Summer 2021

Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. (Psalm 15:1-3)

The Lord has been speaking to me about the importance of integrity in the life of a Christian. Unfortunately, we live in a world where the word integrity is used with little or no thought of its importance, much less its deep spiritual implications. In these verses alone we can immediately identify three characteristics of integrity that should be in the life of every believer: He or she walks blamelessly and upright, speaks truth rather than slander, and does no evil toward his neighbor. Can this be said of you? Are you striving to live a life of integrity?

Furlough Preparations

The month of April and the first week of May were filled with making furlough preparations at home and at church. In the midst of our planning, we had the opportunity to spend a week together as a team with our families in a beautiful part of northeastern Romania not far from Suceava. We also celebrated Easter during the first weekend in May. The Lord allowed our team to minister in two Romanian churches the weekend before and after Easter with the oldest teen girls from our youth group in Luncsoara. Amber was a part of this group as well, and they worked hard rehearsing the music for several weeks leading up to the holiday. They sounded wonderful together!

Amber also needed to pack her belongings as she does not know when she will be able to return to Romania. We likewise needed to arrange for housing for our dog, Peanut, and take care of annual tax documents for our association. One last item before we left was to pick up our new visa cards from the immigration office, which will enable us to enter the country regardless of the state of the pandemic next year.

Ministry Update

Shortly after our return to the US on May 13, we were thrilled to learn of two salvation decisions! Ramona, Tarzan's wife, had been making plans to leave Romania to work in Denmark this summer. We were concerned about Tarzan being alone in his current condition, but we also knew she was the only one who could work. When it became clear she was still planning to leave, we urged her to not ignore her need of salvation. God worked in her heart, and she now knows Him as her Savior!

Madalina is a young mother who has been dealing with heart problems and now possibly an issue in her brain. She has been attending church frequently, and we likewise urged her to not delay receiving Christ. She has also prayed to be saved!

We have begun our furlough meetings, and it has been good to be with those who have a heart for Romania and want to learn how they can better pray and be involved. Pray for us as we travel that the Lord would use us and that we would redeem our time during furlough to minister and to rest when possible.

Striving to live a life of integrity in service to our Lord!

Dave, Ruth, Celeste, and Amber

Family News

Our focus this furlough is getting Amber ready for college, now just a little over month! But before we left Romania, we had a chance to celebrate her achievements academically as she graduated from high school with honors. Amber will be attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she plans to major in East Asian Languages and Cultures. Her focus will be on studying Japanese with the goal of living and working there one day. She has participated in several online orientation meetings and completed all her registration tasks virtually. One more To-Do before college is learning to drive. Pray that Amber will be able to get more time behind the wheel over the next few weeks and take her exam before she reports to Miami on August 17.

We are enjoying being in Cedarville, Ohio this furlough as it allows us to be near Celeste and her boyfriend, Ben. We often see them after work in the evening or on their days off.