HeartCry missionary Marian Jipi invest his time and resources into gospel ministry. In his recent report he shares of his experiences on the streets of the town of Urziceni. It is his intention to plant a church soon in this needy location. Please pray that the Lord of the Harvest will make his efforts effectual for the conversion of sinners.
November has been the most fruitful month so far. Everything went well. First of all, we’re grateful to the Lord for protecting all of us in spite of the fact that many people were infected with COVID and some died. We were able to meet at church safely. I was also able to do street ministry. I spent two or three days in Urziceni this month, as we still had good weather.
I talked to many people of all ages, Romanians and Gypsies, active and retired. God showed us that the gospel still has power. Every Tuesday and Thursday, after 1 p.m., I went out and I found people who listened to us in the park, on the street, in the stores or at the marketplace. While I wanted to give them gospel tracts, they refused to take them. Then I understood why. It was because Jehovah’s Witnesses had been very insistent and bothering the people by passing out their literature. So, we chose to give people the Scripture. I had several booklets with the Gospel of John and people took them. I also told the people that they could find us every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. We met again with some of them and were so happy. I also had the surprise of being greeted on the street, but I didn’t recognize them because of the face masks. I feel so encouraged to be involved in ministry in this town.
On Thursday, I met a man who was about to retire. He said he was a practicing Orthodox. I asked him to give me a definition of faith. I also asked him to imagine that I didn’t know anything about this and I wanted to learn from him. He waited for a minute, he thought and tried to say something, but then he stopped and said that he couldn’t find his words. I asked for permission to tell him how I understood faith. He listened to me carefully. In the end, he thanked me and told me that now he understood these things. He shook my hand and I could see the joy on his face. He was a changed man.
I had another interesting experience with a lady working in a shoe store. I entered the store, introduced myself and asked for permission to tell her something about faith in Jesus Christ. I don’t know how this happened, but I just realized that I was speaking to her about the hope that we have in God’s help and protection. At a certain point, she started crying. She showed me a New Testament that she had in a drawer. She told me she had a son that was on dialysis as he had become infected with COVID. I told her we would pray for her son and felt the urge to pray right then. That was a really special moment. I will visit her again next week as I want to know how her son progresses. The church and I for them. I also attempted to find a place where we could start having meetings in Urziceni. I discovered several places, but we haven’t made a decision yet. We pray that the Lord would guide us in this respect. I visited the evangelical church on Sunday morning where attended their church service. I spoke to the church committee and requested if they would allow us to use their facility when they don’t have church services. They agreed, but they also need to talk to the church members and then make a decision. This is good, because we also have some time to pray to understand God’s will in this respect. In the meantime, we meet more and more people on the street. We trust that the Lord will work in his time and according to his will.
We have made plans and projects for different activities in December. We are going to have several events for children and the sisters will prepare surprises and Christmas presents for them. We also want to help the poor, old and lonely people. We are going to have a special Christmas night with carols, videos and a good meal.
