MINISTRY

REPORT

Suzie Benforado

Cluj Romania

October 2005

NEW DIRECTION : At the beginning of the year 2005, the Lord led me very

specifically to link up with a married couple, David (American) and Mihaela

(Romanian) Norton to help plant a New Testament church here in Cluj. So that has

become my fulltime job since then and for the foreseeable future.

In my last update, dated May 2005, I wrote more about how we got started and

our early months. Since then, God has been blessing us way beyond what we could

imagine. Here are some highlights.

NAME FOR THE CHURCH – ANTIOCH CHRISTIAN CENTER: Believing in

the power of a name, we chose the name "Antioch Christian Center " for our church

after the Antioch church we read about in Acts. We believe that God has spoken to us

a similar mandate, being like them in the following ways:

1) To be a place of safety... where people can come to when the battle rages hot

against them

2) To be a place of refuge... a place where real people with real problems can come

for healing and breakthrough

3) To be a place of training... where every believer knows and practices his gifts with

increasing anointing and impact, both in the church and in the community

4) To be a place of change... Where people are transformed and then bring

transformation to their life situations

5) A place of prophetic life and direction...receiving directions and strategies by

rhema word of God for the church and also in the lvies of individuals.

6) A place that acts as a springboard...sending out people to advance the Kingdom of

God through the whole region and beyond

PROPHETIC CONFERENCE: We hosted a prophetic conference with Keith

Hazel and Bill Norton as the guest speakers/ministers. This was a wonderful time of

strengthening our people and each of

us being encouraged with great

teaching and prophetic ministry. It

was helpful to us as leaders to see gifts

that God had put into each person so

that we are better able to get each

"living stone" in its place. The result

of the conference was for a higher

level of order to come to our church.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING: From time to time, we have special meetings for the

core people from the church. Our desire is to take these that are more mature and

prepare them for the work of the ministry. We have hosted a couple of "mini-

conferences" for them. W e are investing into their lives to stir them up in their

relationships with the Lord and also to both give them instruction and practical

experiences where their ministry skills can be put into practice with every increasing

anointing and impact.

RADICAL LIFE SUMMER CAMP: Our church did a major outreach through the

context of a six day camp. To pull this off, it was an "all hands on deck" effort with

dozens of our people involved in the preparation for camp and then with the actual

camp itself. We saw many of our own people with new eyes as

the experience brought gold in their lives to the surface.

But that was just the beginning. We invited our friends

and neighbors, put ads in the paper and hung posters all over

town. We managed to gather 60 young people, about 50 of

whom were non-Christians. By the end of six awesome days

together, about 40 young people had dedicated their lives to

Jesus. About 30 of these now come to our church on a regular

basis. Check out my website for more information about our

camp and testimonies of campers that were touched by God.

www.newsfromsuz.com

Since camp, we have

been teaching the

foundational truths at church.

And we have also been

spending lots of time with

these young people, getting to

know them and their families

and helping them to learn to

take their first steps as

believers. It has been a

wonderful time.

All my years on staff

at Tapawingo were a great

help as we planned a fun, yet

meaningful time for unsaved

young people during the 6 day camp. I was the activities director. And I also had a

part in training the camp counselors before the camp. I can't tell you how many times

I thought of Carolyn Ray during that time...fond memories of her do linger.

MY PART IN THE CHURCH: As one of the older people in the church and one of

the more spiritual mature, I have the opportunity to be spiritual mother to many of the

young people in our church. That is a delightful and fulfilling ministry. I also am

part of the leadership team...praying, planning and making decisions together with my

pastors David and Mihaela Norton as we set the course for the church.

In addition I am sharing the responsibilities of teaching with my pastors David

and Mihaela Norton. This is a challenge and a stretching experience for me. And I

love it! It is basically discipleship in mass. I've had opportunities to teach at the

women's meetings, at baptisms, and during church itself.

I am also used in counseling, confrontations and conflict resolution. I find

that all my counseling training is helpful as we deal with the real problems of

sometimes messy lives.

My writing skills have been put into use. What happens when you can't find a

good quality brochure for new Christians? Well I wrote my own, had it translated and

published. Now we give it to new believers together with a Gospel of John. I have

also developed invitations, posters, visitor cars, etc. as we put things more and more

in order.

And probably my favorite ministry of all is prayer ministry. When we lay our

hands on people at the end of a service, and pray believing for God to move in their

lives, anything can happen. I have seen God do miracles right under my hands. Of

course it is Him and not me. I have only empty

hands to offer Him, but He fills them and pours

Himself out. I am amazed at what He can do if we

just believe and dedicate ourselves to Him. For me

it is such an awesome place and such an awesome

time. And God is showing H imself more and more

to us as Savior, Deliverer and Healer...the God of

the impossible. We are seeing numerous healings

and other kinds of miracles in our midst. Every

week there are new testimonies of what God is up to. We are really enjoying

ourselves and God too as we see Him move supernaturally in our midst on a daily

basis. Please see my website for more testimonies.

www.newfromsuz.com

WHAT'S AHEAD?

RENOVATION OF OUR MEETING PLACE: Our church is meeting in a old

theater with 182 old fold down wooden seats. It has a stage and is large enough for us

to grow into as our church develops. God has given us such favor with the property

owners that we rent from. They have agreed to a "face lift" of the room. We pay for

everything initially, but then we don't pay rent (we presently pay about $10/hour)

anymore until we accumulate the hours to equal our expenses for the renovations.

So... we want to take out the old seating and buy nice chairs its stead. The owner will

refurbish the hardwood floor. The room will then be versatile and can flex with

whatever the need of the room is. This also gives us a site for The "Light Club"...keep

reading....

"LIGHT CLUB": We constantly think of what we can do to attract more young

people to us. We want to set up the Light Club (play on night club) to be a Friday

night hangout for young people. Teenagers that haven't come to church after camp

are impatiently waiting for this! It also gives us a place where our young people can

invite their friends. And we can have special outreaches through concerts, etc.

Sometimes the distance seems too great to get them to come to church...but they will

come to a club setting. The idea is to have a couple of ping pong tables, a pool table

and table games, movies, etc.

PERSONALLY, I AM TRAVELING: In November/December I will be coming to

the States for a month. During that time I will be traveling with my pastors, the

Nortons to a conference in Indiana. I will also be spending Thanksgiving with

family! Then back to Romania for our first Christmas and New Years as a church.

Other Activities:

5

th

ANNUAL LIFE CHAIN: Years ago, God put on my heart a means of raising

public awareness against abortion. In the blink of an eye, God communicated

everything to

me...where in the city it

should be, what signs to

hold up, what the

brochure should say,

etc. The first "Life

Chain" became a reality

with Christian brothers

from every

denomination standing

shoulder to shoulder for

the cause of the

unborn...That was 5

years ago.

I didn't know then, but God used me as a catalyst to spark this type of event in

the hearts of people. Since then, with the effort of someone else, the Life Chain has

become an annual event. In May, some 400 people lined the streets, in silent protest,

and in silent prayer for God to change this situation in Romania.

ORPHANS: I continue to reach out to orphan young people at the orphanage in

Beclean and also the students that are here in Cluj. Ramona is one of the girls in

Beclean. She has really won my heart...not because of who she is but because of who

she can be. Years ago God gave me a simple but urgent command... "Love that girl!"

And I did and I saw God change her radically.

Then for the last two years I have seen her try to live with one foot in the

world and one foot in the kingdom

of God. It has been frustrating for

me, she has sabotaged effort after

effort from me to help her. I see so

much potential in her. I see in her a

female version of Saul of Tarsus...

She is such a person of influence

and so full of zeal. Right now she

is using it for the wrong kingdom,

but I hope and pray that she

become a Paul one day...making an

impact for the Kingdom of God. In

the meantime, I keep obeying Jesus

...loving her unconditionally. Rumor is that she recently made a wholehearted

decision to follow Jesus and now and her life has taken another giant jump upward. I

know there are many ups and downs ahead for her. But I continue to hope for her to

become what God wants her to be.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your faithful support all

these years. I am here because Camp of the Woods and Tapawingo have such a

strong missions emphasis. Midge Pittman, Lin Sterns, John Bechtel and others had

such a part in setting the heart of missions in me. It is an honor to be in this part of

the world representing your heart to know Him and to make Him known.

His and yours,

Suzie Benforado

Cluj ROMANIA

Prayer requests:

Please pray for increasing wisdom to lead well what God has put into my hands

Pray for increasing anointing to minister in my gifts with increasing anointing and

impact.

Pray that our people mature quickly and become faithful sons who can carry

responsibility for the kingdom

Pray for creativity for the "Light Club"

Pray for radical salvation decisions that last a lifetime.

Financial needs:

for me personally

I still owe $2000 on a "new" used car that I bought in July.

I am paying rent for the first time in years. $300/month Pray God provide this

over and above my normal level of support

Travel expenses for my trip to the USA amount to about $1000

for Antioch Christian Center

We need $1500 for 150 chairs as we give our meeting place a face lift.

We need about $1000 for set up of the Light Club.

Send financial support to:

Bat Cave Baptist Church

PO Box 247

Bat Cave, NC 28710

Make out your check to "Bat Cave Baptist Church" and designate the gift "for Suzie's

Romania Fund". You will receive one tax deductible receipt for the total of all your

contributions after the end of the year.