Partners United Thru Christ
Ministry in Eastern Europe
July - August, 2000

Dorothy and I started traveling to Eastern Europe in 1980. Communism was in full swing and the purpose of our ministry was to encourage Christians living in communist Eastern Europe - USSR, Poland, and Romania.

We had been blessed with 4 trips to the USSR, 7 trips to Romania and over 30 trips to Poland. Our last trip to Poland as a couple was in 1992. Dorothy has struggled with illness since then and we thought that perhaps the season for our work in Eastern Europe was completed.

In November of 1999, the Lord began healing Dorothy physically and in the Spring of 2000 we received invitations to return to both Poland and Romania. God provided care for my 92-year-old father as well as the finances for the trip.

Twenty to thirty people attended the daily prayer time before breakfast. After a hearty breakfast there was a time of praising God followed by 90 minutes of teaching. There were small group discussions every other day and also evening meetings every other day. Sundays were free to attend the church of their choice and to rest.

Folks had a choice as to which evening meeting they would attend: family life (the class we taught), Old Testament survey, or sharing your faith with others. All were well attended.

It was exciting to see how God was working. One woman, after hearing how Nehemiah prayed a quick prayer when confronted by the king, said, "I thought we needed to have specific prayer times. I didn't know I could pray at work or anytime."

Greg, who took us out one Sunday, shared, "I never was interested in the Old Testament. Your teaching has shown me how important and practical the Old Testament is. I am going to begin reading it seriously."

When Ania saw how much Nehemiah encouraged and motivated the people, even during the trials and struggles, she came to realize how critical a mother she was and said, "You have given me a great challenge - to be an encourager with my family."

Dorota and her family were enjoying the camp. Her parents came to visit them for 2 days. They attended our meetings and decided to stay 5 days. When her father was challenged to write a letter of appreciation to someone he had taken for granted and never shown any appreciation to, he (a 60+ gentleman) wrote a beautiful letter to his mother-in-law thanking her for the way she had raised his wife. He said to me, "I have never given any thought to thanking her for raising this wonderful woman who is my wife."

While the camp was going really well, God provided some extra blessings for us, not only during the camp but during our remaining days in Poland as well. Families and individuals we had taught during our previous trips to Poland sought us out and shared how our previous teachings had changed their lives. We had no idea we would see these people and it was such an encouragement to see how God has worked and continues to work in their lives.

We learned that people had accepted Jesus as their Lord; been baptized; and had taught Bible studies and youth groups. One family has even gone into full-time ministry and another shared about their evangelistic trips to Russia, and how in 6 years, when their sons are finished with their schooling they will be moving to Russia as evangelists. They also shared how they led a Ukrainian doctor to Jesus and he went home and shared the Gospel message with his whole family and they all now worship the Lord together.

Peter and Ileana gave us a tour of the villages they have been working in the past 5 years. In some villages they restored existing church buildings. In other villages they acquired property, built a prayer house, and then donated it to the Baptist Union. There are three primary denominations in Romania - Baptist, Pentecostals and Romanian Orthodox. Since the freedoms have come, other denominations have planted churches, but they tend to be in the larger cities. There doesn't seem to be much work being done in the villages. This makes Peter and Ileana's work especially valuable and they seem to have a positive working relationship with the Baptist Union.

Romanians are typically very traditional and are often slow to change. We noticed this especially in the villages and smaller cities. Traditions continue to be even more important than God's Word. Paul was invited to address 30 pastors one day and challenged them to encourage and to affirm their wives and children. At the conclusion of the teaching he distributed writing paper and envelopes and challenged the pastors to write a letter of love and encouragement to their wives. He said he never saw so many people resist something "new." About half the group actually wrote their letters during the time allotted. This same group however, has expressed interest in having us return next year to do a retreat for pastors and their wives.

Our next stop was the Hateg area, where we've spent most of our time during our previous trips. Nick, pictured below, pastors 7 village churches. On Friday night he had Paul preach in one of the churches. The place was packed. We were so encouraged because out of 8 regular church services that Paul preached at, this was the only one where 1/3 of the congregation were under 18 years of age. It was a joy to see 20-30 children and teens at the service. Following the service, Pastor Nick invited people to stay another hour for a teaching on family life, which we did, as a couple. We were blessed as 70% of the folks stayed. We taught on being an encourager. Following the question and answer time, a man stood up and said, "This is wonderful, but we only had a taste (60 minutes with translation), we need more, when will you return?"

In both Poland and Romania we learned that our teaching tapes from past trips are being aired on Christian radio programs. What an encouragement.

From Hateg we went to Pitesti, a city of 200,000. We stayed with friends and on Tuesday evening we went to the prayer meeting at an Evangelical (Brethren) church. What a surprise to see 150 people at a weeknight prayer meeting. Paul was asked to preach twice - first for 20 minutes on prayer which was followed by 30 minutes of prayer (those able knelt for the entire 30 minutes).

While we were encouraged to see the positive spiritual growth, we were saddened by the economic situation of Romania. Unlike Poland, Romania seems worse off since the revolution. Unemployment is high; salaries are low; hepatitis is wide spread; and villagers still need to haul water to their homes from a common well up to 3 or 4 blocks from their homes.

Peter and Ileana shared that in Resita, where they live, all the city water is still turned off for 2 weeks in the summer and all hot water is turned off daily from 10 PM to 7 AM. Going from Poland to Romania was like going back in time 50 years. In the villages, horse and oxen drawn wagons are more common than cars. Because cows, sheep, and geese wander through the villages and rain has been scarce, every place was dusty and dirty.

Our hearts went out to these people because so many had no hope in their country's future. It is a great evangelistic field because so many do not know Jesus. The living standard and conditions for the majority of the people are worse than when under communism.

The good news is that churches are being built. Seminaries are producing pastors and there is a spiritual void that is being filled. Praise God.

Thank you for your prayers and support to make this trip a wonderful and blessed reality. We were gone for 40 days and taught or preached 48 times.

In His Love,
Paul & Dorothy Krempl

For those of you that support Peter and Ileana Pincu we wanted to share these further facts.

1. They have been faithful to spend the money given for special projects as indicated. Sometimes they even use their own small salary to meet the needs of people. We saw the washer/dryer machines and stove at the orphanage. We met the girl that had the operation, who is now healthy again. We saw all the farm equipment that has been purchased.
   
   
2. There are three pressing needs that are on Peter and Ileana's heart. Before they return to the States, at the end of October or beginning of November, for the winter they would like to:
   
   
   1. Pay the workers the rest of the money due for the construction of the church in Cirnecca. They owe them $1,000.
      
      
   2. Purchase the house/land in the village of Fiurgiova. There is no church in this village and this is the only house/land available. The house would have to be destroyed and then a church can be built on the property. There is a good well on the land. They would need $1,000 to make the purchase and pay state fees. There is no guarantee the property will be available in the Spring when they return.
      
      
   3. To protect the farm equipment from the elements, they would like to build a storage building. Land has been donated but there is no money to build.

We believe some of you have received a letter from Peter and Ileana addressing these issues. But, the Lord put it on our heart to write this extra note to you and to share the pictures we took on our trip.

If the Lord puts it on your heart to send an extra gift to help with these pressing needs, please earmark your gift "Romanian building fund."

Peter and Ileana now have e-mail in their home. If you want to contact them directly their address is: pincup@cs.ro

Today we received an e-mail from the Pincus. They are rejoicing because a seminary student from Bucharest is willing to come twice a month to serve the five churches they pastor while they are in the States for the winter.

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