The message below was posted on Facebook by the local Catholic parish here in Gyergyószentmiklós on the Day of the Dead (day after Halloween). This post distressed many people at our church, bringing some to tears, and shows the pressing need for the Gospel to shine forth in this region. We’ve translated it below:
Translation:
On this year’s Day of the Dead, Total Absolute Indulgence is given.
In the month of November, there is special discount to receive absolute indulgence / forgiveness. There are three possible ways to receive gifts from our Catholic Holy Mother’s house:
1. For eight days in November, total absolute indulgence / forgiveness is attainable for those who go to cemeteries and pray for the dead.
2. In any day in November, pray in any cathedral for the dead.
3. Pray for the dead in front of a picture of Mary or Jesus.
Absolute indulgence / forgiveness can be for yourselves and also for the dead who are suffering in purgatory.
Pray with us that everyone in Gyergyó will know of and understand the full sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. Pray with us that people will not attempt to compensate Christ’s death on the cross with further performance, but instead celebrate and honor His completed work and the magnitude of Christ’s death and resurrection!
Relationships in the Church
We have been blessed with abundant opportunities to build relationships here in our church. We want close relationships with the people we will be evangelizing with and serving alongside of. Karina had the honor of leading a Bible study last week with high school girls, on the subject of holiness and purity. She is also active in the ‘baba-mama-kör’ (baby-mommy-circle), where mothers discuss Scripture and edify one another. We’ve had the joy of hosting several folks for dinner and sharing fellowship around a dinner table. We intend to make this a weekly activity. Jacob volunteered last week with other men from our church installing a church roof (pictured below):
This roof (and the building under it) belongs to a small church-plant in another town about 45 minutes away, in a Romanian-majority village. It is currently just the pastor and his family. Though the church and it’s village are Romanian (NOT Hungarian/Székely), it was a joy to bless them with a new roof just in time for the 6 months of winter! This was also a wonderful chance for Jacob to work shoulder-to-shoulder with men from our church, building friendships, sharing an experience, and learning a bit of Hungarian each day!
English Class Evangelism?
Pastor Zsolt talked with Jacob about a possible outreach idea. Jacob may teach evening English-Bible classes to evangelize people outside the church. This would be in the church building, but students would be unbelievers interested in learning English. The curriculum will be completely from Scripture, thus introducing people to God’s word and to the Gospel. This would be a fantastic way of interacting with unbelievers in the community, plus the weekly nature of classes has a way of nurturing relationships and allowing people to feel comfortable discussing deeper questions. Please pray for wisdom, concerning when and how to conduct such an evangelism platform, and for a clear curriculum that communicates Gospel truth well and engages people of all English-speaking levels.
An Update On Us
First of all, we want to thank you for your prayers for our apartment and car. We moved into an apartment right out of quarantine, only a 15min walk from church! We are in process of buying a car from a church member named Joszi, which is another answered prayer: not only can we bless our brother in Christ with income, we also can purchase with confidence that we are not being cheated (very common in Romania). There are no ‘same day’ car lot purchases it seems. Due to the paperwork our process has expanded over the course of 3 weeks!
Our apartment looks out directly to the Catholic Church!
Our immigration process has been surprisingly smooth so far. Karina has officially received residence status, good for five years! We are gathering the necessary paperwork and requirements for Jacob and Genevieve, and are praying for an equally smooth process to obtain residency.
Karina with her Residence Permit Paper outside of the Harghita County Immigration office.
Prayer Requests
- For the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice to be known and treasured in Gyergyó
- God’s grace for us in interacting with the lost.
- Our ongoing Immigration process.
- Karina’s birthing plans, where and with whom to deliver Josiah.
- A steady language helper for Jacob learning Hungarian.