September Update 2012

Greetings from Hungary!  We’re delighted to give you another update on the truly exciting things the Lord is doing here in Eastern Europe.

Faith celebrates her 10th birthday

Family: In August we celebrated Faith's tenth birthday.   We had a birthday party at home and then went to an indoor amusement park together and had lots of fun.  After she finished opening all her gifts and cards, Faith distributed hand-made thank you cards of her own to everyone at the party with a personal note of thanks to each of us.  This is a just an example of the sweet and grateful nature that the Lord has put inside her heart. We've got photos of that event in a separate album, if you want to see all the action play-by-play (see here).  Otherwise, you can find some of our favorite shots from that day in the "more photo" section below.

Len injured his great toe last month, and thought he may have broken it. Since then he has re-injured it and his right great toe as well.  He is trusting the Lord to heal the pain and other symptoms.  Please continue to pray with us for his total healing.

Len with pastor Linu and Nella in Voila, Romania

Ministry: Len traveled to Romania in August and September on invitation from a pastor he knows there. He was in the region north of Bucharest, where he ministered to several pastors and two congregations, preaching the full gospel of Jesus Christ.

Len stayed at the home of pastor Mihail, director of the S.O.S radio station in Ploiesti, Romania.  The signal reaches just beyond Bucharest, which is 40 miles away.  He is a former communist now running this station on the property where he lives.  The S.O.S studios are in the same first floor of his house.

God did amazing things on this trip -- much more than we have space for in this update. One of the highlights was spending three days at the gypsy church in Voila with pastor Linu and his wife Nella (pictured above).  On the first day in Voila, Len was with the two of them personally getting acquainted, encouraging them and praying with them. They have suffered a lot in the past several years as the devil has tried unsuccessfully to destroy this church.  Two of his nine children and two of his grandchildren died tragic deaths.  However, through prayer alone and without medical intervention, he raised from the dead his two grandchildren, Reuben and Sara.  Their mother is his daughter, and in a separate incident, she had incurred fourth and fifth degree burns on 75% of her body!  The doctors told her she would not live, and when pastor Linu prayed for her, she was miraculously healed.  She stood and held her opened hands up, which had moments earlier been clenched tightly into fists from the burns.  The doctors witnessed the miracle.  Len met the two children and their mother, who showed her burn scars to prove it.  She has since given her life to Jesus and dedicated her children to the Lord.

When the above photo was taken of Len with pastor Linu and Nella, they stood in front of the horse stable that had once collapsed in the valley below.  After the picture was taken, Nella said that three or four weeks ago she had a dream in which a man came and encouraged them.  She said that when Len put his arm around pastor Linu for the snapshot, she remembered the dream and realized it had been fulfilled.  There is so much more to their testimony that will surely encourage you, which we cannot include here. So we encourage you to read about it in the exciting "Testimonies from Voila" (see here).

Voila Gypsy Church. Man healed of lump beside Linu (right)

On the second and third day in Voila, Len ministered to the entire gypsy church there.  It's a small congregation of around 23 members.  But pastor Linu said there are 80 youths in this church, most of whom were not present at the meetings on those nights! Len preached the gospel, taught them, and led them to turn to the Lord their God with all their hearts and with all their souls. The Lord confirmed the truth of His Word through works of power.  They brought many sick people to Len to be healed, including little children, and the Lord lovingly touched them.  One man, named Nicolae (pictured above on far right beside pastor Linu), had a lump in his throat that had been there for an unspecified period.  When Len laid hands on him in the name of Jesus, the lump dissolved, the pain disappeared, and Nicolae was finally able to swallow normally once again.  Praise the Lord!

Other sick people also said their pain went away through prayer in Jesus Name. Still others tangibly experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit when Len placed his hands over them and imparted it. They experienced various manifestations, such as the following: One man felt the power of God going through him from his feet all the way up through is body.  Some felt the presence of the Lord, others felt peace.  Some felt the Holy Spirit searching them from head to toe, while most of them felt a literal heat or warmth in their bodies, particularly their hands.  Some trembled, and others said they "felt much better" afterward.

Pastor Linu's wife, Nella, testified at the beginning of the service on the second night that on the first night she saw bright light going from person to person while Len was praying for people.  She felt peace and love. When Len was departing at the end of the second night, he received many customary, holy kisses on the cheeks from the men.  Pastor Linu invited Len to come back again.

Len with pastor Marian after live prayer program at S.O.S

Len also visited the S.O.S church in Ploiesti and ministered to pastor Marian there (pictured left), who is a true man of God, as well as one of his disciples named Stefan.  Stefan experienced the holy fire all over his body especially in his heart and mind. He felt raised, and had overflowing joy like a fountain, so that he began rejoicing in the Lord.  Pastor Marian had a lot of joy on his face and was praising God as he received a supernatural refreshing from the Lord.

He invited Len to greet the congregation on Sunday, and to join him for his live radio programs during the week, which he did.  One of the programs was a teaching on financial stewardship and the other was a live, call-in prayer line from 10:30 PM until midnight.  There were many calls and text messages to the program that night, completely filling up the entire program with unceasing prayer.  Some people specifically requested prayer from Len.  One of those was someone who called with a prayer request for pastor Linu, who had an accident with a horse following Len's meetings in Voila.  He is thankful to survive the accident, but sustained injuries to his head foot, and a dislocated hip.  Please join us in praying for pastor Linu's complete healing.

Pastor George & Len after the meeting at Immanuel Church

Len also accepted an invitation to minister to Immanuel Church in Ploiesti, Romania.  He first spent time getting to know pastor George there, and then preached the Word of God to them.  Afterward the congregation turned to the Lord with all their hearts as the Voila church had previously done.  Then Len ministered to those who wanted the purifying, purging fire of the Holy Spirit, including pastor George.  The Lord was faithful to do what He promised, confirming His Word through signs and wonders!  Their experiences were mostly like those in the Voila church, plus some additional manifestations that were different.  Len's translator, named Nik, is a Romanian missionary to another country in this region that we cannot mention for security reasons.  He experienced a "fresh anointing" from the Holy Spirit.  Someone else experienced "something like a quiet time" in his spirit.  One lady wept.  Another man was completely overwhelmed by the glory of God.  It was an absolutely wonderful evening together with those saints! Everything the Lord did was good.  Praise Him!

As with the things the Lord did in Bulgaria in May, all that happened on this August-September trip to Romania was an overflow of what God is doing in our hearts and home in Hungary.  “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (Jn 3:21) Jennifer and the children were an integral part of all that happened, as they faithfully prayed for Len back at home while he was in Romania.  And they rejoiced together with him, praising the Lord, as he called them with updates throughout the trip.  All of you who prayed or gave were also a part of it!  Thank you so much for that, and praise the Lord for the great things He has done!  These lives will never be the same.

In addition to the link to more family photos above, if you would like to see more photos of the people Len ministered to in Romania, please see the link below for an album with captioned photos:

Romania Trip Photos

Back at home in Hungary, we've continued conducting evangelism, and prayerfully planning future ministry activity.  We intend to meet further with the church leaders in this nation in the fall.

Gábor, one of Len's disciples, is hosting a house group meeting in his home each week in the little town of Tököl, which will soon become a church plant.  We mentioned last month that Gábor invited Len to come and encourage the believers there, which he did.  Afterward he received good feedback from pastor Géza that it was edifying.

Administrative Needs: Our immigration visas (known as resident permits) are due to expire in October, so we're required by law to apply for renewal in September.  Their were ten people involved in the visa project with Len, helping to complete an enormous task in record time, even while he was out of the country in Romania during the last part of the project!  Praise the Lord that everything was submitted on time.

We will return to the Immigration Office to receive their decision in mid-October.  Now let's pray that we will be granted renewal of our residence permits for three years.  After we finished submitting all our documents, which took two hours, Len asked the immigration official about the prospects of being approved for a three-year residence permit.  She seemed to think it would most likely be granted.  Please pray that it will indeed be granted, since there is a great open door of ministry for us here, and the visa process is both expensive and time consuming.

Resources:  This month we would also like to encourage you to read "Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian" (see here), written lovingly to make sure none of you misses God's highest reward for you, as well as "Discerning the Things of the Spirit" (see here) and Supernatural Power for All Disciples (see here).

Once again, don't miss "Testimonies from Voila" (see here), regarding the amazing things the Lord has done in the lives of pastor Linu and Nella! It will surely build your faith.  As always, Len's entire collection of most popular blogs are at "Writing for the Master" (see here).  We welcome your comments on this newsletter, so feel free to leave those below.

In closing, we have much to praise God for, and many opportunities for you to join us in prayer.

Praise the Lord with us for the many answers to prayer:

1. Praise the name of the LORD!  For Your name alone is exalted; Your glory is above earth and heaven.  (Psa 148:13)
2. For the times of refreshing in His presence in Romania, and the people the Lord healed there.
3. Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations (Rev 15:3) 
4. For the way He imparted the fire of the Holy Spirit in such a wonderful way in Romania.
5. "May the glory of the LORD be praised in His dwelling place."  (Eze 3:12)
6. For those who turned to the Lord with all their hearts and souls in Romania. 
7. Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. (Psa 150:1-2)
8. For the opportunities to evangelize the lost here in Hungary and the hunger of some for the good news.
9. For our great progress thus far on the residence permit visa applications and the positive outlook.
10. For the wonderful birthday celebrations with Faith.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For the Lord to heal pastor Linu from his injuries, especially the dislocated hip.
2. For the Lord to reveal Himself to all the non believers in Budapest whom we touched.
3. For the Lord to continue using all of us in our personal evangelism work, including the children.
4. For the Lord to continue using Len's disciples David, Greg and Gábor to reach the lost with the gospel, as well as make disciples.  And for the Lord to enable us to spend some extended time in fellowship and prayer with them this fall.
5. For the Lord to heal Len's injured toes and feet, as well as any sort of misalignment in his back that may be causing the neuropathy in his legs and foot .
6. For the outpouring of His Holy Spirit here in Diosd to continue to ripple all across Hungary and Eastern Europe.
7. For the Lord to prepare hearts in this region to experience revival and receive a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit and fire.
8. For the Lord to powerfully anoint and help Len as he meets with pastors, elders, and disciples here in Hungary this fall.
9. For our financial blessing.  
10. For the Lord to grant us three-year residence permits in October to continue serving Him in Hungary.

Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry.

Love from all of us,

The Lacroixs

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