Romania - Maranatha Baptist Church in Bucharest

This is our team in front of Maranatha.  Maranatha is the "Mother Church" we worked with the first week.  Actually, we did outreach ministry with them the first week, but they provided the translators for the entire two weeks.  

Senior Pastor Nalu Tone his wife and seven kids

Associate Pastor Aurelian, his wife Amelia (who's expecting a baby!), and his mother-in-law Tanza.

Praise the Lord for Pastor Aurelian!  He was our taxi driver the entire two weeks.   

Worship service.  The young people rotate in leading the band/ orchestra and once a month the mandolin orchestra accompanies the congregation in worship.  

Their times of gathering together for church, truly were times of genuine worship and praise to the One true God, Jesus Christ.  Our team was so moved during their services and truly sensed the presence of the Lord.  With no exaggeration, they are a church of prayer.  Throughout the service there were specific times set aside for prayer.  Prayers of praise, prayers of thanksgiving, and prayers of intercession.  All of the prayers were out loud.  Yes, out loud.  So when the pastor would ask the congregation to pray for something specific, you would hear the soft voices across the congregation speaking to the Lord.  It was special to know that God was hearing everyone of those prayers in that moment.  I wish everyone could've been there to experience the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit.  Pastor Jerry said, things happen in Romania because they are a people of the Word and a people of prayer.
      

Their testimonies and spiritual walk with the Lord challenged each one of us to examine ourselves. 

Building relationships with Christians in other countries brings a special bond.  The culture is new and the language is different, but the moment you meet a fellow brother or sister in Christ, there is immediately a common bond that penetrates the language and cultural barriers.