We are Jerry and Meda Wells , serving in Cluj, Romania.
My ministry in missions began in 1988, moving into communist Romania as a clandestine missionary with Biblical Education by Extension (BEE). The Transilvanean city of Cluj became my base of operations. During the years since, I have been involved in training and equipping evangelical pastors & church leaders & helping them establish church-based training centers (CBTCs).
I mentioned that my ministry is one of training and equipping pastors & church leaders. We do this in large measure by helping them establish church-based training centers. A CBTC is a small group of trained teacher-equippers with their own strategy for training pastors and leaders in a local church context or in a regional context. I have been working with key Baptist pastors in Romania to develop these kinds of centers.
Resources for our task include BEE’s curriculum of 15 courses in the Romanian language. Our courses are geared to learning biblical truth and to developing spiritual life and ministry skills. I meet regularly with groups of student-leaders: encouraging, teaching, and pointing them in the direction of life application.
But I am sure that you are interested in concrete results. First, we are excited about the pace of indigenization. The nationals are taking over the ministry. At the beginning of 2002, a very capable Romanian was named national coordinator of our work among the Romanian Baptists. I worked with him closely and assisted him in his transition year. In the fall of 2002, another Romanian, one who studied many years with me during the 90s, was named national coordinator of all BEE’s activity in Romania. My work since then has shifted more and more toward assisting the nationals in their ministry; mentoring; and consulting in training.
Let me also give you a snapshot of a three-day trip I took to the SE of Romania. I rose at 4:15 AM Friday to make the 7½ hour train ride to Bucharest. The entire afternoon in the capital was devoted to counseling a pastor in crisis. By late that evening I had traveled another 3½ hours by train to the city of Brăila. The rest of that evening and the following morning (Saturday) were invested in consulting on leadership training with the pastors of a large Baptist church. As a result, they invited me & other BEE team members to lead a series of selected training seminars and courses. By late evening the same day, I had trained another 7 hours to the city of Bra şov. The pastors of that city’s largest Baptist church and I discussed the church’s training needs late into the night and continued the following afternoon, a Sunday. That morning I preached in the church’s worship service. As a result of interactions there, the Bra şov church has engaged a BEE team member to lead several seminars and has engaged me to teach a preaching course. A five-hour train ride brought me back to Cluj, Meda, & the girls, the same night.
As a follow up to that trip and shortly before returning to the States, my teammate Al Ginter and I retraced those steps from Cluj to the city of Brăil a. The time had come to fulfill our commitment to lead a weekend seminar on “How to lead a small group”.
After 11 hours of train travel that Friday, the pastor of the church met us at the train station at 6:45 PM. He whisked us away to their church building where some 32 present and potential small group leaders were already waiting. I never got a chance to sit down. They put me “on” as soon as I arrived. Though I was tired, the Lord energized me. We spent the bulk of the evening dealing with Jesus’ own principles of small group leading demonstrated in Matthew 16:13-28. I involved them in the process of discovering Jesus’ methods, at the same time demonstrating many of those methods in my own leading.
By Saturday morning the group had swollen to 40. Al took a major lead, teaching the dynamics of a small group and also involving them in lively discussion. He also led a brilliant discussion exercise on the extent of the forgiveness of our sins at new birth. I followed with a very brief evaluation of how he had led during the first part of the morning and then led another segment on principles of small groups. By late that evening we had traveled from Brăil a to Galaţi to Bucureşti to travel the night train back to Cluj. But we went away with the conviction that God is stirring this church forward significantly in discipling and training through small groups. We remain in close touch with the very fine associate pastor who is spearheading the follow through with these leaders and their groups.
Prayer Needs:
~ Continued development of training centers among the Baptists.
~ Life, ministry, and fruit “out of the overflow”.
~ Health for the family.
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