Advent Reflections

Nazarenes on the Eurasia Region share their Christmas memories and reflections in the November/December edition of Holiness Today.


Monica Boseff, pastor, Bucharest, Romania
My favorite Christmas story goes back to the revolution days in 1989. The former dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife were tried and executed on December 25 that year. Their people were puzzled and angry, shooting everything and everybody. I was at the emergency hospital in Bucharest where I had gone two days before, wanting to help in the best way I knew. Late at night, the lights had to be turned off for security reasons and we had to remain wherever we were in the hospital, in pitch darkness. Some were whispering, some were snoozing. Suddenly, someone said "Hush. Listen—something's wrong!" We all froze. Then we realized someone was playing a radio. It was softly playing Christmas carols—something we had not heard in 18 years. We cried tears of joy.

Southeastern Europe Changes Leadership

Jay Sunberg to Begin As Field Strategy Coordinator in January

Eurasia Region––After nearly five years serving Southeastern Europe (SEE) as Field Strategy Coordinator, Joel and Sara Mullen will be transferring to the Western Mediterranean Field to resume ministry in Italy, where they first began working with Eurasia when they joined the region in 2001. Beginning on 1 January, the role of Field Strategy Coordinator for SEE will be filled by Jay Sunberg, who, with his wife Teanna and four daughters, have been missionaries to Bulgaria for more than 10 years.

Source: Where Worlds Meet – Year 5, Issue 10 - November 2008

Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary Partner in Church Planting Consultation

Razgrad, Bulgaria––Cristi Boseff doesn’t like games. He especially dislikes serious games. So when the Romanian pastor and 40 others were split into teams to play one during a weekend gathering for church planters from Eastern Europe, he wasn’t excited. “I thought I was going to be bored to death,” said Boseff, pastor of the Blessing Church in Bucharest, Romania. “But it was very unexpected. God works in unexpected ways.”

The game: plant a church in the fictional Eastern European country of Lower Slabobia, in and around a city named Sikigrad. Every five minutes that passed represented a month in the life of the game. Teams were required to make decisions on deadlines, create budgets and develop ministry plans for their churches. Like life, the game brought changes such as budget adjustments and natural disasters for the teams to work through.

“Everyone was looking at me,” said Boseff, who was chosen as the leader for his team, “and I said, ‘God I am looking at you.’ Things came into order, in a way I can’t explain now. Without realizing, we started to come up with a plan.”

It was a group of nearly 40 church planters and leaders from Bulgaria (24), Romania (5) and Hungary (8) playing the four-hour game, which capped off a gathering in Razgrad, Bulgaria from 22-24 September. The weekend included discussions on how specific Eastern European pastors handle finances, facilities, church planting, etc. in their respective churches, and enabled the group to share about their common experiences.

This unity carried into the game: with representatives from all three countries mixed on each team, many expected a significant challenges between languages, experiences and cultural perspectives. Still, people found that their own life experiences pushed them to take the game seriously, and began utilizing one another’s gifts to create a plan for the church.

“We forgot it was a game,” said one woman, who nurtures several village churches near Stubel, Bulgaria. “We were ready to really go and plant a church in this town.”

“I was very impressed in the midst of the work,” said another participant. “We were different, we were from different languages, but when the team started to work, I think the unity was more important than anything. Everybody understood what everyone else had to do. And we learned that where God is, there is faith, love and action.”

By the end of the weekend, the group developed a church-planting covenant of 12 principles that everyone agreed to use as a guide for their pastoral ministries.

It affirms a passionate, prayer-centered, team approach to ministry. It stresses the importance of creativity and moving toward interdependence.

The covenant helped voice an uncharacteristic unity for countries that have seen so much tension and conflict. Participants say they gained new perspectives on church planting, and felt connected to one another through common experiences.

Though the game was a theoretical experience, it was designed to reflect reality.

In that case, Boseff’s experience with the game speaks to increasing hope in Southeastern Europe.

“We had a small amount of money, we had God on our side, and we had a church in an unknown place,” said Boseff. “That was our beginning.”

Source: Where Worlds Meet – Year 5, Issue 10 - November 2008. Reprinted in NCN News, Wednesday, Nov. 12.

On August 24th the Meador family will be leaving Romania for a three month medical leave of absence. We want to thank you for your continued prayer and support as we seek care for Cindy's health issues and discern God's direction for our lives. Please pray for spiritual growth for the people and work of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania.

Tigmandru Baptism

We just returned from Tigmandru where Pastor Roberta Bustin baptised four believers in a lake near the village. Rev. Norman Patterson and I assisted her. After the baptism we enjoyed a grilled sausage picnic together. I preached in Sighisoara on Sunday morning where I shared some of the signs of a great church: a community of people who need God, obey him, worship him and speak boldly for him - (based on the church of Acts chapter two).

Click here to view more photos.

Source: Scott, Cindy, & Olivia in Romania

Roberta's Ordination

On Thursday, June 19, 2008, at the North Arkansas District Assembly, Dr. Roberta Bustin was ordained an elder in the Church of the Nazarene. Roberta has served for the past 11 years as a volunteer missionary in Sighişoara, Romania, pastoring the Sighişoara Church of the Nazarene. Six years ago, she helped plant a church in Ţigmandru (read more), a village about 15 miles from Sighişoara. Roberta now pastors both churches.

As a missionary, Roberta has maintained her church membership at her home church on the North Arkansas District, while pursuing ordination. When I discovered the North Arkansas District Assembly was just over 3 hours from Kansas City, I invited friends of Roberta to send cards to my address, which I would deliver personally. She received cards from friends around the world. Paula (Cini) Creely (who grew up in the Sighişoara church and now lives with her husband and infant son in Pennsylvania) decided to fly to Kansas City with her 11-month old and travel with me, Nancy Cantrell, and Chris Strickland to surprise Roberta.

Needless to say, Roberta was surprised. We spent time visiting with Roberta (as well as members of her family and life-long friends from Arkansas) before and after the ordination service before heading back to Kansas City. Since ordination is the authenticating and authorizing act of the Church which recognizes and confirms God's call to ministerial leadership, it was meaningful that representatives of Roberta's ministry in Romania be present to recognize and confirm her ministry.

Here are some pictures from the ordination ceremony:

General Superintendent Jesse Middendorf ordains Roberta.

The ordained elders of the district lay hands on Roberta.

Roberta is presented with her Certificate of Ordination.

Roberta and the 3 other newly-ordained ministers are presented to the assembly.

Click here for more photos I took at the District Assembly. Paula took many more pictures from the 3 days she was in Kansas City and Rogers, including the ordination reception and an EuNC reunion with the Staples. Visit http://picasaweb.google.com/gscreely to view her pictures.

Source: On the Journey by Jonathan Phillips

Renewal

Monica and Cristi renewed their commitment to one another this past weekend at a Marriage Retreat in Balchik Bulgaria. Monica had wanted to celebrate her union with her husband in a Christian ceremony for years. She wanted to pray with her beloved and celebrate their union in a more meaningful way. They were married years ago in an Orthodox church where their focus was more on getting the traditions right on their wedding day. Years later they came together and this time focused their attention on their commitment to one another and they prayed together. It was a precious ceremony to witness.

May God cover them and bless them.