Hope Church Draganesti-Olt, Romania

and

SGSO ministry
of people for prayer. He generated a spirit of serving in the "Hope" church, within churches in Alba Iulia and even the surroundings. I saw brothers who made financial sacrifices and especially the joy of my heart- evangelism to hundreds of people: rich and poor, politicians and friends and young and old. Of course I cannot yet know all the effects of this ministry, but I can at least see changes in our church neighbors, Doru and Ion. They have a growing interest for The Gospel, a desire to read the Word and a willingness to participate in church programs. I call on you to pray for them! Pray for them to get to know the Lord! So while my heavenly father put in my mind his plan for the next year- "a year of harvest" Since its beginning the purpose of SGSO Ministry was to fulfill the spiritual needs (through evangelism and discipleship) and physical (through various social projects), earlier this month, we had a visiting team from Jonesboro, Georgia, led by Pastor Lanny Loe. We reached our goal through evangelization of hundreds of people, team building and fellowship meeting of missionarys wives. The social project we organized had a tremendous impactblessing so many that the effects of those days bringing fruit". And even if the text refers to the sacrifice of Jesus, the principle of sacrifice or suffering before harvest remains.

Draganesti-Olt Costea Raul

The Bible says "... we are the work of Your hands .... We do not only do His work but we are also His work. Being involved in coordinating and daily discipleship, managing and administering, I realized that God was working inside me in new dimensions of His will. My passion is forming people in the image of Christ and in all this time, the same image, was forming also in me. In His agenda for me, God had the Biblical administrations of personal suffering, which was accomplished by the sudden death of my father.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

God worked in me, but also in those around me. He mobilized hundreds, maybe even thousands

He prepared me by taking away my earthly father. "The grain of wheat must die before

we still see today. We pray that people may see how God touches their lives in different forms.

My prayer and also my invitation to you are to be His workers this year.

Pray for SGSO workers to be wholehearted in His harvest for 2014.

Costea Alexe- Comani

We had a busy and painful month. We joyfully started this month, as we finished putting the boards on the roof, installing the heating and we were preparing to put on the ceiling. On December 1st, Gabi, Ionut and I we visited Alba Iulia City. We attended The National Youth Conference organized by the Baptist Church Citadel. On December 7th, we had an evangelistic event and Brother Lanny Loe from Atlanta, Georgia was invited. On this occasion we blessed twenty families with food for the holidays and they could feel God's love through this caring act. Weve had situations where people have cried, because they did not have anything to put on their tables. On December 12th, my father had called saying he was willing to come help me with the construction of the church. Although I said no, because I was tired to work, he insisted and came. We decided to work in the attic. In an inexplicably way, my father fell down between two beams and after a fatal impact with the ground, he has gone into eternity. I quickly run down crying out. He gave his last breath in my arms. This tragic accident affected me and my family emotionally. Thanks to all who have been with us and still are. His funeral had a great impact in the lives of his close friends from his political activities. His last words preached by Raul had shaken the hearts of those who were present. We were also visited by brothers from Hope Baptist Church in Sibiu for an evening of carols. Despite the fact that the pain ripped our hearts, we continued to worship the Lord even in these circumstances of our lives. We had a children's program in the church building and more than 160 children received Christmas gifts. Prayer requests: -wisdom in doing always God's will -seed that was thrown among people to bear fruit -wisdom for the activities within children ministry -a minibus -the salvation of our children: Miriam, Priscilla, Joshua and Peter -for the souls who regularly attend church to know the Lord -personal prayer: to know God's agenda for me in 2014

Opris Daniel- Draganesti-Olt, Coteana

Together, with my wife and some brothers, we went on over ten visits to individuals and families who are not saved. For some of these families, the message was no one can come to The Father except through The Son. We visited two families that we have never been to before. At the end of the meeting, some of those who were visited prayed following a prayer from a brother. In general, those who were visited were paying attention to our message. This is an open door to visit them next time. We continued to have meetings on Saturday with local believers, a few neighbors and some relatives of them as well. I noticed the need to talk about tithing. From their prayers at the end of the meeting I saw that God had been working in their lives. A brother has the possibility to give, but he needs to do with the right intentions and with discipline. God is working in the lives of the unsaved that come to our meeting. When there was transportation available, some of them came to Hope Church in Drgnesti. We went Christmas caroling along with a group of children to their parents' homes. It was a joy to praise The One who was born in a manger in Bethlehem and to share The Good News with these people. I spoke personally with some of these children. I purposely presented The Gospel asking them easy questions trying to help them realize that sin can separate us from God. A little girl wrote on a piece of paper that she was happy that we came to the group and hat she was able to spend time with us. May the Holy Spirit touch their hearts! I wish you a new fruitful year in our Lord and Savior Jesus!

Dorothy Reid- Draganesti-Olt, Calinesti

In November while visiting the widows, a woman met me at the gate and in desperation asked if I had any advice for her as her husband's drinking was causing great distress to her and her 3 handicapped brothers that she cares for after her mother died. So it was an answer to prayer this month when brother Danut, along with his wife Lidia, were able to come with me to deliver groceries to the widows in Calinesti and then visit this family. To our surprise, and the family's joy, they told us it was Marian's Birthday. I was so glad God had led us to put some extra good things in the bag like chocolate and fruit though we'd had no idea. But God did :-) The whole family listened Pastor Raul has been encouraging us to make disciples and to invite others to start a Bible study that will help them grow in knowing God and His Word. Since September, through a sister in our church, I made acquaintance with a young believer, Niculina, in Farcasele who suffers from severe asthma. She was eager to begin and though it is difficult for her to see and to breathe, she looks For weeks the children worked on a special craft for the widows and on Saturday, December 21 they took their gifts and went caroling to the widows in Radomiresti and Craciunei. My heart was moved to see the joy in the childrens' faces as they sang and gave without asking or expecting Please pray that God will do something that only He can do for this family and that Gheorghe will be saved and made new. Our Saturday club decided to do something different this year in place of a Christmas program at the church. Our theme has been "it is more blessed to give than to receive" and that "Christ did not come to be served, but to serve." attentively as Danut shared up and reads the Bible his story of the deliverance and transformation Christ brought into his life. verses with great enthusiasm and carefully writes down the answers. anything in return.

Corabia- Dumitru Mircea

We started December by visiting six people. Our goal was to encourage them and help try to meet some of their material needs. Dan and Mirela Gulu, one of the families we visited, surprised us by their testimony. In November they were ready to divorce, but after a meeting they had with us the family had changed. Their words were the issues we had have been solved and we believe it will continue with Gods help. I continued the discipleship meetings with Florin and Alexandru. This month I had a meeting with a During the winter holidays, with God's help, we were able to bring joy to over 50 children through the gifts from Samaritan's Purse. young man, who was one of my disciples 18 years ago. This encouraged me and it was confirmed to me that discipleship is the surest way for spiritual growth. This is why I was encouraged to continue leading the Bible study with these two young men, even if the results are not easily seen. We also continued the meetings in our home, where every Sunday we worship the Lord. (10-14 people) 2. Prayer Requests: 1. Resources for renting a space for Sunday worship. Finding 6 people who would be people of peace and that they would host our meetings during the week. There were two groups of carol singers; one group from Craiova, with brothers Doug and Dan Vieru and the other group came from Sebes. We caroled to an old peoples home, to 15 families in Corabia, a family from Brastravu and to 8 families from Tia Mare.

Maruntei Berechet Octavian

December has been a month full of blessings, both spiritual and material . In the village of Maruntei, we particularly enjoyed the visit of brothers from Atlanta who came with brother Lanny. With them, we organized several visits and had the opportunity to present the Good News. To those we visited, we give each of them a bag with food. Those who were visited were invited to take part in an evangelistic event held on the same day. A special event this month was giving gifts from Samaritan's Purse. Around 100 children from Maruntei and Drgnesti received a gift with this occasion- Christmas. Besides all these great blessings from God, we are also happy to see how He calls men to follow Him. I say this because this month I was glad to see a total of 12 people who asked to come to the Thanks for your involvement and may God bless you! church and to seek the Lord. We pray that God may work among both children and their parents to give them a strong desire for Him. We pray for other workers with a heart for this area. God, who has all the resources, will take care of His work!

Stoenesti- Serban George

Blessed be God who is with us, as He promised ! This fact was felt the entire month- that He was with us in everything we did for His kingdom. Right at the beginning, we had evangelistic events almost in every location of our mission. During the day we would visit people, talking with them and inviting them to come hear the Word of God. In the evening we met in different locations. After the meeting in Stoenesti, a few people showed their desire to know more about God, so I started to have meetings with them every week. Glory to the Lord! We pray that they may be the fruit of the sufferings of Christ! west and north parts of the country. Our goal was to present the need for missionary involvement in Oltenia. In Oradea, I had the opportunity to preach to a class of students. After this meeting some expressed their desire to come in Oltenia to help the mission work. It happened this December through the visit of these students. With them we visited several poor families and they served within the childrens group by teaching Christmas carols. We are praying for these young people to continue to be open to do mission and to understand God's will for their lives. We celebrated Christmas through remembering the wonderful gift God has given us, Jesus, His Son. these villages. We organized special events where children and their parents have attended. Pray for the Gospel to penetrate these villages and to bring deliverance to peoples souls! In Stoenesti, there was an organized festivity where children were prepared with verses about the Nativity of the Lord and Christmas carols. At this festivity, their parents took part in a fairly large number. As a guest we had a brother pastor from Bucharest, Emanuel Dejeu. He preached The Word and explained it very clearly. May the words they hear to bring them hope and to want to follow Jesus every day! I tried to stay close to Pastor Raul in his grief. His father, from Alba Iulia visited him and one day he went to help Rauls brother, Alexe in Comani. Working in the construction of the church, he felt from the attic and died. We pray for Raul and Alexes families that God may comfort them and help them to get through this difficult time. May God bring peace in their hearts! We believe He can do it! We believe that God can comfort the most despairing souls, because He is the answer to every situation. We would like to thank you for being with us in 2013 and we ask God's blessing over this next New Year. With love, our family George, Dana, Sara and Lidia

We were visited by a group of students from Oradea. At the end of October, with a few missionaries in our area, we made a trip to the

We gave gifts to the children in the villages we work in: Gostavatu, Farcasele and Perieti. It was an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel in

Comani-Mark and Darvell Florina

has a plan for each of us. We are looking for methods to encourage the children to memorize and Together with Veronica Costea, we continued the scheduled meetings with children who come to the childrens' program. This month we completed another cycle of five lessons on the life of Moses, and we are going to have a small contest for summarizing the teachings. The idea of the whole lesson was that God keep writing Bible verses. I bought notebooks for each child and they will receive points and awards for the verses they will memorize and for keeping the notebook in a good condition. I continued the Bible study meetings with two women, Maria and Nuti in their homes. Maria said that she On the occasion of Christmas, I made visits to several families with other brothers from America who have visited us this year. On their behalf, we gave those who were visited a bag of food. At each visit we read We are glad to serve our Lord here! was eager to see what we were going to discover in the study we had. It was new to her that according to the Bible she is not a Christian, especially as she believed that she was. something from the Bible and we prayed for the families. People were open for us to visit them next time or to receive different invitations, as they were also very happy by the generosity and love that they were given a free bag with food- in the name of Jesus.

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