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March 26, 2003 Edition This is the Ninth issue of Let’s Fish. Bible Fellowship Churches sharing resources to evangelize the world. A place for the exchange of ideas on short term missions projects and local outreach. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." All responses can be sent to office@bfcbom.org Current and past issues can be found on the web at: www.bfcbom.org look in “Mission Events” then Let’s Fish
Greetings from Allentown!
Today’s issue has a different format than previous issues. I received the following thank-you letter from a student I supported financially and in prayer last summer. He went on a short term missions trip to Romania. I include the entire letter (with the exception that the pictures referred to in the letter have been removed for space considerations) in order that you may get a grasp of how a successful short-term ministry trip is put together. The letter is long but it is worth your while to plow through it.
Look for the following: 1. The importance of extensive pre-trip training 2. The important role the host missionary plays. 3. The importance of partnering with a host church. 4. The importance of the Senior Pastor being involved in such trips. 5. The importance of having clearly defined objectives. 6. The importance of flexibility. 7. The importance of cross-cultural understanding. 8. The importance of journaling recording God’s special work. 9. The importance of team work and debriefing. 10. The importance of a financial and prayer partnership with folks back home.
March 1, 2003
Dear Pastor and Mrs. Weller,
Hello! How have things been lately? Wow. Is that date really right? It’s March already? Perhaps the end of winter is in sight (finally.) Time certainly has a way of getting away from us. At least, it has a way of getting away from me, as you can tell from the fact that more than half a year has gone by since I went on that missions trip to Romania last summer, and I haven’t even spoken about it with you yet! I mean, you were kind enough to give me your financial support to help me go on the trip in the first place, and I had the nerve to not even thank you properly! That was simply awful of me, and so now, though it is months overdue, I’d like to finally, properly, thank you for supporting me on my trip to Romania. Even though you probably heard quite a bit about the trip shortly after it happened and in the time since then, I want to remind you about some of the things that happened so that you can have a record of them. Once again, I am truly sorry for putting this off for so long, and hopefully this account of our missions trip will help to make up for it.
You doubtlessly already know much of this information, but I want to include it all so that this record will be complete. The trip was a summer missions trip; we left Bethel church on July the 12th and did not return until the 27th. Our group was composed of the following people: the teenagers, along with myself, were Mallory Snydeman and Dawn and DJ Schoen, and the adult leaders were Mrs. Betty Roth and Pastor Schoen. The purpose of our trip was to put together an entertaining show that would appeal to and attract children, as well as anyone else who happened to be nearby, and that also included the message of Jesus’s love and salvation. The primary components of the show were songs with biblical themes that we performed using puppets. We were taught how to use puppets properly and to “bring them to life,” so to speak, so that our show would be an entertaining one that people would be interested in seeing. We trained for months before the trip, not only to accomplish this, but also to learn the songs and to learn how to make it appear that the puppets were singing the songs. As many of the children in Romania are taught how to speak English, we were able to use English songs without worrying about the language barrier. Other things we included in the show were magic tricks to illustrate biblical truths (Jesus’s making our sins “disappear”), a type of memory game, pictures, and salvation bracelets. These were bracelets with beads of different colors on them, as shown in the picture. Each color represented a different piece of the salvation message, and these bracelets were a useful tool for reminding the children what salvation was all about even after the show was over, since they were given bracelets to keep. We worked hard to develop this show, and finally the day came for us to leave for Romania.
Our ministry was stationed in the city of Craiova, a sizeable city of tall, crowded apartment buildings, dusty sidewalks, and wild dogs in the streets. You could feel the bleakness and overall unhappiness from the people there, most of whom have never known the wealth of many families in America. The gentleman in the picture to the right serves as a good representative for the people of the town; we saw him each time we walked to the Craiova church, sweeping leaves and debris off of the street with a broom. It was probably the only job that he had. These people desperately need to hear about the love and hope that Jesus provides, for many of them have no hope. It was not long ago at all that the country was under the intolerant grip of communism, and bringing the light of Jesus to the country was a daunting task indeed. Now, thankfully, the country is freed from communism, and Christianity can be spread freely among the people there. As an ironic representation of this change, the Hotel Parc, which is where we stayed during our time in Craiova, had once been a major meeting place for communist leaders there. God has certainly been at work in this country.
The pastor of the church in Craiova that we worked with was named Rich Millhouse, a man who was originally from Ohio. He had been a missionary to the country since its communist days, and he had many interesting stories to tell about meeting with mysterious men in secret and fleeing from policemen. He and his family had moved to Craiova and, once the threat of communism was gone, he was able to set up a church that held meetings inside a movie theater on Sunday mornings. We attended these morning services on two occasions, but we had to be sure to leave on time before the afternoon movie started playing!
Pastor Rich traveled around with us and assisted us as we did our performances, but he was not the only one who helped us. A group of teenagers from the Craiova church had expressed an interest in working with us during our shows and learning how to put on a show of their own (a picture of this group is to the right.) This was another facet of our trip. Not only was our purpose to perform gospel shows to people, but also to train this team of Romanians to use our puppets and equipment so that, long after our trip was over, this team could continue to spread the gospel. Our intent was to take none of our equipment back home with us. We left it all with the Romanian team—puppets, a puppet stage, props, equipment, everything. In this way, our ministry would continue on and would win lives over to Jesus even after we had left the country!
And so, many of the times that we weren’t performing shows, we would all go to the teens’ hideout, affectionately labeled “The Barn,” and there we would give them crash courses on how to use puppets. We taught them how to sing some of the English songs we had brought, and we also allowed them to come up with their own ideas. It was a real joy to see some of the things that they invented for the show. They taught themselves how to perform two Romanian worship songs as well as a wordless drama and a dance to a Christian song.
It was very encouraging to see how the Romanian team developed as time went on. At the beginning of the trip, our team was responsible for nearly all of the show—the setup, the puppet songs, the magic tricks, everything. Later on, however, as the Romanians learned how we did things, they were able to take over more and more of each show. They performed their Romanian songs with the puppets, as well as some of the easier English songs, and they also did their drama and their dance at each show. We also left them in charge of some of the other things. Shown above are two Romanians, David and Nikki, performing one of the magic tricks.
And so, this was our normal routine during the trip. A few times a day, Pastor Rich would find good locations for us to put on shows, such as at a park or in an orphanage, and he and the group of teens would accompany us to the location. We would set up the stage and equipment, and if he thought it would be worthwhile, Rich and another person or two would walk around with puppets and talk to nearby children to attract them to the show. We would begin the show, we would do our English songs and the Romanians would do their things, and somewhere during the show we would explain the meaning of the salvation bracelets and would help the children make bracelets so they could take them home. After the shows were done, we would pack up and sooner or later would go to another location to do another show. A few times during the week, we were also able to fit in time to eat with some families from the Craiova church and fellowship with them. We were able to learn a lot about the past and the culture of Romania, and it was great to speak with believers in such different circumstances. Shown at the left is one of the families that we ate with during the trip; they are a pretty good representation of a young Romanian family.
As I said, that was our normal routine; but don’t think that every day during the trip was exactly like that! We had a number of interesting experiences and some great evidences of God’s work during this trip, and I will tell you about some of these specific instances next.
First of all, I will begin by telling you about the Parcul Romanescu, a place we were very involved with during our ministry. This park, also called the People’s Park, was a large, very nice-looking park in Craiova. The entrance was marked by a set of large white columns, and inside were steep grassy hills, plenty of trees, a river, stone pathways, and statues. It was a very popular gathering place for children and adults alike, and thus Pastor Rich decided that it would be a good choice for a location for the show. So, on the morning of our second day of ministry, we went to the park for the first time. Rich had previously acquired a permit to perform in the park, and so we began to set up camp in a central gazebo that was located right near a very busy playground. All looked well until Rich and Pastor Schoen returned with the news that an unfriendly gate attendant had decided to make our job harder. She would allow us to enter the park, but she claimed that we had to perform in a far corner of the park inside an auditorium. Pastor Schoen and Pastor Rich had driven there to check the place out and only two or three people were inside. The gate attendant knew that no one went to that auditorium, and she was trying to hush us up as much as possible. The two pastors came up with a solution—we would go ahead and perform the show inside the gazebo. We were far away from any security guards, and if anyone stopped us on the way out and asked the pastors if we had gone to the auditorium, the pastors, at least, could indeed say that, yes, they had been to the auditorium (tricky, eh?)
And so, we performed the show in the gazebo and drew a respectable crowd. No one stopped us to make sure that we had followed the rules, and so it appeared that no word had gotten to that gate attendant. We went on to perform in that gazebo three additional times throughout the trip, and these shows were always popular ones. At the second-to-last show here, the crowd was so large it was unbelievable—a real encouragement and an evidence of God’s hand on our ministry. What’s more, by the last show, Rich drove past that gate attendant on his way out of the park, and she smiled and waved at him like old friends. Apparently even she had grown to like us!
Some other interesting parts of the trip involved some of the special activities we were able to participate in. For instance, Wednesday the 17th had been previously chosen as the date for a missionary meeting, and we spent that morning accompanying Pastor Rich and his wife to the meeting. Missionaries from all over Romania had come to be a part of this gathering—I didn’t even know that there were that many missionaries in Romania! The morning was spent sharing with each other about God’s work and about needs and praises from all over Romania. We were able to pray with these missionaries about God’s continuing work in Romania, and all over the world. It was very encouraging to see so many dedicated servants of God who had chosen Romania as their mission field, and I can’t imagine a better group of people to be ministers to the country.
We also had an opportunity to attend a program that was put on by the teens from the church. The program was a sort of follow-up to an evangelical activity that the teens had put on earlier in the summer and was a way to attract some of the neighborhood teens who had been interested in that first activity. The teens performed some worship songs in their language, a Romanian man who wanted to be a youth pastor gave a message, and we had the unique opportunity to see a Josh McDowell video dubbed over in Romanian. Interestingly enough, the site chosen for this program was a sports bar—the owner of this bar actually agreed to have a Christian group use his building! The church is truly beginning to establish some connections with their secular surroundings. The picture at the left, by the way, is of our group and the Romanian group outside the building after the program was over. The teens had practiced for this night for quite a while—so much, in fact, that they used up some of the time that we wished could’ve been used for puppet training. We wondered at times why they did not want to work with us more than they did, but as it turned out, it was a very fortunate thing that they did have this program…
Which brings me to my next topic. One of the most striking examples of God’s work on our trip was centered around a teenage boy named Felix. Now, though Felix was a native of Romania, he was quite a bit different from the other Romanian teenagers. You see, Felix was a gypsy. In Romania, as in many other countries, this people group is not exactly the most respected. Many people there distrust and dislike the gypsies, and they have a reputation for being sly, greedy, thieving, and unwanted. However, it was this gypsy boy who would prove to be a great blessing to our ministry.
Felix first became acquainted with our group at a show we performed for a school of gypsy children. We had decided to reach out to these people who nobody seemed to care about, and it actually ended up being a really great show. The children were very interested and very attentive, and they were quite a lively crowd. So much did they enjoy our performance that they repaid us after it was over by starting up some music of their own and beginning a dance which they invited us to join them in. It was a very enjoyable show, and a picture of the dance can be seen here. We did not know Felix at that point, but he had heard about the show from other gypsies and decided to stop over to see what it was all about. He really ended up liking what he saw—so much, in fact, that he decided to attend that program at the sports bar once he heard about it. It was there that he first approached our group and introduced himself to us. He told us that he was really interested in what we were doing, and he wanted to know if he could begin to travel around with us and help us with our performances from then on. So, because of that show and the teens’ program, we were able to gain a new member—a gypsy, no less!
That is not all, however. Felix was a very good helper and an encouraging example of God’s work, but he ended up aiding our ministry in a far greater way than that. After he had traveled with us for a few days and performed a few shows with us, he began to get an idea. He went to Pastor Schoen and Pastor Rich and told them that the gypsy village where he lived was located on the outskirts of town, and he said that the people there had never seen anything like our show. He insisted that they would love it if we went there to perform a show and asked the pastors to consider doing a performance there. Pastor Schoen told our group about Felix’s idea, and we all loved it. What a great opportunity!
And so, the evening of Tuesday the 23rd, we rode to this gypsy town to perform our very last show. The busy traffic of Craiova died down to nothing, the two-lane roads gave way to narrow, dusty dirt roads, and the tall, crowded apartment buildings disappeared to leave only flat plains in sight. We came at last to the gypsy village, and a very unusual place it was. Fierce, untamed dogs roamed the streets and attacked each other, the houses were unlike anything I’d ever seen before, and large numbers of barefoot children dressed in pieces of patterned cloth formed into groups at a safe distance from us, chattering and eyeing us suspiciously. The Romanian teens were not comfortable at all. “Watch your pockets,” they cautioned us. “We’re in enemy territory.” They had grown up with a hatred and distrust of gypsies, and they did not entirely like this idea.
We found a gateway leading into a very small yard next to a house, and we decided to set up the show in this yard—no curious people could wander in since the stage was set up across the gateway, no one could come in from the back, and the stage would be facing the main street. This was when we really began to feel the language barrier, for even the Romanians could not speak to these people—gypsies have their own language. Felix, though, was only too happy to grab the microphone and begin calling people over to see the show—he knew Romanian, English, and the gypsy language. He was also, as we would find out later, quite a respected member among the gypsy community, and when the gypsies realized that he was with us, they began drawing near to see what was going on.
We performed the show, and I can honestly say that it was the best show during the entire trip. Felix did all the talking with the microphone, and he presented the gospel message and summarized the songs that we performed. An amazing number of people turned out to see the show, filling the dirt road, and they all absolutely loved it—adults, old ones, and children alike clapped along and danced excitedly. It was truly a great thing to see how much these people, who had probably never heard the message of God’s love before, responded to it with such enthusiasm. As we were leaving, some of the Romanian teens began saying, “Wow, I never knew that gypsies were like that.” Through the work of God, and some help from Felix, we were not only able to reach some “untouchables” with the gospel, but we also made the first steps toward breaking down the wall of prejudice.
Thus the ministry part of our trip drew to a close, but the spreading of the gospel in Romania was nowhere near over! The team of Romanians had learned quite a few things from us and had thought up their own ideas, and now they had a pretty good idea of how to put on an evangelistic show. Plus, they had Felix, who would continue to provide a link between them and the lost people of the gypsies, and there were a few opportunities open to them already. During the trip, we had gotten an offer from a local McDonald’s to perform a puppet show in their building. They wanted us to shorten the show and take the biblical content out, but we were still excited that a local business like that desired to have a connection with our group. Who knew, perhaps in the future they would agree to have the entire gospel message presented there. Unfortunately, this show had to be cancelled because of weather, but as I think back on it, perhaps this was for the best. Now the Romanians could possibly perform a show there by themselves in the future, and everyone there would be familiar with their group and would have fond memories of “the team from the church.” Yes, the team could truly make a difference if they wanted to.
And so, on Sunday the 21st, inside that movie theater church, our team presented the Romanians with their own official team shirts (shown at the right.) On Tuesday, after that last show in the gypsy village, we left all of our puppet equipment with them. The next morning all of the Romanians came to the Hotel Parc to bid us all a very sad farewell, and then our team got on a bus along with Pastor Rich and his family and we pulled away. I hope that God’s blessing will be on that team of Romanians and that their ministry may be a fruitful one. I got an e-mail shortly after I returned back home, saying that the team had already performed one show with the puppets and another one with their band. May this zeal and this success continue on.
This was not the end of our trip, however—we still had the non-ministry part ahead of us! The bus took us through Romania and into the region of Transylvania for our Wednesday-through-Friday “day” off. Once again the tall buildings and cities disappeared behind us, but instead of turning into flat plains, the landscape changed into high, rolling mountains. The sight was utterly beautiful and absolutely breathtaking—I can’t begin to describe the scenery to you. So, since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is one of DJ at the top of a hill by the side of the road. We continued driving until we reached our first destination—Bran Castle. In the fifteenth century, this castle had been the home of a cruel lord named Vlad the Impaler, the man widely recognized as being the inspiration for the character Count Dracula! The building had bearskins on the floors, a bed made entirely out of rosewood, and even a secret staircase!
That evening we arrived in the Transylvanian town of Brasov, home to the Black Church where the great Romanian church father Honterus had once preached. On Thursday, we saw the sights of Brasov, both on the streets and from a bird’s-eye view. The city slanted upward toward a mountain, and we walked to the mountain and climbed it a short distance, then rode a cable car far up the mountain side to an observation deck. We were able to look out over Brasov as if it were a small-scale model.
We traveled again and came that night to a hotel in another Romanian town. On Friday, we traveled to a nearby castle called Pele’s Castle, an utterly amazing building built in the late 1800’s for the first king of Romania. Regrettably, pictures were not allowed inside the castle, but it was like something from a movie. It had huge paintings on the walls, a room full of only armor, guns, and steel weapons, a library with books from floor to ceiling (and a fake bookcase that would slide away at the touch of a button to reveal a stairway,) red carpets, statues, chandeliers, and staircases. It was also one of the first buildings in the world to be fully wired for electricity.
Later that day, we went to the capital of Romania, Bucharest, where our flight would leave on Saturday. There we visited the unbelievable People’s Palace, the construction of which was begun in the 1980’s for the horrible communist dictator Nikolai Chowchesku (that is almost certainly misspelled.) I say that construction was begun, because the building has not even been finished yet. It is dozens of floors high and goes five floors underground, and is the second largest governmental building in the world next to the Pentagon. Yes, those are cars and buses in the front of the building.
Well, we bid our farewells to Rich and family that night, and the next morning we left for the airport and began our trip home. Thus ended my summer missions trip to Romania. I hope my little narrative here didn’t bore you, and I hope that you found it interesting, at least for the pictures! I think that it was a very good trip, and several very encouraging things happened on it—meeting Felix, visiting the gypsy village with the gospel, ministering to untold numbers of people in the Parcul Romanescu, and getting our foot in the door of McDonald’s, to name a few. What excites me even more is knowing that the ministry isn’t over yet! Who knows—maybe even as you read this, the Romanian teenagers may be performing a puppet show or a band performance and sharing the love of Jesus Christ with those around them. We certainly made an impact on Romania and saw God’s work there, and I know that He will continue to make miracles and touch lives there as time goes on, as long as there are people like Rich Millhouse and the Romanian teens who are willing to be His hands and His feet and to be a witness for Him.
And do you know who else God used to accomplish His work on this trip? You! If it hadn’t been for you and for the other people who decided to aid His ministry by giving me and the other team members your prayers and financial support, the trip could not have been a possibility. The total financial support that I received more than cut the cost in half, and I have you to thank for that! Really, thank you very much for supporting me on this trip. You have done a great service, not only to me, but also to God. In a way, you helped us put on our puppet shows. You helped us train the Romanian teenagers and equip them for God’s ministry, you helped us perform that show that attracted Felix, and you helped us go to that gypsy village. Have you ever thought about that? It’s true—without financial support from people like you, who were willing to give up their money to send other people on this trip, the trip could not have happened. So, this letter is not just an account of what I did, it’s an account of what you enabled our group to do. These are the results of your ministry as well as mine.
Again, thank you so much for being willing to support me, and I’m very sorry that I did not send you this letter months ago. As a way of further expressing my thanks for your generosity, I have enclosed with this letter a small wooden figurine. I picked this up in an open-air market outside of Pele’s Castle. It represents a native of Romania and is dressed in a traditional Romanian outfit. If you attach a hook to the top of its head, it can be used as a Christmas ornament. I hope you will like the doll, and I hope that every time you see it, it will remind you of some of the great things that you helped to accomplish for God in Romania.
Thank you once again for helping our ministry, and I hope that you will continue to maintain your interest in God’s work, both here and abroad.
In His service,
Aaron M. Gottier* Well there you have it! I hope this letter inspires you and your team to excellence! *Aaron is a senior at Lehigh Valley Christian High School. He is a member at Bethel Bible Fellowship Church in Emmaus, Pa. Bethel has a long history of short-term ministry trips to Urban areas of the U.S. Mexico, Venezuela, and Eastern Europe. Final Thoughts:
Thank You (Words and Music by Ray Boltz)
I dreamed I went to heaven and You were there with me We walked upon the streets of gold Beside the crystal sea.
We heard the angels singing Then someone called your name. You turned and saw this young man And he was smiling as he came.
And he said, "Friend you may not know me now" And then he said, "But wait" You used to teach my Sunday School When I was only eight.
And every week you would say a prayer Before the class would start. And one day when you said that prayer I asked Jesus in my heart."
(Chorus) Thank you for giving to the Lord I am a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord I am so glad you gave.
Then another man stood before you And said, "Remember the time A missionary came to your church And his pictures made you cry.
You didn't have much money But you gave it anyway. Jesus took the gift you gave And that's why I am here today."
(Chorus) Thank you for giving to the Lord I am a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord I am so glad you gave.
One by one they came Far as the eye could see Each life somehow touched By your generosity.
Little things that you had done Sacrifices made. Unnoticed on the earth In heaven now proclaimed.
And I know up in heaven You're not supposed to cry. But I am almost sure There were tears in your eyes.
As Jesus took your hand And you stood before the Lord. He said, "My child look around you. Great is your reward."
(Chorus twice) Thank you for giving to the Lord I am a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord I am so glad you gave.
Now go out there and make a difference!
See you next week,
Dana Weller
A cooperative effort of the churches of the BFC to win the world for Christ Your response is always welcome at: office@bfcbom.org 610 398-8776
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