The only Romanian in Quartzsite, Arizona!

pastor John Todor By Octavian CURPAŞ

Born and raised in Romania, married in the Philippines, presently living and serving God in the Arizonian Desert

How many of you who have traveled from Arizona towards California on Highway I-10 still remembers the last town you passed through prior to reaching the Californian border? – probably not many! Situated at about 125 miles from Phoenix, 129 miles from the tourist spot Palm Springs and about 20 miles away from Blythe (the first city from California ), is a town called QUARTZSITE. Continue reading “The only Romanian in Quartzsite, Arizona!”

Beauty for Ashes

Camelia Micu

You and I are God’s beautiful creations: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”, Genesis 1:27, with no blemishes and free of sin, yet because the first man and woman did not obey God’s given commands, they fell into sin that caused a completely new movement in the universe. Remember, how God created man? Out of dust, yes, you and I were nothing but, dust! No one likes dust on their shoes, clothes…in fact some may even be allergic to dust. God was not allergic to it, nor did He get rid of it. Why? He had a better plan, a bigger picture! All of that changed when God created man out of that dust and breathed life into him…“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being”, Genesis 2:7. God created something as beautiful as you and me out of nothing, but a handful of dust, “to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”, Isaiah 61:3 …”With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”, Matthew 19:26… WOW, now I can’t resist not singing the chorus to this song: “You make beautiful things out of the dust,/ You make beautiful things,/ You make beautiful things out of us all around,/ You make me new,/ You are making me new”. Continue reading “Beauty for Ashes”