Mission Trips
VBS - Chisindia, Romania Summer 2007

Chisindia is a remote village in Romania, among the mountain foot hills, where the daily life consists of hard work in the garden and with the livestock just to survive.  There are lots of activity with horses and wagons mixed with automobiles and bicycles on the streets when the weather permits.  Ladies get up early in the morning to begin preparing for the daily household needs.  And yes, the outhouse is still in use.

God laid a verse of scripture on my heart which says:  “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours” (John 4:38).  This verse stayed in the back of my mind during this mission trip. 

I knew that God wanted me to “…do the work of an evangelist…” (2 Timothy 4:5).  This has been the theme of the ministry that God has called me to.  With a team of seven (Frank, Harmony, Jolene, Anita, Deanna, my wife Julie and myself), from the US, plus two translators (Gabe and Ionuts) from Arad, we traveled to Chisindia in July of 2007 with the purpose of saturating the village with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This was my third trip to Chisindia. 

We were able to share the gospel in a variety of ways.  To begin with we “witnessed on the go”.  In all of our traveling we gave out gospel tracts and talked to individuals as we had opportunity.  We also did a Vacation Bible School (VBS) in the mornings to reach the children.  In the evenings we went from house to house and did one on one soul-winning.  Along the way we gave blow-pops to the children with an invitation to come to the VBS, and we used the colored bead bracelets to share the gospel to those who could not read, they loved the bracelets.  I also preached the gospel in the regular church services.

We had to remain flexible.  For instance, the first day we went out during the day and no one was out.  It was like a ghost-town.  The reason was because of the awful summer heat.  People would work early morning and late afternoon when the temp wasn’t quite as bad.  So we adjusted to the schedule of the village and were able to reach people with the gospel.

Part of the ministry is what I call ministry evangelism.  By definition it is meeting practical needs in the name of Christ.  On these mission trips the team lives with the people.  We get involved with the people and help with the daily chores.  On this trip some worked in the kitchen, cut hay with a sickle, unload wheat from the wagon, slop the hogs, etc.  By helping people you are able to build life-changing relationships. 

I would like to share with you a wonderful experience I had on this mission trip.  One of my good friends and translators, Ionuts, asked me if I would be willing to go and visit a widow lady who lives alone up one of the mountains.  My answer was yes.  Well to make a long story as short as possible we made arrangements to go.  Ionuts, Dodu and myself walked about a 30 min. hike up the mountain.  In the middle of nowhere we arrived upon a home in one of the most beautiful places in the world where this 77yr. old widowed lady lived.  She was working in the field alone cutting hay preparing for winter.  Her body had been exposed to many years of hard work and changing weather conditions.  She could not stand up straight.  She walked with her back bent as if she was bending over to touch her toes.  We got her attention and she greeted us with a warm welcome, happy to see us.  I asked her if she had ever surrendered her life to Christ.  She responded with “I am too old to repent.  I responded back with “God sent me over 5,000 miles to tell you that He loves you and wants to save you, can I share some Bible verses with you?”  She said yes.  After hearing God’s word she prayed a prayer of repentance calling upon Jesus to save her.  Wow!  What a peace on the mountain.  The presence of Almighty God was there. 

After saying our goodbyes and telling her that if I never see her again on the earth that I will see her in Heaven.  With joy in our hearts rejoicing in what God had done, Ionuts shared with me that he had been up that mountain about 40 times or more with Benjamin, and I believe Anton, to minister to this lady by bringing her food, cutting firewood and helping around the home.  Then this verse of scripture came to my mind, “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours” (John 4:38). 

Please pray to God that “He will send forth labourers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38) as we continue to lead teams to obey the Lord’s call:  “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

If you would like more information or would like to be a part of what God is doing through this ministry please feel free to contact me.

In His service,

Rev. Jeff Mizell

12359 Hwy 1073

Bogalusa , LA 70427

Home:  985-839-6554

Cell:  985-750-8108

Email:  pastor_jeffm@yahoo.com