Chris Lewis Blog » Romania

Need your help for Romania!

Chris Lewis — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:46:13 +0000

I posted here that I am returning to Romania this summer on another mission trip! The trip I took in October 2007 was amazing. The total cost for the trip will be somewhere around $2500. I am raising all the support I can!

If you would like to help in this ministry, you can give securely online by clicking here or below:

If you prefer to pay by check, you may mail payments to:

Chris Lewis c/o Washington Avenue Church
Dept: Romania Trip
200 N Washington Avenue
Greenville, SC 29611

Posted in Evangelism, Ministry Events, Personal - Chris, Romania

Headed back to Romania!

Chris Lewis — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Just a quick post to share with the blog audience that I will be headed back to Romania this July for a couple of weeks of missions. Washington Avenue has a strong relationship and an awesome history of ministry with Romania. Chuck has a massive heart for missions and Romania. We are pumped about going back! God did some incredible things while we were there and 49 young people gave their lives to Jesus!

Tabitha and I first visited Romania in October 2007 just as I was coming on staff at WAC. I did several posts and video updates while we were in Romania.

I thought some of you might enjoy seeing the posts (mostly video) we shared from our last time in Romania. If so, click on the link below…the older posts are at the bottom with the newer at the top.

Previous Romania Posts

Posted in Church Stuff, Evangelism, Romania

Monday’s Message (Mission Romania recap)

Chris Lewis — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:04:53 +0000

WOW! Since there is really no way to adequately describe all the experiences from our time in Romania, I will simply try to recap and highlight some of the major things that stand out to me.

Jesus changes lives when and where He chooses! There were 49 individuals who met Christ in a remote village on the other side of the world last week. No matter who you are or where you are from – there is simply nothing more exciting than seeing people come to know Christ!
Religion will never bring salvation. I heard different statistics while we were over there, but as far as I can tell, roughly 80% of the Romanian people are practicing members of the Eastern Orthodox church. There are so many people trusting in all sorts of rituals and superstitions for their “hope”. I wonder how different we really are here in America?
Availability trumps ability. One of the recurring themes that surfaced throughout our time in Romania was that of inadequacy. We should most certainly give God our very best. We do not however have to be the very best for Him to use us. In fact, when I read Scripture, I see God using a lot of rejects! Ever checkout the family tree of Jesus? He wants us to be available and depend on HIM. That way, we know the results are from Him – not us.
God is concerned with politics. (Well, at least in this example) We spent time with the mayor of a village who is genuinely concerned for his people. He desires to see freedom from the oppression and control they experience from the Orthodox church. Even though it may well cost him an election, he is determined to see change take place. Pray for this man and his efforts for change.

There is also a future ministry opportunity for a camp ministry in the part of Romania we were just in. This is huge! There are many questions and details that God has to work out, but there have been a number of confirming assurances that God is definitely stirring something up on this opportunity. The relationships that Washington Avenue has established coupled with the camp experience of Damascus Road Ministries are a great combination. Pray for discernment and direction on this issue. Pray about how you might be involved. I envision a situation in the future where we could send multiple mission teams throughout the year.

Mission Romania (Greenville)

Chris Lewis — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:37:31 +0000

Well, everyone made it home safely and I hope that each one got the rest that Tabitha and I did when we got home. As far as we could figure, we were up for 24 hours with about 4 hours sleep from the previous 24 hours. We went to bed around 8:30 last night and got up about 8:00 this morning.

God has done some wonderful things. This Sunday morning, the team will share in a kind of “round-table” discussion at Washington Avenue Baptist Church. It will be very informal and should be a lot of fun. We had many of these kinds of talks while we were gone. I hope that you are able to capture a little piece of our hearts as we share what God accomplished in our lives personally, as well as what we watched Him do in the lives of the people we shared His love with. Come join us if you can…

Mission Romania (Wednesday)

Chris Lewis — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:08:11 +0000

No video today. We are in Cluj now where we will fly out in the morning. One more dinner tonight with a local pastor that is doing a work here in the city. Gia is making some tea for out team now at her apartment before we go to the restaurant. I discovered this week that I really love tea! Go figure.

My mother posted a comment to the blog that makes the wait to get home that much harder. We have so much to share and we can’t wait to get back. I will do an extended post on some of the things God has shown Tabitha and I while we were gone.

We will have a recap of the trip this Sunday at Washington Avenue at 10:30 if you would like to come. Thanks again for all of the prayers.

Mission Romania (Tuesday #2)

Chris Lewis — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:51:28 +0000

We are in Tirgu Mures (Tirg-u Mooresh) today visiting Maurius’ family. Take a look at the most recent video…

Mission Romania (Saturday & Sunday)

Chris Lewis — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:43:30 +0000

We have not had access to the internet for a while. We are in Ludus (Loodoosh) today and just left a meeting with the mayor of Sanger. God is really working on some things here concerning future opportunities and continuing the work that has begun here. At our camp on Saturday, 49 young people gave their hearts to Jesus! To God be the glory! We were in two churches on Sunday have included some highlights from them. Here are a couple of videos from Saturday and Sunday…

Mission Romania (Saturday)

Chris Lewis — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:53:44 +0000

Well it looks like we have broken YouTube!!! I can’t seem to get today’s video update to work, so I will post it when I have access to a computer again. God is sooooo good! Yesterday, we had 87 kids at camp. Guys this is huge! These villages are very small. Kids are coming from neighboring villages to hear about God’s love. About the time many of you are reading this, we will be extending an invitatin for salvation. Pray that the Holy Spirit would work and people will procalim their faith in public. These are very private people. Talk to you soon….

Mission Romania (Fri am)

Chris Lewis — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:08:40 +0000

God is really doing some things! As you will see in the video, we planned on having around 20 kids this week, but on Thursday we had 67!!! We expect over 100 now for our big event on Saturday. Our first crusade is this evening so please pray for that. We miss you all…

Mission Romania (Wed pm)

Chris Lewis — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:44:36 +0000

Here is a recap of our first day in Sanger. There is much spiritual oppression and the whole team senses that God really wants to do something in the lives of the people here. Please pray for barriers to be removed and walls to be torn down…

Mission Romania (Wed am)

Chris Lewis — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:44:00 +0000

This is a quick look at our first few hours in the village of Sanger. There’s even a tour of some of the town’s “facilities”. We’ll keep you posted…

Mission Romania (Tuesday evening)

Chris Lewis — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:05:38 +0000

Here is a recap of Tuesday…we are tired! Sorry about the quality.

Mission Romania (Tuesday morning)

Chris Lewis — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:53:11 +0000

Here is an update from the airport in Vienna…

Monday’s Message

Chris Lewis — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:11:50 +0000

Well…today’s the day!!! We leave in a couple of hours for Romania. We are running around trying to do everything we can to be sure we have not forgotten to pack anything. We have learned a few things so far as prepared for our trip:

The metric system is stupid! I hope we never switch to it. I keep trying to convert the kg. to lbs. in my head and it’s just not working!
We have so many snacks packed there is a strong chance they will stop us at customs and interrogate us as food smugglers.
We learned that those vacuum seal bags for packing will compress space but they will not do anything about weight!
I have been warned that with my head shaved and my curtain goatee, I look like a terrorist.
Toilet paper does not pack well!

We will miss you guys! Tab and I are having a little difficulty leaving the kids like this. We haven’t been gone this long without being able to easily get in touch with them. They are fine. Us – not so much. Clemson will at least partially decide their fate in the ACC while we are gone. Well…gotta go. I’ll update as soon as I can in Romania!

Mission Romania

Chris Lewis — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:29:43 +0000

We leave on Monday to travel over 4000 miles to Romania to share the gospel with the people of two specific villages and whoever else God opens the door to. Several people from Washington Avenue have been before, but this is my first trip. Tabitha and I are so excited.

I have created a special category on the blog labeled “Romania”. I will have limited access to the Internet, but I am going to create a video journal each day. When I have Internet access, I will upload the video to the blog. You can check back throughout our trip to get updates and see what’s going on.

Please pray for our team while we are there. Pray for health (the food is not always agreeable with our western systems). Pray for strength (two timezones is a big adjustment – I think it’s like Tuesday over there right now). Pray for wisdom (we will rely heavily on our interpreters for communication). Pray most of all for the souls of the people God will call to salvation! That’s what it’s all about.

Here is a test video: