“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11).

Greetings to you in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, the Lord Jesus Christ! We thank the Lord for giving us some special partners in our work for Romania.

One of them is WBCL, a Christian radio station in Indiana. Last month the director, Char Binkley, interviewed us, Stephen in the studio and Genovieva on the phone from Israel. The station made an appeal for winter coats, boots, shoes, hats, gloves and scarves as in previous years for the children of Romania.

The response from the listeners was phenomenal and 35,897 brand-new items were collected, besides financial donations for the work in Iaşi. We are so thankful to the Lord and to the many listeners who gave so generously. Two forty-foot containers will be shipped to Romania later this summer and will arrive before the cold weather comes. These items will be distributed to families who lost their homes in recent floods as well as to the children we support regularly. Many very poor children will be reached with the love of Jesus.

Another partner the Lord has brought into our work is Pastor Eric Nordin and All God’s Children Church in Delaware. Eric takes groups from his church to visit the work in Iaşi on a regular basis at their own expense. Many of the church members also sponsor children who eat at our canteens.

Eric and his family visited our work in Romania in April and were a great encouragement to the children and staff. They have been a blessing to our work over the last few years and have had an important part in the Cantina El Roi construction project.These are just two examples of those the Lord has used to support the work in Romania. We are also very thankful to many others who support our work, whether financially or in prayer.

We continue to feed about three hundred children a day at Cantina Betel in Iaşi, Cantina El Shaddai in Tomeşti and Cantina Adonai in Târgu Frumos. Cantina El Roi will take the children from Cantina Betel as soon as it is finished. The prices in Romania have increased considerably over the past few months and at the same time the dollar continues to lose value. This means that the cost of sponsorship of $25.00 (£17.00) per child per month now only covers 70% of the cost of providing meals for the children
each day. The other 30% is made up by general funds, so general gifts for the canteens would be much appreciated.

The International School of Ministry video-based Bible training course, which started in October 2004, recently finished its first eighteen-month cycle. Nineteen students graduated and all of them got good grades. Classes will start again in the autumn with new groups of students.

We want to establish a Messianic congregation in Iaşi for the children we feed at the canteens and their families. Please pray with us as we begin the search for a Romanian-speaking pastor who will teach the Bible and explain the Jewish roots of the faith.

Here in Israel we are truly in the midst of the nations. We hear several languages spoken in the streets of Tiberias whenever we go out. We have had visitors from Canada, England, France, Malaysia, Romania, Russia, South Africa and the United States as well as from other parts of Israel. Some of them are Jews whom we have helped make “aliyah”— to put in applications for Israeli citizenship.

We are thankful for the studio apartment where we have lived for the last two years, but we need more room for the developing work. We need space for offices and a guest room and kitchen for the work of hospitality. We never owned property in the States, but now we would like to buy a house in Israel.

It would serve as our mission base for the years to come. So far, we have saved $18,000 (£12,000) for this purpose. If you would like to add to this account, we will praise the Lord for you every day!

Genovieva got the results of the “Ulpan” Hebrew exam, which she took in February. She got 79% level “Bet” (intermediate) for the written exam and 75% level “Gimel” (second highest) for the oral exam. She received a certificate that she completed 500 hours of formal Hebrew study. She continues with a less intensive course two days a week. When she finishes this second Hebrew course in July, she will start work translating the best of Jewish Messianic worship music into Romanian. Stephen is in Israel
most of the year now and spends much of his time working at home on the computer for Romania, as well as on writing stories with Genovieva.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.