Summer '25

     Summertime means summer camps and vacation Bible school, and while these are big enough to speak about, God has been working through our every week services in an incredible way! A few people that our church has been praying for received Christ as their Saviour, and it has been so encouraging to see their new excitement in coming each week or wanting to help out and participate in all that they can. One thing that we have been teaching and praying about is Baptism in how it is a step of obedience that does not need to be prolonged until older. After our assistant pastor’s daughter was saved and baptized at just 6 years old, each week we heard of more and more teenagers that have been asking about this truth from the Bible and were interested in doing the same. The first Sunday of August, we had 4 of them get baptized! And another answered prayer has been new visitors at a few of our special events!

     Since my last newsletter, we have had a youth conference, a ladies night, a church cookout, a kids day camp, and two summer camps. I like telling the theme of some of these because it gives you an idea of what the messages or devotions were like. And of course during camp, we are always trying to get the teenagers to speak more about what they were learning. During the first camp, the theme was what it means to be alive in Christ with the messages also including how we as Christians can commit more to Him. During the second camp, the theme was the different clothes of Joseph, learning about the characteristics that helped him through low status and high status. 

     I debated about sharing this next information, but my church in Timisoara is grieving the loss of a young man, Daniel Calin, age 25. Ever since the war started in Ukraine, he had a burden for these people and invested a lot of his time connecting with them both through the missionaries still in Ukraine and the several families that moved to Romania. That burden grew to be focused on the soldiers on the frontline who may not have heard of the gospel before. He grew up as a missionary kid here in Romania, and this call was no different to Him. For God to say there is just one soul I want you to witness to, Daniel was willing to go. He left for training in April of this year, but just on Monday, July 21 his base was attacked by an air strike. We held a memorial service for him, but if you could please be in prayer for his wife, Denisa; parents, Stefan and Sandra; and siblings, Daniela, Ben, and Gabi, especially while they are waiting to hear when his body can be returned.

     Other prayer requests include preparations for this next semester of college and for our next adult English club both starting in September. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

In Christ, 

Olivia West