The Preus Family in Eurasia
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Pastors and church secretaries, please consider printing this newsletter for parishioners
who may not have access to the computer.
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Come Holy Ghost, God and Lord,
With all Your graces now outpoured
On each believer’s mind and heart;
Your fervent love to them impart.
Lord, by the brightness of Your light
In holy faith Your Church unite;
From every land and every tongue
This to Your praise, O Lord, our God, be sung;
Alleluia, alleluia!
LSB 497
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Mission work updates
Wyoming: This winter, David began work with the Riga Luther Academy (Brasov office), shadowing classes and teaching a couple of modules on pastoral theology. As his schedule and weather permitted, he also visited with some pastors and congregations in Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, and North Dakota between the months of January and March.
Romania: David has been setting up his home office here in Brasov and working with Pastor Sorin Trifa to find a permanent location for our church sanctuary. He is also assisting with pastoral duties and holding services at our church twice per week. Currently, we are renting worship space from a church and holding services in the afternoon in order to work around the other church’s schedule. For our growing congregation of 25 and counting, securing a permanent and practical location for our Ukrainian refugees is a necessary next step. Our goal is to purchase a pension that would double as a place for housing families and a space for building a sanctuary and conference center for visitors. However, as we are still waiting for the right option, we are renting a house for the Ukrainians about 20 minutes from town, and worship continues at the rented facility here in town.
Riga, Latvia: Less than a week after arriving in Romania, David traveled to Riga, Latvia to attend a class intensive for the Riga Luther Academy, where he will begin teaching this fall online from his office in Brasov. He was able to meet many of his colleagues with whom he will be working.
Santiago, Dominican Republic: David traveled to the Dominican Republic, where he delivered a paper and a hymn study at the annual symposium at Concordia Seminary, the Reformer, in Palmar Arriba. This year’s symposia were dedicated to celebrating the long-awaited publication of the new Spanish hymnal, “Himnario Luterano.” He also attended the graduation of two of his former students and had the pleasure of addressing them during the ceremony. What a blessing the new hymnal will be to Spanish-speaking Lutherans around the world! Congratulations to Rafael Flores and Jeancarlos Ramirez for successfully completing their bachelor of divinity!
At the end of May, upon returning to Romania, David and Pastor Trifa met with visitors from LCMS-OIM (business administration division) to discuss needs and plans for securing a building for our new mission plant. He will also begin preparing courses for the fall, as well as a series of presentations on the topic of “Fear Not!” for the Corpus Christi youth conference, where he will be the plenary speaker this July in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Reflections from home, by Jenny
At the end of December, we drove to the airport in Santiago for an early morning departure flight with the help of our regional director and business managers who helped us with our transportation and luggage. When we arrived in Denver we were welcomed at the receiving gate with a Uhaul driven by Pastor Sherril of Trinity Lutheran in Denver. The picture at the top of our newsletter was taken in the sanctuary at Trinity, Denver on the day before we flew to Romania. This church helped us immensely by receiving us and providing a bounty of warm clothes in various sizes to help us adapt from the Caribbean warmth and sun to Wyoming’s (and Romania’s) cold and snow. We are continually reminded of God’s provision for us through fellow Christians.
Throughout January and February, we lived with relatives in Wyoming and began working on the visa paperwork for Romania. During this transition and even now after our arrival, we have been in communication with an immigration lawyer who is helping us with the residency process. The process is going smoothly but slower than expected on account of delays with getting an appointment at the office in Brasov, but we have just received confirmation that will have our final two meetings with the lawyer, accountants, and notaries this week. Praise God!
Concerning our travel here, we flew from Denver to Romania at the end of March, eager to arrive at our new church in time for Easter. Our flight was a long one, taking us through Doha, Qatar, and several layovers before arriving in Bucharest. With the time change into Eastern European time, it took us at least a week to adjust our internal time clocks.
Our new house is furnished with beds and most furniture which has made the adjustment easier. We have needed to purchase bedding, towels, lawn care tools, and various kitchen supplies. David’s theological books arrived which completed his office set-up, so we were very thankful that that shipment went smoothly without any hiccups through customs.
Since arriving we have been settling into our home and finding our way around the city. We walk or Uber to most places since we haven’t gotten a car yet. We’re very proud of how the older kids have managed their school responsibilities during the upheaval of an international move during this entire academic year, and they in turn are relieved to have recently finished their online classes for the year. We will continue with part-time homeschool through July in order to catch up on some of what was missed during the winter transition and travels.
Over the past months, we have been getting to know the city of Brasov and are learning how to shop and navigate life here. Jenny, Rebekah, and Lena will be starting to teach English classes for the Ukrainian refugees this week. We also recently had some visitors from the LCMS OIM team who were here to help with the decision of purchasing a building for our church, which will also serve to temporarily house refugees and will provide much-needed classroom and conference space.
The kids have also begun studying the Romanian language using an online learning method. We are researching classes for them to take in person with students from Transylvania University in the fall. While David has been busy with many time-sensitive projects, the kids and I have been able to put our tourist hats on a few times and take some excursions, as seen in some of the pictures below. It has been fascinating to read about Romanian history and to see some of these historical places with our own eyes. Through the photo gallery below, you’ll see a collection of mostly chronological pictures from our time in Wyoming, our trip to Romania, and then the first couple of months we’ve been living here. There are also some pictures from David’s return to the Dominican Republic which are included at the end.
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In March, I made Venezuelan arepas for our Wyoming family as a final meal before we left.
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Rolf, standing in line with our luggage before check-in for our flight to Romania
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Walking through security near midnight at the Denver airport, David is leading the way and me at the tail end, urging the young ones to keep going. 🙂
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All were very tired after a sleepless night, and this was taken during our layover in NYC.
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Picture from the airplane window while flying over the Middle East.
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A few extra day naps on the couch while adjusting to the time change.
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David’s theological library was delivered a couple of weeks after our arrival.
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Walking to church. The church building we are renting is about 1.5 km from our house.
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Here is Jenny learning to make ciorba (a traditional, Romanian, sour soup) with Flori Trifa. She is the wife of Pastor Sorin Trifa. They have been very helpful as we’ve adjusted to life in Brasov!
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This was the baptism of little Daria, who is the child of a family who escaped here from Ukraine when she was just 2 weeks old. Her mother had to take her from the infant hospital unit to safety at ground level when there were raids going on nearby, soon after the delivery.
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A group photo with Americans, Romanians, and Ukrainians after Easter service. Praise be to God!
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In David’s absence, Hans (left) filled in as the English reader (translator) for Pastor Trifa’s sermon. In our church we have many language barriers with native Romanian, Ukrainian, Russian, and English speakers. All know at least a little English, and Google translate helps during conversation.
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We shared a traditional Easter meal at Pastor Sorin Trifa’s following Easter service. Florentine, his wife, is an amazing cook and introduced us to many regional delicacies at this feast.
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David’s primary position is teach for the Riga Lutheran Academy-Brasov, which is an EU accredited institute which provides online theological education to students across the Eurasia region.
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Session at the Riga Luther Academy conference David attended in early April in Riga, Latvia.
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This is the house our LCMS mission is renting for the Ukrainians. It is located in Sacele, which is a suburb of Brasov. It took awhile to find a place that met the needs and was open to our purpose of renting for refugees, but this building functions well. The mission also recently bought a 9 passenger van which is used to transfer the families from the house to church on Sundays.
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This is one of the 9 rooms (each with an attached bathroom) for the refugees to live in. Currently we have four families staying longer term, as well as various others who have stayed during their transition before getting entry approval to Germany and Canada.
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We sent David this picture when he was on his way to the DR. We missed hiim! It has become a tradition to get ice cream in the town square on Friday evenings.
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The kids in front of the birthplace of Vlad Tepes (Dracula) in the town of Sighisoara, Romania. This is about 2 hours from our home.
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At the peak of the fortress overlooking the city of Rupea. During war time, about 100 families would live within these fortress walls for protection against invaders.
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The kids and Jenny while hiking through a historic fortress.
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David traveled from Romania to the Dominican Republic for a week at the end of May. Here he is assisting at Pan de Vida with his good friend and former colleague, Pastor Sergio Maita.
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David preaching at Pan de Vida on May 22 in Santo Domingo before he traveled north to Santiago for the symposia, Spanish hymnal festival, and seminary graduation.
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David talking with friends and students after a day at symposium in Santiago.
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Dear friends and supporters,
Above is a picture of the street view from our home. We are so thankful to be here and settling in as we re-dedicate ourselves to this new and exciting work God has in store for us. Over the past 6 months, He has safely brought us from one field to another. We are excited about what the future holds for our life and work here among the people of Eurasia, especially in Romania. Thank you for your continued support and prayers along the way.
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To support our work financially, you may send a tax-deductible gift to:
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod P.O. Box 66861 St. Louis, MO 63166-6861
Make checks payable to The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod or LCMS. Include “Preus-Dominican” in the memo line.
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Preus_Dominican-Republic_Spring2022.pdf
