The Dunns in Romania

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Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:00:01 EST

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December 29, 2009

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:55:00 EST

December 29, 2009 - Tuesday - Hey readers, Lydia here. I haven’t written myself on our blog for a long time! But I thought I would share a very interesting, slightly disgusting, and somewhat funny event that I took part in the week before Christmas.

Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse… Oh, wait, wrong story. :-) The week before Christmas my boyfriend’s family invited me to come along to their annual family gathering when they kill their pig. This is a tradition for Romanian families during the Christmas season. I was slightly nervous to go as seeing animals killed isn’t really my “thing”, and I knew that I would be completely surrounded by Romanians forcing me to eat who-knows-what of the pig.

When I first arrived at the great-grandmother’s house I was greeted by a large Romanian family in a small living area (country houses are typically two or three rooms including the kitchen). I praise God for the ability to speak and understand Romanian that He gave me during this time and for the patience of the family. So, I was greeted by the family and then immediately put at the table to eat sarmale (cabbage rolls). There was lots of conversation before everyone went to bed early as everyone had to wake up at 4 in the morning.

At around 6 in the morning, after all ready being up for at least an hour and preparing the pig to walk down death-row, the pig was brought out and killed. (I dared my boyfriend that before they killed the pig he had to say some loving words to the pig. He actually did it! His family all looked at him and told him to shut up and get out of the way. :-) ) Here they do not use a gun. Instead they slice the pig’s throat. Of course this causes the pig to squeal and squeal. Thankfully my Betsy (as I called the pig—my brother informed me however when I got home that Betsy is a cow’s name… oh well) did not squeal very much. I watched the actual killing of the pig from a window as it was well below zero with 3+ inches of snow on the ground outside.

The next step was to torch the pig’s skin and clean the skin. Then they cut the pig up. First they cut off the head and the legs. Then they cut a chunk out of the pig going down the back that included the tail. Next, they got all of the innards from the pig. All of this and the meat and skin were taken to the kitchen to be prepared for food. I didn’t get to help much in the kitchen as the kitchen was the size of a typical American bathroom and the women of the family needed to be in there as they actually knew what they were doing. Carnaţ, cardabos (types of sausage) were made, and they used the intestines as the packaging for these. Most of the innards were put into a very large boiling pot. I did not see what they specifically used all of these for, but I did eat liver. No, I did not like it. :-( I also ate pig brains. Surprisingly, they tasted good, but the texture was exactly what you would expect of brains, and they sort of melted in your mouth before you could chew. This was not so pleasant. This whole process started from around 6am and lasted until around 7pm. The family’s farm also had cows, sheep, chickens, horses, and rabbits. I did not see the horses and rabbits, but I did enjoy the cows and I even helped lead the sheep out onto the pasture.

Throughout all of this, conversation, laughter, jokes and some playing in the snow was everywhere. It was a truly Romanian cultural experience! I won’t be forgetting this. I had a great time. Lydia

December 28, 2009

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:49:00 EST

December 28, 2009 - Monday - Last evening was an historic event in Arad, and we had the privilege of being part of it. To back up a bit, last year Paula had a God-prompted idea of getting all of the "independent" (meaning not part of the Pentecostal, Baptist or Orthodox denominations) to join together for a united celebration of Jesus' birth. We were able to get all of the pastors together to talk about the idea, but in the end just two of the 6 churches chose to participate. We were thankful for this small step, but we also saw firsthand how difficult the issue of Christian unity is in our particular area of Romania.

Fast-forward one year. This year one of the pastors that participated last year approached me (Scott) about trying another united Christmas celebration. So wanting to honor his initiative, he and I put together a meeting of the pastors from five churches. It was way too late in December to be starting such a thing, but it was still worth the effort. To our pleasant surprise, the pastors and leaders of all five churches wanted to participate! A meeting was held one week later to put together the details of the service to be held on Sunday evening, December 27.

One of the pastors has good relations with the Arad city government (relationships are everything here), and through him God gave us favor...we were allowed to use the city's beautiful "Cultural Palace" (where the Arad symphony plays weekly) for our gathering. One church's band played the opening worship set, children from our own Emmanuel church played their chimes piece, another church presented a drama, I preached, another church's band led in Christmas carols (Stephen repeated his guitar solo...got it on video this time!),

and the pastor from another church gave the closing blessing. And during the fellowship time afterwards both pastors and people were saying, "This was great. We should do this more often."

The whole evening was a great success...and hopefully one more step towards more mutual appreciation and cooperation among churches for the cause of Christ. Rejoice and pray with us! Scott

December 26, 2009

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:28:00 EST

December 26, 2009 - Saturday - Ahh, the day after Christmas ("Boxing Day" as our British friends call it)...unlike the busyness of post-Christmas shopping in the USA, it's a fairly quiet day in Romania. Some of the Oaza teens are spending the afternoon at our house, baking in the kitchen (homemade stromboli for dinner...Yum!) and playing video games.

We celebrated Christmas Day with stockings and gifts at home in the morning, and Paula roasted a whole turkey for lunch (we can buy them frozen now in the stores). Later in the afternoon Paula, Lydia and I stopped by Oaza's Shalom house to visit the staff and kids while Stephen went to the Adoram church to play guitar for their Christmas evening service.

Christmas Eve was full of Christmas preparations, from food to wrapping. In the afternoon we were invited to the home of Lydia's boyfriend to meet his family and exchange some simple gifts. We met them for the first time this past Sunday when they joined us at church. We enjoyed their traditional Romanian hospitality and getting to know them...and doing so all in Romanian. How far we've come in four years!

Later that evening we went to the Adoram Church's (the church planting where I've been teaching) Christmas Eve service. Most of the service was performed by their children's ministry, but the Adoram band opened the service with some rock'in Christmas music and some cool lighting to match. In this video clip, Stephen is standing behind the lead singer (there are a couple of brief glimpses of him), and the electric guitar sound is all Stephen. He even opened the song with a guitar solo, but because he didn't tell us that he'd be doing this, we didn't have our video ready! He's our humble kid, never looking to draw attention to himself. We were and are very proud of him.

After the service, I rejoined the Adoram group (Paula was sick so she chose not to go) for some traditional Romanian Christmas caroling. Caroling here is a VERY important tradition, and it often lasts all night. We began caroling at 10:30pm, I bailed and went home just before midnight. I was then awakened at 2:30am with a phone call: "Wake up, we'll be at your house in 5 minutes to sing to your family." :-) I know they had several stops to make after our house...the Romanian way for Christmas!

Last Sunday at our church (Emmanuel), our children presented their Christmas program. The following video will give you a flavor of the chimes, but there was also singing and a drama about the meaning of Christmas. Paula and others had worked with the children very hard the 2 weeks prior to last Sunday, and it showed in the kids' performance. Bravo! Scott

December 8, 2009

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:54:00 EST

December 8, 2009 - Tuesday - We have just released our latest newsletter. You can find a printable pdf copy HERE, or you can follow this LINK to view it online. Scott

December 2, 2009

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:19:00 EST

December 2, 2009 - Wednesday - Yesterday was Unification Day in Romania, a national holiday. It is similar to our own July 4th Independence Day in the USA. Click on the link to read the history of how Romania came to be as it is today.

Stephen continue to play rugby with one of Arad's two club teams. His team has yet to win a game, but he is having great fun. This past Sunday's game was the muddiest yet (as evidenced by his cleats in this picture). For anyone who has played American football, you know how much more fun it is to get this muddy in the process :-) Scott

November 25, 2009

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:40:00 EST

November 25, 2009 - Wednesday - Paula and I continue to lead a cell group that is connected to our local church here, Emmanuel Christian Center. Right now it consists of three Romanian families, two American families, and one single American. All of our discussion is bi-lingual. Although we're happy with most things about our group, recently we've been feeling like there is more that God has for us. Last night I shared with the group three specific ways in which I think God has more for us. I'd like to share these with our web-readers so that you, too, can be praying along with us as we pursue the "more" that God has for us: 1) A deepened sense of "community" with one another, 2) a deepened passion for the lost, and 3) more broadly shared leadership of all the different functions of the group--Bible discussion, prayer, care of children, worship, activities, etc. We had some really good initial discussion of these items last evening, and we'll continue next week to see how we can put our words into action. Would you pray for us in these ways? Thanks. Scott

November 18, 2009

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:28:00 EST

November 18, 2009 - Wednesday - It's now been nearly two weeks, but I (Paula) want to tell you about a really great thing I've been privileged to be a part of. Oaza, the children's family home with which I serve as board member and volunteer,has been helping a family build a house. Let me explain. The girl (who is now 10) began living with Oaza when she was very, very young. Her parents were young and living on the streets of Arad.Within the last two years, her parents decided to try and put their lives together as a family and care for all three of their children, including the girl living with Oaza. After a period of time, the government approved the return of the girl to her family. Oaza is committed to helping the families who are reintegrating in wise ways and as we are able. Last year, we committed to helping this family build a home for themselves in their gypsy village so they could live independently as a family unit. We began with purchasing the supplies for the foundation leaving the physical labor to them. Next, came the purchase of brick for the walls, windows and wood and roof tiles. In September we made a visit to the family delivering food and clothing and brought a team of people (Americans on a World Raceadventure) with us to play games with the community children. At that time, we discussed with the family the next step...winterizing the house. After much prayer about who to ask, the Cornerstone Free Methodist Church has blessed us by partnering to purchase cement, lime and sand to render the inside walls (to prevent air from getting inside) and to purchase a soba for heating and cooking. They have also agreed to help drill a water well for the family as soon as we are able to make arrangements. And the Budapest, Hungary FM Fellowship took up an offering to help in construction costs as well. Up to this point, the family was cooking outside over a small fire.Two weeks ago, Scott, myself and some other Oaza volunteers delivered the soba and some cooking materials to the home. The family was amazed, thankful and touched... The father was so happy that he could make the house warm for his family for the winter. There is still more that can be done to assist this family with this house...electrical hook-up, the water well, and doors among other things. We are in regular contact with this family and are so pleased with the progress they are making! We praise God for the team that came to minister in the village (thanks World Racers...!!!) and for Cornerstone FMC partnering with us and the Budapest fellowship for serving through their gifts as well! Blessings on all of you...and all of you can participate by praying for this families success! Paula

November 17, 2009

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:42:00 EST

November 17, 2009 - Tuesday - Our colleague from Bulgaria, Al Mellinger, put together this highlights video from CLC. Enjoy!

You can read more reports on the Conference on the blog of our colleague, Larry Winckles.

November 17, 2009 - Tuesday - What an amazing week! It has been so amazing that words don't seem to quite get at telling you about it, but I (Paula) will try. Last Tuesday, Scott and I drove to Budapest, Hungary to take part in a week of discussions with other Free Methodist European missionaries and key national leaders. Basically, we looked at where we have been as a team, where we are now, and where we are going. One interesting topic was evaluating our function/giftedness within the church/team as a "head banger" (thinker, foundational, idea person, ask questions), "heart-warmer" (enfolder, nurturer), or "door-banger" (starter, explorer, expander). A healthy team of people will have individuals who function in each area making the body complete. We had a lot of fun and deep discussions... For Scott and I, we realized that we do not fit in only one function (which is not unusual) but that we do have one function that gives us the most energy. Can you guess where we (and others) placed ourselves?

On Friday, Free Methodist and non-FM church leaders (in relationship with other FMers) from all over Europe gathered for our bi-annual Church Leaders Conference. The topic: Celebrating the Past, Anticipating the Future. It has been 10 years since the first Free Methodist church was planted on the Continent in 1999 (some missionary presence has been here since 1989), and now the Free Methodist Church has "official" work in the countries of Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain (including Canary Islands), and Ukraine.

On Friday evening as a part of the celebration, we enjoyed some traditional Hungarian folk-dancing...and several of us (yes...I did) joined in the fun! We remembered and celebrated... even including a birthday cake! Saturday included seminars designed for church leaders and retired Bishop Gerald Bates (wife Marlene) shared a message with us as well as our European area director, Jerry Coleman. On Sunday, three leaders were ordained as a part of our celebration, and in the evening Stephanie LeVan (first FM missionary to Europe--Hungary-- in 1992) awakened us with a Spirit-filled message from the Lord. We ended our time of worship with the group going to their respective country flags and praying for the future work in their country including asking God to open gates (bigger than doors) into the central European countries (and Russia) where we currently do not have leaders working. It was an unforgettable evening and time of prayer!! Monday included more seminars and a final celebration of worship where we heard our encouragement and challenge from former director of FM World Missions, Clancy Thompson, and from Jerry about using the keys of the Kingdom (Matthew 16:19). This evening ended with a time of prayer to bind unhealthy things in our areas of ministry/country and to unleash the things of God...amazing prayer times! We also looked ahead to our next CLC for the Fall of 201, which will be held in Madrid, Spain, and enjoyed some Flaminco dancing and a time of prayer for the country of Spain.

This year we were privileged to take Macedon and Roxanna Sîngeorzan (leaders in the Emmanual church) with us as well as Spencer and Lynsey Ball (Trinity and Jonathan), three leaders (Cristi, Marius, Moise) from the Adoram church plant with whom Scott is working, and Ionuţ Corlan, another planter with whom Scott is partnering. Stephen, Lydia and Drew joined us on Sunday. I had the blessing of supporting and a few times leading in worship as well as leading a worship seminar for worship leaders. Scott and Ionuţ team-taught a seminar on mentoring leaders in groups, and Scott served as the emcee for the Sunday morning gathering. The discussion times with our Romanian team were of immeasurable value... sharing of thoughts, concerns, frustrations, and desires for our ministries and country.

This year CLC was different from anything we have experienced before...ever...in a gathering of Free Methodist leaders. The Holy Spirit was moving, and He revealed himself in uncommon ways. People received visions from God at separate times...visions of God's heart aching, visions of the spiritual battle taking place for Europe, visions of hope, visions of a blooming flower and light in each country, visions of streams flowing in a once dry land... All of the visions confirmed the others and each gave balance and showed a progression of hope for the work that God has called us to for His Kingdom! I was blessed to be the recipient of one of these visions which was a totally new experience for me. Thank you, God, for trusting me!! God continues to put together an amazing team of people here in our FM work in Europe...you could see and feel God binding us together. People felt the freedom to speak, pray, hurt, cry, and rejoice! The Spirit was blowing amidst us...and we received it!

Another absolutely amazing thing happened. The hotel we stayed at was large, and there were many other guests staying there with those of us attending the conference. I noticed a woman one morning at breakfast with a small child. She looked Latino to me...and I thought the little girl with her was adorable. Then I learned last night that she had heard some of the people attending our conference speaking Portuguese, and she began to talk to them because she is Brazilian with Portuguese as her native language. Apparently, they invited her to attend our times of worship, which she did. And last night, she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior during our closing session!! I watched her conversing with one of the ladies from our church in Portugal (in Portuguese) while her little girl sat on the floor with our missionary from France, Marvin, who was speaking with her in French all the while together they were speaking over Skype with is wife, Lisa, in France. So...check this out...a woman and her daughter who are Brazilian but living in France meet up with some people from Portugal in Budapest, Hungary; she gets saved and now our colleagues are attempting to connect with her with our Budapest church (where some of our colleagues speak Spanish) while she lives there for the next three months and then a church in France where she lives fulltime. Ok...come on...ONLY God can do something like this!!! Our God is amazing and will stop at nothing to draw his children to himself!! Amazing!!

Our trip to Budapest ended a little strange today however... First, my car battery was completely dead when we went to leave this morning. But, you can't get a good team...no GREAT team...down! Our colleagues pushed my car every which way to get it going, and we had to finally jump-start it. Then, when we were nearly home, the Hungarian police stopped me for having my fog lights on while driving (not allowed in Hungary except when it is foggy). It was a mistake on my part but that wasn't going to get them the $25 they wanted. So, what can you say? Satan tries to bring frustration to us whenever we encounter God...but guess what...it isn't working...not today!!! :-)

We lost our camera on the train in Greece this summer...so we have no pictures of our own to share with you of our week. However, as soon as we can get some from our colleagues, we will share them with you. Only seven more months for us before we must return to the States for Partnership Building. We have so much we desire to see happen in these next seven months!!! How, Lord? We don't know...but we can feel it...we can see it... Father, open the flood gates of heaven and pour out more and more of your Spirit on us...the church here...those we love and with whom we work...those we haven't even met yet...and the country we call home...Romania! Pray this with us... Paula

November 11, 2009

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:15:00 EST

November 11, 2009 - Wednesday - Paula and I (Scott) arrived in Budapest yesterday for a series of meetings and gatherings. Today through Friday morning we are meeting as mission leaders to discuss, pray and plan for the next 10 years of ministry in Europe. These meetings will then be followed by our bi-annual Church Leaders Conference Friday evening through Tuesday morning, where leaders from nearly all of our ministries in Europe (representing 14 countries) will gather to worship, learn and celebrate. This year's conference focus is celebrating 10 years since the first Free Methodist church plant on the Continent and looking forward to the next 10 years. Pray for us to be in tune with where God is leading! Scott

November 9, 2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:50:00 EST

November 9, 2009 - Monday - So, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is today. Little did we know when Lydia was in 5th grade that we would be living in Europe. This photo was taken as part of a school field trip to Falling Water in Pennsylvania (a house designed byFrank Lloyd Wright). We visited another Frank Lloyd Wright house,Kentruck Knob house, on this trip, and behind THIS house was a garden of statues/sculptures from all over the world. The owner had a statue collection...strange shapes, human figures, a telephone booth from England, and a piece of the Berlin Wall. Lydia only knew of the significance of this statue from what we had told her. The Berlin Wall came down four years before she was born. Now a few years later, we find ourselves living in a country that was also forced to deal with communism and whose freedom was fought for and won a month-and-a-half after the Berlin Wall came down (Romania was one of the so-called "domino" countries). Now, this picture has so much more significance for all of us. We've not had the privilege of visiting Berlin yet...but we have had the privilege of sharing in a piece of its legacy. Paula

November 3, 2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:06:00 EST

Yesterday I had the opportunity to hang out with a Romanian friend who has recently been employed as a manager on a nearby mega-farm. Since I grew up on a farm, it was a fun and refreshing experience (as old farmers would say, my feet still "itch" during harvest and planting seasons). The smell of fresh-turned earth is still so amazing to me! Romania is still a land of dramatic contrasts. In the city we regularly see Hummer and Bentley-brand cars traveling alongside horse-drawn carts. The same is true in Romanian farming. The farm I visited is Danish-owned, English-managed, and Romanian-operated. It is a "corporate" farm that owns and farms over 20,000 acres (8,000 hectares) just in Romania. So they have all of the most modern equipment. But they operate alongside traditional Romanian farmers who are still using small, 40-year-old tractors and a 3-bottom plow...or in some cases still an ox-drawn plow. Can you get a feel for the stress that people here feel as their lives and culture change so rapidly? We're glad to know that our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Scott

October 31, 2009

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:16:00 EST

October 31, 2009 - Saturday - I (Scott) spent a good part of this past week traveling in the southern part of Romania, often referred to as the "Oltenia" region. This area is both economically and spiritually oppressed and considered to be the most difficult region in the country for vital Christian faith.

Monday morning I drove 5 hours south to pick up my Romanian friend and church planter, Ionuţ Corlan. From there we planned to make several visits with other church planters that we are getting to know and among whom we desire to build a network. Our first stop was Monday evening in the small town of Balş (say, balsh). Here we met with 6 members of a new house church, Spring of Life Church. One of their leaders is a young man whom came to our church planting seminars at the DRUM festival this past August. Our 2-hour visit and conversation with this group of people was blessed and encouraging in many ways. We believe these small, home-based fellowships are going to be key in bring spiritual revival to Romania.

From Balş we continued driving east for about three hours, arriving in the capital,Bucuresti, around 10:30pm. A good part of Tuesday was spent hanging out at the food court of a large shopping mall in central Bucuresti (my first time driving in notorious Bucuresti traffic). There we first had coffee/hot chocolate with another American missionary, Patrick, who used to live in Arad until he and his family moved to Bucuresti last year. Patrick and his family are seeking to plant churches through the 100-year-old Romanian Baptist Union.

We lunched in the same food court while we met with two Romanian pastors of younger, more contemporary congregations in Bucuresti. Florin leads the Calvary Chapel church and Cristian leads the International Church of Bucuresti. Again, these were very good contacts and conversations with younger-generation spiritual leaders.

Tuesday concluded with a visit to one of the families that has been part of the Methodist house church with whom I have had relationship over the last two years. Unfortunately, the pastor and wife of this group just moved to Spain on Saturday in order to find viable employment, so the house church as it was has dissolved. The remaining two families are happily involved in a Baptist church in the city. I'm sad to see this small Methodist group disappear, but at least no one has been lost to the Kingdom.

After a bit of "manly shopping" on Wednesday morning (we went to the local Ikea), we returned to the food court of the shopping mall to meet with a church planter whom I met last year, Theo. Theo has a heart o not only plant a church but also to create a network with other church planters in the country so that we can work together to encourage one another and to instigate a movement of spontaneous church planting. Ionuţ share Theo's heart in this, so much of our conversation centered on how we can move in this direction. Pray for us in this!

Wednesday afternoon we headed back west and stopped in the major city ofCraiova to meet with some young people who completed the History Makersleadership training that Ionuţ leads (and I help teach). It is always encouraging to meet with young leaders like these young adults. Then after a night over in Severin with Ionuţ and his family, I made the drive back to Arad, arriving in time to go with Paula on a visit to a small gypsy...more on that in another entry. Scott

October 25, 2009

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:46:00 EST

October 25, 2009 - Sunday - After church today Stephen played in his first official rugby match. Despite his team losing, we had a ton of fun watching, and Stephen had even more fun playing. We've put together some video highlights for you to enjoy along with us. FYI, Stephen's team is in the black jerseys and Stephen has #4 on his back. Scott and Paula

October 23, 2009

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:43:00 EST

October 23, 2009 - Friday - Yesterday I met with a new (to me) Romanian church planter who has been starting a new church in Slobozia, a small city about half way between Bucuresti and Constanţa on the Black Sea. He was in Arad because he grew up here and still has family here. His is a fascinating story. In January, 1989, just 12 months prior to the December Revolution that brought freedom to Romania, M escaped from his home country and managed to get to Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now called Serbia). The authorities there, however, denied his request for political asylum and sent him back to Romania. In most cases like this, he would have been sentenced to jail and subjected to other ugly consequences for trying to escape. But somehow (he credits the Lord) his punishment ended up being "only" a suspension of pay for six months (he still had to work his assigned job) and some threats from the secret police

Three months later (March, 1989) he decided to try for freedom one more time. He again made it to Belgrade, and this time the authorities granted his request for asylum based on papers he had been given from the Romanian secret police that threatened him with certain consequences if he tried to escape again. After 9 months he was granted an appointment with the United States embassy to seek political asylum. Through another of God's interventions his assigned interviewer was a Christian who, upon discovering that M was also a serious believer, granted his request to enter America.

Fast forward to about three years ago. M and his wife J (another Romanian whom he met in the USA) are finishing Bible school in Texas. And God calls them to return to their home country to begin a new church in one of the most economically and spiritually poor areas of the country. They accepted God's call, and 3 years later they are seeing a church slowly emerge from the fog. Poverty and persecution are two of their biggest challenges. Persecution? Yes, sadly from people who are religiously Orthodox but missing a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. But despite their family being forced out of two apartments and their church being forced out of two worship location because they are not Orthodox (they are viewed as a "cult"), M and J are staying and standing in Jesus' name. Would you take a moment right now and pray for M & J and their church planting work? Thanks. Scott

October 9, 2009

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:13:00 EST

October 9, 2009 - Friday - A Romanian woman made international news this week.Author Herta Mueller won the Nobel prize in literature. You can read about her at thisCNN link. Unfortunately the article title refers to her as a German writer. Read the article, and you'll understand why she's identified as a German rather than a Romanian. Regardless, Romania should be proud of her for this prestigious accomplishment!

This past weekend I was on the road again, this time to the middle of Romania and a town called Fǎgǎraş. It was a reunion gathering for all of the Romanian young people (like this fine young family pictured left) who have completed the History Makers leadership training Journey. Over 100 young adults have completed this Journey, but only about 50 were able to make it to this reunion. Since I am a teacher for this organization, I was invited, and it was good to reconnect with some of the young leaders I've been privileged to meet and teach. My friend IonuţCorlan leads this ministry in Romania , and it is always good to link up with him. Scott

October 2, 2009

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:46:00 EST

October 2, 2009 - Friday - My girlfriend Roxi called me on Tuesday...3pm..."Hey, Paula, remember I signed us up to try out for voice lessons? Well, that is today at 5pm!" Honestly, I was so scared I started to cry. But I pulled myself together and tried to prepare. I wanted so badly to try out...but I was sooo afraid of being told I sing like a cow! I didn't know what to expect. A few friends said all I would have to do was sing scales... OK...easy. But something told me differently. I went up to Stephen's room, closed the door and prepared a song--"One Fine Day" by Natalie Merchant--a simple little song, right in my range.

Roxi and I got to the school and there must have been 50 others trying out...all around the age of 16-20! Here in Romania, lines don't work for something like this, so you just push your way into the door. Roxi and I held back a little while; we saw girls/guys come out with smiles and a few with tears. Then in we went; she came in with me to translate in case I needed it. I was nervous, so I needed a little help!! Thank u Roxi!!! :-) They asked me what I was doing in Romania and then to sing. I began to sing and all was going well...until I forgot the next verse. So, I did what all good musicians do...I sang the first verse again to jog my memory. Ummm... it didn't work!! At that point I had nothing to lose so...I did what all good musicians do next...I made the rest of it up!!!! On the spot, I made up phrases and words to go along with the music and finished the song. I had no idea what they were going to say. I soon realized they had no clue what I had done. :-)

"You have a very nice voice...I can see you have had some training (I've had ZERO training)...how old are you?" WHAT?! Why does that matter? Turns out the program is only for people up to age 30... Ummm, I MIGHT be able to pass for 30 but I cannot tell a lie. So, I thanked them for their time, and THEN the professor asked me to come back the next day and see if the school will allow an exception. I was shocked!!

I have been so busy with my volunteer work that I haven't had time to go back, but I hope to go today. But even if I don't get in, the experience was great. I learned how to audition, and I learned I can push myself. AND, I guess I don't sing like a cow!!! I'll let you know how it turns out. Mooooooo..... Paula

September 29, 2009

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:11:00 EST

September 29, 2009 - Tuesday - It was a busy weekend for the Dunn family. After returning from her trip to Brasov on Friday afternoon, Paula was involved with Oaza board activities for much of the day on Saturday and Sunday (Paula serves on the Romanian board of directors for Oaza). The meetings went well...thank you for praying!

Stephen played in his first rugby match on Saturday morning. Unfortunately Mom and Dad both had to miss this first game due to our other responsibilities, but Lydia, Drew and Bogdan (a Romanian friend of our family) were able to attend. Paula and I have watched the highlights on video, and we hope to post a video highlight here soon. Stephen's team lost (bummer), but Stephen had a "ton of fun." Oh, and he came home healthy except for a busted lip, about which Stephen said, "It was worth it." :-)

I (Scott) spent the weekend traveling to northwestern Hungary and Bratislava, Slovakia. My colleague, Spencer, traveled with me this time around. We arrived in Tap (the village where Gerry lives) in time for lunch on Friday at the home of Gerry and Kati McNamara, the leaders of our house churches in the Gyor area. After lunch I taught a course on cell group/house church leadership development as part of Gerry's final ordination requirements. Some really great discussion ensued in the 2+ hours we spent together. Friday evening Spencer and I joined the McNamaras in the weekly Bible study they lead in the city of Gyor.

Saturday morning we made the short drive to Bratislavato visit with our colleagues there, Josef and Lynette Sykora and their two little boys, Simon and Luke. Friendship and fellowship was the order of the day as we picnic-ed in a nearby wilderness area and took a walking tour of the historic and beautifully restored city-center area. While there we stopped for a snack at the "Cokolada" (Chocolate Factory). As some of you know, we and our colleagues in Budapest, the Winckles, have been searching for Europe's best hot chocolate. Personally I crowned a new champion on Saturday with Cokolada's dark, 70% cocoa hot chocolate. It was thick enough that my metal spoon stood up in it, and I must admit to feeling a bit of a "buzz" afterwards :-).

On Sunday we joined the McNamara family once again at their Sunday house church. We met in a beautiful home in one of the suburb-type villages just outside of Gyor. The sense of joy and enthusiasm was high as 23 people gathered to worship, study God's Word, and celebrate Holy Communion. With their recent growth, this church has begun thinking about multiplying to start a second house church, so they asked me to speak for a few minutes about multiplying groups. They brought a lot of great questions about this subject as well.

Thanks again for praying for us. God is good...all the time. Scott

September 23, 2009

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:18:00 EST

September 23, 2009 - Wednesday - Well...the World Raceteam left early Monday morning and that would mean that things should slow-down a bit...nope! :-) ...board meetings, cell group, worship practice, lunch appointments, preparations for travel, rugby, school, mission meetings, etc... I (Paula) will be traveling tonight (midnight train) to Brasovto visit a World Race conference for future connections/teams and to see what other opportunities God may have in mind. Scott and our colleague, Spencer, leave on Friday morning for the weekend in Hungary and Slovakia to visit and encourage our churches and leaders there. Also this weekend I have an important Oaza board meeting. Stephen's first rugby match is also scheduled for Saturday. So, your prayers for wisdom, Godly influence, and safety are not only welcome but needed! Paula

Saturday I (Scott) spent the day in Budapest. Part of my role here is serving on the European Leadership Team, and one of our jobs is helping leaders prepare for ordination. So on Saturday we conducted two ordination interviews. One of the men, Gerry McNamara, pastors our church in and near the northern Hungarian city of Gyor. My history with Gerry goes back 8 years to my very first missions trip to Hungary. I and another friend (remember, Mark?) spent the weekend with Gerry and his young family, and we did some training with Gerry about cell group ministry. The Gyor church has been through some transitions since then, and now Gerry leads two house churches, one on Sunday mornings and one on Friday nights, each reaching a distinct group of people. I'll be visiting these ministries this weekend, and the Sunday morning group, which has grown recently, has asked me to speak about how to multiply to make a second house church. Cool! Oh, and on Saturday we happily passed along our endorsement for Gerry's ordination. So when all of our European leaders gather in November for our biannual Christian Leaders Conference, Gerry will be one of three new ordinands! How awesome is that? Scott

September 17, 2009

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:51:00 EST

September 17, 2009 - Thursday - We've posted our most recent newsletter. Click HERE or on the Newsletter tab above to take a look. Scott

August 31, 2009

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:43:00 EST

August 31, 2009 - Monday - Wow, where did the rest of August go!? For us it has been wrapped up in four major happenings. Here's the run-down...

Drumfest - This event, which we wrote about on August 11, went really well. From camping in tents (along with the Oaza kids and staff) to the nightly concerts, to the four seminars on church planting that I (Scott) taught, this event went really well. Paula was able to make some good connections with Romanian Christian music and worship leaders, and I was able to meet and interact with at least 6 new contacts of people who are interested in starting new churches in Romania. Good stuff!

Greece_vacation_Aug2009

Vacation - The morning after Lydia's 16th birthday, we packed up the car and drove 12 hours directly south thru Serbia, Macedonia, and northeastern Greece, ending up in Thessaloniki (yes, that place where the Apostle Paul started a church and then wrote them a couple of famous letters now in our New Testament). Our colleagues, Mike and Maria Long graciously allowed us to stay in their home, and from there we took three day trips to two different beaches along the Aegean Sea as well as a whirlwind one-day trip to Athens (sleeping on an overnight train going and coming there from Thessaloniki). We're so thankful for this opportunity to have some family vacation time!

Men's Retreat -Thursday thru Saturday of this past week I (Scott), along with several Romanian friends of mine, attended a Christian men's retreat. It was held at a beautiful conference center in the mountains of north-central Romania. Conferences like this one that are directed specifically to men's issues are a new and rare thing in Romania; this one went very well and laid the groundwork for similar events in the future.

Preaching in Vinga - Yesterday afternoon I traveled 30 minutes south of Arad to the village of Vinga to preach at a small church that ministers to the Roma (gypsy) community there. There were about 35 adults and teens plus a whole bunch of younger kids. Their small building was quite full! A missionary friend of ours', Jackie Ramsey, leads this church, and she has asked different ones of us from the area to fill in while she takes some R&R in the USA.

Next Up: Teams and Camp - Oaza had a team arrive over the weekend to do painting in the Shalom House. This painting work made it a good time to take the kids tent camping for the week, so Paula is involved with the camping. We have another team arriving on Wednesday from an organization called The World Race. They will be with us for three weeks doing a variety of things for both Oaza and other ministries we are involved with. The really cool thing about this team is that my (Scott's) cousin, Kendra, is one of the team members. When she signed up for this year-long missions experience, she nor we had any idea that her team would get to come to Arad, Romania (these teams serve in 11 different countries over an 11-month term of service). Isn't our God just cool like that?

Stephen and Lydia started their new school year last week. Both have pretty challenging schedules this year as Stephen is a senior and Lydia a junior. Pray for them. Drew Walter returns from the USA tomorrow to continue his school ministry with our kids. Pray for his quick readjustment to life in Romania. I (Scott) continue my work with the Emmanuel church and the Adoram church plant here in Arad. My fall-season travels are beginning to take shape (Hungary, Slovakia, and possibly Ukraine). And I have several contacts with whom to follow-up regarding other church planting possibilities. Thanks so much for praying and partnering with us! Scott

August 11, 2009

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:06:00 EST

August 11, 2009 - Tuesday - Tomorrow we will leaving to attend a Christian worship and musicians gathering called Drumfest. Held on a renovated, formerly Communist camp grounds (children were brought to summer camps under communism to be trained in communist propaganda), this outdoor festival has developed over the last few years as an important gathering for Romanian Christian musicians from across the country to not only perform but to be trained and encouraged to use their musical gifts to bring spiritual revival to their country. This year our family will be volunteering, and Scott will be teaching seminars on church planting on Thursday and Friday (in conjunction with my good friend and church planter, Ionuţ Corlan). We hope to make connections with and discoveries of new Romanian church planters, believing that God often inspires new churches and new worship music at the same time and in similar environments. So we would appreciate your prayers for us through the remainder of this week.

Also, our daughter Lydia turns 16 this coming Sunday! Sixteen is a special birthday; she'll be missing a couple of her close friends from the USA, but she is handling it well. Pray for her day to be extra special as we celebrate this milestone with her a a few of her Romanian friends.

July 27, 2009

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:04:00 EST

July 27, 2009 - Monday - I (Scott) spent the weekend in Budapest as I had the opportunity to make three important visits all in the same trip. Connection #1 - good friends of ours from Columbus, Ohio are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in Budapest this week, staying with our mutual friends and colleagues, Larry and Katie Winckles. Wesley has known Paula and her family basically since Paula was born :-). Wes and I worked together in the Ohio Conference of Free Methodist Churches during the years that I served as a pastor in Ohio. Wes serves as the treasurer of the Ohio Conference, and he and Cheryl are active members of one of our supporting churches, Living Hope Free Methodist Church, in Columbus, Ohio. Happy Anniversary, Wes and Cheryl!

Connection #2 - Part of my role in Europe is overseeing and visiting our ministries in Hungary and Slovakia as well as Romania. I had not visited our Budapest congregation for several months, so Sunday was a good time to make this connection. Even though several families were away (it's vacation season in Europe), I was so encouraged by the church...new smiling faces that have been added and an on-going atmosphere of welcoming, acceptance, joy, and warm fellowship extended to everyone. This atmosphere is not accidental; it has come through several years of patient investing in people's lives by our colleagues there. It's always a blessing to see this kind of long-term investment bearing fruit.

Connection #3 - Gerry McNamara leads our church in Gyor, Hungary. Gerry was in Budapest to share a message from God's Word on Sunday, so it was a good opportunity to connect with him and his family as well.Scott

July 21, 2009

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:10:00 EST

July 21, 2009 - Tuesday - Just a note about what's going on around here with the Dunns... :-) We all had a wonderful blessing this month, but especially Lydia. A friend from England who used to live and work here with us, Josie, came for a two week visit. Lydia and Josie are great friends so this was awesome for both of them. Scott and I both had birthdays this month and we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary. Other visitors came from Canada, Paul and Diane Miller, who are spending some time in EasternEurope studying the Church at large 20 years after the fall of Communism. Scott made arrangements for them to speak with several pastors of churches in our area. It was very interesting and Scott and I continue to learn about the mindset of the current church here in Romania. We had a great time with Paul and Diane! The kids and I leave tomorrow for an "excursion" with theOaza children. Instead of renting a camping facility this year, we have opted to try something brand new for the children. This should be loads of fun! More info to come on this... You can be praying for our safety as we travel together in three vehicles over the next four days. Scott will be traveling to Budapest this weekend to spend time with friends and church leaders there. Then next week, I (Paula) head to England for a week in a worship conference. More on this later...

Pray for Stephen as he has just begun practicing with the worship team from the church plant that Scott has been teaching at on Thursday evenings. They have asked Stephen to play his electric guitar with them tonight at a tent meeting in a nearby village. This is an answer to prayer... Stephen is talented musically and has needed a place where he feels safe and can try out his skills. Stephen has also been playing for the worship times in our cell group. Please pray for Lydia as she is struggling to fit her Spanish class into her summer. She is having to move at a very rapid pace and this not leaving her with good feelings. Please pray for her inspiration and learning. (Even a little thing like the headset not working properly can be discouraging.)

We are even more convinced that God answers prayer! Through your prayers and God's healing hand, the infection in my leg appears to be gone. There is still a bump and a scar (I am hoping this goes away!) but all in all...all is well! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Scott is preparing for a two-day teaching at a local worship leaders outdoor festival in mid-August...Paula will be volunteering at the festival as needed (www.drumfest.ro). Please pray for Scott's preparations as he will talk about multiplying churches (aka church planting) and for those who could be used of God in this way to be ready to hear God speaking. Pray also for pastors in the area to be open to the idea of multiplying churches... sometimes this can be a scary thing because to some it feels more like a threat to their existing churches rather than the Kingdom-extending work that it is.

One more thing...a friend told me last night that I (Paula) am pregnant!...but NOT as you might think...I am pregnant with a dream...a new ministry idea. I've had the idea for quite a while but have never really felt any push from God. Recently, I have begun to feel an "urgency" in the matter and have begun laying out a "fleece" of sorts to see if doors open, remain open, or close. Thus far, doors have remained open...even at moments when I have asked God to be sure to close it if this idea is not of Him. I am scared!...no other way to say it. I've told Scott and others that I feel like Joshua...I am pretty sure I am to move forward into this...but all I can see right now is a HUGE wall in my way. I know I am not giving you all of the details...this is on purpose. I am asking that you pray with us... If this is God's plan, then pray the wall will FALL at our feet! If this idea is not of the Lord, then let the door close clearly and remove the urgency feeling I have at this moment. I do NOT want to step out of God's plan! So, because I believe in your prayers...I am asking you to partner with me and pray. If you hear anything from the Lord that you feel He wants you to share with me, feel free to email. I may not respond and I probably won't answer any questions regarding the idea at this moment. But, I know God speaks through his people...so I will listen.

Thanking God for you always! Paula

June 29, 2009

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:03:00 EST

June 29, 2009 - Monday - This past Thursday and Friday I (Scott) served on the teaching team for another History Makers "Journey." These journeys are week-long, intensive retreats where young adults with leadership potential (as nominated by their local churches or places of ministry) come together to study and begin practicing eight core values for history-making leaders. This time I taught the core value of "Family Priority." A Romanian friend of mine is the regional coordinator for these events that are held 2 or 3 times each year. The next one will be in September. It is very encouraging to teach at these events and interact with and invest in the young adults (about 15 this time) whom God is raising up as the next generation of Christian leaders for Romania. Thanks for praying for this event.

This weekend we attended a crusade-type conference sponsored primarily the Pentecostal churches in Arad. The speaker/evangelist was Cecil Stewart from CCN (Christian Communication Network) based in Northern Ireland. A number of people were saved over the course of the weekend, and several healings were reported as well. Pray that God will bring lasting fruit in the lives of all who were touched by God this weekend.

Today Lydia is beginning a summer high school course in Spanish I. She and we would appreciate your prayers for her to be able to complete the course successfully by mid-August so she can test into Spanish II for the regular school year that begins in late August. Making time for study will be a challenge in her summer schedule, and she's concerned about losing or confusing her Romanian language :-). Scott

June 22, 2009

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:25:00 EST

June 22, 2009 - Monday - Just to bring all of you up to date... I (Paula) went to a "western"-style medical clinic in Budapest on Friday to get another opinion on my mysterious leg infection. After several people expressed growing concern, I decided it was time to seek further attention. I was actually thinking I would need to have the wound lanced, and I didn't want that done here if possible. To make a long story short, the doctor feels that the infection just needs more time to heal (continued antibiotic) and to be kept moist and clean so it can drain properly. So, I am continuing this course of action and will depend upon your prayers to bring on the healing. :-) I am shocked to report that the appointment did cost me $200...this made me feel more sick than the infection itself! However, I am trying to remember that this was not a surprise to God and He will provide.

Yesterday a dear friend of mine from our church, Roxi, was married.Scott performed the service in English AND Romanian. He did a great job! :-) Scott and I were also asked to be the Naşi (pronounced nahsh, roughly translated as god-parents) for Roxi and her new husband, Mac. I was thinking during the ceremony how blessed we are to have gotten to know so many people...and to love them and be loved in return.

Thursday of this week, I will have the awesome privilege to sing with a new friend of mine from England, Lara, who has moved here to work with worship leaders. It is certainly a blessing for me to "hang" with her and share our mutual passion for worship and worship leaders here in Romania. I never in my life imagined she would ever ask me to sing with her...but she did. (You can check out her songs on YouTube under Lara Martin.) Please pray for me...this venue on Thursday will be a businessman's breakfast led by Cecil Stewart, a well-known Irish evangelist. I desire to be a blessing...!

Also on Thursday, Scott leaves for the popular Romanian resort town of Baile Herculane to teach at another History Makers conference with young Romanian leaders. Pray for his teaching time! Paula

June 17, 2009

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:22:00 EST

June 17, 2009 - Wednesday - An update on Paula’s mysterious leg wound. With some guidance from a medical friend in the US we were able to find a different antibiotic here that is more specific for skin-type infections (yes, we can still get most meds here without a prescription). She has been self-medicating with this new antibiotic along with frequent cleaning and a disinfectant solution given by the doctor here. The wound has improved in terms of being less sore and the size of the hard area under and around the wound shrinking. However, the center of the wound is still open, sore, and showing significant infection. So while there is some improvement, there is also still a long ways to go.

Paula will finish the first course of antibiotics today and then begin a second course. We are also consulting with a doctor-friend in the US and are considering going to a high-quality medical clinic in Budapest, Hungary. Thanks for continuing to pray for Paula and this concern.

June 5, 2009

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:36:00 EST

June 5, 2009 - Friday - We've recently had a new Christian radio station (102 AltFM.ro) start up here in Arad. One of our good friends (he's also one of church leaders), Casius, has been invited to host the morning show from 7-10AM every weekday morning. The show is a mixture of contemporary Christian music (English and Romanian), news, current events, and interviews with different people from the community. This morning, I (Scott) was the invited guest and was live on the air with Casius for almost 20 minutes. The interview focus was twofold: 1) telling people why we are living in Romania, and 2) a little introduction about what the "Free Methodist Church" is (Methodism is almost completely unknown here). Casius' show was also focusing on Pentecost today as this coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday on the Orthodox church calendar, so he asked me to comment on the significance of Pentecost for me and the church I represent. To be honest, I was a bit nervous as I sat down in the studio because I've never done live radio before, but after we got started talking things seemed to go pretty well. If you'd like to hear the interview in full, right-click HERE and save the mp3 file to your computer. Then you can play it whatever audio program you choose (or put it in iTunes and play it on your iPod). Oh, the interview is in English and Romanian. We chose to do it that way because, while I do speak Romanian, it is nowhere close to good enough for radio :-). Scott

May 31, 2009

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:56:00 EST

May 31, 2009 - Sunday - As I write this update I (Scott) am on the train (yes, the new train cars here have electrical outlets for computers!) returning from a weekend visit to the southwestern city of Drobeta-Turnu-Severin. I've written previously about my visits to this city and the growing relationship between myself and Ionuţ Corlan and the Smirna church plant that he has been planting in this city. This was yet another visit for relationship-building, encouragement, and teaching/preaching, and a great visit it was! Church planting can be pretty lonely at times even in places where Christians get along well, but in this city (and Romania in general) there are many divisions and significant suspicion between different churches and pastors. So for a church planter like Ionuţ who is establishing a very different type of church from traditional evangelical churches in this country, ministry can be even lonelier.

Spencer, our new colleague in Arad, accompanied me on this trip (pictured here with Ionut and Jenni's youngest son). We began the weekend by attending a Friday evening Bible study led by one of the church leaders and hosted in the home of a new believer. Saturday morning Ionuţ gathered his church leaders and one other church planter from the area (others were invited but couldn't make it), and I taught some church planting principles from my own experience and from Neil Cole's book, "Organic Church." Saturday afternoon and evening was hang-out time with Ionuţ and his family (wife Jenni and 3 kids). Then this morning Spencer shared his testimony and I preached for their Sunday worship gathering.

For about two months now I have been working with another church plant, this one in our home city of Arad. "Adoram" (Hebrew for "God is exalted") consists of a core group of 20-25 young people (late-teens and twenty-somethings) who feel God's leading to begin a new church that steps away from some of the traditional expectations of Evangelical churches

in Romania and that is specifically designed for and focused on reaching the younger generations of Romania. No one in this church has training or much experience in church leadership, let alone how to start a new one, so God has brought together their hunger to learn and my calling to coach and train. I've been teaching nearly every week at their Thursday night gathering, and a great relationship is developing.

So as you pray for our ministry, pray especially for these two new Romanian churches: "Smirna" and "Adoram." Pray for their healthy development, for growth in their leaders, protection from satan's attacks, and multiplication of these "new wineskins" for a new Romania. Scott

May 28, 2009

Thu, 28 May 2009 05:12:00 EST

May 28, 2009 - Thursday - Yesterday we said goodbye to our friend Tanya, from the Living Water Community Church (one of our supporting churches), who has been volunteering here with Oaza for the last 9 months. We have been so happy to have her here and will miss her. We pray for God's blessings on her as she begins university studies this fall. Te pupam, Tanya!! :-) Paula

May 29, 2009

Wed, 27 May 2009 04:56:00 EST

May 27, 2009 - Wednesday - So what have the Dunns been doing since Easter? ...let's see... As you may have read in our latest newsletter, I (Paula) had a wonderful unexpected blessing of being invited to visitDehli, India with a friend (Romanian)...expenses paid. I was gone for just over a week and visited place like the Golden Temple (most significant worship site for those of the Sikh religion), the Red Fort(built by a Muslim lord), the Taj Mahal, experienced a sandstorm first hand, and ate only vegetarian (the curry was awesome!) I am thankful for the few opportunities I had to simply share my beliefs with my hosts who are of the Sikh religion. My friend and I have been invited to return as soon as possible... Hmmmm...we don't have any Free Methodist work in New Delhi! If you are on Facebook, search for my public album of pictures.

Scott spent a few days in Budapest working with some of our European colleagues on interpreting the AI (Appreciative Inquiry) assessment that has been going on this spring across the Free Methodist work in Europe. The hope is that this assessment will help us see from where we have come and to where we see God leading us all across Europe. The interpreting work is not over yet and some assessments are yet to be done. Continue to be in prayer for all of us working in Europe that God will provide new open doors of opportunity in this continent inoculated with (and hardened to) Christianity.

Last week, we had the privilege of meeting with a portion of our sending team from the Free Methodist Church in Crooksville, Ohio. We had a live video conversation with them during their morning worship service (6pm our time) over the internet using a program called Skype. It was great to be able to connect with them in this way! If you would like to try something like this with your church, Sunday school class, children's program, or small group, please contact us and we'll get things set up. We want to stay as connected to you, our partners in ministry, as we are able.

Stephen had an exciting week last week...he took an AP computer science exam in Budapest, Hungary (in English NOT Hungarian). One of his classes this year in high school has been JAVA-based computer programming. This class prepared him to take this AP exam, if he scores high enough, will give him university credit. He believes he did quite well, but we won't receive the results until July. Both Stephen and Lydia are on their last two weeks of school. AND as always we are looking ahead to planning for classes next year. This is a complicated process for us as we are looking to what will be best for Stephen as he plans to attend college in the fall of 2010 (how can this be??!!) and Lydia who hopes to return to public school in the States for the year we are on Partnership Building (aka home assignment). Internet school here has really been our only viable option, however it has not always been easy. Please be in prayer for us as we have many plans to make.

Scott continues his work with a local church plant here in Arad (more about this in a future post) as well as visiting other church leaders in our circle of friends. Paula continues her work with Oaza. If you are interested in hearing more about Oaza (a ministry to the community including a residential home for abandoned children), please contact us and we will put you on the list to receive the newsletter and information about the child sponsorship program.

We continue to thank God for you, your prayers, and your financial support which help us to live here so we can just be who God has made us to be for HIM.

May 12, 2009

Tue, 12 May 2009 15:36:00 EST

May 12, 2009 - Tuesday - We've posted our most recent newsletter. Click here to take a look, read and pray. Thanks so much! Scott

April 30, 2009

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:56:00 EST

April 30, 2009 - Thursday - It's been a busy two weeks here with hardly a moment to write for our journal here. Activities have centered around two big weekends. First it was Easter (we follow the Orthodox calendar for Easter here) and then a regional conference for our churches in the Carpathian Basin region of Europe (of which I (Scott) am the leader).

For Easter this year we decided to attend (in addition to our home church on Sunday morning) the midnight service that is the traditional high point of the Orthodox church calendar. We went to the main cathedral not far from where we live. We arrived at 11:30pm and already a large crowd was gathered outside (the service takes place primarily outside the church building). Shortly there was a procession of banners and priests that came out of the building and into the center of the crowd. By this time all of the sidewalks coming from every direction in town were full of people coming for this service. Eventually the police closed the street in front of the church to accommodate the crowd. I'm guessing there were 2000+ people there. Sadly this is the only time that many Orthodox adherents will attend church all year, with the exception of funerals, weddings, and child baptisms.

At midnight the church bells began to ring full blast. For the full week prior to Easter no church bells are rung as a way to observe Holy Week. Instead we often hear the rhythmic beating of wooden sticks near Orthodox churches, again a sign of the serious happenings of Holy Week. Next a large candle is brought outside from the alter inside, and they begin to light the candles that everyone in the crowd (except us) has brought with them. The light of Christ is passed person-to-person through the very large crowd, and slowly the area begins to glow a bit. Meanwhile, the bells are continuing to toll and the priests and their assistants are parading slowly around the outside of the entire cathedral. We were told that they normally march three times around, and that at some churches the entire congregation marches around in procession. But due to the large crowd and the size of this cathedral, they only went around once (and that took 15-20 minutes). Then once the priests returned and re-entered the building, people began to slowly disperse.

It was quite an interesting experience. My only sadness was watching how seemingly meaningless it was to most of the participants. Very few seemed to be there to truly celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Most were there just to do the traditional ritual on Easter. THE most significant event in human history hasn't even scratched the surface of so many people's lives. That's what was sad to me. And that's why God has us here...

Our second big weekend event happened just this past weekend. We held our bi-annual gathering for all of our churches and ministries in the Carpathian Region (Slovakia, Hungary, Romania...and this year we invited Ukraine). Josef Sykora, who serves as the associate pastor of a Brethren church in Bratislava, Slovakia, was our Bible teacher for the weekend (he is also married to our colleague, Lynette). We had about 45 people participate for the whole weekend and over 60 on Sunday, representing at least 7 countries (Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Ireland, USA). I will refer you to my colleague, Larry Winckles', blog for a more detailed and well-written report of our weekend activities. Scott

Carpathian Basin Retreat

April 13, 2009

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:34:00 EST

April 13, 2009 - Monday - A trip to the Budapest airport today turned out to be a bit more feathery than planned. We see a lot of pheasants this time of year along the cross-country route we take to Budapest. As I was taking a family to the airport, we were counting the number of pheasants we saw. Unfortunately we saw rooster number seven just a bit closer than we would've liked. As our car approached him standing proudly on the edge of the road, he decided to run across in front of me. But then he decided he had better take flight to get out of my way. He got as high as my windshield, and then SMACK! My windshield collided with him at 115km/hour (70mph). Neither the windshield nor the bird survived. Fortunately my passengers had some clear packing tape in their luggage with which we could reinforce the windshield and keep ourselves on time to the airport and me safely back to Arad. It could've easily been worse. The bird's impact was right at my face level, and by the feel of the broken windshield, it was very close to coming all the way through. We're thankful for God's protection. Perhaps the bird is not so thankful... Let the insurance paperwork begin! :-) Scott

April 12, 2009

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:33:00 EST

Transition House Insulation

April 12, 2009 - Sunday - Last week was a busy one around here. Oaza had a visiting work team from an Assemblies of God church in Sheffield, England, here to do some construction work on their "Transition" house. The house has been used in several different capacities during our time here. It has never had the exterior finish applied, but this team raised the money and sent workers to get the polystyrene insulation portion of that job done. I (Scott) served as primary supervisor of the team's work (drawing on my learnings from Shalom House construction), but it was also a perfect opportunity to begin training one of our new colleagues, Spencer, as one of his primary roles will be construction and maintenance issues for Oaza. We enjoyed perfect weather for the whole of last week, and the team accomplished far more than we ever dreamed for a small team of seven with little or no experience doing such construction work. We were very proud of them and very thankful to God! Scott

April 1, 2009

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:45:00 EST

April 1, 2009 - Wednesday - I (Scott) was on the road again this past weekend (Friday-Monday), this time in Rivne, Ukraine to lead our missionaries and Ukrainian church leaders through the Appreciative Inquiry process. As I wrote in our March 19 entry, we are doing these meetings at all of our ministry locations in Europe this Spring as a way to gather information that will eventually give direction to the next 10 years of ministry in Europe (2009 is the 10-year anniversary of our first Free Methodist church being planted in Europe). Several of us were trained to lead the Appreciative Inquiry process, and I was then assigned to lead the process for our Hungary and Ukraine leaders. The process has been very encouraging and beneficial to the teams that have participated, for which we thank the Lord. To read a report and view a video of one of the creative presentations from one of our missionaries, Julie Allman, click here.

Greg Hendrick, leader of our mission in Ukraine, lead us to some interesting historical and tourist sights on Sunday and Monday. On Sunday we visited the site of two mass graves of Nazi Holocaust victims. We learned that Rivne, after it was conquered by the Nazis in 1941, became the eastern command headquarters for the German military. One park we visited contains several Russian tanks and other big guns. We visited two memorial sites, the first of which contained mass graves (a series of long trenches) of 17,500 Jews who were rounded up form the surrounding area and shot to death in just two days. The second memorial site, right in the heart of the city and adjacent to the train station (the delivery site for the Jews and other "inferior" races) rests atop a mass grave containing more than 80,000 additional victims of the Nazi Holocaust. It was so sad to imagine the horrors that occurred on those sites just 68 short years ago.

From Ukraine_March2009

In Kiev, Greg took us to the old center of the city that was formerly protects by a series of gates and a large wooden wall. Only one gate remains today along with a short reconstructed piece of the wall. The Orthodox churches were beautiful inside and out; yes, the domes are covered in real gold!

March 30, 2009

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:16:00 EST

March 30, 2009 - Monday - I (Paula) decided today that I must tell you about something I've been helping with for the last couple weeks. Several months ago a missionary friend of our's, Jackie, felt like God was telling her to open a "food bank" here in the city of Arad. She wasn't sure how it was going to be accomplished, but nonetheless she went forward. Two weeks ago, I joined her on her second Saturday of passing out food. I brought with me some volunteers (high school students) that Patri (a lady from our church) and I had recruited to help. What we found when we arrived at the distribution location was a riot...or close to one. Nearly 100 people were gathered in the street...all of them wanting a box of food...and all at the same time. We tried for several hours to hand out boxes of food but had so much trouble as the people were trying to push their way through the gate. It was impossible to help anyone. Finally, I called a friend of Stephen/Lydia's whose dad is the head of the street police. He came and was so helpful calling in a team of street police to help organize the people. We were able to hand out food boxes until the police had to leave. We estimate around 100 boxes.

The next distribution was scheduled for this past Saturday. The plan was to have the street police there early to make order of the people from the very beginning. Well...as things go here...the street police did not arrive. (Someone forgot to open the email that was sent requesting their help.) However, after a phone call, a large team of street police arrived and brought order to the, again, large number of people so we could hand out all of the boxes Jackie and other volunteers had made. I was not planning on going as I was to help Lynsey (Spencer, Lynsey and their two children, new volunteers with our missionary team here, arrived last week) get to the grocery store...but as the needs arose...Lynsey and I went. I kept her close, and it turned out to be a great cultural experience for her! One of the street police asked Jackie why she is doing this; she said, "You wouldn't understand." Then she said, "God told me to." This officer (who had given me some trouble a little earlier) just looked at Jackie and was speechless. We will try this again on April 11... :-)

We've received some word on our residency visas; they need another paper from us, but no one bothered to call us or to answer the phone for the last two months. We had to have a friend visit the office in Bucuresti to get this information. The plan at the moment is that I will take the papers to Bucuresti next week for personal delivery. Hopefully we can have this matter resolved soon. Technically, we are over the amount of time we are allowed to stay in Romania without a visa...and if we cross the border they do not have to let us back in. Please continue to pray we can get this situation resolved soon.

Continue to pray for Spencer, Lynsey, Trinity and Jonathan Ball, who arrived last week as new Free Methodist VISA missionaries with us here in Arad. They are experiencing so much change and adjustment and the need for prayer is so great. Pray that our family will know just how to be most helpful to them as they adjust.

We would also ask you to pray for the leaders of Oaza, the children and the staff. For nearly a year now, we have been experiencing some persecution from people who were at one time associated with Oaza. We are trying to handle ourselves in a biblical manner. (We have even been cautious in asking you to pray as we do NOT want to bring harm or pain to anyone involved.) Please pray that God will give us wisdom in how to be Christ-like...and pray for the persecution to end soon. Peace... Paula

March 23, 2009

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:59:00 EST

March 23, 2009 - Monday - I received a fun and interesting gift last week from a friend in our Budapest church: two pictures that were taken last summer. Peter, the photographer, collects old film-based cameras and enjoys taking photos with them. These pictures were taken on an old Russian-made camera (sorry I don't remember the specific type and model). Pictured here with me are (top picture) Judit (Peter's wife) and my Budapest colleague, Larry Winckles; (bottom picture) Peter and Judit, who are newlyweds and also developing leaders in our Budapest church. Would you pray for these three people and the Budapest church today? Scott

March 19, 2009

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:14:00 EST

March 19, 2008 - Thursday - So, we've taken a bit more than a month away from updating you through our website. I guess we just needed a break. Plus sometimes we just don't feel like we have anything to write about, or the things going on in our lives just are publishable material. But anyways...

Today I (Scott) am in Szepalma, Hungary participating in 2 1/2 days of European Leadership Team meetings. Basically, this team of leaders from across Europe meets 2-3 times per year to give direction to our mission's work in continental Europe.

Last weekend I was also in Hungary, this time in Budapest. We had leaders from both of our churches in Hungary (Budapest and Gyor) as well as our missionary couple from Bratislava, Slovakia, gathered together for a day-long Appreciative Inquiry. We are doing these meetings at all of our ministry locations in Europe this Spring as a way to gather information that will eventually give direction to the next 10 years of ministry in Europe (2009 is the 10-year anniversary of our first Free Methodist church being planted in Europe).Several of us were trained to lead the Appreciative Inquiry process when we took the Arad, Romania leaders through it at the end of January. I was then assigned to lead the process for our Hungary team and, later this month, for our ministry leaders in Ukraine. We also completed the same AI process here yesterday as the European Leadership Team. The process is proving to be very encouraging and beneficial to the teams that have participated so far, for which we thank the Lord. (Click here for my colleague's complete set of pictures from Saturday)

What else is going on? Our kids continue to do well in school, in part thanks to their tutor, Drew. Have we mentioned how thankful we are for Drew's contribution to our lives and ministries since September? Paula has been quite busy in her work with Oaza and other individuals with whom she ministers (maybe I can get her to write about her experiences helping with a new food bank that has opened here through a fellow missionary's efforts). Our cell group is up and running once again. For lots of different reasons we've struggled to get a good restart after the holidays, but last week we enjoyed the presence of three new people!

As always, thanks so much for your interest in and prayers for God's doings among us.Scott

February 14, 2009

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:18:00 EST

February 14, 2009 - Saturday - Something we're thinking about on this Valentine's Day...

How are honesty and love related?

February 9, 2009

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:16:00 EST

February 9, 2009 - Monday - We paid our natural gas heating bill today. We did quite a bit of window and door sealing this past Fall in hopes of cutting our gas usage. We also installed automatic thermostats on our radiators, and we've been heating the back half of our home with the wood-burning ceramic/terracotta heater we have. So, the good news is that we have cut our gas usage...by 9 cubic meters over the same period last year (with similar outdoor temperatures). Yeah! The bad news is that our total bill for this same period was 200 lei (approximately $66 at current exchange rates) HIGHER!! In the three years since we've lived here natural gas prices have risen over 65% (much of this due to entering the European Union). In addition, the price of bread, milk and other daily essentials has risen over 30% in three years. Imagine the impact this is having on the average Romanian family that is trying to live on the average family salary $550/month...which has NOT risen in three years. We understand there is financial crisis happening all over the world these days. We're feeling it, too. But our Romanian friends are feeling it more deeply than many. Remember these friends today and pray that God would provide every essential need. Thanks! Scott

February 5, 2009

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:48:00 EST

February 5, 2009 - Thursday - Spring has sprung in Romania???!!! No...(she says with GREAT disappointment) but we are thankful for sunshine yesterday and temperatures in the 50s (Fahrenheit). We don't know how long this will stay but we will enjoy it while we are able. People are beginning to run out of wood to heat their homes, so a warm-up would be just perfect. Typically March 1st here brings a change for the better in temperatures and more sunshine.

Stephen and Lydia recently began a 1/2 year class of physical education. Together we decided that I would supervise this class because the exercise would be good for me too and the accountability would be easier. (lol - laughing out loud) So, this 41-year-old mom has begun jogging three times a week and doing strength training two days. We get lots of looks as the three of us jog around the neighborhood together, but yesterday I realized that God can even use this if He chooses to. So...Lord...use our aching muscles and gasping lungs for your glory! :-D

Last weekend we enjoyed a new experience with our church leaders here in Arad. The Free Methodist Church started its first church in Europe 10 years ago, and now in this 10-year anniversary year the leaders are wanting to do some sort of evaluative process in each country to see where we have been and where we might want to go. Dan Sheffield along with Jerry Coleman, Larry Winckles and Marvin Klein came to Arad and helped us take part in something called AI (Appreciative Inquiry). Basically it is an evaluative tool done through group discussions focusing on the positives more than the negatives (which culturally is very different for Romanians). We were not sure exactly how things would go...but it turned out great! On Saturday we had one time of dreaming...dreaming of what the church could be in 2014. One group focused on relationships, healings and prayers. The other group had dreams about church planting, ministry to the poor, counseling...on and on it went. Scott and I participated in the "skits" to present these dreams. It was a lot of fun!

(To see all of the pictures from AI weekend, click here)

Romania served as the "guinea pig" (learning/training) for the rest of Europe. Scott, Marvin and Larry all received training to facilitate the AI process at our other ministry locations in Europe. Once these visits are complete, the information will be combined and used as one piece of developing a strategic plan for the next 10 years of European ministry.

With recent giving commitments, we are now at 77% of our 2009 budget goal. If you look at it in terms of months, our ministry is funded through early-October. We ask that you continue to pray for God to meet these financial needs. But even more importantly, we ask that you pray for our influence here for Jesus to grow stronger and deeper and more widespread. (You can give or make a commitment to give by completing the green "Dunn Missionary Support" box to the right of this page).

Thanks for being here for us!!! Paula

January 24, 2009

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:09:00 EST

January 24, 2009 - Saturday - Yesterday I (Scott) traveled to Budapest to meet with Pastor Gábor Szuhánski. Pastor Gabor serves with the Hungarian Methodist Church, and he leads a campus of ministries that includes a retirement home, the Budakeszi Methodist Church, a college dormitory, greenhouses, family shelters, and (soon) a pre-school. Gabor is currently supervising the internship of one of the pastoral candidates that I oversee, so this was a visit to discuss how the internship is going. It was a blessing to be part of such a Kingdom partnership with Pastor Gabor and the Hungarian Methodist Church.Scott

January 22, 2009

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:50:00 EST

January 22, 2009 - Thursday - Middle of the month already...where does time go? 2009 Wow! As of the 12th of January, we have been in Romania for 3 years (click here to read our journal from 3 years ago...we've come a long way, baby!). Looking back time has flown...flown over great experiences, wonderful relationships, and yes...doldrums and extremely difficult times. But, none of us have any regrets about being here. Our lives are richer and fuller and forever changed. We look forward to 2009 and wonder what God has in store...and wonder how He will use us this year.

Our last two weeks have been filled with meetings (Carpathian Basin and one-on-one), communication, fund-raising efforts, paper pushing, and a weekend vacation...plus the daily grind that everyone has.

1. Our Carpathian Basin group (made up of leaders and churches from Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia) is planning (again) a retreat in Romania this spring (the one from the fall had to be cancelled). We are really looking forward to hosting our leaders and churches. Please pray as we put all of this together for the end of April.

2. Scott is working diligently on communicating about support giving for 2009 as well as raising additional funds. Because prices go up (health insurance went up by $1700) and other cost increases in pension and taxes, we must raise an additional $13,000 in actual commitments. In the past two years, our support commitments and actual giving have matched or exceeded our budgeted needs. But at this point for 2009, we're projecting about 75% of our budget supported with firm commitments. Please be in prayer that God will provide. We desire to stay here in Romania...but we will submit to whatever the Lord decides for us.

Straja_Jan_2009

3. Stephen celebrated his 17th birthday on the 17th of January. So for his present, he asked to go skiing. We took a few of he and Lydia's friends and Drew along to spend the weekend with us in the southern Carpathian Mountains at a ski location called Straja (click on the picture left to view our online album). We had a nice place to stay and really enjoyed skiing, hiking, and just hanging out in general. If you want to see pictures, visit Paula's facebook account.We are thankful for the Lord's faithfulness to Stephen and ask that you continue to pray for him.

4. The paperwork for obtaining a visa to stay in Romania is not an easy task. Paula has been working on this for our family, Drew, and some other missionary friends here in Arad. Today we were notified that the letter we need from the Minister of Health cannot be signed until a new Minister has been put in place (the Parliament changed on January 1, thus all new ministers and directors must be appointed). The secretary in this office has no authority to process our request nor does she know when a new Minister will be appointed by Parliament. What this means for all of us is this...if we leave the country for any reason, we may not be permitted to re-enter the country for 6 months. Not an option for any of us...especially Scott who travels outside Romania quite often. Please pray that the Lord will place a Minister in office quickly and the He will make our path straight in regards to our visas.

December 30, 2008

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:28:00 EST

December 30, 2008 - Tuesday -

FrozenFog Dec2008

Since our first snowfall on Christmas Eve, the winter weather has continued. The last three days have been foggy as well as frozen. This combination has resulted in some amazing beauty, the kind only God can create. These pictures may make you feel cold, but let the beauty warm you! Just click on the photo to view the complete set of pictures from frosty Arad. Scott

December 27, 2008

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 10:52:00 EST

December 27, 2008 - Saturday - On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me…a day just to beee laaazyy. (Sing it…it fits!) Today is the third day of Christmas here in Romania and we're thankful for a day to be rather quiet at home. It has been a busy week… Last Sunday as planned, a new church in town (Word of Life Church) and our church had a joint worship service. We provided the space and the speaker (Scott), they provided the worship music, and the children of our congregation had a short program (see video clip below).

Stephen, Lydia and Drew enjoyed an evening of ice skating with friends early in the week and Wednesday evening our family attended a Christmas Eve service with another small congregation here in Arad. Lydia and Paula went caroling with them, joined by Drew and some of Lydia’s friends, until about 1:30am. It is still very traditional here in Romania for groups of people to go caroling…singing or playing instruments. Typically the home being caroled greets the guests with candy or cakes. It is not unusual for carolers to sing all night…some of our friends were out until 5:30am Christmas morning.

On Christmas Day, we awoke to a beautiful dusting of snow on the ground and rooftops to give us an amazing, and surprise, white Christmas. We enjoyed our day as a family and were also happy to have Drew and Tanya join us for Christmas dinner and just hanging out together. Last night(on the second day of Christmas) we joined again with the Word of Life Church for a time or worship and fellowship. Today…we were at home…cleaning and cooking, etc…okay, not too lazy but time well spent at home. It still seems rather strange to not be with our families at Christmas time, but we are happy to have our Romanian and American friends here with whom we can celebrate that God loved us so much that He gave His only Son… Christmas is just the beginning…Easter is just around the corner! :-) Paula

December 17, 2008 (2)

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:33:00 EST

December 17, 2008 - Wednesday - We've posted our latest newsletter. You can access it by clicking the "Newsletters" button above...or just click here. We encourage you to download it, print it, and share it with others who may be interested. Thanks! Scott

December 17, 2008 (1)

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:32:00 EST

December 17, 2008 - Wednesday - We cannot believe it has been a month since our last web-update. Sorry… In mid-November, my parents (Elton and Kathleen Moose) met me (Paula) in Germany. We spent several days searching for information regarding my Dad’s family roots. After many stops and much question asking, we spent two hours trying to read a microfiche of handwritten records from a church in Solingen, Germany from the 1600s. Ok…this was no easy task, let me tell you. Don’t they teach 17th-century pastors how to write legibly in seminary?!? :-) However, it was so exciting to come across the family names my Dad had been searching for and confirming their existence. We learned that the people probably originally came from Switzerland and moved into western Germany near the Rhine River before moving to Pennsylvania in the States. We cannot guarantee 100% that these people (Mussnung) are the direct ancestors of my Dad…but the evidence is sure convincing enough for him. This was a lot of fun for me and my Dad. We also spent a couple of days in France with our colleagues Marvin, Lisa and Amelie Klein. It was great to see them and spend a day in Basel, Switzerland together. Then my parents came back with me to Arad for a week, which was wonderful. We so much enjoyed having them here with us and especially over the Thanksgiving holiday… on which we shared with other missionaries here in the Arad area a traditional Thanksgiving meal (mostly Americans but also missionaries from England and some of our Romanian friends too). It’s funny how God will use us at any time…even vacations. My Dad and mom had an opportunity to share from some of their life experiences with others, and Dad also ministered by giving the message at our church on Sunday, November 30. We thank God for the blessing of their visit.

Uzhgorod_Dec2008

In the first week of December, Scott spent a few days in Ukraine with Jerry Coleman (Europe Area Director) andGreg Hendricks (missionary colleague in Rivne, to Ukraine) on a coaching retreat. They stayed at the Zolota Gora (Gold Mountain) hotel just outside of Uzhgorod, Ukraine.

Jerry then returned to Arad last Thursday with Scott and spent a couple of days meeting with us, our church leaders, and on Saturday gave a teaching on giving away leadership to Scott’s monthly leadership training group. Friday evening we enjoyed relaxing with Jerry over a nice dinner and experiencing the city holiday lights. Jerry also shared with our church on Sunday morning about experiencing the glory of God on a personal level…bringing one person at a time to Christ. Also, I spent some time with Oaza personnel visiting with children and their families who have been going through the reintegration process. It was so good to see how they have grown and how God is still so close to them.

Our family is happy to be getting ready for Christmas. Things have changed so much since we moved here nearly three (yes, I said…3) years ago. Our tree is up and decorated and we can now manage to find a few presents for one another. Tonight our cell group (although some have already returned to their family village for the holidays) meets in our home. We hope to go caroling with our church next week. We invited some other churches in the area to join our church for worship time for Christmas…but unfortunately most will not be able to join us…except one, who will be with us this Sunday. The children are preparing something special for Sunday…and maybe I’ll try to pull together a Christmas song. We’ve invited several to join our family on Christmas Day so that no one is alone.

This morning as a family we talked about how we just cannot believe we are finishing our 3rd year here. We remember so well when we first came how difficult things were and how long 4 years seemed. And now, we must begin thinking about what comes next in 2010. Frankly, we don’t want to think about it…we just want to be where God has us right now…here in Arad, Romania…ministering to and with wonderful people. Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying and supporting us. You know that we cannot do this without you. Peace and a blessed Christmas for all of you from all of us!!! :-) Paula

November 17, 2008

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:48:00 EST

November 17, 2008 - Monday - Saturday our cell group initiated a group community project. Several of us plus some of the teens from church volunteered to help with clean-up at the house of a local pastor. The pastor and family had recently moved into their new home when the chimney caught fire destroying the entire roof and second floor of their home. We worked alongside people from his church sorting, carrying, cutting and stacking wood (pieces left over from the roof) and sanding walls on the second floor to remove soot stains. It was a great opportunity to partner with others in the community for a common cause. Paula

November 13, 2008

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:27:00 EST

November 13, 2008 - Thursday - The week Scott was in Belgium, I (Paula) attended a worship conference in Timisoara put on by NorthPoint Community Church. I was a participant, but God gave me opportunities to help bridge a gap between the Romanians and the Americans…especially in regards to church and worship cultures on both sides of the Atlantic. I was able to make new connections with Romanian worship leaders. One participant recognized my face from a picture he saw of me when he attended one of Scott’s teaching times at the History Makers conference he attended in Sibiu (see July 26 entry). Also when Scott was in Bucuresti, he met one of the worship conference attendees at the church he visited. It is good to see connections happening in our different contacts across the country.

Yesterday, I assisted with a ministry in Mocrea at the state mental hospital. Tanya, one of our Oaza volunteers, and I joined three others in playing games, coloring and singing with the residents. Due to the positive impact of a missionary friend here, Jackie Ramsey, the hospital has improved tremendously. Nonetheless, it is still a place of sadness. I spent most the morning playing chess with a gentlemen who lost one eye, his cheek and his nose in an explosion on a ship many years ago. We are not exactly sure why he is a resident at the hospital. We had a great time laughing together…and he had to show off his knowledge of Romanian (of course), Russian, Turkish, Hungarian, French, and German! Pray for this man to become open to spiritual conversation…I hope to go see him again.

Cell group was great last night… A visitor from two weeks ago, Moni, did not attend last night. Please pray that the Lord will lead her to join us. She is a believer but she needs a place to connect. Please also pray for Ionut, a friend of a cell group member, to be open to attending cell group. I am also excited to share that Stephen played guitar for our cell group last night. This was a first…He was AWESOME! Please pray that the Lord will encourage him!

The kids are doing great with Drew. We certainly appreciate him so very much! Please pray for Drew as he continues to make transitions…which is even more difficult for a single person.

I’ve also been spending time on administrative duties for Oaza and assisting the volunteers as I am able. If you would be interested in receiving the Oaza newsletter, pleasesend me an email and I’ll be happy to add you.

I travel next week to Germany to meet my parents for a week together. It has been over a year since we have seen any of our family. Then my parents will come back to Arad with me for another week and to spend Thanksgiving with us. We are so excited to have them here!

Thanks for praying! Paula

November 11, 2008

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:04:00 EST

November 11, 2008 - Tuesday - Saturday, Sunday and Monday I (Scott) was in the Romania's capital city, Bucuresti, to visit with three different groups of people with whom we have relationship and who are all interested in church planting. The first group you have read about here in the past, the Methodist house church whom I have visited several times previously. Daniel and his wife Andrea give leadership to this community of four families (here pictured with the house that Daniel is building in a nearby village, doing much of the work himself). I spent much of the day with them on Saturday and spoke at their Sunday morning gathering.

On Saturday evening I visited a 3-week-old church led by Theo and his brother. I was the "grandpa" in this church of mostly teens and young college students! I met Theo a few weeks ago at a national leadership training event, and he is part of one of the church planting networks with whom I am developing relationship. Again, a great visit with some great Kingdom people.

My final visit was with an American missionary family that we met here in Arad. Patrick and Mindy moved to Romania a year before we did with hopes of helping to plant churches. They recently moved to Bucuresti to be part of an existing Baptist church that has a track record of mothering new churches. Again, I'm just trying to befriend and come alongside the people whom God is calling to start new churches that will reach the younger generations of Romania for Christ.

So please take a moment now and pray for Daniel, Theo, and Patrick, that God would bless their church planting ministries. Scott

November 7, 2008

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:01:00 EST

November 7, 2008 - Friday - I (Scott) am back in town for just a few hours today. Tuesday through Thursday this week I was in Middelkerke, Belgium (near Oostende, on the coast of the North Sea) for meetings with the European Leadership Team (ELT) of which I am a member. Besides excellent meetings, significant experiences include a visit to an open air museum that has preserved part of the Nazi-built "Atlantic Wall" defense system, Belgian chocolate of several kinds (including chocolate spread for the bread at breakfast and chocolate bars for one breakfast choice), authentic Belgian waffles, and a long (and chilly) walk along the fog-covered North Sea coast. My colleague, Larry Winckles has written a more extended report of our week in Belgium. You can check it out here.

Tonight I'm catching an overnight train to Bucuresti to visit ministry contacts there over the weekend. And then I think I'll stay home for awhile :-). Scott

November 2, 2008

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:37:00 EST

November 2, 2008 - Sunday - There haven't been a lot of exciting things to write about from our lives or ministries here. Meetings, lunches and conversations with different people we work with, but we can't really write details about those things...and who'd want to read the details anyway! :-) So we'll pick on our 15-year-old daughter Lydia to provide a little window into our lives this week. On Friday night (Halloween, which is a very new thing here "imported" from the west) we went to one of the new shopping malls here where they were having Halloween activities and a free concert. The singer, Alex Velea (disclaimer: he is a secular singer, so anything is possible in the music videos on this site), was a hip-hop/rapp style group that is apparently quite famous and popular among the teen generation in Romania. So we went as a family and Lydia met up with a girlfriend at the mall. After the concert Lydia and her friend rejoined us, and they were SO excited because they got to touch hands and rub shoulders with the lead singer and several of the dancers after the performance. But the even bigger thrill for Lydia came in the parking lot. As we were walking to our car, we could see the bands members loading their equipment into their van. So Paula and a friend from church, Roxi, walked over and ask if Lydia could have her picture taken with them. The young men were all quite happy to have their picture taken with our beautiful daughter! Lydia nearly floated to the car after that!

Lydia and Paula also took some time yesterday to paint one of Lydia's bedroom walls...with stripes! It looked like a lot of work to me (Scott), but I have to say, it looks quite nice. Lydia has a nice eye for style and color. What do you think?

We've had two meetings of our new cell group. Both have gone quite well. We've even had our first visitor. Keep praying for us as this new ministry develops. Another of our church leaders is considering starting a cell group in their home as well, which would be a good thing, too!

Monday begins a very busy travel week for me (Scott). Monday I drive to Budapest to do some business at the US embassy and to stay over for an early Tuesday flight. Tuesday morning I fly with several other colleagues to Belgium for three days of European Leadership Team meetings. I return to Arad late Thursday night, then Friday evening I board an overnight train to Bucuresti where I will spend Saturday-Monday meeting with church planters and a house church with whom I've been meeting for the last year or so. Pray that I can discern the Lord's leading in all of these encounters. Scott

October 22, 2003

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:45:00 EST

October 22, 2008 - Wednesday - Paula and I traveled to Budapest yesterday to attend a worship concert by Brian Doerksen. If you've ever sung "Come, Now is the Time for Worship," then you know Brian's music. While there we were able to get a copy of his latest album, "It's Time." He has a song for free download available here.

Tonight we're starting a new cell group in our home. We're starting with a core group of about 6 people, including Paula and me. Pray for us that this new ministry will bear abundant fruit in people's lives and for the Kingdom of God. Scott

October 21, 2008

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:55:00 EST

October 21, 2008 - Tuesday - We've posted our latest newsletter. You can find it by clicking the "Newsletters" tab above. And by all means feel free to pass it on in electronic or printed form to anyone you know who may be interested and want to pray along with our ministry. Thanks for your interest! Scott

October 20, 2008

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 05:02:00 EST

October 20, 2008 - Monday - I (Scott) had the opportunity to attend a leadership training event Thursday thru Saturday. The event was held in the resort town of Sovata, Romania, and was sponsored by a relatively new network of evangelical churches here in Romania called BIG-Impact. The teaching sessions were on dvd (with Romanian subtitles) from the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, an event that always offers top-notch training in leadership development. But the teaching sessions were not my primary reason for attending. I was there primarily to meet and network with other Romanian church leaders who want to reach their country for Jesus in new and relevant ways. A highlight for me was the opportunity to meet with a small group of church planters from all over the country. They are currently putting together a relational network to encourage and equip a Romanian church planting movement. If this sounds familiar, it should! Just read my October 12 journal entry below; we have very much the same vision. So, it seems that God is consistently speaking about and leading His people in the same direction in regards to a church planting movement that reaches this country for Jesus in a way that has not happened before. Will you pray right now for God to continue moving His people towards this new move of God?

Another item that we would request pray for is a new cell group that Paula and I are beginning this Wednesday, two days from now. We have lots of experience in starting and leading cell groups, but we've never done it cross-culturally or bi-lingual. We have a core of four young adults plus ourselves that we'll be starting with. Our purposes are quite simple: provide an environment where people can explore and discover Jesus, where people become daily disciples of Jesus, and where leaders are trained to multiply new cell groups. Easy, right? Not! It is always a work of God's Holy Spirit. So we'd really appreciate your prayers for us in this new venture.

Our kids enter their 9th week of internet school today. Drew continues to be a great blessing to them and us as he guides Stephen and Lydia and keeps them on track. He came over last night to share some more episodes of LOST (we're still catching up on season 1!), complete with "real" popcorn (versus the microwave variety that Drew says is not real popcorn). He also brought is new Transylvanian chalice (made from pear wood) that he bought in Corund, a small town near Sovata famous for its pottery, where he and I stopped Saturday before returning to Arad. Scott

October 12, 2008

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:43:00 EST

October 12, 2008 - Sunday - For several weeks now I (Scott) have been planning a gathering of people with whom I have established relationship to begin talking about how we can work together to begin new churches. This is something I sensed God's direction in several months ago. Yesterday was the appointed day, and my hope was that 6-8 people would come to the Three Bean Coffee House in Arad and make this small beginning with me. All last week I kept receiving calls, "Can I bring another person?" We ended up having 18 people attend, all of us passionate about starting new churches that will reach and transform a rapidly changing Romanian society with the always-relevant work of Jesus. Since most of my contacts right now are in Romania, this was our primary focus in this gathering, but it was great to have our colleague, Larry Winckles, with us as he has been a leader of our church plant in Budapest for several years now.

According to plan, I presented three short talks about the need for new churches and new ways of doing "church." These were intended to spark discussion among the group so that together we began to discover and express the mind of God. All were encouraged to find that others are sensing the same direction of God for the future of the church in Romania and Hungary. So, while this was just a beginning step, we all felt like it was a successful beginning, and we're excited to discover and do the next thing. Our ultimate vision is to see a multiplying movement of new churches that reach and transform lives for Jesus. "Movement" "multiplying" and "transform" are keys words that we encourage and invite you to pray about as you partner with us for new churches in our region of Europe!

The other exciting thing that happened yesterday for a member of our family is that Stephen was invited to go parasailing. How cool is that!? It was a beautiful fall day here for it as well. Here are a couple of pictures and a short video of one of Stephen's take-off. Drew, our new volunteer who's supervising Stephen and Lydia's schooling, went as well. They both had a "ton of fun."

Paula spent the week in Leysin, Switzerland last week at a retreat for European (mostly independent--not with a mission like we are) missionaries. She had a great time as well, and hopefully we'll get her to write something soon to post here. In the meantime, here's one of her pictures (click on it for a larger version) of the Bernese Alps "above" the mountain town (and clouds) of Leysin. Scott

October 1, 2008

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:52:00 EST

October 1, 2008 - Wednesday - Today we are remembering our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering severe persecution in India and the effects of poverty and four successive hurricanes in Haiti. Following is a video about the crisis in Haiti. Would you pray along with us today? Scott

September 30, 2008

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:34:00 EST

September 30, 2008 - Tuesday - Answers to prayer are not always able to be captured in one picture, but today's answered prayer can be. Back in April of this year we began publicizing our need for a support missionary to help with our kids' internet-based schooling. Drew Walter arrived last Thursday, and this morning Stephen and Lydia walked to his apartment for "school" for the first time. This picture will give you a glimpse of their "classroom," and teacher Drew especially wanted all of our web readers to notice that he is lounging barefooted and eating his yoghurt and muesli. In what other school could he teach like this? :-)

Another answer to prayer that we can't capture in a picture right now also involves our kids. You and we have prayed since our arrival in January 2006 for good friendships for our kids. Recently Stephen and Lydia have met and begun to hang out with three other Romanian teens who live in our neighborhood. They all seem to be getting along very well. None are personally committed followers of Jesus yet (all are nominally Orthodox like the majority of people here), but we're thankful for the relationships for our kids and for the opportunity to demonstrate Jesus to them through our friendship.

We're all really thankful for these answers to prayer. Take a moment and thank God with us. All of you who have prayed with us on these issues have been an important part of seeing this come to fruition. Scott

September 26, 2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:06:00 EST

(Scott) drove to Budapest yesterday. In between stops at the airport to drop off Cristi and his new wife (Cristi is returning for his second/final year at Fuller Seminary) and picking up Drew Walter (more about him in a minute), I drove downtown to our church's ministry center. They have a mission team from New York state visiting and doing construction. They are a great team and doing excellent work both in construction and in building a positive relationship with the Hungarian contractor.

Since I had a few hours with them,I decided to get my hands dirty and help out where needed. So they taught me how to lay bricks, and I made my first brick wall in preparation for a new window that will be installed. I also spent some time with a chisel and hammer making room for new supports above the window opening. Growing up on the farm as I did, physical labor like this is quite therapeutic for me! :-)

Our new volunteer, Drew Walter, arrived at the airport in the late afternoon, and we returned to Arad together last night (he was too tired and jet-lagged to punish him with a picture for this blog entry :-) ). Drew is God's answer to our request for someone to assist our kids with their internet-based schooling. We're all very pleased to have him join our ministry team here! Pray for Drew now as he makes adjustments to a different way of life and culture. Scott

September 24, 2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:05:00 EST

September 24, 2008 - Wednesday - I recently learned of a new way for our regular readers to be informed when we post a new entry to this website. Simply go to www.feedmyinbox.com, enter our web address (www.thedunnsinromania.org), and your email address. This free service will then send you an email automatically whenever we post a new journal entry. How easy is that?

We deeply appreciate all of you who visit and read our site regularly. We average over 100 visits per week to our website...wow! Hopefully this tool will provide an easy way for even more of our support/sending team to stay in touch with our ministry. Scott

September 23, 2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:04:00 EST

September 23, 2008 - Tuesday - A short note to share some news…

Cazacuwedding2008

First, yesterday we participated in the wedding of our good friend Cristi and his bride Bella. The festivities went really well; it was truly beautiful. The church ceremony was held in an Evangelical Lutheran Church, called Biserica Rosii (The Red Church)…because of its red brick facade. Scott officiated the ceremony, with a church planter friend of ours, Ionut, translating. BUT…Scott did parts of the service in Romanian! We are all so proud of him! :-) We are very happy for Cristi and Bella. Cristi is widely recognized Christian musician/songwriter in Romania. If you'd like to hear one of his recent songs about Christ returning for His Bride, the Church, click here and wait for the song to load and begin playing automatically.

We have also been busy planning for our Carpathian Basin retreat for this weekend, but today had some bad news. The facility where we were to stay is not habitable yet…the contractors who had promised to have it finished in time, well, they didn’t. We tried all day to find an alternative location that we can afford…with no results. So, we have had to postpone our event until hopefully the Spring. We were all really looking forward to hosting this regional event. To say the least, we are disappointed. On the other hand, we are not thrown…we have become very used to last minute changes and things not going as planned. THIS is the life of EVERY Romanian…THIS is OUR life too. :-)

On a happy note, Drew Walter arrives on Thursday to join our family here in Arad. We are really looking forward Drew being here! Please pray for his safety in travels and for his transition to life here in Romania. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers! Pray for our family as well as we face yet again another transition.

Things at Oaza are in the state of change as well. As of two months ago or so, we had 21 children/teens under our care. As of today, we have 15. Two of our “teens” became adults this past month and by choice moved into an apartment with a local friend. Several other parents have contacted us and asked to try reintegrating their children into their lives again. (As the children become older this becomes more desirable for the parents.) We ask that you pray for the children that are returning to their natural families. We are committed to remaining in contact with them and supporting them in ways that would be helpful to them as a family. But we also ask that you pray for the children who remain under the care of Oaza as they go through this transition as well. Changes in any family can be unsettling. Pray for the staff and volunteers that God will give us direction in how to be supportive of the children/teens.

Remember to pray for Scott as he continues to develop the relationships he has with leaders here in Romania. Pray for our friends in Bucurest as they are facing some discouragement with their home church. Pray for our church leaders here in Arad as they seek to know God’s direction. Pray for some new open doors into the lives of lost people in our community…may God expand our borders and the borders of His Kingdom…may God use us!

As always, thank you for your prayers and support. It’s good to know you are there…at the other end of this journal! :-) Paula

September 11, 2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:02:00 EST

September 11, 2008 - Thursday - Welcome back! Those of you who follow our website regularly have surely noticed that we haven't posted anything for a month. Have we been on vacation like the rest of Europe does during the month of August? No, far from it. Things have been quite busy here, so our web journal just took a back seat for awhile. So let me catch you up on things here, starting with the most recent...

I (Scott) have been doing premarital counseling with a Romanian couple. The groom-to-be is from our church. Take a moment to pray for Cristian and Isabella. I will be officiating their religious ceremony (for our USA readers, the civil/legal and religious ceremonies happen separately here) on September 22, and at least part of it in Romanian. Yikes!

Planning for our regional conference, a gathering for all of our churches and ministries in the Carpathian Basin (Hungary, Slovakia, Romania) is in full swing. We will gather here in Romania Sept. 26-29. We're hoping for 40-50 people.

We really enjoyed a visit from Pastor Brenda Young and Carol Tatmanfrom one of our supporting churches, Cornerstone Free Methodist in Akron, Ohio. They were with us for just a short visit, Sept. 3-9. In addition to Brenda preaching at our church this past Sunday and just getting generally acquainted with our ministries here, Brenda and Carol also ministered through counseling and Freedom in Christ training.

This past Sunday afternoon we were able to connect live, via Skype, with the LifeHope church, one of our supporting churches in Canton, Ohio. The Skype technology allowed us to both talk and see (and be seen) through the church's audio/visual system. It certainly madde 500 mils seemed a lot closer! If your church would be interested in making a live connection with us during one of your gatherings, let us know and we'll see what we can do to help.

This past Saturday, September 6, was a big day here: the wedding of Rafi and Marci. Rafi is Pastor Nelu's son, and both Rafi and Marci serve as house parents withOaza. Their day of celebration began with the legal/civil ceremony at the City Hall downtown. After this brief service, everyone drove in caravan to a newly developed conference center 10 miles north of Arad called "Scânteia" (meaning "to sparkle/glitter). The religious ceremony (the "Blessing" as they call it here) was held in the large meeting room there. Marci's pastor from her home church officiated, and Scott shared a short message about the Biblical meaning of love. The reception began immediately following the Blessing. It was an outdoor reception (it was 100 degrees Fahrenheit, too) held in the large courtyard at the front of the "castle." This property, prior to communism, functioned as a nobleman's "castle." It is not really a castle, though; its more like a large mansion. And the grounds around it are like a beautiful park. Under communism the property was seized by the government and used as the centerpiece of a collective farm and a retreat/vacation center for communist party leaders. Eventually the castle will be restored to its historic beauty, but even now it remains a beautiful building and a perfect backdrop for a wedding. As is typical at Romanian weddings, the reception included a five-course meal served over a period of hours...45 minutes-1 hour between each course. The last course--the wedding cake--was served a bit after midnight! Stephen and I checked out around 1:00AM, Lydia came home around 2:30AM, and Paula, who stayed to help with clean-up, rolled in after 4:00AM Sunday morning. And yes, we did get up and go to church later that morning! :-)

From August 23-September 4 we welcomed the Spencer and Lynsey Ball family. They are exploring the possibility of joining our missionary team here where they would serve primarily as support staff with the Oaza homes for abandoned children. It was a great two-week introduction for them to life in Romania. We had many of good talks and even an excursion to some nearby castle ruins that date back to the 1200's! Pray for the Ball family as you think of it, that God would clearly guide and confirm His direction in their lives.

Now, since the Balls are from Michigan, we couldn't resist including these four pictures. Anyone familiar with The Ohio State University football rivalry with the "M" state up north will recognize these silhouettes (courtesy of Stephen):

Go BUCKS!

(We do still miss American college football)

As always, thanks so much for your interest in and support of our ministry. Scott