October Update 2011

Greetings from Hungary! It’s time for another update on our progress.

It's been a beautiful autumn here with cooler temperatures and sunshine. This month marks the beginning of our fourth year in Eastern Europe.    As we celebrate this anniversary, we praise God for sustaining us and bringing forth fruit.  We also thank our partners, whose faithfulness in giving to God has made our work here possible.

Family:  The children are enjoying a weekly home school coop where they meet with other home schoolers in the area once a week for classes.  It is also a great time for Jennifer to have some fellowship with other home school mothers.

Faith has been experiencing a flare up of seborrhea dermatitis on her scalp, which we have been treating with prayer, a strict candida diet, coconut oil, and frequent washes with a homemade antifungal solution. Since we started the antifungal solution and the anti-fungal candida diet, we have seen some improvement.  Please pray for the Lord to heal her. 

Charity has experienced asthma, as well as lockjaw and other symptoms of TMJ syndrome.  We’ve been praying for her and trusting God to heal her.

Len and Jennifer were able to take a holiday for one night, using rewards points.  It was a relaxing and refreshing time together.  Our translator, Dora (pictured above), watched the children for us while we were away.

Ministry:  At the end of September, Len traveled to Bucharest, Romania to build a relationship with Ioan, a pastor and denominational leader there.  It was a very rough, fifteen-hour train ride.

In Bucharest, Ioan, pronounced "yo-AHN," introduced Len to several other leaders, with whom Len began to establish relationships. These included a pastor in Ploisti, named Gigi, pronounced "JEE-jee" (pictured below).  In addition to his oversight at the church there, he is the director of ethnic ministries for the AoG denoination in Romania.  Another man in Ploisti, whom Len met was Mihail, pronounced "MEE-hi" (pictured below). He manages a Christian radio station, called S.O.S.  Len was part of the station’s sixteenth anniversary celebration, and gave a word of encouragement to him and the church in Ploisti about their important ministry of broadcasting the gospel over the Romanian airwaves.

Ioan, Gigi with his wife, Mihail, Georgeta, Bogdan & Ioana in Ploisti

One person in particular that the Lord connected Len with was a man named Călin (pictured below), whom Len stayed with in Bucharest.  He was assigned by Ioan to be Len's host. While Ioan introduced Călin as a pastor, Călin insists that he is not a pastor, but simply a servant of the Lord.  He is a true man of God. During their time together, they built an enduring friendship and are praying about opportunities the Lord has in store for them in the future.

Len with Călin in Bucharest

Len also preached the Word at Grace Church in Bucharest, where Ioan serves as pastor.  He received some good feedback about the message afterward.

During Len’s time there, Ioan was also hosting a secular group of public school educators from Finland, with whom he is conducting an educational project.  Len had an opportunity to be a witness for the glory of Jesus to these precious people.

On the train, returning from Romania, Len also shared Jesus with a man on the train, named Meil, who is a Jew from Tel Aviv, Israel.  It was a seed planted.  Please pray for Meil to hear and believe the Word of God for what it really is.

We mentioned in our last newsletter that Len loaned the Jesus Film to Ferenc. After watching it in Hungarian, Ferenc had a whole page of questions for Len about it.  It took an hour and a half to go through all of his questions.  And in doing so, Len had the chance to completely share Jesus with him.  Ferenc has been searching the Scriptures to see for himself what they mean.  He is very open and tender to the gospel, but has not yet surrendered his life to Jesus. Please pray that he will do so soon.

Tamás

Len has also shared the film with Tamás (pictured right), and discussed it with him afterward. He had an excellent opportunity to share Jesus with him.  It was another seed planted.  Please pray for Tamás to come to know Christ.


Of course, Len continues to meet with Greg for discipleship, as well as with Barnabás. In addition, Len continues to encourage over forty servant leaders in Eastern Europe and North Africa via the web with things the Lord has been stirring in his heart.  And he's been getting very good feedback on that.

Administrative Needs: We have been making plans for Len to make a trip to the US this fall.  We thought November and December would be the best months to go.  But we are still waiting and watching for open doors.  If you know of a church that would be interested in having him come and share about our ministry, please let us know as soon as possible.

Resources:  Len has recently written a blog called “One Thing”. It’s about where our focus must be placed, and the heart attitude we need, in order to live a simple, happy life. He also wrote one called “Success in God’s Eyes” that discusses keys to godly success, as seen in the lives of some of God’s prophets, who appeared in man's eyes to fail. If you would like to read any others he has written, you can find them at “Writing for the Master.”

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. For our overall health and wellness.
2. For the progress we are making in treating Faith's sebborhea, finally understanding the cause and discovering the proper treatment.
3. For blessing us with a relaxing time away together without the children.
4. For the opportunity to share the gospel with Tamás, Ferenc, and Meil, and the seeds that were planted.
5. For the openness of Ferenc to the gospel.
6. For a safe and healthy trip to Bucharest.
7. For the new relationships Len has established in Romania, especially with Călin, Mihail, and Gigi.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For the Lord to heal Faith from sebborhea and the underlying yeast infection.
2. For the Lord to heal Charity from asthma, as well as lockjaw and the underlying TMJ problems.
3. For Greg to grow in his walk with the Lord and continue to multiply.
4. For the Lord to reveal Himself to Ferenc and Tamás, the businessmen Len has been training.
5. For the Lord to work in the heart of Meil, the Jewish man with whom Len shared the gospel.
6. For specific direction and open doors concerning Len's possible US trip this fall.
7. For divine appointments wherever we go.  Pray that the Lord would help us make key connections with people all along the way, develop relationships and be a blessing. 
8. For our financial blessing.  That the Lord would continue to raise up partners to help us with special gifts and monthly partners, so that we will be able to focus on the ministry in Eastern Europe and accomplish all that He has put in our hearts to do.

Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry.

Love from all of us,

The Lacroixs

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