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Higher Ground Foundation
sponsored the second annual Field Conference for TITUS
Missionaries and Christian workers from Romania,
Ukraine, Moldova, and the United States. Workers
joined for a week of spiritual renewal in the
beautiful Carpathian Mountains of Romania. Young
nationals from Moldova and Romania met together for a
time of inspiration, training, good old-fashioned fun,
and other adventures which some had never before
experienced. Pastor John Bouquet
from Ohio was the keynote speaker. His
outstanding messages and counsel were a source of
strength and encouragement. Dave Marcum, TITUS
Director, conducted missionary field council
meetings. All who attended enjoyed messages,
music skits, and recreation. It was a great
chance to meet and fellowship with other American and
European co-workers, while surrounded buy God's
magnificent beauty in the mountains.
CUPS
OVERFLOWING WITH GOD'S BLESSINGS IN ROMANIA
My experiences in
Romania in August were certainly ministry highlights
for this year! I was taken directly from the
airport to a church building that was overflowing with
people and blessing in Fundulea. Gerald and
Kristin Ziemer and their young people have worked
in this town faithfully for the past three
years. Six repenters were baptized after that
service. In a recent letter Gerald reported that
eleven more people (five couples and one young man)
are in his New Believers Class, preparing for
baptism. All of them have been saved within the
past six months!
Gerald
Ziemer giving instructions before baptismal service
Construction
has begun on The Christian Center, a
multipurpose
building which will serve as an auditorium,
gymnasium, youth activities center, and living
quarters for national workers. Believers there
are sacrificing to see this project go forward.
The construction crew consists largely of men of the
church. Each one gives a tithe of his labor to
ensure that the Lord is glorified through the work of
his hands. Prayer and financial support are
needed to complete the project.
Foundation
being poured for building in Fundulea
Our
Field Conference was Really Something Special!
Many notes of
appreciation were written in English, Russian, and
Romanian by our missionaries who attended. Here
are a few:
Much thanks to
all who organized this great spiritual conference.
"I have never
had such a wonderful experience. This is in my
heart and the Lord knows."
I think it
is safe to say that only eternity will reveal the end
results of all who contributed to this conference.
"What I really
loved about this conference was the fact that it...was a
time of spiritual renewal and refreshment."
Everything about
this conference was superb. Nothing could have
been added to make it better.
"As a pastor's
wife, I want you to know how much this special time away
from our busy schedules has meant to me and my
husband."
Andra
Onea interprets Dave Marcum's message
Gerald
Ziemer and Vlad Kozoubovskii enjoy a time of fellowship
Field
Conference speaker, Pastor Jogn Bouquet, sharing
"words of wisdom" with Dr. Loreen Ittermann
NEWEST
TITUS MISSIONARY IN ROMANIA
During a spring trip
to Romania conducted by Gerald and Kathy
Whitely, the Lord led Becky Wilder, one of
their team members, to return to Romania to develop a
Christian Kindergarten. Amazingly, God provided
for her financial support in even weeks! She was
even able to spend most of the summer as a counselor at
a Christian camp. Becky left for Romania on Oct.
11. She is currently assisting Pastor Florin Dobos
as a teacher, musician, and youth worker in Simeria.
-Dave Marcum
Becky
Wilder working with Romanian children
EVANGELISM,
DISCIPLESHIP, & CHURCH PLANTING IN UKRAINE
Odessa-
In May and June of this year several of us were able to
see, first hand, and be involved in ministries in Odessa
and Kiev. Masato & Miki Funakoshi are
making great progress in planting a new church in
Odessa. In a recent E-mail Masato says,
When we first
started our meetings in April of last year, there were
times when no Ukrainians came. But now about 25
people attend each Sunday! None of them had any
church background, nor had they ever heard a clear
presentation of the Gospel. Ten have now received
Christ as personal Savior! I have baptized six of
these ten and the other four are currently in a New
Believer's Class. God has helped us build bridges
with many people through offering free Japanese and
English classes. A good number of those who started
coming for the language classes are now attending our
Basic Bible Doctrines Class. This is encouraging!
Like his sending
church in Japan, Masato believes in a strong indigenous
church policy. Thus, his goal and prayer is to see
this local church become self-supporting,
self-governing, and self-propagating as soon as
possible!
Marvin
Euler, Alice & Dave Marcum with English class at
Masato and Miki's flat last June
Masato
Funakoshi instructing new believers
Alice
Marcum receiving flowers from one of her Ukrainian
students
Kiev-
Since June 2000, missionaries Vlad and Julia
Kozoubovskii, have done an incredible job in this
Ukrainian capitol city of over three million
people. After four years of school at Appalachian
Bible College, they went back to Ukraine well prepared
and with a spirit of humility. Vlad began a Bible Institute
with 65 students. Fifty students have completed
their first year of classes. Because of the need
for village-evangelism and to help his students gain valuable
experience, Vlad and Julian have led many evangelistic
efforts and Bible studies. This has resulted in
hundreds of people hearing the gospel and many souls
coming to Christ.
-Dave Marcum
Vlad
and his Bible Institue students conducting village
evangelism in Ukraine
cont. next column, click
here.
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MOLDOVA TITUS TEAM
GOD KEEPS...
"ENLARGING
THE TENT,
LENGTHENING
THE CORDS,
AND
STRENGTHENING THE STAKES"
Isaiah54:
Church
Planting- In 1996 while teaching at the Baptist College in
Kishnev, Dr. Loreen Ittermann talked to tow of her
students, Peter Litnevsky and Slava Grin, about
their future ministry plans. She was pleased to learn of
their desire to go as missionaries to reach the Chucka people on
the Arctic Circle. After prayer about this matter, she
invited them to become a part of the TITUS team. Soon
after graduation, while both men were single, Peter and Slava
left for Pevek, Siberia. They have since married ant heir
wives have served faithfully beside them in this difficult
place. The Lord has greatly blessed their efforts! A
few months ago a request came from these missionaries for 300
Russian bible study books for new believers. Our home
office was pleased to be able to send these books. We were
happy to hear that the books arrived safely and are very helpful
in discipleship there. 
TITUS
Team pastors, Vitaly Pokidko and Valery Belous, baptize
believers in Moldova 
Pictured
with some of their people are Moldova TITUS Team pastors, Victor
Kroitor, Slavik Jushak, vitaly Pokiko, and Valery Belous.
Due to a shortage of trained preachers, Slavik Jushak is pastor
to churches in seven different villages. Pastors Vitaly and
Valery are seen baptizing new believers (see above). These
two young men have a great vision for Kishinev, the Capitol city
of Moldova. They pastor a growing congregation which meets
in rented facilities. In our last newsletter I reported my
experience with them last February. They took me to four
different locations and asked me to pray at each. Three
were possible sites for their new church building. They
fourth one was the mayor's office. They explained
that the mayor could be very influential in helping them secure
the right land. They now have found an excellent location,
and are praying about starting the church and TITUS Training
Center project soon. Their plan is to build a
three-story building (a $200,000 project) to meet the needs of
the church, and to provide large classrooms for missionary
teacher training. Dr. Loreen Ittermann will be
using these rooms for her ongoing training sessions for workers
from Moldova and other countries. Much prayer and help are
needed to see this project to completion. 
Teacher
Training Staff all trained by Dr. Loreen Ittermann Teacher
Training- Dr. Loreen Ittermann and her training
staff conduct three-week Institute classes year-round (in both Russian
and Romanian) to equip bible teachers from Moldova and other
nearby countries. Each teacher is given an abundant supply
of teaching materials (all written by her team members) to use
in their various ministries. 
Pastor
John Miron nad Family John
Miron, the pastor on our TITUS Team who spearheaded our Shelter
Project, has assumed leadership of church planting in
central Moldova. He is responsible for overseeing
churches, evangelism, and discipleship in about one thousand
villages. The Lord has provided funds for five pastors to
assist him, thanks to the gifts of two of our generous
donors. Hon has requested that I conduct a conference in February
2002 for about 100 pastors who minister in these villages. -
Dave Marcum 
Fred
Bennett and Steve Bishop (Jewish Believer) conducting a Jewish
Seder CHOSEN
PEOPLE BEING REACHED BY TITUS MISSIONARIES Three
TITUS missionaries are presenting Messiah to Jewish people, and
at the same time training local churches to carry on Jewish
evangelism. The TITUS motto, "Training nationals to
reach their world," perfectly describes the methods and
ministry of Fred Bennett, Lou Carrico, and Jeff Starkey. Fred
Bennett has been conducting Chosen People Sundays, helping
local churches to honor Israel and the Jewish people.
These special days include an evangelism workshop for believers,
special messages to highlight Israel in prophecy and promises of
Messiah, and memorial observances of the Holocaust. in
addition, he is teaching Jewish evangelism workshops in churches
and Christian universities throughout the year. Lou
Carrico has been ministering in local churches, presenting
Christ in the Passover, and conducting training workshops on
reaching Jewish people. He works through his local church
in Charleston, WV. Charleston is home to approximately a
thousand Jews. Meanwhile, Lou and Sandy continue
deputation. In addition
to deputation, Jeff Starkey is working in the tri-cities
of Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton, Ohio. His work is
also local church centered and has the potential of reaching
over 30,000 Jews. In the late 90's, he started Zion's
Light, a student outreach to Russian Jews in Columbus. He
continues to work with Cedarville University students in that
ministry as well as doing personal evangelism and local church
evangelism training. -Fred
Bennett 
Gwen
Lopez serving our missionaries at home Several
years ago Gwen Lopez and her late husband, Mike, who was
one of our board members, spent some time in Moldova with Gwen's
sister, Loreen Ittermann. During that visit Mike and
Gwen's sister love for the Nationals was intensified.
Several months later, rather suddenly, Mike went home to be with
the Lord. Memorial gifts were given to the Shelter at that
time and it was decided that one of the buildings being built
would be dedicated in Mike's memory. At that time none of
use at Titus realized Gwen would soon become a much more vital
part of our work. She has worked tirelessly serving our
missionaries and nationals over the past two years. We are
blessed to have Gwen as our Administrative Assistant.
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