Matthew’s House                                                               Volume 9 Issue 2

Veste Buna
(Romanian for "Good News")

THE WHOLE WORLD NEEDS JESUS

As most readers know, I was called back to the states to hold my mother’s funeral last May. Subsequently, there were some affairs regarding her passing that needed attending.   After addressing these needs, Martha and I returned to Romania with a week’s layover in Germany.   We had a time of rest there and were able to visit the infamous concentration camp located at Dachau near Munich.   After it’s liberation by the American army in 1945 the whole truth of what had happened there and other camps like it came to light.   It is peaceful there now.   But the location of the gallows, firing squads and even the gas chambers and ovens where the bodies of the innocent were burned are designated and recreated so the world will never forget the atrocities of Adolph Hitler and the equally depraved cohorts that propagated the Nazi regime.  Twenty years ago in Romania a police state under Nicolae Ceausescu fell from power.  The people of Romania chanted Liberatati, Liberatati or freedom, freedom.  The LORD spoke softly into my ear as I watched in amazement saying the people of Romania will never know true freedom until they know Christ. The entry gate at Dachau concentration camp mocks the word freedom by saying work will make you free.  Only a sick mind could place such a slogan over the heads of persecuted people whose only crime was they were opposed to a maniac and his political regime.

My question was, how could these things have happened? As a long time student of history, I can think of many other atrocities all around the world.   My own country has recorded its own history of very wicked actions, such as the Trail of Tears, the treatment of the Indians under President Andrew Jackson.   Russia under Joseph Stalin murdered even more than the Nazis under Hitler.   Even, so, how can all these terrible things happen throughout the world, even on our doorstep?

There are economic , socio-political explanations which some historians espouse.   But these do not truly lay the foundation or tell the real truth about how these wicked and evil actions happened and are still happening today.

There is only one possible and true explanation.   Man is capable of the most heinous acts when he is separated from his creator, God.   Anything less than walking with the Lord will not do us any good.   Christ is the world’s only hope.   Any other is just not acceptable to God, and will sooner or later the history of mankind will be doomed to repeat itself in ever more despicable ways.   To turn the tide of depravity is to turn to Jesus wholly and completely.   Not with only a mental nod to Christ, but allowing him to renew your mind; thinking not about the world but focused above.   Wise in the things of God, but simple in the ways of the world.   Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   Think about that statement and look freshly at it.   Maybe it’s too familiar to us and merits a new look through the eyes of the one who taught us to pray it.

 

Most of you who read our newsletter called Veste Buna (Good News), are aware of our pig program.   For about three years I have searched in vain for a Duroc boar to improve our swine herd.   In our part of Romania only Chester White, Yorkshire and Hampshire are prevalent.   These are good pigs, but most folk agree that the Duroc in its unmistakable red color are the best for producing a less fatty more lean meat.   Matthew’s House has had an individual waiting to purchase this boar for us, if one could be found here.   Periodic searches had turned up some leads for 3 years, but nothing was found.

Then one day this last September a visiting veterinarian was here from Dorohoi (a nearby town) vaccinating our animals, when I mentioned I was looking for a Duroc boar.   He immediately told me where I could find one within 5 miles of where I was standing.

It seems a nearby farmer had bought a Duroc boar and sow from Bacau, Romania. (Bacau is a large city about 3 hours from Matthew’s House by car)   The veterinarian told me the sow had given birth to piglets and these were available for sale.   He even had the phone number of the farmer with him.  I immediately borrowed a cell phone and made a call to make arrangements to view the piglets the next week.   In less time than it takes to tell about it a pig was selected and with great expectation.
Matthew’s House is anticipating a new blood line for it’s pork production.

It is true that good things come to those that wait and practice patience.   Many families and other mission’s groups have benefited from Matthew’s House pork.   In the next year they will be served with leaner cuts because of our new Red Duroc boar made possible by a caring supporter there in the states.   We always give our boars a name—any suggestions? 

“I need a name!” says this little boar. 

Email us with your ideas for a name for the duroc boar at delbertgillette@comcast.net

A winter ride to work

Evergreen Work Team and Matthew’s House workers.
 

I am pleased to write about a wonderful visit Matthew’s House had from my pastor and many of my brothers from my home church, Evergreen Freewill Baptist Church in Erwin, Tennessee.   The last week of August and the first of September saw a gathering at Matthew’s House in Dersca, Romania.   These men were workers of the first order.   When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Matthew’s House had a sheeted roof and winter wood was in.  The Romanian workers were amazed how these Tennesseans completed their work in such a short time.   They were also amazed how each one worked hand in hand reminding me of Nehemiah’s time and accomplishment.   When they left, they left a great testimony that will last a long time to come.   Send us more like these.   Together we will change the world for Christ one village at a time.   We have heard that some are already looking forward to next year. So are we!

 

I have been seriously trying to determine the greatest lesson I have learned in the four months I have been here in Romania.   I could tell you about carrying well water to basins for washing, or how I am still learning to adjust the firewood to maximize the warmth in the cottage, or how to cook on an electric eye and find new and inventive ways to cook tuna fish.   But, I think by far the greatest lesson I have learned is to quietly rest in God and trust him.

I knew to trust in God while living in Tennessee.   But, there my resources were almost unlimited.   There were cars, phones, doctors, insurances, schools, all sorts on institutions, police and on and on the list goes. For any problem there the possibility of solving it was infinite.   Here, on the other hand the safety nets are few and far between.   When a problem presents itself, our option is to present it to God.
Though I have searched the Bible the scripture, “God helps them that help themselves,” eludes me.   Why do we go first to the medicine chest, or the lawyer, or psychologist for our help?   David said, “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, where does my help come from?   My help comes from the Lord.   David was referring to the people’s habit of looking to the high places in Israel where against God’s word they had built altars to Canaanite gods among the groves.   David was defining the world’s solutions.

I got to see a wonderful film on You Tube called “Faith like Potatoes”, a film about Angus Buchan in South Africa, they call him God’s Farmer.   He said, “The seed for a great miracle lies not in difficulty, but in impossibility.   I guess that is why I had to come here to learn an unshakable fashion to live and walk.   I had to come to a land where so little is possible to intimately discover that with God, nothing is impossible.

 —Martha Gillette