U.S. Missionary To Be At Crossroads

The Rev. Howard Gard, an American missionary to Romania, will speak at Crossroads Baptist Church this Sunday.

Gard, who is currently on a speaking tour of the United States, is the executive director of Church Triumphant, a California-based missionary group dedicated to work in Eastern Europe.

“They first went over right after the Iron Curtain fell, and there’s been a lot of change going on over there,” said Angie Dailey, a spokeswoman for the group. “They would stand in the streets and hand out Bibles and tracts, and the people would almost literally mob them.”

The missionaries noticed right away that the religious of Romania were often stronger in their faith as a result of their struggles during Communism.

“They were more serious, because they had to fight for it,” Dailey said.

In the years that followed Gard’s initial visit, the frequency of mob encounters declined.

“Since then, the people have been kind of desensitized,” Dailey said.

As a result, Gard is spending less time being swamped by crowds and more time working on the business of starting and supporting budding Romanian churches. Planting new churches will be one of Dailey’s main topics Sunday.

Now that there is more of a church presence in Romania, there is also more time for Gard to do general charitable work. The Rev. Tom Myers, the pastor at Crossroads, said Church Triumphant also sends computers, clothing and books to Romania.

”(Gard) also promotes just practical things for everyday living,” Myers said.

Gard will appear at Sunday’s 9:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. services. The church is at 509 N. Sullivan Road.

Dirty dog? Get it washed

Is that dirty dog way past due for a good scrubbing? The youth of St. Mary’s Catholic Church want to help.

About 20 teenagers will be washing and hosing off hounds to raise money for a mission trip to Mexico. The event happens today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Evergreen Pet Shop, 14319 E. Sprague. Evergreen will donate the shampoo, and St. Mary’s will donate the elbow grease.

The church will send 30 young people and 10 adults to Tijuana on July 25 to help build homes for needy people. Annie Trunkle, a youth minister at St. Mary’s, said the church sends a missionary group abroad every other year.

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