HeartCry missionary Emmauel Ivan began an evangelistic outreach over a year ago in the town of Zizin that is located outside of Brasov, Romania. The work has grown as many have expressed interest in the gospel. Presently, Emmanuel is leading a Bible study with a number of men, women and children who are attending. In his last report he shares:
On Saturday, April 3rd, I visited a family from our neighborhood and met five of the members. I preached the gospel to them and they were open to God’s Word. I hope to be able to meet with them again . One man who was a believer, after having previously spoken to them from God’s Word, baptized them without making sure that they had truly understood the gospel. I asked them several questions and realized that they hadn’t understood the message. So I started preaching God’s truth to them as I’m aware of the danger of making new converts. There are ministers who don’t care too much about people understanding the gospel and if there has been any change in their hearts. They just baptize them so they can have more converts.
On Tuesday, April 6th, I went to Zizin with a few others. We preached the gospel on the street at the beginning of our outreach and met a twenty one year old girl. She has two small children. We asked her if she had ever thought about her relationship with God and she told me she had surrendered to the Lord. I asked her what that meant and she said something about God helping her with the children who had been sick and not going to hell. I shared the gospel with her. Then I met two men. We talked for a while and one of them told me that he used to attend an evangelical church, but he quit. In the end, I asked him if we could visit him at home and he agreed. So we want to visit him and saw a woman who quit attending our Bible study meetings. We asked her if she would like us to visit her and her husband and she was happy to hear this. On April 18th, Alex and I visited this woman and her husband. Several people attended this meeting and we preached the Word to them. The Lord searched their hearts and they started attending Providence Church in Brasov.
Before Easter, we also visited several families and offered them Easter gifts. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to preach God’s Word to them. Brother Alex and I visited my wife’s former fellow employee. The Lord gave us a wonderful opportunity to preach the gospel and we talked to five people. Their hearts were touched by the power of the gospel. Then we visited another couple and prayed for them. Several days before two believers and I had visited the couple again. They asked us to pray for their little girl, who was sick. We could see again how the Lord gave us the opportunity to make him known. These people want to know God and we pray that the Lord would help them repent. Also, through God’s grace, we visited another man. He is married with five children. This was another opportunity for us to exalt the name of the Lord through the preaching of the Word. We prayed for this family and I could see that they were open to the gospel.
The children’s ministry in Zizin is a real joy for us, especially when we can see the influence of the Word in the children’s lives. I prepared an Easter program with them and it brought so much joy to the church. We are glad that they learn Bible verses by heart and know that the Word has power in their lives.
We want to organize a Vacation Bible School for the children in Zizin and try to get the parents involved. We want to make friends with them so we can reach them with the gospel. We would like to rent a place for our meetings. Our group has started growing and the rooms in which we gather are too crowded now. Please pray for this as we know that the Lord will provide for us.
