Excerpt from Liviu’s Journal

A few nights ago, I drove past the homeless shelter where I would take the youth from our church to minister. One of the sad things that hit me was that people were being turned away at the entrance because of COVID-19 or the Coronavirus as most of us know it.

We would go there to share meals with the homeless, talk with them, pray with them, listen to their life story, lead them to Christ…

I really wanted to do something for them but I realized my hands were tied.

I pulled the car over and started to pray from a safe distance for the homeless people. But there is no safe distance when you are praying! Yes, you can be physically distant from the person you are praying for, but prayer pushes you into a battle more dangerous than the Coronavirus!

The church buildings are closed. The parking lots are empty. The lights are off. The music has stopped. This can be an image of surrender or defeat. But the way I see it is, the church is winning more battles than ever. Every time the devil brought the Church to her knees, he caused the Church to be brought down to the right position to pray!
Right now, the Church is praying harder than they prayed one month ago when the Coronavirus was just a rumor.

• The Church is praying for the sick!
• The Church is praying for the elderly! 
• The Church is praying for the needy! 
• The Church is praying for the frontline workers! 
• The Church is praying for the government!
• The Church is praying for peace! 

THE CHURCH IS PRAYING!

One of my favorite scriptures is Esther 4:14,
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

I love the book of Esther not only because my little daughter’s middle name is Estera (Esther in English), but because you can feel God’s presence throughout the whole book. Even if God’s name is not mentioned even once in the entire book, you can see His providence from the first to the last page!

This is the same in present time… even if you can barely hear the name of God in this sinful world, you can still see and feel Him ruling the world!

The question I have been asking myself during this time of uncertainty is the same question Mordecai had for Esther: 

“And who knows whether I have not come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?”

Lately our family has struggled with the thought of moving back to the United States during this epidemic. People have approached us and gave good reasons why we should move back until these hard times pass by… 
But we prayed, we asked God, and He answered! His answer for us is:

“You have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this!”

Such times softens the hearts of people – preparing the way for the Gospel!

Such times gives us opportunities to pray!

Such times make us understand that God is the only reliable power in this weak world!

Such times makes us see Him seated on His throne above sickness!

Such times makes us desire HIS PEACE – “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27b)

Thank you for being with us in such a time as this!
Thank you for your prayers!
Thank you for your financial support for our family!