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The Turners |
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Mission and Support Address: Charity Baptist Mission Inc. P.O. Box 692 Bristol, TN 37621-0692 USA |
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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 1st 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 30th, 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