Everything IS bigger in Texas!

What a joy it has been to have Ovidiu and Adina in our home this past week. God truly blessed us with a wonderful time of food, fun, fellowship, and promotion of our ministry. I asked Ovidiu to take a few seconds out of his busy schedule to share with you about his first week in America. I hope you enjoy - Jon

This past week we were filled with lots of “firsts” because Adina and I visit America for the first time. I had the privilege to start this visit with no other state but TEXAS. Everything is bigger in Texas! Large cars, large buildings, large stadiums, large cups of coke (“buckets” as Adina would call them), large steaks (beef steaks are my favorite).

Texas (268,581 sq mi / 696,241 km2) is almost three times the size of my country Romania (92,043 sq mi / 238,391 km2). Many times Romania was covered by the love of the people of Texas. There is still room for Romania in the heart of the people of Texas. I have experienced this in the last seven days since we are here. Almost everybody smiles and asks you “how are you doing?” Texans drive very different than Romanians! The food is amazing. Most important of all, the people that I have met love the Lord. We encountered people from different churches that used to be involved in Romania several years ago.

What makes Texas big is its love for God. Texas sent missionaries all over the world to give the people the good news that God saves. That shows that it could include a whole world in its heart not just a country. In the last five years many churches and organizations focused on other areas of the world with different needs. Missionary organizations and families of missionaries withdrew from southeastern Europe.

God brought on our way several people and churches that want to refocus on Europe, Romania though the needs are maybe a little different here than in other parts of Asia, Africa or South America. On this international context of missions, God burdens the hearts of some churches to continue to come to Romania. Some are from Texas, some from other places.

Texas is large enough to engulf Romania in showing God’s love. Texas in large enough to love and “adopt” the thousands of orphans that our country has, is large enough to evangelize the 20,000,000 people that do not know Christ as Lord and Savior. Texas is large enough to plant churches in the 1,600 villages in Romania without an evangelical church, is large enough to focus on the 30 villages we target in Susani area. Texas is large enough to reach the 2,800 children and youths in all these villages, is large enough to build the House of Joy Community Center in Susani. Texas is large enough to help the poor families with 8-12 children that live in our villages around Susani. Texas is large enough to show God’s love to the world and if God wants to show it to Romania, too.

This is an opportunity to be challenged to know the spiritual and physical realities of Romania and to be challenged to come back or to come for the first time in a mission trip or in a partnership in the vision God has for this country using us in western side of the country.
In God’s economy not the number of people makes sense or the large number of things or the size of their possessions. What He cares for is the heart of man. He is always looking at the heart of man.

May God’s love give you a big heart that would include Romania in it, too. God bless, Ovidiu Petric