Sometimes spiritual triumph arises out of natural disaster. Few had ever heard of the volcanic tongue-twister that is Eyjajallajokull before April 14; now we know that its ash crippled European airlines for a week, costing the aviation industry over £2bn, stranding 300,000 passengers and its effects have been ongoing.
One of its more remarkable spiritual consequences, however, was that the eruption deprived Medias, Romania, of a team of American evangelists who were to run a major outreach under the auspices of the Luis Palau Association's (LPA’s) Next Generation Alliance programme. In so doing, it propelled local churches into taking full responsibility for the mission and forced local pastors to bring the gospel themselves to their friends and neighbours. The result of being made to step out in faith, in these apparently unpromising circumstances, was a rich harvest of souls for Christ.
Four Romanian preachers
As soon as the three evangelists saw that getting to Romania was impossible, LPA's Romanian co-ordinator, Daniel Rus, stepped in. He and Daniel Titus Mihet, one of the most capable General Co-ordinators in Romania, invited four Romanian preachers to speak in their place. One was Timotei Rusu, who agreed to preach at all four events on the first day of the mission — to begin the following day! The results were spectacular, with an explosion of responses to the gospel.
