Marian Toma has served with HeartCry for many years as a missionary/ pastor. Presently, he is shepherding the faith family of Grace Church in Tunari, Romania. This past month, Brother Marian engaged in many different evangelistic endeavors. But the highlight of his month was the birth of his granddaughter, Zaira. He reaports:
On August 14th, we had the second evangelistic event in Tudor’s courtyard. I invited some singers again. Tudor lives on the outskirts of town, in a neighborhood where there are several hundreds of newly built houses. He doesn’t have electricity, so we had to use electricity from a neighbor’s home and pay for it. We also had to take chairs there, a big umbrella, the amplification system etc. We bought water and snacks for the participants.
A couple decided to bring two of their three children, Gabriel (12) and Iasmina (11), before the church for the child dedication service. They are Orthodox. This is the neighborhood where the children that attend our school live. They attend our evangelistic events along with their parents.
On August 25th and 26th, we had two evangelistic events in the open air in Cristian and Elena’s courtyard. They live in an area inhabited by Ursari Rroma people. On August 24th, a brother and I went there to prepare the evangelistic event that we were going to have. We passed out Christian literature and invitations and visited different families. About 20-30 people attended this event. They were our brothers’ relatives. One of these boys lives in America where he and his wife were infected with COVID. His wife had been released from hospital, but he was remained in the hospital because he had a serious lung infection. He had a very low oxygen saturation (20%). They all believed that he was going to die there, far away from home. Brother Cristian was so glad that I joined them in this great affliction. I read Psalm 20, prayed together, and I encouraged them. We had three days of fasting and prayer for the man. We made groups of fasting and prayer, as brother Don taught us. The oxygen saturation started increasing. It was 20% on Tuesday and, after three days of fasting and prayer, the oxygen saturation grew to 94%. Praise the Lord!
In these two days of fellowship, prayer and evangelism, over 100 people heard the gospel. Over 50 of them were in the courtyard and the gate, while others were standing in the street. The Ursari Rroma people have a tradition. If there’s anyone sick in a family, all the relatives come to the person’s place. So the relatives of this family came and this was a good evangelistic opportunity for us. We preached the gospel using the amplification system. Ten people came up front where I prayed for them. May the Lord keep working in these families according to his plan and will. They have been searched by God’s work in the loved one’s life.
On August 28th, we had an evangelistic event in Tudor’s courtyard again. Alex turned to the Lord on this occasion. He had many failures in his life. He used to work in Spain, but he spent all his money for gambling and drinking and his wife left him. Alex saw that his brother, Cristi, who had been attending the church for four months, had been changed by the Lord. With hope and trust in the Lord, Alex believes that the Lord can make him a new creature. Alex is Tudor’s neighbor. This is one of the great joys that the Lord gave me this month.
TAMASI
We kept having fellowship in the believers’ courtyards and their neighbors’ courtyards. We had fellowship in brother Mitica’s courtyard, which was attended by about 40 people. About 15 people listened to us from outside the courtyard. The Lord blessed this ministry as we can see a revival in this church. The believers care more for the loss. I could see the Lord’s victory and his grace and mercy for the participants. We want to plant the seed of the gospel in the people. These churches are small, but they have a great vision.
During summertime, we meet with 8-13 children every Thursday and Friday for 3-4 hours. We helped them with Romanian, mathematics and Bible lessons. We provide lunch and have good fellowship together. They get to know the Lord more and more. Gabriel and Iasmina, the two children that had been invited to the dedication service, also attend our school.
