Update from Zizin

Emmanuel Ivan is an evangelist, working with HeartCry Director Sorin Prodan at Providence Church in Brașov Romania. He recently shared an update with us about their efforts to bring the gospel to the small village of Zizin.

“Recently Dan, Naoki, Luci and I went to Zizin, where we did evangelistic outreach. We were able to preach the Word to several people. Roxana, a young mother, listened to the gospel message and seemed to accept it. Her father, Laurentiu, also attended, and the Lord gave me the grace to preach the gospel to him. We asked for permission to visit him at home and he agreed. We also met Marian, to whom Luci and I proclaimed the Gospel. Later that evening, we had fellowship with the brothers and sisters from the village of Zizin.

By the grace of the Lord, I did street evangelism with the brothers from Providence Church. Sorin and I had some very good discussions with several people. I talked to groups of young people who claimed to be agnostics, yet they were willing to hear the Christian perspective presented in the light of the gospel. We left them with many questions to contemplate.

Helping A Young Couple In Zizin

This month, through the Lord’s providence, I met a young couple from Zizin—Mihai (28) and Gabriela (24). They have four children and a fifth is on the way. I gave them a ride to Brașov, and was able to talk with them and get to know them better. I suggested that I visit them to pray for them and share the gospel with them, and they were open. So, on Tuesday I visited them and talked to them and their parents, Pavel and Maria. Their situation is not easy. Mihai and Gabriela, together with their children, live in a shack made of some plywood, which is around 6 square meters. I was shocked to see their situation. 

“Their situation is not easy. Mihai and Gabriela, together with their children, live in a shack made of some plywood, which is around 6 square meters. I was shocked to see their situation.”

I wanted to show them the love of the Lord and I prayed for guidance in this respect. The Lord gave me the idea to involve the children from Providence Church in this project. I proposed to them to make muffins, pancakes, and all kinds of biscuits and cupcakes and sell them at a cake fair, and to buy different things for those poor children with the money they get. The parents and the brothers from the church were very excited to donate for this project. We raised a nice amount of money with which we could help this poor family. We are also glad that this way our children were taught to serve the Lord and to love their neighbors. May the Lord be exalted for his abundant grace! We look forward to seeing how the Lord will guide us further in His ministry.

Progress on Chapel Construction

Drone 2
Site of the new chapel in the village of Zizin, Romania

On the other hand, we have advanced in the process of building the chapel in Zizin and we hope, with the Lord’s help, to be able to start the construction work. Patience is also needed here because the advancement does not depend only on us, but a chain of circumstances and situations that must be correlated.

A Joyful Wedding

The Lord also gave us the joy of attending Celi and Catalin’s wedding. We had prayed for this and we were glad to see how the Lord answered our prayers. Celi wants to be baptized and one of our requirements for her was to be married legally to her husband. We are happy that she chose to obey the Lord. During the wedding reception, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with some of the guests. I had a very good discussion with Ilie and Junica. We pray that the Lord will work in their lives.

We are also getting ready for a baptism this fall. Please pray for Celi and Mariana, and for my brother, Daniel.”

Please pray:

  • For the little church in Zizin and for a good testimony of the believers in their community.
  • For the evangelistic ministry in Zizin and several projects that we are planning. We are going to have a VBS on August 6th
  • For an evangelistic outreach that we are going to have with students from Campus Crusade in August.
  • For Mihai and Gabriela, the couple who we want to help spiritually and also with their house.
  • For Catalin, Celi’s husband, and for Alex and Amada to turn to the Lord. Also pray for my brother, Daniel, to grow spiritually and get baptized.