Prayer Letter – January 2020

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers during my transition to Romania!

Home – My apartment here in Timisoara is in a great location. I can walk to language school in seven minutes, to church in fifteen minute and to the grocery store in four minutes. I walk a lot, ride trams, take buses and use Uber or taxi services. At some point this year I plan to purchase a vehicle.

Communism & Freedom – In December, Romanians celebrated 30 years of liberty since the 1989 fall of Communism. The revolution started right here in Timisoara. One can still see bullet holes marring the facades of buildings. On Christmas Day, 1989, the dictator (Nicolae Ceaucesuc) was executed. A lot has changed in Romania since those days. I am thankful for what God has done in opening ministry opportunities in this country and look forward to what He will do this year!

Day-To-Day Life – My days are now focused on study of the Romanian spoken language. Grammar is complicated. I am currently learning the present tense of verbs. In English we can say, I walk, you walk, we walk, they walk, he walks, she walks, etc, but here in Romania the verb for “walk” changes with each person. For example, if I applied a bit of Romanian grammar to English, our English might be more like this, I walk, you walki, we walkia, they walkitia, he walkii, they walka.

Christmas – Christmas Day I spent with missionaries, Tim and Debra Tyler. We started the day with warm cinnamon rolls and cups of hot coffee! The Tylers have been a big help assisting me transitioning to my home base here in Romania. All my paperwork is submitted for my visa in accordance to government requirements. Lord willing I will have my visa this month or next month.

Romanian Deaf – I have met four deaf people since moving to Romania. I keep gospel DVDs in basic gestures and in American Sign Language that I can give to deaf people here. But one day I’d like to see us make a video of the Gospel in Romanian Sign Language.

One morning, while catching a tram into the center of Timisoara, I met a middle-aged deaf couple. I communicated with them in my broken Romanian Sign Language. When we parted, I realized I had not given them tracts. About two or three hours later, while getting onto another bus, I met the same deaf couple! This time they received tracts.

Thank you all for laboring with me in this work!

For His Glory,

Nicole Condra