The Bakers in Romania - Spring 2026 Update!

 Hi friends!

We're back with a ministry and family update to fill you in on everything that's been going on these last several months here in Romania! Oh, and so we aren't at risk of burying the lead - our flights are booked and we're coming to Canada for July and August 2026!

Current Needs

We don't normally start our updates by sharing about needs, but there's been SO much going on and so many needs that have arisen in the last few months that we felt compelled to communicate them straight away. 

We understand that times are tough right now for so many of us with what's going on in the world. We're paying over $3 CAD per litre for gas right now, so we get it! Please don't feel pressured or obligated to give - we simply feel called to communicate what's needed and trust God to provide. What we ask for most is that you pray along with us for God to meet these needs!

1. Church Supplies. SO many needs have come up with the church these last few months! The monthly tithes and donations the church receives are barely enough to cover the rent and the utilities, and so there's nothing left over for running any of the ministries (both Pastor Chris and Jerry are supported missionaries and don't receive a salary from the church). We are praying for donations to help us purchase coffee, cookies and related supplies for Sunday morning services, as well as some food and supplies for church events (pizza for the youth group, drinks and snacks for young adult meetings, paper products like plates and cups, and food for the Agape meals we host a few times a year for Christmas, Easter, Baptisms, etc.). Even things like paper towels, toilet paper and simple cleaning supplies are needed. If you feel led to help with this, please donate below and comment CHURCH SUPPLIES.

If you know a youth group or a small group who wants to partner with us monthly for a specific need (ex: to provide the coffee and cookies for church each Sunday or to buy pizza once a month for the youth group), please email Jerry at jerryabaker@hotmail.com. 

2. The Food Bank. There are many foreign university students from African countries and South America who live in Brasov and attend our church because it's bilingual. Many of them serve on the worship team and the tech team at church too, and many participate in the weekly discipleship program. They are in desperate need of help to buy groceries, and many of them struggle with hunger because of a lack of resources to buy food. We have started a Food Bank ministry, where church members can bring non-perishable food items that the university students can take after church each week. We would love to help stock the food bank with more basic grocery items and sanitary products so that the students don't have to worry about food. If you feel led to help with this, please donate below and comment FOOD BANK. 

3. Travel Expenses. We have booked our flights to Canada and taken a step of faith to come to Winnipeg for two months this summer. We are SO grateful for some extra donations that allowed us to book our flights, but we are still in need of help to cover the rest of the expenses of our trip. If you feel led to help with this, please donate below and comment TRAVEL.

4. The upcoming SHARE Conference. We have been presented with the possibility to attend the SHARE Education conference in Greece in November. Share Education is a missionary-support organization with the goal of keeping missionary families on the field by supporting the whole family's needs, especially the children. They provide educational support, clinical testing with certified clinicians (psychologists, occupational therapists, etc.), and parenting training for parents of TCKs (third culture kids). The conferences offer a camp-style program for kids and youth as well as training for parents, and they're attended by English-speaking missionary families from all over Europe. We know many families who have attended these life-changing conferences over the years, and we are asking God to make a way for us to attend this year. Our girls are begging to go! If you feel led to help us cover the costs to attend the conference (conference fees, hotel and gas to drive 14 hours to Greece), please donate below and comment CONFERENCE.

Here are the donation links for tax-deductible donations:

Click HERE to Make a Donation in Canadian Dollars

Click HERE to Make a Donation from the United States

Ministry Update

One of the most meaningful things this past season has been the rapid growth of the church - not just in numbers, but in the people God is bringing through our doors. We've had a growing number of university students attending, as we mentioned above, and as we've gotten to know them it has become clear that most are facing some real challenges, including financial issues. The church has responded, and we've started a church food bank to help meet those practical needs. It's incredible to see how a simple meeting of a physical need like this has opened doors to build relationships and show the love of Christ in a tangible way. The students are becoming increasingly more involved in the church, serving, and coming to events, and it's plain to see God is working in their lives through the ministry of the church. We're so thankful for this!

We have also seen several new families begin attending the church in the last several months, including a few Ukrainian families now living in Brasov since the war began. One family told us it was "SO nice to come to a church that feels ALIVE!" Another family who had been staying away from church for some years due to past church hurt has started attending regularly. It's a reminder to us that God is drawing people together from all kinds of backgrounds and situations to worship Him and serve Him, and we're just so grateful to be a part of what He's doing here in Brasov.

As the church continues to grow quickly, most Sundays we are at full capacity or over capacity. For the last month we haven't even had enough chairs for everyone to have a seat, and we've had to pull benches out of the Sunday School room for extra seating. We've had to give up our seats most weeks and stand in the doorway!! We're praising God for the way He's growing the church, both deep and wide, and we're trusting Him to provide a way for the church to grow even more - maybe with a bigger space someday soon!

Jerry preached the first message in a new series called Jesus the Missionary in the month of March. He'll preach again in the middle of May.

Jerry has continued heading up the tech side of the worship services. We're a small church, which means wearing many hats, and so Jerry's often busy keeping things organized and running in the background, while also playing on the worship team most Sundays. Chrissie joins the worship team once a month, usually on Communion Sunday (the first Sunday of the month) because there's no Youth Sunday School on Communion Sundays.

The Ablaze Youth Group has been especially encouraging so far this year. We've been seeing 12-15 youth consistently attending, and what stands out most is how excited they all are to be there, spending time together and getting to know each other. We just finished a video study series called Unashamed, and we're looking forward to diving into a deeper Bible study series as we head toward the summer break.

One highlight was a prayer night where we set up 7 different prayer stations and focused on things like Praise, Confession, Requests, and Creative Expression. It was the first time many of the students had participated in such a spiritually-focused event, and the feedback was great!

We've continued to host Street Reach Events (local outreach in the community). One of the teams, including several of the Ablaze youth, shared music and connected with some of the local park-goers. There were many meaningful conversations and we were able to pray for several people. One man who we prayed for was on crutches, and he came to church the following week!

WOW Nights have continued once a month, and they're a great time for the church to come together and just sing praises to the Lord and share what God is doing in their lives. Last month's WOW night was standing room only!

In April we celebrated Easter with a Good Friday WOW Night Service and a big Agape Meal lunch after the Easter Sunday service. Several of the families brought a ton of food because even though our Agape meals are potluck-style, those who can't bring anything are always welcome to join. Chrissie cooked 2 large hams and too many chicken thighs to count, and many other families brought a ton of side dishes and salads so we'd have enough for everyone. There were hardly any leftovers!

We also helped our friends Doug and Camelia Howey with their Easter Outreach in the town of Rasnov, where we used to live. We've helped them with this annual even for many years, and it was great to serve with them and their church Izvorul Vietii again. 

Chrissie has continued to teach the Youth Sunday School Class each Sunday, and they're continuing to study through the book of John. They've made it through John 11 and studied all of the 7 Signs in the book of John. It's been so cool to study through God's word in a deep way with the youth as they ask hard questions and go deeper in their understanding of who Jesus is. We're also running out of space in Sunday School too - we're cramming 12 teenagers around a small table every Sunday in the church kitchen!

We also hosted a Spring Women's Event at church for the first time in years! We enjoyed lunch together and hosted a pottery workshop, led by Emilia Chang (Emilia's husband Young Tae Chang is on the Elder's board of the church alongside Jerry and the others). Faith Anderson, Pastor Chris' wife, shared about identity and finding our identity in Christ. It was a beautiful day with more than 30 women and young ladies in attendance!

Jerry is also continuing his studies with Kairos University and we are praying he'll be able to finish by the end of 2026 (or early 2027). Once he finishes his studies, he'll be able to take on more hours at the church, which will be a big help as there is a LOT to do! He's currently working through a course on Biblical Ethics to complete his Bachelor of Arts in Christian Thought and Practice, and then next up is more studies toward his Masters (he's been working on both degrees at the same time). 

Family Update

The last several months have been SO great with the ministry, but pretty challenging for us personally. As we wrote in our last update both girls had surgery in the fall of 2025. Eden had her adenoids removed to fix an almost total sinus blockage that her doctor was convinced was causing her chronic headaches (spoiler alert: it wasn't), and Miriam had a large cyst removed from her elbow on December 23.

Thankfully both girls healed quickly and recovered well post-surgery, and Miriam has been pain-free ever since. Eden, on the other hand, has experienced a resurgence of her chronic headaches so we've been back at the clinic for more tests and referrals to specialists. She is having episodes of fainting and dizziness with headaches that come and go. This month she'll see a neurologist, a endocrinologist, and a cardiologist for full work-ups. Her symptoms are affecting her quality of life (and ours, since she's not always able to participate in her normal activities).

Since Christmas the girls have also changed schools. Miriam was experiencing intense bullying in her class at the state school in our town, and things came to a head in January with a parent meeting at the school. It got pretty ugly, and even though we had the full support of the school it wasn't enough to fix the problem. Eden was also having a difficult time at school, although not nearly as difficult as Miriam. 

We made the decision to withdraw the girls from the school and look for another option. We'll spare you the details, but it was certainly a miracle from God that allowed Miriam to get a place, in the middle of the school year, at Transilvania International School. She transferred there in February and her school experience has completely changed. She loves her new class, her new teachers, and one of her closest friends (since she was 4 years old) is also in her class. We are so grateful to God for this opportunity.

There was no open spot for Eden, so we made the decision to register her with a Canadian online school where she's completing courses for the remainder of the year. We are in the process of registering Eden at Transilvania International School for September. Eden has been given a place there on the condition that Chrissie works as a volunteer teacher for their high school English classes on a part-time basis. We're still working out the details of that that will look like, and we'd appreciate your prayers that the situation will be worked out in a way that doesn't add too much stress to Chrissie's already full plate. 

Because of Eden's health challenges, it's been a blessing in disguise to have her home every day and doing school online. She's able to be flexible around her headaches, get extra sleep, and do school work when she feels well. 

All these school changes came with a lot of added expenses. We switched the girls to state school from private school last year because we were struggling with the financial strain. Although Transilvania International School (TIS) costs less than the private school they previously attended, it's still a big financial commitment and we're trusting God to provide. It's the best option for our girls' education here in Brasov, and for the first time they'll get to study in English and Romanian - a total game changer for them!! We're praying that TIS can find a way to somehow legally compensate Chrissie for her volunteer hours to reduce the tuition we have to pay for the girls to attend there. We're still working out those details with them.

Despite their health and educational challenges, the girls have continued to enjoy dancing ballet twice a week. They're learning new dances for their upcoming shows at the end of June. They'll also perform in an International Dance Day show this week at the largest mall in Brasov. 

Because of all the work and stress of the girls' health situations and school situations (and taking on supervising Eden's online school from home for the rest of the school year) Chrissie is absolutely spent. Her physical health has been great this year, which is a HUGE an answer to prayer, but the weight of the kids' surgeries, navigating Eden's ongoing health issues with lots of tests and specialist appointments, and all the support and work required for the girls' school changes this year have been overwhelming her. 

Because of this, she's trying to take a few steps back from some of her involvement at church, but with the church growing as quickly as it is and all the leadership changes, that's been hard for her to do since there are so many little behind-the-scenes tasks. She's slowly trying to step back, and we're praying that our time in Canada this summer will be very restful for her with as few responsibilities as possible.

One ongoing life challenge for us this year has been the size of our living space. Our home is a small 3-bedroom duplex, but with limited storage, small rooms, and the fact that we both work from home most of the time, it's starting to feel quite small for this stage of life. The girls are getting older and would really benefit from having their own rooms and more privacy, and the kitchen is a tight squeeze. Entertaining is difficult with such a small space, and although the yard is great we wish we could host other families more often and have the space to do that. We're feeling the tension - the kids are REALLY feeling it - and we're praying that God would provide the right place for us in His timing.

We celebrated Chrissie's birthday in March with dinner as a family, and we celebrated Eden's birthday in April with a rowdy backyard party. Eden's birthday was a blast, with games, a barbecue and a bonfire with friends from school and church.

Prayer Requests

Please join us in praising God:

- that Calvary Chapel Brasov is growing SO much! We thank Him for sending so many people to our church, and pray we can minister to them and shepherd them well.

- for providing for our family - for His financial provision for us, for providing amazing doctors and nurses for the medical care we need, for providing great health insurance for us.

- for our friends! We are so grateful to have so many good friends lately - not just our girls, but us too. We're so grateful to God for providing a good, solid support system for us here with friends we can turn to and count on, and who understand the struggle of working overseas and parenting third-culture kids!

- for a smooth visa process! We submitted our documents for long-term residency and so far they were accepted! We hope to receive our new visas in a month or so.

Please pray with us:

- that we will find a way to work with Transilvania International School so the girls can study there, so it's not too expensive for us, and so Chrissie doesn't have too much added stress on her plate come September

- that Chrissie will be able to heal and recover from her burnout and the stress of this year. That she'll get true rest in Canada this summer.

- for God's financial provision, both for the church and for us personally with upcoming travel costs.

- for God to provide a way for us to attend the SHARE conference in Greece this fall!

- for Jerry's schooling. That God would make a way for him to finish his degrees this year, for good time management so he's able to be focused on his studies.

- that God would continue to bless and grow the ministry of Calvary Chapel Brasov, and that He would give wisdom to the leadership team and board of elders as they lead the church as it grows so quickly!

- if it's God's will, that He would provide a new building or commercial space for rent at the right price, at the right time, and in the right place as the church grows!

- that God would continue to bless and grow the Ablaze ministry with teenagers who desire to grow in their walk with God, grow in their understanding of who God is, and live unashamed of the truth.

- that God would open the hearts of the members of our local community, that they would be open to the gospel and to receiving prayer during street reach events.

- that God would continue to deepen the relationships between the church members, for an increase in fellowship and friendship, and for spiritual growth for the members of the church. 

- that God would continue to provide for the Anderson family (Pastor Chris, his with Faith, and their 6 boys) as they settle in to their new life here in Brasov.