Fourth Quarter 2024 Update

Dear friends, members, brothers in Christ,

In our last communication at the end of September we were reporting how enthusiastic we were for the summer camps that had just ended and how excited we were for the important event that would take place shortly thereafter in our Chedes Agape Center in Romania.

It is from this last event that our update for the last quarter of 2024 will begin.

Baptisms – October 6th

Orazio and David Ferrante of Bethesda, together with the entire board of Chedes Agape participated in the great celebration for the baptisms of four youth: Gabi, Alex, Madalina and Andrei. The first three, faithful attendees of the Saturday Kids’ Club from a very young age, the fourth, a boy from a neighboring village.

This made us extremely proud of the fact that we never stopped preaching the Gospel to the youngest (during the regular meetings of the Saturday Kids’ Club); but of course the important part was done by the Lord who protected them over time and guided their hearts to believe and be witnesses of their faith through baptism.

It was a day of great celebration with several evangelical churches and Christians present to rejoice with these young people. There were young people and leaders, pastors, all joyful about this wonderful moment, but what touched our hearts the most were the words of the ones who were baptized. You can read the testimonies of Gabi and Madalina which they have decided to share publicly.

Saturday Kids’ Club

In September we resumed the regular meeting of the Saturday Kids’ Club. Andrei and Naomi, current custodians of the Chedes Agape center, are also in charge of continuing this project and they truly do it with dedication. They have a real passion for the children and the young people in the area and want to involve them more and more in this activity.

The program takes place on Saturdays for several hours, to have as much time as possible, and we bring children from the neighboring villages of Rebricea to our Center.

The program includes time for singing, playing, arts and crafts and above all biblical teaching.

At the end there is always a time in which we offer a substantial meal to all the children, who are always very happy, especially because they are with other kids.

After school

The second year of after-school activities in our Center has just begun. This weekly event allows dozens of children to take advantage of the scholastic and educational support offered by the Iași teachers’ association that we host at our Center. The echo of the work we are doing is

spreading to the neighboring villages and more and more families are deciding to send their children to be supported properly.

It is a very intense time in which, as Miriam and Alber Ciobanu tell us, all the dramas of the poorest families emerge, in which education is the least of their worries. Thanks to God and with the strength and determination of these Christian men and women, this sad reality is changing, and we begin to see the enthusiasm of a new hope and above all, those who had no prospects for a better life, begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Certainly, the evangelical influence in the lessons gives true hope to these children and their families. We are very happy about this, because it allows us to understand that the Lord is working and bearing fruit in the work he has entrusted to us.

Winter campaign

As every year, this year we started the winter fundraising campaign on December 1st. The response was truly beyond our expectation.

In just one month we raised funds to reach more than 400 children and their families located mainly in the Rebricea area (where our Chedes Agape Center is located) to donate gift packages and food items.

In addition, we visited the schools in the area and we presented our projects for the Center. We took the opportunity of the festive period in which one is more open to listening to the story of the birth of Jesus and we spoke about the Hope of the Gospel in a very direct and effective way.

In addition to the area near our Center, this year we have also supported our collaborators in the Bacau area where Leon Crismariu and Cornel Pascu and their families along with the church in Onesti carry out truly exceptional work within the gypsy communities that they have been caring for, for years.

The campaign will continue throughout January, and we intend to continue to support families in difficulty with food parcels, clothing and any other possible support.

Visiting churches and conferences

This year we visited more than ten churches and participated in two conferences.

This has given us the opportunity to continue to spread the projects and vision of the work we carry out in Romania. For 2025 we have planned many other visits and presentations. A special thanks goes to:

Churches: Sesto Calende, La Spezia, Ravenna, Guidonia, Parma, Bologna, Verona, Palermo, Salerno, Spinetta Marengo, Udine
Conferences: UCBC, WEC

Donors

We would like to honor with a special mention all the donors who have decided to support us regularly even with small but very precious sums.

Receiving regular donations allows us to be able to plan, and possibly expand, the activities we would like to carry out in Romania, which as you can imagine have a cost.

Several families and churches have made commitments for certain periods or for specific projects. If you are interested in knowing how and how much you can contribute regularly and for which activities, contact us!

SMT (Short Missionary Trips)

We are very happy to announce that we have started the SMT (Short Missionary Trips) project. We want to give a missionary experience to all Christians who feel they want to help and want to experience 3-4 days of spiritual and humanitarian full immersion.

We plan one trip a month to bring as many people as possible to visit our Chedes Agape Center and be able to spend some days on a “mission” with us, experiencing first-hand what is needed in these areas. It is a truly affordable trip and a way to serve even if only for a long weekend dedicated to the Lord’s work. If you are interested contact us!

5×1000 2023: water supply Chedes Agape Center

With great pleasure we can announce that the funds received from 5×1000 (voluntary contribution from revenue in filing taxes) in 2023 have been used to provide water for our Center. As we have previously told you, the recent dry winters and the very hot summers have caused quite a

few problems with the water supply needed to carry out our programs at the Center.

Thanks to these funds, we have dug a well and provided the center with a 3000 liter tank that will be able to supply enough water during the summer. Once again, a huge thank you to all those who donated their 5×1000 to Bethesda while filing their tax returns.

Happy New Year 2025!

Last but not least, we want to wish you a 2025 full of blessings, continuous prayer and commitment to the work that the Lord has entrusted to us in Romania-Moldova.

In 2024 we saw many good things happen, which have filled our hearts, but we have many that we would like to start in 2025. Let us therefore ask the Lord to be with us, give us strength and material possibilities to be able to implement them, remembering that whatever we do is for his Glory!

God bless you!