Prayer Letter   February  2006

Dear Friends in Christ,

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

                                July/August 2003

Dear Friends in Christ,

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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