The Turners (one of our missionaries in Romania) recently had their newborn infant called home to be with the Lord - Please click on the link to read about the journey with Noah Cross Turner  

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                                                                                December 2012

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  As we come to the end of another year, we want to thank the Lord, once again, for His goodness and grace which have sustained us without fail.  We can hardly believe we have now been on the field over 20 years.  It has gone by so fast and we realize how little time we really have to do all the things we want.

Of all our years on the field, this year we have surely seen more “ups and downs” than in any other.  On May 29^th, the Lord took home our little boy, Noah Cross Turner, only 8 days after his birth.  Although this was certainly the low point in our lives, we were able to draw closer to the Lord than we had ever been and had the privilege of knowing His comfort and grace in ways we never imagined.  We cherish our short time with Noah Cross and the testimony we now have of God’s touch on our lives and those around us.

Our daughter, Shalyn, gave us our first grandchild in June.  Aria Rhay Turner is so sweet and beautiful and has brought so much joy to our lives in the months since her arrival.

Shortly after Aria’s birth, Shalyn got saved and added to our joy.  Our whole family went down to Bulgaria where Bro. Ralph was holding a baptism for the new believers in the Turkish churches.  Bro. Ralph and I, grandfather and father, baptized Shalyn at a beautiful spot in the little river just below the Turkish church.  A few weeks before, I took Meli, our oldest girl in the Children’s Home, down to be baptized at another of the several baptisms held this year.  In all, I believe there were over 150 new believers from our churches who followed the Lord in baptism this year.  We are so blessed to have a part in the work where souls are being saved and our own children are hearing the Gospel preached and coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Although we had a very nice fall, the winter is upon us in full force now.  There is snow on the ground and the temperatures have been well below freezing.  Yesterday, I went to a village where we have a church in a very poor Turkish section.  I took candy and stuffed animals to about 25 children who normally come to the meeting and who we feed through the feeding center there.  Many of them came to the church without coats, hats or gloves.  Last week, the lady of the house where we meet told us her young daughter said, “Mommy, I heard from some of the other children that Santa Claus is coming to bring us candy and presents”.  The woman had no money for presents, not even for piece of candy or two.  She told her daughter, “No, honey, Santa Claus only comes to the rich kids.  He doesn’t come to us because we are too poor”.  Before I gave the candy and gifts out to the kids, I was able to tell them that even though they are poor, Jesus loves them just as much as the other kids and He wanted me to bring them these things.  I told them they have been given an even better gift - God loves them so much, even the poor kids, that He gave His own Son so they could go to Heaven and have eternal life.  I can not express how wonderful the feeling is to be able to show God’s love to these poor children who feel so unloved and neglected.

The meetings continue to go well.  More and more are coming to know the Lord and the meetings are filled with testimonies of God’s blessings and goodness, even in these hard times.

This year has been a little tough financially for us as prices continue to rise.  I am sure many of you have also felt the strain of the economic conditions.  Dara and I want to thank all of you who have been faithful to support the work, even though it surely has been a sacrifice.  We greatly appreciate it and the opportunity to continue to serve and share the Gospel.

Thank your for your prayers.   In Christ, The Turners

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                                                                    August/September 2012

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  With Fall quickly approaching, we are truly thankful for all the Lord has done for us this Summer. 

Last month, our daughter Shalyn got saved.  She wants to be baptized, so we will go down next week to the baptism being held in Bulgaria for several of the Turkish churches there.  When I went down for a baptism at the beginning of July, there were almost 70 new believers who followed the Lord in baptism that day.  We were also able get a passport for Meli, the oldest girl in the Children’s Home, so that she can go with us to Bulgaria and be baptized as well.  We are truly thankful we are seeing the Lord continue to touch hearts and save sinners, especially when they are our own children!

Again, Dara and I want to thank you for your prayers for our family since our baby, Noah Cross, went to be with the Lord on May 29^th.  We have seen the grace and comfort of the Lord multiplied many times over for us and we are truly thankful and give Him the glory for all He has done. 

Having seen the Lord work in so many ways during Noah’s short life and the time since, Dara and I do not want to let the remembrance of the things God did for us fade into a distant memory.  We would like to keep alive the memory of Noah Cross as a tribute to the faithfulness of God’s promise that we would not be left alone, but that He would send the Comforter to abide with us.

Bro. Ralph suggested we create a fund for feeding poor children through one of our village churches.  We already have many places in both Bulgaria and Romania where we do this, but this one would be established in Noah’s name that we could thank and glorify God from now on.  Each week we buy groceries and take them to a family in the church who is willing, each day, to prepare a hot meal for the poor children in the area.  The children sing hymns and pray before having, for many, the only meal they will have that day.  We have seen so many children from these church feeding centers grow up to be believers understanding that God loves them and cares for them.  Showing these children the love of Christ, as we preach the Gospel in their village, has consequences that are eternal. 

The “Noah Cross Fund” is being established through Central Missionary Clearinghouse and we will use all of the funds to feed poor children.  I know there are many churches and individuals who already support the feeding centers in Bulgaria and Romania.  We ask that you please not “move” any support you many already be sending to this fund.  The feeding centers we already have are equally as important and need all the support you are sending.  We thought that those who learned about Noah Cross’ struggle through Facebook and our other communications, and who do not currently support the feeding centers, might want to help us remember.  The Lord did so much – not only for us, but for so many who followed and prayed for Noah and our family – that it would be a shame for us not to use this opportunity to honor our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

If you would like to support the Noah Cross Fund, please make the donation to “C.M.C.” for “Noah Cross Fund” and send to:

Central Missionary Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, TX  77218

Thank you and may the Lord bless you.                                 In His Service, The Turners

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                          July 2012

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We hope you are well and enjoying all the good things made available through His finished work.

Thank the Lord, we have been having an amazing summer so far.  A little over a week ago, I went down to a baptism service held for several of our Turkish villages in Bulgaria.  I was accompanied by five of the Turkish pastors who work with us in Romania and several believers from the churches here.  We arrived early at the church for the late afternoon baptism.  National pastors began arriving with believers from their villages and when it was time to go down to the nearby river, we were stunned at the number of people who had shown up.  A couple of people counted and we came up with somewhere between 200 and 250 people. 

The river was very high and the current was strong.  It looked almost like whitewater rapids.  I wasn’t sure we would even be able to attempt the baptism.  None of the new believers, however, were to be denied.  They began to enter the river one after another following the Lord in believer’s baptism.  I had no idea how many were planning to be baptized and was astounded as eventually 68 souls left the safety of the shore to brave the raging water.  Many of these Turks had never even been swimming and it was obvious they were terrified.  God gave them grace and I think many of them felt when they came back up out of the water that they had “really” been risen to new life.  Many could only stand there waving their hands and praising the Lord as the men who were in the water helping were trying to pull them back to the shore.  I think we could have let them float down the river and they wouldn’t have cared.  They were getting a glimpse of the other shore!

This past week, the missionary families from Bulgaria came up to the Children’s Home in Romania to have campmeeting with us.  Altogether there were about 50 of us including children.  We had great services from Wednesday until Sunday.  On Friday afternoon, our daughter Shalyn got saved.  This is of course an answer to prayer that began before she was even born.  Shalyn gave birth to our first grandchild, Aria, a little over a month ago.  As she was sitting in the service, praying the Lord would one day save her little baby, the Holy Spirit spoke to her heart and Shay asked Him to save her.  We can’t thank the Lord enough for saving our ‘baby’ girl and we give Him all the glory and praise!

Lately, time and time again, we have been left speechless seeing the Lord’s hand in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  We are truly blessed to have churches, our English church at the Home and the national churches, where God is worshipped in spirit and in truth and His presence can be felt as we gather together.

Thank you again to those of you who have kept us in your prayers since our son, Noah Cross, went to be with the Lord.  The Comforter has truly been close and His grace and comfort have been abundant.  God has been so good to us throughout this time and we thank Him for caring for Noah Cross until we are reunited.

In His Service, The Turners

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                          May 2012

Greetings to all of you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have been having a very busy spring so far. The Lord has blessed and we have really seen His hand in so many things.

Before this month is over, praise the Lord, Dara should give birth to our 6th child. After one girl and 4 boys in a row, we thought maybe this time we would have another girl. Seems it is not to be….the ultrasound confirmed boy number 5! We are thankful and happy and Dara is doing well, although getting a little uncomfortable. We haven’t been able to decide on a name. Hopefully we can come up with a good one before he gets here.

The meetings continue to go well. We had a Turkish “campmeeting” here at the Children’s Home last month. The missionaries living in Bulgaria brought up Turkish believers from their churches and we had a good crowd of maybe 65 or 70. They stayed three days and we had meetings on and off the whole time.

During the same week, we had visitors from a church in New York. Three men and three women came and stayed here for 6 days during which the men worked on the unfinished part of the Children’s Home. We are hoping to get some rooms ready to use by the fall. The visitors were a great blessing and got a lot of work done. They also went to some of the Turkish meetings while they were here. They were so impressed with how thankful the Turks seemed to be in spite of the hard life they have here on this earth. Many of the Turkish believers testified how by coming to know Christ as their Savior, they are now rich in joy and love and will one day have homes in Heaven.

Last month we also had a campmeeting with all the American missionary families coming up from Bulgaria. It is always a great time for all of us, especially for the children who get to spend the week with all their friends.

Our children have finished their homeschooling for the year. The Home kids have to go until June 22nd. Shalyn, our oldest, graduates from high school this month. We are so proud of her! Between teaching our younger kids and helping the Home kids with their homework every day, Dara had to let Shalyn work mostly on her own. Shalyn worked hard and did a great job. We are happy she has chosen to stay here on the field with us. She is a great help and a wonderful ‘big sister’ to the children in the Home.

Thank you all for your prayers and continued support of the work here. May the Lord bless you all.

In His Service, The Turners

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                                                                                                August/September 2011

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am glad to be able to write and tell you about the great things the Lord continues to do here in the work.

The last week of August we had our first baptisms of the year. First, Bro. Ralph had a meeting in Bulgaria to baptize new believers from several villages. He invited the national pastors from Romania to come and share in the joy of seeing these converted Moslems follow the Lord. There were 28 baptized at the river near the church. After the baptism, the meeting started again and went until after 1:00 in the morning.   A few days later, we had a baptism here in Romania for the new believers in the Romanian village churches. We met at a beautiful spot on the Danube River. Bro. Ralph, who had come up from Bulgaria with some of the American missionaries and Bulgarian national pastors, preached the service before 20 souls gave testimony of their faith through baptism. We rejoice in the Lord to see these folks who have risen to new life with Him. If the good weather holds out, we hope to have services to baptize the many new believers in other villages.

A couple of months ago, Dara and I met some American servicemen in the Navy Construction Battalion who were stationed at the military base a few miles outside of town. We invited them to come to our English service on Sunday morning. Usually it is just our family, the Reed family, and the Home kids. Four men and two women came that Sunday and worshipped with us and stayed for lunch. They then went outside and played with the kids until almost dark. They came back every Sunday until they shipped out a few weeks ago. Before the next Sunday, we met three Marines who came to church with 4 or 5 others. They have been back every week since for church. Each week, one of the missionary families has come up from Bulgaria to be in the service with us, as well.

 
Pray with us as this new ministry opens up to us. We have been told that in October, over 300 men from the US Army will be here for two months. The U.S. is using this base for training with other Eastern European militaries and will rotate different units through here regularly. We would love to be a blessing to these men who are away from their families and their churches in service of our country. They seem to really enjoy being in church and also the fellowship afterward.

Last weekend, eight of the guys brought materials out to the Home and spent 2 days building a two-story wooden play fort for the kids. They did it with their own money using their “liberty” time off. The last two weeks, the base Chaplain has come to the service as well. He said he would like to bring the base commander to meet us. This could continue to grow and we really need your prayers for our little Children’s Home church. The soldiers say they love the home-cooked meals Dara prepares for them each week. Our desire is that the Lord will bless in the services and their spiritual hunger can be quenched as well.

Thanks to all who sent money to buy a new vehicle for the Children’s Home. I ordered it in May and they say it will be delivered in the next week or two. I have been frustrated with the long wait, but it is getting here just in time for the kids to start the new school year. The Lord’s timing is always right!

Brookside Baptist Church in Bristol, Tennessee, is getting together a container to send us soon. We have an unfinished house attached to the Children’s Home and Bro. Ralph believes now is the time for us to get it completed. The outside is completely finished, including windows and roof. Only the inside remains to be done. As the kids are getting older, we will soon need the additional space. I sent a list of construction materials needed to the church and they are going to fill the container and ship it. If you or your church would like to help in this effort, please contact: Charity Baptist Mission at (423) 878-8131 or Pastor Mike Nixon at (423) 646-1352 for items still needed.

Thank you for your support and prayers. In His Service, The Turners

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                                                                                                                          January 2010

Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The Lord has been so good to us.  We see His hand every day as He works in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  Many are hearing the Gospel preached and are receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior.  Many prayers are being answered and many are getting help that is much needed.  2009 was a great year for us and we look forward to what the Lord will do in the coming year.

The work continues to grow and, as the doors are opened, new meetings are being birthed.  We have 4 new meetings here in the Constanta (Romania) area alone.  During August and September, we had several special meetings where we also held baptisms.  Between the churches in Bulgaria and Romania, we had a total of 155 new believers baptized.  There would have been over 200 had all those in the farther villages been able to come in to the meetings.  It is such a blessing to us to be able to witness these people, mostly former Moslems, emerging from the water with their hands raised thanking and praising their newfound Savior, Jesus Christ. 

The children in the Children’s Home here in Romania are doing great in their new school.  Six have started 1^st grade and Meli, the ten-year old, is in third.  The three smallest kids will not start this year.  During the summer, most of the kids started going in groups of two or three with our ‘team’ to the village meetings.  They have learned the Turkish hymns and enjoy going.  Every day there was a ‘discussion’ about who gets to go to the meeting.  We are so thankful we are able to raise these children where they can see the Lord moving and working.  We know God gave each of them to us for a reason and we cannot wait to see what He has in store for their lives.

Our family is doing very well.  On October 30^th, we welcomed our new son, Tristan Michael Creed Turner, into our family.  Dara gave birth at home (third time now).  She and Tristan came through great and continue to do well.  The Lord answered so many of our prayers regarding the birth that I cannot even retell them all now.  We just want to thank Him and give Him the glory for working things out so miraculously and giving us the desires of our hearts.

Our other kids, Shalyn, Grayson, Ransom and Race, are doing home school dvds and this works great.  In addition to running the Children’s Home, Dara is kept busy overseeing our kids work and grading their papers, as well as supervising the Home kids’ homework every afternoon.  It is a busy time for everyone but we are enjoying it greatly.  We are thankful the Lord has given us a spirit and closeness of one large family with our kids and the Home kids.  It is a blessing for all of us.

The past year was somewhat difficult for us financially.  The dollar is very weak against the Romanian currency which translates to very high prices for us.  Although our support has thankfully remained stable, our costs have risen greatly.  Once again, I thank the Lord for always providing what we need when we need it.

Thanks also to all of you for your prayers, gifts and financial support.  May the Lord bless you richly in the New Year.

In His Service,  The Turners

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Dear Friends in Christ,                                                                                                                                                          February  2006

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  First of all, I want to thank God for his ever-present, ever-sufficient grace.  For the last 6 months or so, it seems we have been plagued with one trial after another.  Right before Christmas, Dara’s sister died of cancer.  Since the first of the year, we have had epidemics of both measles and chicken pox that affected almost all of our 16 children (including our own and those in the Children’s Home).  Two of our own boys had complications with the measles and ended up with pneumonia.  In the midst of all of this, Dara had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery due to an acute abdominal infection.  This happened on the coldest night of the year (13 below zero) and none of our vehicles would start.  We had to call a taxi driver friend from in town to come to the village where we live so we could take Dara to the hospital.  Through all of this, the Lord was nearby to offer the comfort and peace we needed.  Several times it seemed more than we could bear, especially in the Romanian hospital where conditions were terrifying.  But the Lord was faithful, answering our prayers and seeing us through.

We have made it through the storms.  Now we can only thank and praise God for His goodness throughout these last few months.  There are certainly valleys ahead for us but we have seen God’s hand and He has given us the faith to trust Him for the trials to come. 

Throughout all of this, the Lord has continued to bless in the meetings.  We have seen believers in the village meetings praying for us with tears in their eyes.  The Lord had given them faith for us when ours was almost exhausted.  We recently had a campmeeting in Bulgaria in the village where Bro. Ralph lives.  Bro. Nathan Reed took a van-load of believers from here to attend the meeting.  Turkish believers had come from villages all around and there were over 400 who met from late-afternoon until daylight the next morning.  Bro. Nathan said the singing, testifying, praying and preaching was about the best he had ever been around.  These were at one time Moslem Turks who knew nothing of Jesus or the true and living God.  Now they are standing up and testifying of how Jesus died for their sins and saved their souls from hell.  We have done nothing but preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them and God has performed a miracle in the hearts of these people who most believed could not be reached.

I do have one request for prayer.  We have two vans here in Romania.  One is used for bringing the workers to and from the Children’s Home and for going to the village meetings.  The other is used for taking the food around to the feeding centers and for going to meetings.  Both have over 150,000 miles on them and we have trouble keeping them running.  If we miss just one day, there may be over 100 people who will not get to hear the Gospel preached that day.  The children are also depending on us to bring the food so they can eat every day.  It is not a small responsibility we have to fulfill.  We need your help to get these two new vans.  I know God can provide what we need.  This is His work.  I just ask you to pray with us regarding these vans and to follow the Lord if He lays it on your hearts to help.

            Thanks to all of you who have been faithful to pray for us.

                                                                                                 In His Service,            The Turners

Dear Friends in Christ,                                                                                                                                                            July/August 2003

With great joy and thanksgiving we announce the birth of our son, Race Yancy Turner.  He is perfect and Dara is doing wonderfully since the birth.  We were blessed again to have the birth in our home.  This was an answer to prayer.  Ransom’s birth was such a marvelous experience for us, we asked the Lord to allow the same with Race.  It could not have been better.  From start to finish was less than an hour and a half.  Race weighed 8 pounds, which is our largest so far.  We thank the Lord for blessing us with four beautiful children.

We are planning to baptize our new believers this month both in Bulgaria and Romania.  It is difficult to estimate how many there will be this year because there will be new believers coming from most of the 93 churches.  We usually gather the believers, both old and new, from several villages at a time and have the baptism at a lake or river in the area.  The fellowship is always sweet as we rejoice with the new believers who have received Christ and been made part of His eternal family.

Everything is going well at our Children’s Home here in Constanta.  Several of the babies have recently had their first birthdays and Mellie, our oldest, just turned four. The Children’s Home has become a place where the missionaries gather to hold the babies, fellowship and sing hymns together.  It is a blessing to be able to raise these children in a home where the Spirit of the Lord is so real and so sweet.  After Race was born, hardly two days passed before Dara was back at the Home.  Pray with us that we will hold on to this spirit the Lord has put in the Home so these babies will grow up knowing who He is and the sweetness of His presence.

Any day now we should be receiving a container sent over by Brookside Baptist Church in Bristol, TN.  They have gathered clothes, shoes, blankets, and other items for us to distribute to the needy for the upcoming winter.  I understand there are thousands of blankets, shirts, socks and over one thousand pair of shoes.  We thank the Lord for showing these people, for whom it seems that none else cares, that He loves them and wants to help them.  Our thanks to all of you who sent in items to be included on the container or who have sent in money to help.

It has been over four and a half years since our family has been back to the States on furlough.  The work has been growing so much we have not felt liberty to leave.  Although the work support is as great as it has ever been, however probably because we haven’t been back, our personal support is lower than ever.  With a baby just born, our responsibility to the Children’s Home, the growing number of church meetings, and our daily feeding of the poor children, it will probably be a while before we can return.  I just felt that I should make all of those who pray for the work and our family aware of our need.  The Lord has been so good to us these 11 years on the field.  We came with two suitcases and no money but the He has never left us lacking.  On the contrary, He has blessed us beyond all we could imagine.  Please pray about this need and I’m sure the Lord will provide as He always has.

                                                                                                In His Service,           The Turners

"If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be..."  John 12:26

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