Tuesday, February 08, 2000
Dear Pastors and Churches:
    Greetings in the Name of the LORD Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who gave Himself for His sheep!  May this letter find you well and walking in the light of God's Word.
    After one week of being really miserably sick with the flu, Janet and I are OK.  I cannot remember ever being as sick as I was for one week of this flu. Janet came down with it a couple of days before I did.  The second week was not so bad as the first, but still limited what we were able to do.  We missed some days of language school.  I did not mention our having been sick in our last letter as the illness was in January, but it hindered my getting our report done earlier and we seem to still be behind on things.  The flu is raging in Europe, with even some hospitals quarantined here in Romania.
    We have had more snow this Winter than in the last ten years, according to one Romanian friend.  Our area, however, is in the warmer part of Romania.  Some places have snow many feet deep.  Highways have been blocked for days and people have died from snow avalanches in the mountains as great waves of snow came down on their houses.  At present, however, the weather is milder.  The snow is nearly all melted from our area.  Nighttime temperatures are near freezing and during the day are in the lower 40's.  It is nice to have sunny days - but there may be more Winter ahead.
    Due to the flu, I was unable to travel from Timis'oara and so missed preaching two weekends.  However, the others have been filled.  I continue to use a translator, though I am soon to be working on writing out a message in Romanian.  We shall see how that goes!  Because of the shortness of time due to the translator taking half my preaching time, I try to preach the truth simply and very directly.  I am sure some of my statements have been a shock to my hearers, but they seem to be drinking in the preaching of the Word of God.  Mostly I can only go by the looks on their faces and their actions after the service.  I  have begun a series which I call "Characteristics of Those Whom Jesus Will Resurrect" from John Chapter 6.  I preached on this subject in only one message in the States, but expect it will take 4 sermons to cover the subjects encountered in verses 39, 40, 44 and 54.
    We have begun helping the hungry in a regular way now.  Sister Tinco, the wife of the pastor in Boc'sa looks after families in the churches there who are destitute.  Bro. Tinco said, "we do not want to do too much for them because they will get lazy" and so they furnish, for instance, to one widow and her 4 teenage children two litres of milk and 3 loaves of hard, crusty, Romanian bread each day.  (One litre is about a quart.) One hundred dollars each month will supply these basic foods for several families, so we want to give that much monthly.  We think it wiser to help in this way as these people know who is really in need and we are fulfilling the Scripture to "... do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."  (In Romania all foreigners, especially Americans, are thought to be rich. We have a 22 year old car - a junker by American standards, but to people who do not even own a bicycle and who may never have enough to eat, we are rich and are very often approached by people on the street asking for money. Although we try to dress and look like Romanians and sometimes do "pass" for Romanians others immediately think we are Germans or British.)
    Janet has been asked to substitute for a teacher of English in Timis'oara for 7 weeks - twice a week.  Since we are here in Timis'oara anyway she is doing it. This gives her not only an opportunity to help Romanians but will also give her an opportunity to exercise her Romanian language skills as she defines words, etc., etc.  She gets paid 35,000 Romanian Lei for each hour that she teaches - that equals almost $1.85 U.S.  Those are very good wages for Romania!
    Over the past several months some Churches have given special offerings to us for personal use.  For these and those who gave especially when we were in the States to help us get settled, we thank you!  We try to get by on as little as possible. We are still using borrowed furniture in the bedroom and living room areas of our house.  At present we have a few thousand dollars on hand.  Some of that I have earmarked for translation and publication of literature.  Some Churches have expressed a desire to help us with literature as special "projects".  We know that when we begin to have literature to distribute we are going to need a newer vehicle to be able to travel so we are trying to save some towards a newer vehicle.
    While some "board missionaries" whom we have met seem ashamed of our old car, we have received favorable comments from some Romanians who constantly see Americans (and others) coming here and driving new cars, living in homes with all the comforts and ease of the rich in America.  It is possible to live very well here on far less than in the States and some fall into this - but we see it as a trap.  We cannot live exactly as the Romanians do or we would spend all our time just raising food, cutting firewood, raising feed and processing it for the care of animals, preserving food - killing hogs and salting the meat, etc. - all without benefit of modern mechanics!  There would be almost no time for study and preaching.  But we try to live simply and as much as possible on the level of the Romanian people.  These people are "... in our hearts to die and to live with" them (2 Corinthians. 7:3). We want to be efficient in the work, but not be viewed as above the people. Please pray that the Word may be received and not because we are Americans who bring it.
    So, Brothers and Sisters, we ask for your continued earnest prayers on our behalf and on behalf of the Romanian people.  At present there are many problems here.  Teachers across the country are on strike and the students may lose a full year because these things have been ongoing.  Several times since we have been here the railroad workers have gone on strike.  Some factory workers are out on strike.  Parliament still has on its agenda the bill to make the Romanian Orthodox Church the Official State Church and limit other groups.  Romanian money continues to lose value, though right now it is more nearly stable than before. Rich Baptists in other countries have built huge buildings in Romania which Romanian church members cannot keep up. Arminianism is the doctrine of the day, but on the other hand, the people to whom I preach seem hungry for the Word of God and give evidence of being fed as I preach.  THANK YOU for holding the rope for us by faithfully giving to support our efforts here.  May God bless and guide you in your giving!
    Pray for the Pughs!
    Your missionary,
    Curtis and Janet Pugh
    curtis@rdslink.ro