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Laboring for the Glory of Christ in Romania, by Pastor Charlie Handren

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Laboring for the Glory of Christ in Romania
By Pastor Charlie

Last Friday, Ethan Larson and I had the privilege of traveling to northern Romania with Training Leaders International (TLI), the ministry with which Ethan serves. Over the last year, Ethan has worked with the staff of TLI and local Romanian leaders to set up this training opportunity. The vision of TLI is to bring college and seminary level training to parts of the world that have little or no access to it. They only go at the request of local leaders, and they require those leaders to play a substantial role in the process.
Once a site has been chosen and local leadership set up, they travel to the host country three times per year for three years, for a total of nine courses. The first course is usually “The Attributes of God,” followed by “Biblical Theology” and “Hermeneutics” (the science and art of interpretation). After these three core courses, they lead students through various books of the Bible depending on local need and desire.
This trip to Romania is the first of nine, and thus Ethan and I will teach “The Attributes of God,” along with two American teacher’s assistants (both of whom are highly qualified). The classes will take placeMonday through Friday, starting about 4 p.m. and lasting for about four hours. We will also preach at local churches the Sunday before and the Sunday after, which is a great privilege and opportunity to connect with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Further, since the classes take place at night, we will have the opportunity to see some local museums and to venture into Ukraine. We look forward to seeing what the Lord has for us in these informal times as well. 
Thank you so much for your financial and prayer support of this trip! We are in need of your continued prayers, as the Apostle Paul wrote: “Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored…” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3). Pray that we will be focused and faithful, that we will be prayerful and fruitful, that we will be humble and bold. And please pray for our families while we are gone, and perhaps consider checking in with them to let them know that you’re praying and that you love them. Thank you in advance!


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