Sighet, Day 1

 

    Today was the first day in Sighet, the bigger city nearby. It is about 20 minutes North of Ocna Şugatag, where we are staying. In the morning we headed to the church and set up the eyeglass clinic. We had quite the turnout! We estimate about 50 patients came through. And a huge praise would be that there was ample time to share the gospel with most, if not all, who came through. One of the church members estimated that about 50% were not Christian, so it was amazing to be able to share with them! 

    Afterward, we headed to the VBS which was at a school in the city center. This VBS also had quite the turnout! There were somewhere around 45-50 kids. The excitement was very similar in this VBS as the last one. The kids were very engaged in the activities and loved the skit. Be praying for Day 2 tomorrow!

    Construction crew worked extremely hard today. At the time of writing this, 9:45pm, they are still at the construction site working. It was extremely hot today, about 85°F and clear skies, so the sun is very hot. Continue to pray for this crew! They were able to weld and extend the fence posts to be a little higher, and they built all the concrete molds for the base. Tomorrow it sounds like they will be mixing and pouring the concrete, along with a few other things.

    While the Eyeglass crew was at work, we had a few members (Tom, Carole, Vera, Mary) visit a local maternity center for young mothers. They were able to share their testimony with them and encourage them. There was some deep conversation surrounding salvation. A young man named Jack was there who was struggling with many things, and they were able to talk with him for a long time. Please be praying for him and his salvation!

Prayer Requests:
- Pray that God would continue to equip us with the energy needed to give 100% to each activity.
- Pray for the hospitals. We were supposed to go visit people in hospitals, but now the director is saying he is not allowing us to come in. Pray that God would open doors for us.
- Pray that the gospel message would be shared with as many people as we can!

Question of the day for the team: "Have you seen any answered prayer so far?"

David Miyatake: "Thankful we had opportunities to talk to people and share the Gospel in Eyeglasses ministry"

Brianne Pratt: "Many people came to the eyeglass clinic. Through conversations, they opened up to me about struggles they were having and I got to pray with many of them. For our morning devotion, we were praying for opportunities to show God’s love to people, and He provided a lot!"

Paul Lim: "One answered prayer is that I prayed God would put me outside my comfort zone in this trip. I did not expect to be a big part of the play or a part of VBS at all when I came, so I think this was sort of His way of challenging me, since I'm not that comfortable in front of a lot of people."

Mark Pratt: "At VBS, the middle group, aged 8-10, was a very large and energetic group. I am at the games station and it was very difficult to corral them to explain rules of games and such. Each station reviews the memory verse and I had a feeling it was not going to be easy to get them all to sit still to read the verse, so I just prayed that somehow they would calm down. As soon as we pulled out the verse they all lined up and were extremely attentive. They all recited the verse together and then by memory! God definitely did that."

Vera Wong: "I didn’t feel prepared for this mission trip as the month leading up to it was hard. My prayer was to trust God in every detail and I’ve seen this answered prayer in so many ways. From providing just the right number of kids for our first VBS so we wouldn’t feel overwhelmed, to having extra supplies to bless other ministries, to having the perfect translator so we were able to share our testimonies or the gospel, to being at the right time and place to share God’s love to a deeply hurting young man. In my weakness, I saw God’s sovereignty and perfect plan at work."

John Mar: "A Prayer request was to be able to share the gospel and I was able to share with a couple of people as well as encouraging believers during eyeglass ministry. Also, the team unity and working together was an answered prayer."

Alex Bigu: "Good progress for the construction crew as well. 2 minor injuries. The concrete forms are finished and more or less ready for cement pouring tomorrow. Fencing panels have been grinded to bare metal, and ready for cleaning and paint. Fencing posts are getting welded on to allow for a 15” extension. New hinges will replace the worn ones. Lord willing, tomorrow we plan on continuing welding the extensions, hinges, hanging the first set of gates, mixing and pouring cement. Today, 4 of the church members came and cleaned out the church basement. Lots of pieces of rotten wood and debris got removed. I am amazed  and thankful for the orchestration of so many different ministries, the flexibility of the team and how the Lord has provided for each of us. That is an answered prayer."

Photos from the day: