Heidi Longworth Newsletter Summer 2024

Baptisms, BBQs and Building work have been quite a theme these last few months.

Deo Gloria Church

It has been an exciting season for us as a church, seeing God at work in many ways. We have already had two baptism services - one in February where nine people got baptised, and one in May where another three people got baptised. Plus, we already have another three adults who want to get baptised, and various young people who have shown an interest since coming back from camp (more on camp later!).

The building we currently rent is out of town and up a dirt track which has its challenges. Miraculously, we have been offered a space in the centre of town, free of charge for two years. It was a nightclub so needs a lot of renovation work. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our church members, and other partners, which has made the work so far possible. It is already beginning to take shape and we are praying that we can finish it in time for our church’s anniversary in the middle of November. Alongside the renovation of the building, we have a new logo and a new website (with an English translation too) - click on the link to have a look, and watch the video about the building project. Link to building project

Deo Impact

We have had a great season with the youth group. As well as seven of them getting baptised, it’s been exciting to see them all connecting as a group and making steps closer to a relationship with Jesus. Once a month, we meet all together and have looked at the themes of Unity, Friendship, Forgiveness, Service and Identity in Christ. Twice a month we met separately in boys and girls groups and did a course about love and relationships. The girls all love pasta so the girls group involved quite a bit of pasta making and eating too! And the other week of the month is for socials - we have had got quite skilled at shopping and cooking BBQs over the summer, but have also been to a national youth baptist conference and had various outings to other places too. The youth leaders continue to meet 1-2-1 with quite a few of the young people for a discipleship course too.

The highlight has definitely been camp at the end of August. Each morning consisted of a devotional in small groups and workshops including handmade crafts, volleyball and ‘Life Skills’ (which included media, first aid, finance and team-building). The afternoons were for games (and plenty of water games as the temperature was mid-30s), and in the evenings, we looked at the ‘I AM…’ statements of Jesus in the book of John, followed by after-hours including a talent show, a British evening and of course a camp fire. It was fabulous to have three ladies (including my mum!) from my sending church (New Life in Crewe) join us for the camp and help out with the British evening and handmade workshop doing knitting, crochet, glass painting among other things), as well as generally chatting with the young people. Thursday evening’s labyrinth invited participants to connect themselves to a rope as a sign of their connection with God. As they reached the station about sin, the rope ended and they found themselves disconnected. At the station about the cross, they were invited to connect themselves again to the rope and were invited to make a decision for Christ. The final station was back in the main room where the leaders prayed individually with the participants and many of them chose to follow Jesus for the first time, and other rededicated themselves. It was a profound moment and many of the participants felt the presence of God even before they started the labyrinth as one of the leaders gave their testimony and we worshipped together with a visiting worship leader. For a video of the week, click here: https://www.deogloriahunedoara.ro/english/serve-god/deo-impact

Other news

In other news, I have a new niece and am very excited to see her soon when I visit the UK in October. I was also excited to feature on my friend Chims’ new single ‘I will worship’ which we recorded at Christmas. With being back in Romania since then, it wasn’t possible for my face to feature on the video, but it is available on all the normal platforms. You can listen to it here: https://fanlink.tv/iwillworship

I’ve also been on the teaching team for EnRoute Romania (a course about intercultural mission), a conference with Awana, for those seeking to reach the 12+ years age group, and History Makers (a course for young leaders). It has been great to serve those different groups of people over the last few months and make connections with others country-wide.

And now as autumn draws near and the weather is beginning to cool slightly, I’m hoping to get back to my masters dissertation write up. I sadly wasn’t able to finish it this summer as I’d hoped, but am thankful I can continue into the new academic year and hope to finish it soon.

Prayer Requests

• For those thinking about getting baptised
• For the young people as they start back at school and for strengthening of the decisions many of them made to follow Jesus
• For the new building project and the financial provision still needed
• For my dissertation - that I’ll be able to finish quickly and well
• For my trip to the UK in October as I visit friends and family and various churches

Many grateful thanks for all your prayers.

Heidi