OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at St. Luke Orthodox Church in Palo Hills, IL 12/18/2011

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at St. Luke Orthodox Church in Palo Hills, IL
12/18/2011

St. Luke the Evangelist Orthodox Church
9300 W. 107th St
Palo Hills, Illinois
United States
60465


OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz will be at St. Luke Orthodox Church in Palo Hills, Illinois on 12/18/2011. Please contact Fr. Andrew Harrison by phone at 708-974-1166 or by e-mail at oandrey@stlukeorthodox.com for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at Holy Ascension in Norman, OK

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at Holy Ascension in Norman, OK
11/27/2011

Holy Ascension Orthodox Church
3350 12th Ave NE
Norman, Oklahoma
United States
73070


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in Norman, Oklahoma on 11/27/2011. Please contact Fr. Justin McFeeters by phone at 405-388-0111 or by e-mail at f.frantz@ocmc.org for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at St. George in Wichita, KS 11/27/2011

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at St. George in Wichita, KS
11/27/2011

St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
7515 East 13th St
Wichita, Kansas
United States
67206-1223


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas on 11/27/2011. Please contact Fr. Paul O'Callaghan by phone at 316-636-4676 or by e-mail at vrev@stgeorgecathedral.net for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at Holy Theophany Orthodox Church in Colorado Springs, CO

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Colorado Springs, CO
11/19/2011

Holy Theophany Orthodox Church
2770 North Chestnut St
Colorado Springs, Colorado
United States
80907


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at Holy Theophany Orthodox Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado on 11/19/2011. Please contact Fr. Anthony Karbo by phone at 719-473-9238 or by e-mail at frkarbo@theophany.org for more information.

2011 Romania Youth Work Team

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco, CA

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco, CA
11/13/2011

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
999 Brotherhood Way
San Francisco, California
United States
94132


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco, California on 11/13/2011. Please contact Fr. Aris Metrakos by phone at 415-584-4747 or by e-mail at fr.aris@holytrinitysf.org for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church in San Jose, CA.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak at St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church in San Jose, CA.

11/12/2011

St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church
6430 Bose Lane
San Jose, California
United States
95120

OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church in San Jose, California on 11/12/2011. Please contact Fr. Gregory Koo by phone at 408-268-3214 or by e-mail at stbasilschurch@sbcglobal.net for more information.

Sharing in Ministry by Using Skype: An Update from Christina Semon

Margo Kelley, OCMC Assistant Missionary Coordinator, offered me an opportunity to shake hands digitally over Skype with the parish family of St. Christopher Hellenic Orthodox Church and their parish priest, Rev. Fr. George Tsahakis. My first contact with this parish was from my previous ministry at the Protection of the Theotokos Family Center (PTFC). We received beautifully hand-knitted shawls for the struggling mothers from the St. Christopher’s Philoptochos Society through the visiting 2009 OCMC Mission Team. Now two years later, God has brought us together so that we can support each other in our ministries.

I have been organizing a knitting group held once a week with the teenage girls at the halfway house in Orhei in the Republic of Moldova. For each meeting, I prepared a topic to discuss so that we use our time in a constructive way. One of my goals is to build faith in these girls. The Prayer Shawl Ministry has reached out to support others in prayer through clothing the naked. Here in Orhei, adoption of this ministry can set a foundation for these girls to pray while knitting, and to knit with a more targeted purpose.

The parish of St. Christopher was equipped with all the tools necessary to perform the Skype call. We were in the narthex of the church for the meeting because they are using a temporary office space until they build their church. We had a good internet connection and webcam capabilities that brought a whole other dimension to the call. In the time span of fifteen minutes, I shared my current ministry and enjoyed a general period of questions and answers. This was such a meaningful time together to express the impact of the far-reaching Prayer Shawl Ministry and the gratitude of those who are touched by it.

This first parish Skype call also made a significant impact on me as a missionary. As I am the only OCMC Missionary in Moldova, one of my weaknesses is in battling the thoughts of loneliness. To fight these thoughts of loneliness, time and time again God shows mercy and provides people and activities to witness to me that I am not alone. God has blessed me to meet many parishes so that we could continue the work of Holy Spirit together. For me, the support team has been a tremendous part of my ministry and I will encourage other parishes to use their technology to connect with me in the ministry in a real way.

I am calling out to parish priests, OCMC Ambassadors, and faithful to make this type of internet meeting a future possibility. My Skype name is christinasemonocmc. Please email me to arrange the scheduling of our Skype call so that we, too, may greet one another face-to-face and beyond any distance.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Seattle, WA

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Seattle, WA
11/6/2011

Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption
1804 13th Ave
Seattle, Washington
United States
98122-2515


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption in Seattle, Washington on 11/06/2011. Please contact Fr. Dean Kouldukis by phone at 206-323-8557 or by e-mail at goca@qwestoffice.net for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Gillette, WY

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Gillette, WY

11/3/2011

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church
122 South Gillette Ave
Gillette, Wyoming
United States
82716-3702


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Gillette, Wyoming on 11/03/2011. Please contact Fr. James Thayer by phone at 307-682-2328 or by e-mail at frjamesthayer@bresnan.net for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Gillette, WY

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Gillette, WY

11/3/2011

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church
122 South Gillette Ave
Gillette, Wyoming
United States
82716-3702


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Gillette, Wyoming on 11/03/2011. Please contact Fr. James Thayer by phone at 307-682-2328 or by e-mail at frjamesthayer@bresnan.net for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Chicago, IL

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Chicago, IL
10/30/2011

St. Constantine and Helen Cathedral
5410 N Newland Ave
Chicago, Illinois
United States
60656-2026


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at St. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois on 10/30/2011. Please contact Fr. Vasile Muresan by phone at 773-774-1677 or by e-mail at f.frantz@ocmc.org for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Piedmont, SC

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Piedmont, SC
10/23/2011

St. John of the Ladder Orthodox Church
701 Augusta Arbor Way
Piedmont, South Carolina
United States
29673


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at St. John of the Ladder Orthodox Church in Piedmont, South Carolina on 10/23/2011. Please contact Fr. Marcus Burch by phone at 864-299-1140 or by e-mail at frmarcusburch@bellsouth.net for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Piedmont, SC

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Piedmont, SC
10/23/2011

St. John of the Ladder Orthodox Church
701 Augusta Arbor Way
Piedmont, South Carolina
United States
29673


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at St. John of the Ladder Orthodox Church in Piedmont, South Carolina on 10/23/2011. Please contact Fr. Marcus Burch by phone at 864-299-1140 or by e-mail at frmarcusburch@bellsouth.net for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Chattanooga, TN

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Chattanooga, TN
10/21/2011

St. Tikhon Orthodox Church
357 Lookout High Street
Chattanooga, Tennessee
United States
37419


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at St. Tikhon Orthodox Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee on 10/21/2011. Please contact Fr. Daniel Talley by phone at 423-821-5100 or by e-mail at daniel.k.talley@gmail.com for more information.

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Houston, TX

OCMC Missionary Floyd Frantz to Speak in Houston, TX
10/16/2011

St. Joseph Orthodox Church
10644 Hammerly Blvd
Houston, Texas
United States
77043


OCMC Missionary Mr. Floyd Frantz will be at St. Joseph Orthodox Church in Houston, Texas on 10/16/2011. Please contact Fr. Joseph Huneycutt by phone at 713-973-7001 or by e-mail at office@saintjosephorthodox.org for more information.

An Update from Missionary Christina Semon

Dear Friends,

Glory to God for all things! My utmost appreciation for your prayers and support!

Your prayers have not been in vain as trials and struggles are prevalent in the missionary field. I have relocated to a new parish in the town called Orhei to better serve my youth ministry. Most of the youth were on summer vacation and those young people that were around had wonderful and exciting experiences at summer religious camps and pilgrimages. The Metropolia of Bucovia and Moldova of Romania invited us to participate in these spiritual events and one could see their love for their neighboring brothers and sisters.

Now that school has started in Orhei, the amount of activity for the body of the church will increase at the local parish church called Saint Basil. Through the blessing of Fr. Sergiu Aga, parish priest of St. Basil, I am currently developing an English program for all ages and a knitting activity with young ladies at the half-way house called “Toward Independence” run by Diaconia- the social outreach department of the Bessarabian Orthodox Church. We have already initiated these activities which are improving as time goes by and we are eager to provide more ways of feeding the souls of the youth.

It is true that ministry work can take time; but if you yourself don’t watch your soul, you can spiritually dry up. To avoid this danger, and better equip me as a missionary, I have enrolled in the Masters’ Program in the Theological Department at Alexander Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, Romania. This theological education can enable me to have credentials that will be of benefit in the mission field and life in general. Also, in the near future, we are looking forward to planting little seeds through inaugurating a catechism class for children and a church youth group to educate and build leadership within the youth of today.

I wish all of you a happy ecclesiastical new year and good strength in following Christ!

In Christ,

Christina Semon

Update on Floyd and Ancuta Frantz in Romania

Greetings, and I hope that this finds you well today, and in good spirits on this most blessed day of Meatfare Tuesday.

It has been a few days since our last newsletter, so I am sending one out to keep those interested up to date. Actually, we have been having some activities, and I have more than once felt the need to write.

A most blessed thing was that one of the babies in Ancuta's program, The Protection of the Theotokos Family Center was baptised recently. What was really nice about this was that the father of the child was there. This is sort of unusual, as usually the mother is abandoned by the father when she gets pregnant. He had been in jail, but is out, and trying to find some real work. We hope for all the best for him, and will try to find him a job. This may be hard to do, as things are pretty slow over here these days. I was able to chat with him a little, and he seems like a nice guy who just needs a good start in life.

We have a new bishop in Cluj, Archbishop Andrei Andreicut. I knew him previously, and we are very much looking forward to working with him. Well, we have in a way, as yesterday we did a training course for a priest and some other folks from Turga Murus, a town 70,000 about 120 km from here. They are wanting to start a counseling center, and so we are helping them by doing some trainings for them.

A nice story, two of them actually. The first guy that came to our treatment program at Polyclinica St. Pantelimon, in 2001, has now celebrated 10 years of sobriety. This was a joy for me, as his life was a disaster before he got into our program. His wife was divorcing him, he could not hold down a joy, his kids were not speaking to him, and it was all down hill. All of that is now in order, and he is back in his Church. Also, he is working with alcoholics in the Greco-Catholic archdioceses program. (We had a hand in starting that one also!! The guys who actually started it up and got the finances for it had both gotten sober in our program!)

Well, there are many churches but only one God. I thank him for his love for each of us. Please do keep us in your prayers, we always need them.


In His Love,
Floyd & Ancuta Frantz
OCMC Missionaries in Romania




If you would like to contact us please use: floydfrantz@gmail.com

You can visit the St. Dimitrie Programs web page at www.stdimitrie.org

If you would like to make an online donation in support of our work in Romania please go to the Orthodox Christian Mission Center web site at www.ocmc.org After finding the Frantz Family page, you will need to log in, but it is a simple process and it is very important to us. You may also call 877-GO-FORTH, and they will assist you with making a donation online or with your card.

My Next Assignment to The Republic of Moldova: An Update from Missionary Christina Semon

Following the completion of my first term in Romania, God has opened the door for me to serve next in The Republic of Moldova. My second term of missionary service will draw upon the experiences and skills I have acquired in the last two years of my life and ministry among the Romanians. Along with my co-workers and my future Moldovan ‘family’, Fr. Ioan and Preoteasa Michaela Cristea who will host me in their home in Leova, I look forward to entering a new culture, building new relationships, and sharing in this blessing to help build a parish youth program. As a team we will be helping to strengthen the spiritual foundation of the Church there.

Fr. Ioan expressed to me the need for help in establishing this ministry. We are now collaborating with him in this vital mission to raise up leaders who will assist in the organization and direction of this program for the Moldovan youth. Please consider joining with me on the front lines through increased prayer and financial support for the continuation of my missionary service in a land where our Orthodox brothers and sisters are calling for help, and the devastating effects of Communism are still greatly felt.

Thank you to those parishes across the United States that I have been honored to visit during the past two months as I prepared for my new assignment. I am strengthened by your love and encouragement, and will return to the mission field before Holy Week to begin life in Moldova. Please visit my webpage at http://csemon.ocmc.org to see photos taken on my journey and read more about my experience as an OCMC Missionary as they get posted.

St. Dimitrie Newsletter: from Missionary Floyd Frantz

Greetings! I hope that this finds you well today, and in good spirits on this most blessed day of Meatfare Tuesday.

It has been a few weeks since our last newsletter, and people have been reminding me of this so I am at last going to get down to the "doin" of writing one. I hope you have time to read it, and that you will enjoy having it. Actually, quite a lot has been going on over here since my last posting.

You may remember Christina Semon, my OCMC colleague here in Romania. She has been doing some therapy groups with the St. Dimitrie Program in the Tbc hospital in Savadisla, and we have been going at times to the Republic of Moldova to help with the project of Fr. John in Leova, Moldova. She had requested reassignment in Moldova for her second term of missionary service, to focus on establishing vital youth programs and developing youth leadership. Well, last week she was given a go-ahead, and will be working in Moldova while applying much of what she learned during her first term as a missionary in Romania. It is going to be a very good assignment, and I hope that you will keep up with it at OCMC's web site, www.ocmc.org.

On our side of things, the Holy Romanian Synod has approved our addictions courses to be used in both the faculty seminaries and in the high school seminaries. This was actually more than we had hoped for when we submitted them last year. Of course, it means that we will need to keep it updated, and will need to develop it over time. It is very exciting for us as it has been a long term goal of ours for several years to have this happen.

One other item of note is that Deacon Stephen Holley from St. Michael's in Westminster, California has been visiting us and doing some very nice presentations in the local parishes to young people on "How to choose a mate for life", which is based on his short book about the subject. He has been well received, and in now in Iasi doing the same over there with Fr. Iulian.

There is much to say, but I do not like to send out long emails as few people have the time to read them. I will try to be more faithful about writing in the future, as I would like to share about some of the people in our program. They have been bringing joy to my heart, and in the next email I will share this with you.

In His Love,

Floyd & Ancuta Frantz

OCMC Missionaries in Romania

If you would like to contact us please use: floydfrantz@gmail.com

You can visit the St. Dimitrie Programs web page at www.stdimitrie.org

If you would like to make an online donation in support of our work in Romania please go to the Orthodox Christian Mission Center web site at www.ocmc.org After finding the Frantz Family page, you will need to log in, but it is a simple process and it is very important to us. You may also call 877-GO-FORTH, and they will assist you with making a donation online or with your card.