Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Dear Pastors, Churches and Friends,

Trip to U.S.: I’ve covered the first 2,700 miles of my trip and preached in Churches in North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and at this writing I am in Illinois.  I am thankful for the warm welcome I have received everywhere and for the fellowship with the saints of the Lord and His Churches.  I have received many invitations to other Churches that I cannot honor at this time, but Lord willing, if I will get another visa, I would love to visit them, too.  The interest people have in the work in Romania is greatly encouraging.

Mission work: The meetings in Bocsa, Filiasi and Rosiori are going well.  In my absence Brother Aurel preaches in Bocsa, Brother George in Rosiori and Brother Aurel Munteanu in Filiasi.  Also, Aurel met once with the group of university students from the city of Timisoara who believe grace and he made a trip to Graz, Austria to visit Brother Peter and Sister Angela.  Brother Peter also came to Bocsa and Filiasi and met with the Church.  Brother Aurel Munteanu visited Broher George in Rosiori, and they distributed literature in that city.  I am thankful that the work is going on in my absence and that the brethren in Romania are eager to meet, worship and share the Gospel.  We would appreciate your prayers for the people involved in all these missionary endeavors.

Literature work:  We received requests for literature from two new locations in Italy: Rome and Florence.  We sent 220 pounds of literature for these needs.  We have invitations to go and preach there to the Romanians there which we will try to do after I get back to Romania.  We are thankful that people are interested in reading and distributing our literature.  We are either very low on or out of all the 45 titles we print.  I don’t remember the last time we were so low on literature.  At the beginning of September, we had already printed 25% more than what we usually print in a whole year.  We need to buy a large amount of paper and printing supplies, but I don’t think we can afford to do that right now.  The Risograph is working now and we are thankful for that.  The dealer told us, though, that they don’t think they will be able to locate parts for it anymore, as the model is obsolete.  We don’t want to wait until the machine breaks down, and  so we started a “Riso fund” in which we put all the money that we have left at the end of the month.  We are thankful for the Churches who have contributed to the Riso fund.  We now have $ 2,053 in it.  We need approximately $ 7,000 for a new one.  Please pray about this and help us if the Lord leads you to do so.

Thanks: We do want to thank you all for your faithful and generous help in the past and ask that you continue to pray earnestly for all of us involved in the mission work and also for all the members in our Church.  They face many difficulties at this time, especially as the economic situation in Romania is so bad.

Getting acquainted with Romania: The first Fall celebration the Orthodox people have is the Beheading of the Saint John the Baptist.  According to their traditions, he is the greatest among saints.  Folk traditions talk about a white monastery in which God himself sits.  John the Baptist sits to His right hand, followed by old Santa (in Romanian mythology different than Saint Nicholas) and Mary, the mother of God.  Saint John the Baptist is the patron of infants, protecting them from sickness and danger so that they would not die unbaptized.   Another legend says that the baby Jesus was crying and Mary could not stop him, but John came and told the baby that he will baptize him, and when baby Jesus heard about baptism, he stopped crying, being happy.  I guess they forgot John was only six months older than Jesus!  All these traditions come directly from local paganism, and only use Christian names.  What a responsibility we have to keep the Temple of God free from idols and false worship!  These people need the Gospel!

Hello from Oklahoma:

        First of all I want to thank you for your interest, prayers and generous financial help in our missionary efforts.  Besides supporting the Romania work and workers, several of you support the effort here in Poteau, Oklahoma.  I thank you for this faithfulness on your part.  Besides this, I want to thank you all for your emails, cards, letters and financial gifts which come my way. 

UNFORSEEN PROBLEM: We are faced with a problem that we did not foresee.  The roof over the print shop started leaking, and the last storm water got into the wiring and short-circuited the lights.  We have had problems with the roof for some time, and tried to “patch it up.”  But it needs to be replaced right now as the rainy season is here.  Raul and Miriam have indicated their willingness to use the love offering they received last month to repair this roof.  This indicates their dedication to the work.  I am thankful for that, but I really hate to see them use personal funds to repair this part of the roof.  Please pray about this and perhaps, if you help us, we can reimburse them for the funds they expend in order to re-roof the print shop.

POTEAU, OKLAHOMA: I continue as before with monthly articles (sometimes two) in the local papers which are distributed county-wide now as well as in western Arkansas.  I continue to receive some comments (some favorable and some otherwise), but no one as yet seems interested in the truth enough to “come out” and take a stand for it.  Thanks again for all your help in prayer and finances.  Please pray for all of us!

    In the cause of God and truth,
    Curtis Pugh
curtis@abaptistvoice.com
 

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