During PIEI meeting with missionaries and their families, the focus was on fellowship, encouraging each worker and fostering Christian relationships within their families. The Lord blessed us with a fruitful time for both adults and our children.
As the national director, my main concern was to encourage and equip every missionary so that their message could reach the places where they serve and the people who wholeheartedly seek to love God and His Son, Jesus Christ. As the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:10, „I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.” Therefore, I feel it is my duty to be attentive to what and how I am building, knowing that my work will be tested by the same fire as others.
The theme of my discussions was „Building Healthy Relationships in Family, Church, and Amongst Ourselves,” emphasizing the essential elements that cannot be overlooked. Christian love, communication, and trust are the building blocks of healthy and pure relationships among all those who, as mentioned before, love God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. We find the model of Christian love entirely in the Lord Jesus; nothing more and nothing less – „it is enough for disciples to be like their Teacher,” says the Lord!
Communication goes beyond merely speaking; it reaches its highest level when someone opens their heart completely to their friend, revealing everything without hiding anything. We all agreed that in today’s context, this is not easy, and it is not within everyone’s reach. Nevertheless, we will make efforts, individually, to grow and build our relationships by opening our hearts wide to one another.
We acknowledged the difficulties because our recent history has sown distrust in the hearts of many Romanians. The fear that one’s interlocutor could be an informant has made many fearful, suspicious, and cautious, even though this issue is no longer as prevalent today. We still carry remnants of the past that are not easily shed.
We learn to build healthy relationships and implicitly to trust one another, fulfilling the word that says we should become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Please, include the PIEI-RO missionaries in your prayers. Let our fraternal bond be Biblical and strong, always aware that even though we are in different and distant places, we still serve the same Lord, Jesus Christ!
May the missionaries not be discouraged by challenges but remain steadfast in faith and fidelity to the Lord of all.
Pray that the Lord grants me wisdom and the necessary strength to fulfill my service well.
Be among those who pray, but above all, be among those who seek power to actively engage in the Mission in Romania alongside my fellow PIEI missionaries and many others in the fields of the Gospel!
May the grace from above be upon all those who love the Lord Jesus, including us!
Stanea Timotei – PIEI National Director
