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HeartCry missionary Emauel Ivan continues to do the work of an evangelist in the village of Zizin. He and Alex Palade press on in light of Ecclesiastes 11:6, “In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, ….” Although they have not experienced much fruit from their gospel labor, they remain steadfast in their endeavor to plant a church. Emanuel shares this month some of his evangelistic encounters:

We give thanks to the Lord who helps us in everything we do and works in us to will and to act to fulfill his good purpose. Even if we are going through a more difficult period with risks and restrictions everywhere the Lord has given us the grace to get involved in the ministry of preaching the Gospel in Zizin and Brasov. We were also involved in disciplining those who had been attending our meetings in Zizin for a while. We had several nice experiences in ministry. I would like to share with you about one of them.

We were doing evangelistic outreach and wanted to give a Gospel tract to two adults who were carrying something. One of them asked me to wait, for they wanted to come back to talk to us about faith. They invited us to have coffee together. One of them was the owner of a restaurant. We talked for over an hour. They were seeking God and knew many Bible passages. But they had a certain pragmatism about faith and the Lord’s words. One of the verses we discussed was, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.” They were very conscientious about doing miracles; walking on water, healing etc. During our discussion, we talked to them about man’s real need; the need for forgiveness of sins. I had prayed and asked the Lord to give us the opportunity to talk to someone over a cup of tea, so as to have a longer and better discussion. It was an answer to my prayer that these two men invited us to have coffee together and talk about different things in the Bible.

I had a good discussion with a teenager whose name was Denisa. I was downtown and found her heart open to the Gospel. She listened carefully as I encouraged her to read the Gospel.

I also had an interesting discussion with several young people in Zizin. They gathered around me while I was preaching the Gospel and other people also stopped to listen.

One Tuesday, I met Florin, a man in his forties, and shared the Gospel with him. But he seemed to be uninterested. Still, what seems failure to us can be a victory for God.

Alex and I are happy that we have a nice group of children in Zizin. They come to listen to God’s Word and we always share the Gospel with them. One of their favorite songs is The Gospel. But unfortunately, we also see how the enemy steals the Word from the people’s hearts. Alex, Amada and Ionela used to attend our meetings on a regular basis, but now, they avoid us. Even if we invite them personally, they find all kind of excuses. We pray to see God’s hand at work, changing hearts and saving people.

I preached the Word whenever the Lord gave me the opportunity. I visited several churches where I encouraged them through the Word. By God’s grace I visited several older people who can’t come to church anymore. I encouraged them and we worshiped the Lord together. Many times I leave feeling encouraged and comforted.

Chris Feature
South Africa

The Fruit of Grace

The Fruit of Grace