The summer that just past had brought us many challenges and blessings. God continued to show us how much He cares for us and for the people we minister to.

As we already told in our previous letters, we had in the beginning of this summer some people, who represents the Pentecostal Gypsy Union, coming to Calatele , because they heard that there has started a gypsy fellowship and that we don’t have a place to meet. They came and did a evangelism program there in the village, and promised the gypsies that they would come and build them a church building, a day center and a school. Also one of these men, promised Fery, our gypsy brother that they will build a house for him, too. Not knowing them, we were a little reluctant at first, because we didn’t know anything about what they have exactly in their mind and also the doctrine they believe in. This event worked out many challenges for us. At first it provoked a wave a envies among the gypsies from the other village we minister in. They became upset on us because they believed we don’t care for them since we didn’t bring anybody there to make them such promises. They refuse to come to church, thinking that in this way they punish us. We were deeply hurt, and had to really entrust the work on God’s hands. Short after this the entire village moved up in the mountains where they camp for the mushroom season. The next week we went up there for our church service, thinking that for sure again we’ll have only the two old people who continued to come (Lucretia and her husband, Florea). When we arrived there we set down on the grass in the middle of the camp, and very soon we were surrounded by almost all the people from the village. We started to talk telling them we only can come and preach them the Gospel, we have nothing else to offer them. After a long discution , we all could sit down and pray, worship the Lord and learn from His Word. After this, week after week, the gypsies from this village continue to come all together to worship the Lord together.

In Calatele, after the gypsies heard that the guys who came promised that they are going to build a house for Fery, they were too full of envies and said that they don’t want to come there anymore, because they said that they don’t want to help Fery to have a house, because the promised was maid conditioned by the fact that he would allow to have in this house the church meetings, until the church building would be finished. Now we have only three- four people coming to our fellowship on regular basis. We are trusting that the Lord again would save the situation.

After all this challenges, the people who came and did all these promises never contacted us again, we called them once to see what are their plans, and they said they would call us in five minutes. It past about two months and they never called back, nether answer to our phone call. It was an answer to our prayer, that if it is not from the Lord, to be stopped. We can’t make promises to these poor gypsies, but we continue to show up every week in their village and to tell them the promises of God.

As you know for the last year we rented a gypsy house in Sacuieu to use it for the church building. Last month the gypsies who owned the house came back from Spain and took back the house, and also before they left back in Spain they locked our church benches in their house, telling to the other gypsies if we would try to open the door and take them, they would call the police and say they we broke their house. We are praying that the Lord would provide another location to rent or resources to purchaise a location for our church services, since now the rainy season started and is no way we can meet outdoor anymore.

We are thankful to God and to all who contributed to bless us with finances for a reliable car. We are praying now for God’s direction towards what should we do, to use the money we receive to get new parts for the old car we have, or to try to find a better car to buy. Please pray together with us for this issue.

We also want to thank you all for all your support, and prayer and words of encouragement.  Please continue to pray that we would be strengthen to continue His work here, and that God would rise up gypsy men in the communities that reach out to their relatives together with us.

Our children started the school this week, and our prayer is that they would set an example for their friends and teachers in school, and not be influenced by the unbelievers.

May God be with you all, and bless you today!

Nicu&Silvana Hagiu