I recently visited a Romanian church in Slough, England, not too far from London. This was my second trip at the invitation of our partner in Romania, David McGuire.

A couple of years ago while David and his family were attending a ministry school in England, they connected with the Romanian Church of the Holy Trinity, pastored by Iulian Manea. The church is a great group of believers, mostly young immigrants who love the Lord and are making a new home for themselves in England. They have been very warm and welcoming to us.

Interestingly, they meet in what was a pub inside a Catholic church. The priest told me that the church was founded by Irish immigrants a hundred years ago. The Irish were not welcomed at that time, so they not only founded a church but also a place for their social life; hence, several pubs were located on the premises of the Catholic church.

David taught on Giving, and I spoke on Abiding in Jesus. We also ministered at a larger Romanian church in London where the Lord led me to talk about fearlessness, how God makes it possible for us to live without fear, even the fear of death, though we suffer; this from Hebrews chapter two:

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.” And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil– and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

I also visited a young lady, Jessica, in Rochester who has expressed interest in partnering with Stoneworks. We’ve met a few times, most recently in Albania last summer, and on this trip I was introduced to the pastor of her church. The family of God is very large and diverse, and I was blessed to experience that spiritual unity as we met in the church’s coffee shop: Jessica, a young American woman of color; Ollie, the pastor of the Rochester Baptist church; David, a roofer from the north of England now living in Romania; and me, an 60-ish American man. We had a wonderful time of fellowship.

I’ve been invited to return and speak at several other churches, so perhaps this is a new door for Stoneworks as we continue to expand our areas of service.

(If you’re interested, I have started a podcast called Ask for the Ancient Paths. It can be found on iTunes, Spotify, GooglePlay, Podbean, or wherever you get your podcasts.)

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