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Ken and Monica Luse
Missionaries with The Master's Mission
since 1999
 The Luse Connection
Hunedoara, Romania
March/April 2008
In
Ministry:
Greetings! Since the February newsletter, a
lot has happened here in the beautiful country of Romania. Primarily, the
activity has centered on the new church plant (DEO GLORIA); to us, the new
church is like a “new baby” that we are watching grow in some very
significant ways.
1. God is raising-up some Godly men from the
congregation that have the heart for ministering the Word of
Truth. I believe, that He is revealing those that he is preparing for
leadership.
2. Our fellowship and love for one another
continues to grow drawing us closer.
3. We are reaching out to the lost with the
message of Christ and are seeing fruit.
Please, continue to pray that the Lord will
continue His perfect work in us and through us so that His great name will
be glorified.
In Our Youth:
We wanted to focus this month on the group of young people tha
that we call our Youth Group at DEO GLORIA. It has been wonderful
wonderful watching the Lord grow them, and, even more special
special to watch Kenneth, Rebecca, Alyssa and Nikitah blossom
blossom as these new relationships have blessed them with good,
good, close friendships for the first time since coming to the country.
 
From the beginning, we
wanted young people to feel like they can
can come to our home whenever they want to seek fellowship, friendship
friendship or counsel. It seems to have happened as we have visitors
regularly now (mostly from our youth); at any time during the day we may
have one or more of them invade our home, refrigerator, etc. We have no
complaints, only thankful hearts for all God has provided.
We meet together every Saturday afternoon for
singing,
play and study. Also, Nikitah and Alyssa write and produce
skits for the group to do in church once a month and most of
the youth are involved in that work, as well as singing together
as a group. This work has already resulted in some of these
young people accepting Christ and asking for baptism.
Let me tell you about some of them:
This is Amos. He has been with us from the beginning and is
is always around the house. He is 17, speaks very good English
English and has become Kenneth’s friend.
His family has a varied religious background, but Amos is the
the only one that has come regularly to DEO GLORIA. He has
has three sisters and one brother, and their family life is difficult
difficult with each one going in a different direction and with very little
parental guidance.
 We have seen a wonderful dedication to Christ
in Amos in the last few months. He has told us that after watching our
family he has realized that he needs to be more respectful to his parents
and he as begun to obey them the first time they ask him to do something,
instead of waiting until they get angry and yell at him. He says he wants
to be a good example and witness to his entire family.
This young man (right) is Bogdan. He is 15
years old, speaks good
English and recently came to us on a Sunday night, for church service, as a
shy, withdrawn young man. He does not come from a Christian family, so
one of our men sat next to him to help him find Bible verses during the
teaching time. The next week, he came to the youth meeting and church
and now has been coming regularly for over two months.
After church one evening, his father told him
that it would be better for him to spend his time in a local disco (bar)
then go to our church. Bogdan said, that he told his father, what good would
that do for me?
Since Bogdan started coming, his little
brother Adi has started coming too (Adi even sang with the teens one week
beside his brother). Then his mother came. We continue to pray for them.
Perhaps, the Lord would be pleased to bring salvation into this whole
family.
Oh, yes! Bogdan is considering seriously the claims of Christ.
Madalina is 15, speaks very little English and began
coming
coming to DEO GLORIA with her Aunt and Uncle
from
from the beginning. She came with her brother Victor, 16,
and
and has become friends with our girls, and Victor (pictured
right)
right) has become a friend to Kenneth, as well as the girls.
Victor
Victor likes to practice his English with us, but mostly I
think he likes to laugh at our Romanian!
Their family is a broken family. They live in
a two room block apartment with their mother. Their father is working in
Bucharest and left when they were both very young. Both are very
affectionate; with Monica always being hugged and kissed by Madalina and Ken
getting hugged a lot by Victor.
Victor and Madalina have accepted Christ.
 
Paula is pictured here with Alyssa. She is 16 and speaks
speaks some English, but to look at the two of them together,
together, you’d think Alyssa and Paula were sisters. They have
have that same vibrant spirit and are a pleasure to be around.
around. The girls have enjoyed swapping recipes and teaching
teaching each other how to cook Romanian, or American
foods.
 Pictured to the right is Paula’s Sister Delia,
she is 18 and speaks a
little more English than her sister, but understands English very well.
Both Delia and Paula live with their Mother and Father in a block
apartment complex and their parents have been with DEO GLORIA from
the beginning. They too are Christians, with Paula just being
baptized last year.
Donata is 15 and has been coming to our David Center group and now is part
of of
our youth group. She is sitting on the fence with her life. She is not so
convinced that she has to fully embrace the teachings of the Bible to be a
Christian. She wants to please her friends at school and her friends at
church; she is also struggling because she is ashamed that both of her
parents are handicapped. Her parents would like her to attend church where
they go, but Donata wants to attend somewhere else. So please pray for her
that the Lord will help her make wise decisions, and for us to be the
compassionate leaders that she needs in her life at this time.
Our youth are involved in the normal Sunday
services as well; Amos, Kenneth, Victor (and sometimes Bogdan) help with the
PowerPoint for the singing and the media for the preaching and teaching
time. Also, all the youth sing together in the church services almost every
Sunday. It has been a blessing to see them participate.
Recently, we invited the teens from Maranatha Baptist Baptist
Church (Daniel Popa’s Church) to join us at the Pestis property
property for some Volleyball and a Barbecue (sort of). So, in addition
addition to our group, we had approximately 15 additional
participants
participants at our little get together.
 Many of the youth have decided that they would
like to learn to play the guitar, so our two guitars have been being put to
a lot of use, since we now also have guitar lessons at our house.
We are encouraging the youth
to
have a broader view of serving God; so
the day after Easter, which was on April 27th
here, we took a road/train trip to a small gypsy
village to help encourage the local church there.
All of the youth were required to be involved
through singing, playing guitar, reading poems,
and acting in two skits. It was a great time of fellowship with our youth
group and ministry to others. We are hoping to be able to do more trips
like this throughout the summer.
In addition, two of the men in the church have
started a precepts Bible Study of the Life of Joseph which several of the
teens are taking to learn how to do an inductive study. As you can see, the
group may be small in number but involved.
It has been fun for us to participate in the
lives of so many people. Without your prayers, encouragement and support
these things would not be happening. Thank you all, very much.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
1) We have our tickets now for returning to
the United States on the 24th of August 2008. We will only be
there for a year, but we would like to have as many opportunities to
minister the Word of God and to present the work here in Romania as the Lord
and time will allow.
2) On the 13th of September begins
the Missions Conference at our Church in West Liberty and we are to be
involved. There are several preparations that need to be done before then,
so we are praying for clear minds and wisdom as we begin this process.
3) The new Church (DEO GLORIA) will be less
than a year old at the time we leave and all the responsibility for
leadership, preaching and teaching will be on the shoulders of Emi Goicovici
(the Romanian Pastor we are working with in this church plant), please pray
for strength and stamina for him as well. It would be a blessing to see God
provide a strong Biblically based family to help continue the work here
while we are gone.
4) Moreover, the David Center will be without
us. Dora Boscor has said she will need some help to continue that ministry
as well.
5) Nikitah is asking for prayer with their
witness in the English Class they teach in Pestis and that the Lord would
help them to finish their school year before they leave Romania so that they
can focus on changing time zones and on helping with Missions Conference
preparations without having to add schoolwork to their workload.
 The Luse Connection Hunedoara, Romania
January 2008
Philippians 3:7
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Greetings, Friends and
Family!
I can not express how much joy and satisfaction we have in finally being
able to feel like we are doing what the Lord has brought us here to Romania
to do. It is such a pleasure to work with this new church plant and the
people that have put their heart and soul into it. To have a group of
believers who want and encourage us to use the gifts that God has given us,
and are very patient with our mistakes as we speak the Romanian language.
It is exciting to be a part of a group that
wants to actually seek and find out what the Bible says about how they
should live their lives, and how the church should function. They/we are
not without our problems, but I pray that our goal is to overcome those
problems so we can continue to be a light to the rest of the community that
God can, will and has changed our lives.
The new church has been blessing to us beyond
what I can adequately describe for you. It is especially wonderful for us to
see that the young people have embraced our children; I think that this is
the first time that our children are really enjoying their time here in
Romania. God has been very good to us and his other children here and we
have seen fruit for our combined labors as the church continues to not only
grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, but numerically as well.
For the Holidays:
Alyssa wrote a skit for the David Center (DC) that was set to
music and where no words were spoken. Our kids and two girls from the DC put
the skit on in front of those that came to our last meeting before
Christmas. It was a blessing. The Lord used the skit to magnify Christ as
the acting portrayed beautifully the world’s rejection of our Saviour, but
the grace of God to save in spite of that rejection. What a powerful message
it was as many (including Dad) had tears on their cheeks as the Spirit of
God spoke the message in a glorious and memorable way. It was so well
received, that Pastor Emy asked that it be done for the Christmas service as
well.
  In addition to the Christmas service on
Christmas day, Ken, Monica, Nikitah and Alyssa went caroling for the first
time, with a group from the church the night before Christmas. It was a
lesson in endurance and love, as we caroled until after 1 am! It is an
interesting custom here to go around town to sing Christmas carols to people
in their homes. Many go with secular songs seeking money; others go because
they will get fed something from each home they go to. In our case, our
group we went with a desire to go as a means of sharing the gospel and to
invite people to our new church. It is a wonderfully exciting thing to be a
part of a small church that is excited about what God is doing.
For New Years, we rang in 2008 with a Bible
study/prayer meeting/party at our home. We had about 23 people come from our
church and the David Center. Even Gaby, the handicapped young man from
Fornadia, attended and gave his testimony of how God had made him a new
creature after he’d been paralyzed six years ago. I had never heard the
whole story before, but I was blessed by it.
Everyone had such a good time that they
didn’t leave until 5:30 AM. Monica and I finally made it to bed by 6:30 AM
after taking Gaby home. We were tired, but satisfied that the Lord was/is
making our little church into a family.
In addition, we have a new addition to our
church family now. A woman that started coming to visit the church has
prayed to receive Christ. She said that she had visited several other
churches and was unable to find one that treated her like they cared. She
stayed and God changed her. Pray for Lilliana. She has a very difficult life
and needs protection and grace that only our Father can supply.
 Monica and I are both enjoying teaching; she
is teaching a women’s group through Jude and I just finished 1 Peter with
the men and began 1 John. Two of our men are challenging the other men to
join them in having Emy and I teach them the Bible to prepare them for
ministry; they are asking for homework too. They realize that if sometime in
the future both Emy and I are gone at the same time, they would be without a
teacher. So they want to be ready to keep moving forward and be prepared for
whatever the Lord has planned for them.
 Sunday night services are at our home and if
the growing continues (and I pray it will) we will have to either split the
group or rent a hall. I am reluctant to do that because I want to have a
more informal setting for the evening and midweek services to try and break
away somewhat from the formality and encourage that family/home
environment. Pray with us that God will provide a permanent building for us
to meet in and the finances to purchase and maintain it.
We are planning on coming home for a furlough in August
of this year and need to begin making plans for our time there in the
states. If you are wishing for us to attend any special conferences,
meetings, speak at your church, or visit, please let us know well in advance
so we can put it on our calendar.
We are enjoying our new house that we are
renting, but are realizing that it would be much easier, and wiser for us to
actually purchase a place of our own. Please pray with us that if this is
what God wants he will provide the finances for such a purchase. The owner
of this place we are renting has expressed interest in selling the house in
the future. If the Lord wills, we feel this place is perfectly suited to us
and our ministry needs here in Romania, but He knows best and we are excited
to see what His plans will be for us in the future.
How
You Can Pray for Us:
1. That we will not tire, faint or stumble in the work that
God has called us too.
2. That the Lord will equip us and give us wisdom for the
work.
3. That the Lord will supply our financial and ministerial
needs.
4. For health and protection.
5. That the new church would grow both spiritually and
numerically.
6. That the Lord would prepare our way home for our furlough
in August and Churches for us to
minister the Word of God and to speak with about our
vision for the future.
Keep praying and we will see many of you in the fall if the
Lord wills.
God bless you all!
Ken and Monica Luse
 The
Luse Connection
Hunedoara, Romania July/August
2007
As
soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the
synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. Mark 5:36
Thank you for praying for our visa situation. We are praising
the Lord, because He supplied the funds, and allowed us to get all the paper
work done for the kid’s visas; so they are set for another year. It is
wonderful to see the Lord supply what is needed and when it is needed; not
too soon, and not too late, but just on time. This is often a real test of
faith for us.
In Ministry:
One thing that seems to put us all on a level
playing field in this life is suffering. It doesn’t matter your age,
educational background, religion or station in life, we are all touched from
time to time with periods of suffering, pain and fear. Nobody is exempt, but
a few live each day without hope of relief and we are finding that God is
opening the door for the gospel through their suffering.
Once again, in July, we were blessed to work at a
conference organized by Becky’s Hope (started by some Romanian/American’s)
to reach out with the hope of God’s Word to parents of children with
handicaps. Many of these families who came are Orthodox and have a great
distrust of “repenters.” (Some priests even preach that to even listen to an
evangelical message once will condemn you to hell) But the search for
answers helps many of them come, stay and hear.
It is to these dear people that we had the opportunity to minister at Valea
Dragonului, just north of us. The message brought from Laurie Miracle was
simple; look for the signs that God is with you in the midst of your
suffering. This message was received well and many people found hope and
encouragement. Judy Squire, an American who was borne without legs, also
gave her testimony; which was a powerful message of the grace of God at work
through her suffering. Through the working of the Holy Spirit, these
messages and the personal contact, six people accepted Christ and His
message of redemption, and are now new creatures in Christ. We had more of
a support role this year; we were kept busy running people to and from the
airport, consultancy for future programs and counseling.
The highlight for Monica and I was to watch the kids
spend time with the founders daughter, a young lady named Becky who has
spina bifida. She is wheelchair bound and her parents were worried that she
would be bored (Not with Nikitah, Alyssa, Rebecca and Kenneth around). I
think that the girls taught Becky every card game known to man and they had
a wonderful time doing a skit together (in Romanian) for the parents on the
love of God. They modeled for us all acceptance and love and helped us
appreciate how God is raising our kids to overcome barriers and to reach out
in love to others. Praise God!
July also found us occupied with many other
ministry activities. One of which was to reach out to a local widow to
rebuild a roof that had burned recently. She didn’t have the means to
replace it, so the local church and others donated some money and Ken
donated his labor to the cause. It was a lot of work, but also was a
wonderful testimony to the community.
The kids helped with VBS at a church in Hunedoara in
June, and really enjoyed the American West theme, and Monica worked with
some American ladies who reached out to the unsaved through sewing classes.
There has been some discussion of extending this sewing ministry next year
to other villages as well, using us to help facilitate the ministry. We pray
that the Lord will give wisdom to all concerning this possibility. The
husbands of these ladies don’t want to be left behind so come along and seek
ways to minister through doing building projects. We are excited about the
opportunities that working with this group could present for future
ministry.
August found Nikitah and Alyssa working at a handicapped camp.
They went to be caregivers for some of the handicap that would be there, but
their duties were expanded to include being translators for the British team
that had come to help lead the camp. Nikitah told me later, she was
surprised how God had enabled them to translate so easily.
In the Family:
Thank you for praying for us. There has been a great
improvement in our language skills. Nikitah and Alyssa have especially
improved after spending the last school year working with a Romanian Teacher
to obtain a language credit for their schooling. With the conquering of the
language, have come Romanian speaking friends making life so much easier
here for the kids. They are receiving telephone calls now from other young
people (the way the teenage years were meant to be) and it is a pleasure for
us as their parents to hear them talking with their friends in Romanian.
Monica and I too have been able to visit a lot more
without the aid of a translator. I am so thankful to God for his provision
for us. We forget how important communication is to us as human beings until
we are placed in a position of not being understood and not understanding.
In
Life:
Monica and I have spoken with Daniel Popa and
we have decided to move into Hunedoara to be closer to ministry
opportunities (the David Center, etc.), the church and of course, people to
practice our language with. God has provided for us a house to rent, so we
will be moving from the property to town hopefully in mid-September. Our
hope is that by being closer to people and activities that God will solidify
our language this last year here in Romania.
We have also been asked to help plant a new church
here in Hunedoara. We are excited about this possibility and are praying
that God will give us clear direction on how involved in this opportunity we
are to become. The Romanian pastor that we would be working with wants to
reach out to the un-churched people and hold services that are not so
focused on tradition. There is already much interest in this type of
church, but finding a place to hold the meetings is going to be one of the
biggest challenges.
Prayer
Requests:
1.
Nikitah
who is suffering from a cough and generally not feeling well.
2. Our move will go quickly and God
will continue to provide for us to stay in town.
3. God will provide many
opportunities for us to use our language skills.
4. God would give us wisdom in what
ministry opportunities we should become involved in.
There are no words to express how much we appreciate all your
prayers and support.
May the Lord bless you all richly!
Ken, Monica and family
For photographs of our ministry activities here, go to:
http://community.webshots.com/user/luseconnection
The Luse
Connection (April 2005)
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