HeartCry Missionary Sandu Deac has faithfully served just outside of Chernovtsy, Ukraine, for more than a decade in the communities of Pasat, Grisevca, and Molodia. Although he has primarily served as a local church pastor, he is also involved in church planting and evangelistic endeavors across the country. This month, he provides an account of his work:
This period is quite unusual and we have improvised and adapted to the new situations. This has been a special period of time for our church. God’s grace has been poured out abundantly upon us and four new people have been added to the Church in Grusevca. Five people have been baptized in our church since the beginning of this pandemic. I am thankful to God for the wonderful way in which He still saves people. This work of grace has brought so much joy and encouragement to our church. In this period, when the church didn’t function normally, God has brought these people to our ministry and we now understand even better the strength, love, goodness and grace of God. “For by grace are you saved.”
The testimonies of the four converts brought us so much joy. We praise the Lord for the way in which He has worked in their lives. The youngest of them is our son, Amiel who is sixteen. He is our second child who has come to the Lord and I have no words to tell you how much joy and peace we received in our hearts when he told us he wanted to be baptized, as Christ commanded. This is a great blessing for us and an evidence of God’s mercy. We are so grateful to Christ for the grace He has given us as a family, particularly that which our children have received.
The other three baptismal candidates were not from the church, even though they have Christian family members. We’ve been praying for them that God would work in their lives according to His will. Ludmila is Ruslan’s sister. Ruslan is a young and faithful man who has been saved for six years. After being saved, he started praying for his sister, parents, friends and relatives. Ludmila repented last year and now was the time for her to be baptized. Artur and Oxana are husband and wife. They have relatives in our church. Artur’s aunt, Rodica, repented six years ago and was baptized in our local church. Two years later, God had mercy on Victoria, Rodica’s sister, and Artur’s mother. Now God showed His mercy to Artur and his wife, Oxana. They both confessed that they wanted to be faithful to God. Since then, they have been baptized.
God has brought our church and families so much joy through His work of salvation in the new converts.
