Few men possess the courage to persuade and plead with men the claims of the gospel. Alex Palade engages sinners with gospel warnings and promises which often awakens them to their urgent need to repent and believe the good news. This month, Alex shares some of his evangelistic encounters as he serves with Emanuel Ivan to plant a new church in Zizin, Romania.
As I was doing street evangelism in Zizin, I met a Hungarian from the Reformed Church whose name was Levente . He was smoking and talking to George, who is probably an Orthodox. Levente admitted that he was violent to his wife, who used to read the Bible. I shared with them what God said about sin and Levente realized for the first time that he was going to hell. I shared with them about salvation through Christ and I urged them to put their trust in Christ. I gave them gospel tracts. George refused to take the Bible I offered him. Levente had a Bible at home.
Idilco is a Hungarian woman. Her son, David, attends our Bible school in Zizin. He’s very open and active. When I started sharing with her about sin, Ildico felt uncomfortable. I thought she was going to leave, but praise the Lord that she kept listening to me. She had never read the Bible. She was very indifferent. I remembered I had talked to her husband before and he was mocking faith in Christ. After I shared the gospel with her, Ildico understood for the first time that she was going to hell. She listened carefully to me as I was sharing with her about salvation through Christ and she took the gospel tract that I gave her.
Then we had the worship service. We read a psalm and each participant prayed before I preached the Word. Celi, who has recently turned to the Lord and whose husband is an unbeliever, told us she had started sharing about God with her workmates and two of them started to hate her.
Mr. Florin (75) is an Orthodox. He believed he was going to heaven because he had good principles in life, even though he believed there was no man who wouldn’t cheat on his wife at least once or twice. I explained to him that he couldn’t be saved without repentance and faith in Christ. We had a good discussion. Dl C. has an important position. His wife left him several years ago. He was devastated and tried to regain his peace in a monastery. It wasn’t easy for him to understand that he was going to hell. He didn’t reject the idea that Christ was the only way of salvation.
We faced a terrible spiritual attack in the ministry in Zizin. Celi, one of the women that attends our meetings, was beaten by her husband. We had met as a church several times at their place and I had the impression that her husband wanted to repent. They even came to Providence Church together at Christmas. Another woman, Valentina, saw me taking pictures of the church and she accused me that I wanted to use these pictures to get money. Sister Eva believed this lie and the end of the year was quite tough for me and my wife. Sister Eva asked for forgiveness and we hope that she will be restored and Valentina as well. Satan attacked us in a very strong way, seeking to destroy the ministry that we have with the adults and with the children in Zizin. We are glad that sister Aurica and sister Maria made peace with each other and they are eager to have the Lord’s Supper again.
I met Daniela and Dorin, two young people from the Republic of Moldova. Daniela graduated from college, while Dorin is a mechanic. I shared with them what the Bible says about sin and immorality and they understood for the first time that they were going to hell. Daniela wanted to know how she could have her sins forgiven. I preached to her about Christ and I encouraged both of them to repent of their sins and to put their trust in Christ. They both took the gospel tract I gave them.
Ana came to our church meeting in Zizin. Many years ago, she used to attend an evangelical church, but her drunkard husband forbade her to attend the church and even hit her. Madalina and her children also attended this church service. After the meeting, I preached the gospel to both of them and they realized they didn’t have peace with God and were lost. They wanted to put their trust in Christ in order to have their sins forgiven. Madalina told me she wanted to give herself to the Lord, because she wanted to be God’s child. Celi shared with us what had happened in her life. She is married to Catalin, who doesn’t agree with her decision to repent. They both attended his brother’s birthday party. Celi shared with the participants about Christ and she refused to dance, saying that she had repented. But her husband is abusing her physically. I taught her from 1 Peter 3:1-3 how to win her husband without a word. I taught Madalina and Ana the same thing. May the Lord have mercy on them!
