leading by example can the Church distinguish its reputation from the world. Thus, we are teaching spiritual maturity, reconciliation, and communication among Christians.

Reaching the Romanian, Italian and American immigrant communities in Germany with the Gospel and Christian character development.

Reaching the Romanians with Christian health education through the HIV Anonymous website. Sexual abstinence outside of marriage is the best way to stop the spread of HIV, reduce abortions, and strengthen the family.

Reaching Romanian youth with Christian teaching via the iBiblioteca Internet Christian library. It is the largest and most popular ecumencal website, bringing the same maturity and acceptance of the whole Body of Christ that many of us received through InterVarsity and Navigators.

Orphans with tuberculosis, Romania

How do I participate in this work? Print a donation slip.

"we were to remember the poor, which very thing I was also eager to do." ~~~The Apostle Paul (Galatians 2)

Fanus learns the computer

This year, we had less time with the children in Romania, since we spent a lot of time in Germany and America seeking a new accounting agency to process our donations. As I wrote, last year the hospital downsized the pediatric population by half. Most of the children who remain are in preschool, so there are slim pickings for my computer classes. However, Alexandru Filip hit 166 char/min, the best of any child in 6 years.

However, we brought three carloads of clothes and toys to the children (one more than last year) and between the two of us, we had thirteen months of educational programs with them (three more than last year).

Please pray that God would provide the people to continue this work.

Graduates, including Valea Iasului TB Hospital children

Subject 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
2004
2005

Typing 3 8 8 6 14
6
6

Word 0 2 0 3 0
0
0

Excel 0 0 2 3 0
0
0

e-mail/Internet 0 0 3 0 0
0
0

Webpage programming 0
0
0
0
0
3
0



Immigrant Ministry, Germany How do I participate in this work? Print a donation slip.	Immigrants In the beginning phase of this ministry, we did a good deal of research and introspection, since we ourselves are immigrants. From our conversations with immigrants, we have ascertained that they feel a loneliness of being in a foreign culture, unprepared for work in a Western environment, and a desire to help those in their home country. Since Germany doesn't have the Christian basis of 20-30 years ago, they don't have the morality they had either. In the 80's in Italy, there was a popular joke: "The Italians trust the Germans but don't like them. The Germans like the Italians but don't trust them." These days, I see no difference between the morality of Germans and Italians. Most immigrants in Germany have stories of being taken advantage of by the natives. We experienced either that or gross disorganization in the Munich healthcare system. Often, the foreigners work for a few hundred dollars a month, which is more than what they would get in their homeland. However, since they are clandestine, or illegal workers, the Germans will often not pay the wage they agreed upon. This happens to the legal workers as well, since many Germans don't distinguish between the legal and illegal. We have heard many stories of mistreatment. But, since we can't validate some of them, we won't repeat them here. The German culture is much less family-oriented and social than the culture in the former Communist and Mediterranean countries like Italy and Romania. This is one reason why the immigrants with whom we work feel lonely. Just one night in Germany, Italy, and Romania will tell you this. Each time we take a walk in Adelzhausen, Germany, Aurelia jokes that it looks like an atomic bomb has gone off. There is nobody in the streets. Meanwhile, the social life in Curtea de Arges and Vicenza was very active. Aurelia has been working with a Polish lady who has no other significant friend because she feels the nationalism of the Germans will not permit them to associate with her and her East German husband. She has a hard time understanding the German mentality, schools, and lack of integrity. Her husband is not a believer so she relishes the hours that she spends with Aurelia.> Romanians Many Romanians are leaving the country for the West, including Germany and Italy. Since the wall fell, 10% of Romanians left for the West. Among Romanian-speaking Moldovans, the number is much higher. These are the imigrants to whom we have begun ministering. In selecting our new partner ministry, we interviewed dozens and chose the Cup of Cold Water Ministries, which we thought would best allow us to work with all Christians and apply the principles learned at Perspectives. We have been serving the spiritual needs of Romanian-speakers through community education programs for teens and adolescents. These included Bible studies in Augsburg and our media ministry below. LJ was selected to be the Bible study leader and we share the Word with groups Wednesday mornings and either Sunday or Monday evenings. The people want to have both nights, but we don't have the financial resources to do so. Please pray for us to get the funding to expand our studies. Italians LJ was elected to the position of Secretary of the only Italian-speaking Toastmaster club in the world, "Lasciatemi parlare", which happens to be in Munich. This gives him the chance to perfect his public speaking skills and make friends among the Italians. Americans LJ also is the Advancement Coordinator for Boy Scout Troop 21, the oldest Boy Scout Troop in Germany. He has gone on several campouts where he has held church services.

Mobilization of Christians

How do I participate in this work? Print a donation slip.

The iBiblioteca grew to include over 2000 articles during the year. A few of these are written by myself, but the majority of them are links to articles written by some of the most famous Romanian theologians. I often field questions from visitors. Usually, I refer to published works to provide answers.
visitors and pages viewed at the Christian library

visitors and pages viewed at the Christian library

As you can see from the graph on the right, for the time which data has been collected, there has been a clear rise in the number of people to whom we minister. The two months of June and July last year were when our server was down. Average page views increased 35% from 1.8/visitor last year to 2.4 this year.

We have the #1 page on the major search engines for people looking for articles on spiritual growth. We have reason to believe that we are in the top 0.2% of Romanian spiritual sites.

Media

Ministry

How do I participate in this work? Print a donation slip.

the Integrity InterNetwork, HIV Anonim, and the iBiblioteca Christian library. The goal of the iBiblioteca is to teach the basics of Christianity, to educate Christians about what other denominations believe, and to promote acceptance, love, and recognition of the entire Body of Christ.

The Internet is receiving ever increasing levels of travellers. As the Internet provides people with pornography, cults, the occult, and urban legends, we see the need to present ultimate Truth, Jesus Christ.

As with TB, Romania has the largest pediatric AIDS population in Europe, more than all the rest of Europe combined.

The Romanian portion of HIVAnonymous.com is how we are addressing the problem.

The site continued to grow and serve more people. We saw a distinct growth in unique visitors this year as you can see in the graph to the right. During FY 2005, we hosted 6991 visitors, a gain of 94% from the previous year. The number of pages that they read increased 100% from about 2.5/visitor to 5/visitor.

In Romania, according to the search engines, we estimate that we moved up to the top 0.2% of abstinence,the top 0.02% of pages about AIDS, and the top 0.04% of pages about healthy living. This means we are able to expose God's perspective of sexuality to many people who never would go into a church. This is exciting.

Here is an overview of our literature ministry (Internet and hardcopy):

Evangelism & Discipleship	Missionary Assistance	Medical
Liv-n-LetLiv.net informs anglophones of the spiritual and cultural situation among the youth of Romania and Italy. Eternal adventure is an interactive gospel presentation.	Integrity InterNetwork helps missionaries in Romania to find partners that are ecumenical and ethical, and a way to reconcile differences. Best Practices Guide helps missionaries in Romania to share what they have learned in resolving logistical problems.	Our partners and the founders of HIV Anonymous maintain this site.
Calatorie in vesnicie interactive gospel presentation. iBiblioteca Christian library	iBiblioteca Christian library	HIV Anonim provides a Christian answer to the temptations that Romanian youth feel to engage in promiscuous lifestyles that damage them spiritually, psychologically and physically. We provide information, news, and a forum where they can encourage each other to resist temptation. Spital de TBC, Valea Iasului. Information about tuberculosis and help for patients. Romania ranks #1 in Europe for this deadly disease.
Casa Biblica Christian bookstore	On this site, I published a series of articles that should help missionaries to understand the Italian culture.

This year, our number of visitors and of pages viewed quadrupled!!! About 60% speak English, 20% Romanian, and 20% Italian.

People who became Christians via our Internet Gospel presentation (based on the number of people who witness to praying for the first time to give their lives to Christ.)
Romanian speakers (opened 2/04)		English speakers (opened 6/04)
2004	2005	2004	2005
35	~180	15	~80

We continue to catalyze cooperation between the Romanian Christian workers. This is being attempted through The Integrity InterNetwork and WWW Best Practices Guide

In the last quarter of the Fiscal Year, my articles were read between 17,000 and 19,000 times, meaning that our motivational works are reaching 3.7 times as many people. Of them, 54% were Romanians, 45% were Anglophones and 1% were Italians.

On the site, the most popular Christian articles were:

Italians and women

Financial Report

How do I participate in this work? Print a donation slip.

	FY 2002	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005
Support of ministry	33,700	37,300	35,009	31,185
As you saw in the first few sections, more and more people are benefiting from this ministry. According to the news, efficiency and effectiveness is growing around the world. We are seeing God do the same for us here, thanks to solid Total Quality Improvement practices. How many ministries can say that they are doing so much with so little? We could do more if we had more resources, so please give.

A Glimpse into 2006

How do I participate in this work? Print a donation slip.

With the caveat of James 4:13ff, we have the following expectations for our work in the three countries. May God grant us the grace to bless Him in whatever ministry into which He puts us.

Here are the prayer requests we have for you. Please beseech the Lord on our behalf.

Italians

Please pray for:

the Casa Biblica to continue to serve Italians who are searching for and following the Lord.
our outreach to Italians in Munich

Americans

Please pray for:

our attempts to motivate to missions.
my work with Troop 21 as Advancement Coordinator with immigrant youth in Boy Scouts.
my service as Secretary in the world's only Italian Toastmasters club and pursuit of the world's first Competent Toastmaster in Italian.
the creation of a Global Assistance for Medical Equipment website to link Americans with technicians in the Kosovo health system

Romanians

Please pray for:

the iBiblioteca to continue to grow in its service to Romanians who are searching for and following the Lord.
God to use a few more articles that I co-authored about emotional intelligence in children scheduled for publication Romanian, German, Croatian, and Hungarian.
the Integrity InterNetwork to continue to serve as a forum for Christians to resolve issues and encourage ethical conduct.
the vEmporium to continue to grow and benefit the needy Romanians
HIV Anonim to continue to educate and encourage youth who want to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and who suffer from AIDS. Please pray that support groups will form with the same goals.
the beginning of our MasterStudy course. Pray for interest among people that are indifferent, at best, to the Bible.
missionaries to resume the work we began.

The obstacle to growth here right now are resources, human and financial. Please pray.

2006 will have its challenges and opportunities. Through God we can make the best of both. Aurelia, Iustin, and I join all the children in thanking you for your participation in this ministry. Paul says in Philippians 1:7 "In the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me." Those who participate in our work, and even more those who mobilize others to participate share a vital part in fulfilling God's purpose around the world. It is an exciting era.

Respectfully submitted,

Laurent and Aurelia

email me at:

Our work in southcentral Europe

Parameters of Romanian ministry

Vision

Our long-term vision remains the same: Build a bridge of grace from Italy to Romania.

Our short-term vision is to minister to those considered the least of these.

Organization of ministry

Orphans with tuberculosis: Romania

Immigrant ministry: Germany

Media Publications: Romania

Christian mobilization

Organization of annual report

Forward: The European Church

Ministry Reports:

Financial Report

A Glimpse into 2006

The European Church

Orphans with tuberculosis, Romania

Immigrant Ministry, Germany

Immigrants

Romanians

Italians

Americans

Mobilization of Christians

Media

Ministry

People who became Christians via our Internet Gospel presentation

Financial Report

A Glimpse into 2006

Italians

Americans

Romanians