Family Update — We have not slowed down since last month. Our mornings are busy with school, the kids in homeschool and Bryan and Pam working on college classes. The evenings are filled with the ministry here in Brasov.
We have intentionally spent more time with our new church plant families in Brasov and enjoy seeing those relationships grow. In addition, we are thankful to have had more opportunities to visit our ministry in Santandrei and spend time with friends in Oradea this past month.
We all (well, mostly all of us) love the colder weather here in Romania. It is the perfect opportunity to see historic buildings and landmarks while sipping hot tea or local coffee.
The Risners are Moving — We are thankful for our time in the Ghimbav area, but we are moving back to the Oradea region next year to begin our third church plant. We have a meeting this weekend to share our bold vision with potential families who could be joining us.
We are so thankful for this church. It is our home church in Romania, and they are more like family than friends. At the beginning of the month, we visited the Oradea area to work on church planting details and visited the church family at Auseu.
Our ministry in Brasov meets on Sunday mornings. Each week we have a time of fellowship, worship and Bible study. Candra leads the children in a special Bible story time each week. We have two families who have committed to join us and a third family prayerfully considering joining us.
While in the Oradea area this month, we had the opportunity to visit our Roma (Gypsy) ministry. After our church service, we enjoyed dinner with the Hamouch and Porumb families. We could not be more grateful for these families and their dedication to the ministry in Santandrei.
Santandrei (Roma/Gypsy) Ministry Update — Our kids’ program meets weekly under Lavi’s direction, and Marius has continued making home visits. He has discovered that the Roma adults are more open to hearing the gospel in a 1:1 environment versus meeting in large groups. As a result, Marius is often able to share the gospel and pray for each family’s specific needs.
Lavi meets with Carina (the young lady who accepted Christ at camp) on Sundays following the children’s program. Carina is very concerned with how her community will treat her if she publicly shares that she is choosing to follow Christ. She has allowed herself to be vulnerable with Lavi and shares that she does not feel “good enough” to be a Christian.
We are still having issues with vandalism, as the windows were completely busted out last week. As a temporary solution, Marius has boarded up the windows. In addition, we are considering fencing off the building. Please continue to pray for the children and adults in this community.
Brasov (Return Church) Ministry Update — Our Brasov ministry and church plant are officially outgrowing our homes! We have approximately 30 people each Sunday attending our services, and we also have ladies’ and guys’ growth groups meeting every other week.
As we plant the desire with this new group to share the gospel with others around them, we are intentionally building deeper relationships as a church family. This past weekend we spent Saturday evening fellowshipping together and Sunday morning worshipping together. After worship, we shared a special time of eating together and playing games. It is a true blessing to spend time being encouraged by other believers.
Our church plant is partnering with a local university to offer a literacy program for a nearby Roma community. Please pray that gospel conversations will be made and lives will be changed for Christ’s sake as we go weekly into the Roma village, teaching the children to read and write.
Oradea (New Church Plant) Ministry Update — Our family and Candra have made a few trips back to the Oradea area over the past few weeks, and we are seeing this new ministry opportunity coming together quickly. We started praying this year in late spring and early summer about the next steps for our ministry.
We feel confident that God has opened the doors for this new church plant, and we have agreed on our bold vision — for every adult and teen of Oradea to hear the gospel from a friend. We could not be more excited about this new opportunity. We had a meeting in Oradea on Oct. 29 where we shared our vision with people interested in joining us.
We ask that you join us in prayer for: the Santandrei Roma Ministry (1:1 Bible studies, vandalism issues, fence for property, children’s behavior and Carina’s walk with Christ); the Brasov Ministry (college ministry with Roma Community, weekly discipleship meetings, Sunday meeting location, evangelism opportunities); our transition (in January) and new ministry opportunity in Oradea; the Risner kids’ being accepted into CBC, kids’ scholarships for college and for language skills to increase.
