Monday - Final day and flight home.

We returned to see the building that had been offered last night and discussed possibilities for its use. It is important for us to get things clear with any agreement, so we needed to spell out what we plan to do and who we plan to work with - ex-offenders. There is good space downstairs with a fully equipped kitchen. Upstairs are bedrooms with toilets / showers and a shared kitchen. Please continue to pray with us that the Lord will clearly guide us and the owners as to what is the right way forward.

Some extra photos from a busy Palm Sunday.

Brass band at Sion Baptist - viewed from the pulpit

The heavy-weights at the back!

Phil preaching at Ineu Baptist where Sorin is the pastor.

Now we are back in England, but the work continues. We have some challenges ahead if we are to establish phase two of the ACV programme (short-term accommodation and training/mentoring) but it is a crucial part of helping people live a new life in Christ. Please keep in touch with updates on this blog and through Damascus Trust web-site - www.damascustrust.org - and we thank you for our prayers and interest in this ministry.

Sunday

So here is the surprise.

Tonight, last church meeting and we share about the work of ACV and our need for a short-term centre for helping those coming out of prison. After the service an older lady comes up to us and starts talkiing about a building that she and her husband own which she would like us to see, jsut a short walk from the church bulding. When we arrive we find a two-storey building that is all kitted out with downstairs meeting rooms, toilets and a fully equipped kitchen and then a seperate upstairs with five bedrooms, showers and toilets. After a brief chat, we have agreed to meet tomorrow as they would like to talk with us about the possibility of ACV making use of this building.

So, please pray with us that we will have time to talk and pray together about what the Lord is wanting us to do. It's a surprise for us, but not for the Lord and he knows what he is doing - we just need to listen and follow his lead.

We finished the evening with Sorin and Reli at their home with more food - a roast chicken with potatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, salad and sauces. We also enjoyed some cakes made by their daughter, Damaris. All very nice and a lovely end to the day and our visit.

Saturday - Part Two

Just returned from another wonderful meal with Leo (ACV mentor) and his family (and Sorin and Reli - right and left below). It included a special Romanian dish - tripe soup! Then we had stuffed potatoes, salad and various sauces that had all be prepared by Leo. We have been so blessed with generous hospitality from so many people throughout this last week. We have had time to laugh and cry, to share and to pray for one another. Many thanks to them all and may the Lord bless them even more than they have blessed us.

Saturday

A more relaxed start this morning, which was much appreciated.

Friday

More meetings with more helpful people. Florica Chereches is the local MP and is always encouraging us and offering advice and suggestions. It was good to catch up with her at the start of the day.

Then we went on to meet with the vice-president of the Bihor county (centre below) and he in turn introduced us to two of his colleagues. One turned out to be the translator from last night's service and involved in making applications for funding from the county council (second from right). He will do what he can to help us apply for funding for the ACV programme.

The other colleague was visiting from Bucharest and is responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture (far left). He was keen for us to know that there are training courses available for young people (up to 35 yrs) to be trained for agricultural work and this could include ex-offenders - so let's see....

After that we met again with Posticum and talked through various options for us to have use of their building. They will present us with an initial draft proposal which we can then consider in the light of some refurbishment work that will need to be done to make the building useful. We're aiming to have a decision about us using the building by the end of May. So please continue to pray.

Lastly we met with another lady, Christina, from Emanuel University who also works in the city helping to apply for EU funding. It is a long process with many hoops to jump through, but she will help us to see if there are any sources that would match our particular work. Again, we will trust the Lord and take things a step at a time.

Tomorrow we will be taking part in a staff conference for Tomorrow Clubs. These are clubs run in Romania, Hungary and Moldova for children and families. Andy will be speaking about 'Investing in the Kingdom of God'. Please pray for a good and encouraging time together.

Thursday - Part Two

Today in the prison we lit a fire in Jesus' Name! As part of the teaching session, we were able to invite the Apprentices to make the choice to let Christ be Lord of their lives, to change their hearts and change their lives. It was good to see them listen and understand and whilst many of them say theuy want to follow Jesus, we realise the challenge is to make disciples and not just converts. Thank you for your prayers.

Please continue to pray for the remaining sessions of this especially the mentoring sessions when there is opportunity for one-to-one discussion with the Apprentices. We praise the Lord for all that he is doing in these men's lives.

programme,

This evening we enjoyed a time in Philadelphia Pentecostal Church. Lots of our team were there and they were all able to take part in one way or another - including Florica Dudas

We ended the day with a supper at Dan and Gabi's home. A feast fit for a king!

Tomorrow we meet with the local MP, have discussions with Posticum about the building and also meet another lady to help with putting together an application for EU funding. Please pray for the Lord to guide our discussions and decisions.

Thursday - Matchstick Day

Why not join us today in striking a light and prayng that the Holy Spirit will set on fire the hearts of our Apprentices in Oradea Prison.

Please pray for each of the Mentors as well as Viorel who is leading the session on relationships.

Pray for each of the Apprentices, that as they listen, their hearts will be stirred and they will respond to the love of the Lord, even whilst behind bars.

Sorry to hear that some of you have had problems getting comments up on the Blog. Not sure why that should be a problem, but you can always send it as an email to info@damascustrust.org

Wednesday - Part One

Tuesday - Part Three

Please pray, pray, pray ......

For tomorrow as we meet at Posticum building that we have been to before, that the Lord will make it clear as to whether this is the building for us or not. If not, then we want to know so that we can move on. But if yes..... pray for a very clear sign.

Tuesday - Part Two

A big welcome to Gabi Roman who joins us as prospective secretary / treasurer of ACV.

Initially Gabi will work alongside Adina to learn what is involved and get used to how things are done but we trust that the Lord will enable Gabi to take this role on permanently. Gabi and her husband Dan (pictured) have a real heart for the work with prisoners and are a huge encouragement and blessing in the ministry. Please pray for their daughter (23) who is unwell at the moment. Dan is one of our Mentors and has experienced life behind bars.

Earlier in the day we met with other key people. It's always good to have time with Imre Kulcsar from RomCom. He encourages and inspires us to keep aiming high and trusting the Lord to open doors. We appreciate his friendship and advice. Then we met with our two lawyers - Tibor and Csaba Szucs. They have helped us since we set up ACV and continue to guide us in all legal matters. We were blessed with a lovely meal in their home as well.

Then we popped into the prison to talk with another senior member of staff. He had heard about our work with the prisoners and how lives were being changed and he wanted to explore other possibilites for us to work with them. Again, thank the Lord for this opening and pray for His way forward to be clear.

And lastly we went to see the Pal family - Attila, Anita and little (but growing fast) Mark - to enjoy supper. A wonderful end to a good day. Attila is one of our Mentors as well as part of our ACV Core Team.

Tomorrow we will have more meetings at the Posticum building, with the homeless centre and in the evning at Harul (Grace) Church. Please pray for the Lord's strength and blessing on our day.

Tuesday - Part One - looking back.

Yesterday (Monday) we started the day with students from Emanuel Univerity who have been part of our teaching course over the last three years. It was so good to have time with them, catch up and share ideas. Some of them are in year 3, so may well be moving on, away from Oradea. Others are in years 1 and 2, so we look froward to having them with us in October.

As they have all been in prison as part of the course, they had an interest in the current mentoring programme and we shared with them the need for prayer. We handed out more matchsticks (see photo) and committed to pray for the apprentice we were given by name. We did the same thing at the ACV prayer meeting in the evening and stood together as we prayed for each of the current apprentices on our programme. On Thursday, when we go into the prison for the next session at 1630 (1430 UK) we have asked people to 'strike a match' and pray the the Holy Spirit will 'light a fire' in the hearts of these apprentinces that will not go out. Please join us if you can.

After meeting with students we went ot see the beautiful magnolia trees with their wonderful flowers.

Monday  - Part Two
Another busy and good day with some interesting meetings. We'll be sharing more about this with photos tomorrow.

Monday - Part One
Today we are meeting with some of the students from Emanuel University who have been part of our annual teaching course. This will be a good opportunity to cathc up with how they arae doing and inviting them to be part of the ongoing work of ACV.  Then we have a meeting with Sami Mitra who runs a children's centre here in Oradea. When we run the course at Emanueal University, one of the placements that we use for students is this children's centre. Then this evening we will join the weekly prayer meeting for the work of ACV.

Yesterday we were involved in three services. The first was at Sanmartin Baptist church, the second at Golgota Baptist and the third at the Gypsy Baptist church.

At Golgota church we enjoyed a very good brass band made up of men from different churches in the city. It was like being in the Salvation Army and a shame that we had to leave early to go on to the next meeting.

Sunday - Part Two

Just come back from lunch with a family at Carminul Felix. This is a Chroistian organisation that has been running for 25 years which provides extended families for orphaned children. Since they have begun they have provided a family for more than 400 children - many of whom have now grown up, got married, set up their own homes, with jobs and some have their own children. Our host, Mihai Bulc, runs tow football teams with children from Carminul Felix as well as a state orphanage. Wonderful to see and hear about the work that is being done in the name of Christ - www.cfacademic.ro.

This morning we (Nico, Leo, Sorin, Phil, Andy) were at Sanmartin Baptist church.

Sunday - Part One

Yesterday, after spending time with some of our menotrs, reviewing the programme and lookng at how we can improve, Phil, Sorin and Andy went to have lunch with Lenutsa, one of our prayer partners. This has become a regular visit where we can enjoy fun and good food - as well as some harmonica playing!

Saturday - Part Three.

Tomorrow we will be visiting three church fellowsips. Morning - Sanmartin Baptist (Andy speaking); afternoon - Golgotha Baptist (Andy speaking); evening - Gypsy Baptist Church (Phil speaking). Please pray for good opportunities to build strong relationships between ACV and individual churches.

Thanks for your prayers.

Saturday - Part Two

In the evening we had been invited to share at a youth meeting in Emanuel Baptist church and then on to the youth prayer meeting at Maranatha Pentecostal church.

Emanuel Baptist Church Youth Meeting

Phil spoke to the 150+young people about standing up and being counted for Christ and encouraged them to trust him for their futures. Then Andy shared briefly about the work of ACV in prison. He divided the whole group into 12 smaller sections and gave each group the first name of a prisoner.who is on our current programme. We then handed out a match-stick to each young person and asked them keep it as a reminder to pray for the prisoner by name, for his family and situation over the next week.

Saturday - Part One - last night we went to a youth prayer meeting that started at 10pm. We were still there at 0100! So this is a catch up for the Friday. 

3pm - we drove to the outskirts of the Oradea city and turned off the main road. Our mission - to meet a man who constructed housing containers. We turned onto a bumpy dirt track that took us in between newly built houses and spare building plots. Kicking up the dust we made our way towards what we hoped was the agreed location, only to find that it wasn't. Sorin phoned our contact and we were told that he would come out to meet us. So we parked up and waited. Various cars came - and passed on by as we looked at them and they looked at us. Then a black BMW approached driven by a man wearing shades. It drew up alongside us, the window slid down and we were told to follow him. We went back along the track took a right turn and bounced our way towards his newly built house. To one side a couple of containers were being built and our contact (the boss) explained in some detail the method of fabrication and construction. These containers are used by the likes of NATO and various relief agencies and can provide accommodation for between 2-8 people. We are looking at all possibilities for providing short-term accommodation for ex-offenders, and these containers offer one possibility.