Summer Ministry Update

"The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." — Psalm 121:8

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Romania!

We are grateful to share how God is already at work as our summer ministry is underway. Yesterday our first team of four arrived safely in Romania, and we are praising the Lord for His protection throughout their journey.

Today we were expecting another team from the United States. However, early this morning we learned that the team traveling from Texas experienced an unexpected flight delay. They were required to spend the night in Washington, D.C., and will now arrive in Romania one day later than originally planned. While this change was unexpected, we know that God is never surprised. We trust that He is directing every detail and will use even this delay for His glory.

This summer, God has brought together believers from California, Texas, Illinois, and Indiana with one purpose—to encourage and serve alongside the missionaries faithfully laboring in Romania and Ukraine.

Over the next several days, our teams will minister shoulder to shoulder with missionary families, helping strengthen local churches, encouraging believers, and reminding our missionaries that they are not serving alone. Following our ministry in Romania, we will travel to Ukraine for ten days where we will conduct a children's camp and an eyeglass outreach, meeting both physical and spiritual needs while sharing the hope of the Gospel.

As we prepare to minister in Ukraine, we recognize that we will enter many unknown situations. Yet our confidence is not in ourselves but in the Lord who goes before us. We are praying that God will work in every heart, use each team member according to His perfect plan, and allow us to be a genuine blessing to those we serve.

Prayer Requests

Please join us in praying for the following:

  • Pray for the safe arrival of the delayed Texas team and for God's continued protection over every person traveling to Romania.

  • Pray for wisdom, strength, and unity as our teams minister together.

  • Pray that our presence will encourage, refresh, and strengthen the missionaries and their families.

  • Pray that many children, teenagers, and adults will hear the Gospel and place their faith in Jesus Christ through the camp and outreach ministries.

  • Pray that the eyeglass ministry will open doors for meaningful Gospel conversations and demonstrate Christ's love in practical ways.

  • Pray for God's protection as we travel throughout Romania and into Ukraine.

  • Pray that every member of the team will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and useful in the work God has prepared for them.

  • Pray that everyone will return home safely, encouraged by what God has accomplished.

Financial Need

We also ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with this ministry financially.

We still need $2,500 to cover the remaining expenses for this summer's Ukraine camp and outreach ministries. Every gift—regardless of the amount—helps us provide children's camp materials, support the eyeglass ministry, and continue sharing the love and hope of Jesus Christ with those we serve.

If the Lord leads you to give, please designate Account 24201 when making your donation.

Donation Link:
https://www.piei.org/piei-romania-donations

Thank you for standing with us through your faithful prayers, encouragement, and generosity. Your partnership is making an eternal difference in the lives of people throughout Romania and Ukraine. We are deeply grateful for your support and look forward to sharing how God answers your prayers and works through this summer's ministry.

May God bless you richly as together we seek to make Christ known.

Serving Christ together,

Cornel Stef
Partners in Evangelism International

Short Term Mission Trip To Romania and Ukraine: PRAY – GIVE – GO!

Time is approaching fast for this summer trip.  We are so excited that we have a good-sized team going with us!  We have faithful team members who are returning, who have been with us in the past, several times, as well as new team members.  As usual, we customize our team based on the spiritual gifts given to each team member so that everyone can serve based on their spiritual strengths as there is much to do in a variety of ways.  So this is once again our GO Team!

We always look for a support team back at home to PRAY and GIVE!  It is a helping hand endeavor to our missionaries and their ministries, and everyone is important in their contribution.  If your spiritual gift is to give or to encourage or to pray, you are needed! 

EVANGELISM is our focus on everything we do!  People need the Lord!  Young and old, there are so many people who only have a form of religion but no relationship with the Lord, and most don’t know much about the Word of God and the Gospel, but a whole lot of traditions that are taking the place of the truth and grace of God and many misconceptions about what a true believer or Christian is. There is much work to be done.

We are looking forward to meeting with all the PIEI national missionaries, helping in several outreach projects, among which is an optometry outreach ministry.  People receive free eye exam and prescription glasses, but also they get to be counselled for salvation, hear the gospel, and have someone to pray for them in each location where the Eye Clinic will be offered. 

Home visits are always a highlight of our teams trips.  Romanian people are very hospitable, so especially visits in rural areas helps our missionaries in their outreach and follow up efforts.  There will also be worship, children, youth, and women ministry as well as other projects that our missionaries will make available to us as the team gets ready.

The team will be going to Romania in July and some team members will be traveling to Ukraine for the PIEI Camp, visiting the fields where our national missionaries serve, and mostly encouraging our national PIEI missionaries there who have been so burdened by the lengthy war. 

We need your support! 

We are still in need of funds for the Camp which is so much more expensive than in the past.  We were on the brink of cancelling but decided against it.  It is such a worthy event that affects all the missionaries’ work with such a high rate of responses to the Gospel and new young believers for the kingdom.  Please consider scholarships of $100 per child.  We can support up to 150.

Please pray for safety in travel, as the team will be crossing the border from Romania into Ukraine, and crossing the Carpathian Mountains and back.

Please pray for ministry funds to be raised in time as the prices have gone up considerably.  We trust that the Lord will provide so that more brothers and sisters in the Lord will help with donations, it would unburden and enable those willing to go.

Click on Donate button and choose 24101 Romania Travel Fund.   Contact us for more details. 

Cornel Stef

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Blessings from the Romania/Ukraine Summer Trip

This summer, we were once again blessed with the opportunity to partner with National Missionaries in Romania and Ukraine to share the Gospel and serve communities in need.

Part 1: Romania

Our first stop was Romania, where we had the privilege of hosting a kids camp at Partners In Evangelism Retreat Center in the Mountains. This was our first time using this location, and it proved to be an incredible blessing. Children from the surrounding area came to spend the week with our mission team from Missouri. During this time, they heard the Gospel daily, experienced the love of Christ, and built lasting connections with our team.

See the report from Sarah Stef

What an amazing summer we have had so far!  At the end of June three members of Faith Baptist Church in Washington, MO (Rose De Wever, myself, and Lexi Gallegos) went on a mission trip to Romania for 2 weeks.  Before the trip we were praying hard for God to provide the funds necessary to go, and thanks to a special Romania Fundraising Dinner on June 13th, we had a fully funded team!

On June 24th the team was sent off at the airport by loved ones and our Pastor.  Due to bad weather in Chicago, we had to change our outgoing flights at the last minute and left several hours earlier than expected to fly through Newark instead.  Thankfully, we arrived without any problems and waited a few hours for my dad Cornel to join us, since he flew on our original flight from Munich.  Cornel was with our team for the majority of the trip.

The first three days we spent with two PIEI nationals who serve the area around the city Campeni.  We spent one day with Florin Botar and another with Relu Rodean, visiting people who live in the mountains.  Some were unsaved people who the missionaries have been forming relationships with.  Others were Christians who have been unable to make it to church for some time due to health issues and their remote locations.  We sang songs, prayed, shared the gospel, and encouraged each of the people we visited.  Our team split up to attend both of their churches on Sunday morning.

Our main goal for Romania was to help with a brand new camp that PIEI has been preparing in the mountains.  We arrived Monday morning to see the work that has been put into the property.  The first day was a bit chaotic, as the kids trickled in at different times, frequent blackouts caused lunch to be two hours late, and the men spent all day erecting a large tent that would provide shade during outdoor activities!  However, by the end of the first day everyone had settled in and the 24 campers were divided into 3 groups by age.  Lexi helped out with the 7-10 year olds, Rosie taught the 11-12 year olds, and I (Sarah) taught the 13-15 year olds.

The theme of the camp was Be Strong and Courageous like Joshua, and every day we had a skit and Bible Lessons focusing on part of the book of Joshua.  We also did crafts such as friendship bracelets and painting rocks, and there were two young men (Chris and Tini) who did a fantastic job organizing games and leading worship.  Our cook Alisa and her helpers made delicious meals every day, Mike Dima was in charge of the facility, and PIEI missionary Daniel Petrut led the team, including two women (Viorica and Gabi) who were teachers/leaders that came with the children from the city of Victoria.  We are so grateful to everyone who made the camp possible, including our translators Chris, Abby, Marius, and Teodora.

During the week we faced some serious spiritual warfare.  God clearly had plans for the camp, because Satan was trying his hardest to make us fail.  We dealt with injuries, officials, and the entire camp had run out of running water by Wednesday!  We also had a virus running through the camp, and every member of our Faith team was sick by the end of the week.  However, God is good and helped us prevail despite all of our obstacles!  Daniel and all of the adults worked as a team to help each other and fill in wherever there was a need.  We were all unified by the same ultimate goal- to share the Gospel with every single child at camp.

Getting to spend time with the campers was such a joy and a blessing.  Lexi learned that she speaks "kid" in any language and had some wonderful times with many of the campers.  God gave Rosie a heart for a troublesome boy named Thomas, and by the end of the week he was asking her to pray for him.  In my group I had a young man of about 15 named Beni who became a Christian only a year ago.  He gave his testimony on the first night, and has clearly been set aside by God for a greater purpose.  He is already training with another Christian mission organization and has plans to disciple another young boy as part of his training.  All three of our team members connected with Beni, and we pray that God continues the wonderful work that he has begun in that young man's life.

There are more stories and examples from camp than we can list here.  I believe that each of us were just as affected by our experience as the kids were!  On the last night of camp, Rosie used the soccer ball of many colors to share the Gospel message, and then Daniel gave a call to respond.  Praise the Lord that eight of our campers raised their hands that night!  The nationals who work in those campers' hometowns will be following up with those children to make sure that they get connected to other Christians and have the opportunity to grow in their faith.

The team spent our last Sunday in Romania attending the church in Victoria, pastored by Timotei.  We then returned home to the U.S. on Monday, July 7th and are still recovering from getting sick at camp.  Thank you to all who prayed for our team while we were there!  Continue to pray for the children and the nationals in Romania.  You can follow what happens next with them by reading the monthly reports on piei.org/updates-from-missionaries.

In addition to the camp, we worked closely with National Missionaries to visit local communities, build relationships, and plant seeds of faith. Our prayer is that these seeds will grow, leading many to attend local churches and come to know Christ personally.

Another important outreach was the Eyeglass Ministry in rural villages. Through this ministry, we provided physical care by offering free eyeglasses to those in need—helping many to see more clearly both physically and spiritually. Each visit included prayer, sharing the Word of God, and showing care to each individual we met.

Part 2: Ukraine

The second leg of our journey took us to Ukraine with a team of seven people. We divided into two smaller teams to maximize our impact



Impact & Gratitude

Throughout the trip, we witnessed God moving in powerful ways. Over 70 individuals made the life-changing decision to follow Christ!

We are deeply thankful to the Lord for making this mission possible. It is only through His provision, guidance, and the willingness of His people to be obedient and submissive to His call that such work can be done. We praise Him for another fruitful summer of ministry and for every life touched by His love.

I love for you to join me in the NEXT year Short Term Mission Trip

With love a gratitude Cornel Stef Chair for Romania and Ukraine

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Serving Others – Romania Trip Fall 2024

“Through love serve one another.”  Galatians 5:13

God has called us for a second trip to Romania this year.  I am happy to say that Gabi and I are able to travel and go together this time. 

She was not able to go with me in July due to complications following a very difficult hip replacement surgery, and was in physical therapy most of this summer, with a lot of problems unable to sleep in a regular bed.  She has improved although some issues remain, but with God, all things are possible!  We hope that this time the trip will not be as demanding and she would be able to teach and visit with women and families with less demand for walking.

We are going to be joined by Alex and Rodica Popa, both members of the PIEI Romania partnership committee, who will be involved in administration and overall helping the ministry’s communication, function, and all the necessary aspects of a well working ministry involving national missionaries and support received from the U.S.

The Men

The highlight of this season’s ministry is for the men!  We are honored to sponsor several Father-Son Conferences in October with Pastor, Author, Speaker and Educator, Norm Wakefield and Elijah Ministries. Since 1997, Norm and Spirit of Elijah Ministries has ministered in 22 countries around the globe, being utilized by our Lord, instructing on how to live to love and walk worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ! We are very excited that Norm has been called to Romania and pray our Lord’s blessing on these sessions. We are looking forward to being in Craiova (Southern region of Romania), Sibiu area (Cisnadie), and our own PIEI Center in Alba Iulia for 2-3 days of conferences all taking place in October.

Gabi and the Women

As the men will be meeting at these conferences, Gabi is planning to meet with women at the same time for a relaxing time of fellowship, encouragement and challenges from the Word of God, and hands-on projects.  There are two new locations where she has not been so that she will meet these women for the very first time.  It is always so exciting to expand our ministry and do outreach to more locations and reach out to more people.  It is fascinating to see how the Lord plans our steps, if you are but willing to follow Him!

I, Cornel, as usually, will be Jack-Of-All-Trades, doing whatever is needed for everyone, from driving all the way down to the border with Bulgaria where we will be spending some time with one of our national missionary Gavril Cuc and his wife Vera and their ministry there, to administration role and everything in between!

The Girls!

As we will be traveling South we will stop on the way in Arges to see the orphan girls at the Tigveni Institution.  They are always eager to see Gabi whom they call mommy and she is always ready to see them, as they communicate often via messenger.  They are so precious, and we hope to encourage them and love on them, as they have been depleted of parental love and family all their lives. 

Please pray for our safety in traveling and for wisdom as we have all these meetings and visits.  Our desire is to share the love of Christ and be an encouragement everywhere we go, so that we would make a difference in people’s lives, as well as be an encouragement to our national team there in Romania.

PIEI Ukraine Missionaries coming to Romania

Lastly, we are looking forward to having several of our national missionaries from Ukraine travel to Romania and coming to meet with us.  How exciting!  They have been through so much, and this might just be a little break that they need to take their mind off this awful war, such a nightmare that they live with every day.  This would be a definite highlight of our trip!  Praying for them and for their safety as they will cross the border twice as they come and return back to Ukraine!  Please continue to pray for all our PIEI Ukraine missionaries, their families, and the ministry in Ukraine.  Pray that this war with Russia will end soon.

Our departure date is Thursday September 26.  Tomorrow we are packing our bags.

Joyfully serving,

Cornel and Gabi Stef

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Ukraine Summer 2024

Dear Friends,

I cannot express enough gratitude for everyone who has supported the ministry in Ukraine this summer. Thank you to those who donated as well as those who prayed for us. I have a special thanks for those who went on a short-term mission trip to join the nationals.

This summer Ukraine held its annual Summer Camp. Over 140 kids from ages 7 to 17 stayed at Camp Candela for a week. While there they were split into 3 groups, each studying God’s word together with their leaders, some of whom came from the US. The students played games, worshipped, and grew in their walks with God, and 35 of them made the decision to accept Christ into their hearts! Praise the Lord!

A few other team members visited some villages to provide eye exams and prescription glasses to those who needed it. This was an important opportunity to reach unchurched people. For example, in the village of Dinauti, 110 people came to be served by the eyeglass ministry, and all but 2 were non-Christians. It was therefore of the utmost importance to the team that their focus was to fill spiritual needs as well as physical ones. The team counseled people, listened to their stories, prayed with them, and shared the Gospel. Through that ministry about 15 people chose to follow Christ!

It has been my privilege to see God at work through the partnership between our nationals and the short-term mission teams that answer God’s call every year. I pray that anyone who hears that call will answer it and see how God will bless their response.

In Christ,

Cornel Stef

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