Romania 2006

Romania Trip Report

October 2006

Dear, brothers and sisters
What a privilege it was to travel recently to Romania.  God blessed this trip in a wonderful way.  A team made up of Constantine Lupancu and Pavel Sav from Golgotha church, Petru Cladovan-Betania, and Stephan Tohatan-Elim from the Chicago Romanian Pentecostal Community had the opportunity to witness the dedication of two churches and about sixteen homes.  Many  families lost their homes in the 2005 flood that swept away a total of 186 homes in the valley of Trotus near the city of Comanesti-Bacau. This project to help Romania after the six waves of floods that struck was put together by the leaders of the churches in the fall of the flood year. This was an opportunity to help the victims of the flood from the devastated areas. The money that the community raised was to help them  build four homes, and one church in the area of Comanesti-Bacau for a total of $125,000. In fact  they said that they could build five homes for five families, and two churches with that amount.
Another area that was devastated by a flood was in the village of Tudor Vladimirescu-Galati . The team delegated to that area decided to help the people with stoves, mattresses, and other goods that they lost to the flood, and the money used to purchase those items was about $50,000.
The first wave of floods that came throughout Romania in the spring of 2005 devastated the area of Banat which included the villages of Ionel, Otelec, Foeni, and Carpinis . There our community helped the victims with household goods and helped them to restore the church in the village Carpinis.
God sometimes uses natural catastrophes to test how we respond with love and charity to those in need. He  opens a door to evangelize them, and changes their destiny to heaven, impacting their lives forever. To God be the glory!
We arrived in Bucharest on October 5.  We were welcomed at the airport by pastor Costel Gramada,and evangelist Gicu Visan. They drove us to the home of brother Stephan Movila in the same city where we had lunch and fellowship. Before dawn Gicu Visan drove us to Birlad about 200 kilometers away where we stayed overnight in the church guest room. In the morning we met with local pastor Ilie Miron. With the love offering that we brought from the kind brothers from Chicago we met some needs of the poor families from these churches.
In the afternoon the same day Gicu drove us to the village Buda, where years ago I came with brother Bob Foulkner and Robert Brown, and we saw the work that brother Gicu has started in this very poor area. At that time we had met a very poor family with a child named Anna Maria who when she was  6  fell and had to have surgery.  The surgery was unsuccessful, and she became a crippled child. When  we visited this family in August 2002  brother Bob was moved with compassion that Jesus put in his heart and helped this family consistently with monthly support, and prayers.
When we arrived this time after four years we heard the testimony of Anna Maria’s mother, that the Lord had had mercy on her, and took her soul home from the suffering body. The mother has been prepared spiritually by Gods Holy Spirit in such a way that she was overwhelmed by God’s presence and special anointing in her difficult time. Even after the funeral of her little daughter the mother went to the doctor for a check up, and the doctor gave her a diagnosis of lung cancer.  Others would be  worried and depressed at such news, but when she heard it she acted like the doctor had given that diagnosis to somebody else. By Gods presence she could overcome, and even though she is still coping with critical health conditions she is not letting the sickness get her down. She believes that the God who gives her strength is much bigger than cancer.
Her husband Bob who accepted Jesus when Bob and Rob visited in 2002 still remembers that day, but he’s confessing that some bondage from the past has hold him  not to  follow Christ. We pray for him that God would free him, and he would become a follower of His Word. Bob realizes that God allows many trials in his family that he might get close to God, and sin no more.    We helped this family and other families from that area from the love offerings that Bob Faulkner has blessed them with, $500. They had prayed, and asked God for assistance for some months, and God has answered their prayer! A family with nine children were praying to receive help to re-roof their leaking home, and with grateful hearts they thanked God and those that helped them. Jesus cares deeply for hungry, fearful, poor, and disease-stricken people, and so must his followers.
Friday night we went to  Tudor Vladimirescu’s church for a night of evangelism. About 50 people came to hear the message of Jesus Christ as “the way, the truth, and the life”(John14:6). Three people responded, and asked us to pray for them to receive forgiveness of their sin, and to follow Christ. One was a veterinarian doctor from that village.Jesus is penetrating with his word to people from all kinds of life.
After the service pastor Mihai Dumitrscu and Stephan Maxim drove us to their home in the city Galati where we had fellowship, and stayed over night. Saturday October 7, we left early in the morning from Vaslui, and headed toward Comanesti-Bacau, where a lot of people have gotten together for the inauguration and dedication of a church and some new homes that were built for the families that lost their homes in the flood.
We arrived about noon in the city hall where the mayor and other officials and pastors Liviu Axinte, Gheorghe Primicheru, and others were waiting to start the service. Together we went to the place called Valea-Seaca where the homes and  church were built. In the sounds of Christian music to the glory of God the service started in the open air, on this beautiful sunny fall day. After the days of sorrow and sadness the joy has been restored to many families, and all the crowds composed of people from all walks of life have been deeply impressed and touched by God’s presence and the messages that were shared during that time.
What an opportunity God gave us using the devastation of a  flood to impact people for eternity with the love of Jesus Christ, and with his gospel. Even the chief police from the city testified that he was impressed and touched to tears by what was happening there. He said this was something real not an act. God’s Spirit moved and opened many hearts, and hungry souls were satisfied by God’s presence.
After the people received the title of the property we went to continue our joy, dedicating the church for the glory of God, and a place to evangelize and nourish the families that were relocated in this area. The church was overcrowded, and all the officials and police officers took their seats first to continue hearing the gospel being preached.        After the service was over, and the prayer for the dedication of the church,  one man raised his hand, and he asked for a prayer to dedicate his life to Jesus Christ. We did not have an altar call, because so many officials that came for the first time to an evangelical church, but God has His way regardless.
At night we traveled to another village called Toflea in the area of Galati. In this village most of the population are gypsies, but God has mercy on all human beings without making a difference. The history of this church is that, in about 1992 God changed the life of one man that was in prison in Germany. When he came home under the fire of God and passion for his fellow brothers he spread the gospel of salvation to others. Many from the village were touched by the testimony, and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the revival sprang up. Hundreds of souls committed their lives to Jesus Christ, and the church today numbers about 1300 baptized souls.
Next day, Sunday morning October 8, we had the privilege to minister in this church. In the afternoon we traveled back to the city of Comanesti where the second church was dedicated to the Lord in the village of Supan by the river Trotus. The people crowded into  this church where the gospel has been preached with power, and the Holy Spirit lifted up many souls that were distressed and discouraged, and scattered abroad over a year not having a church building. That day the restoration of their souls started. When the service was almost over a teenager raised his hand and confessed that he wanted to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We prayed for him and all that heard the gospel, that they might dedicate their life to Jesus.
After the service we traveled to Piatra-Neamt, and stayed over in this beautiful city surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains. Monday morning the group divided, and went into different directions to continue the work of God in different areas. Pavel Sav went to Bistrita where he visited  “Onisim-center”, an after-care facility that helps inmates to be integrated into society, and grow in Christ. From there Pavel Sav went to Cluj,Zalau,and Timisoara, where he had the opportunity to preach the gospel in jails,  Popa Sapca-Timisoara, and the Correctional Institute for Juvenile Buzias. Peter Cladovan went to Arad and Caran-Sebes where he continued ministry.Steven Thohatan returned to Comanesti where he spent two nights, in evangelism.
I went into the area of Bucovina, and visited many families that were in deep need. One family that touched my heart was Sfichi Eleonora, a widow with 16 children in the village of Voitinel. Her husband had been the pastor in the village church, but he contracted cancer, and the Lord took him home. This family has been taught how to live by faith, and the Lord really supplied all their needs. The testimony of the mother touched our hearts with joy, and our eyes with tears when we heard how God has blessed the children from this family, especially the girls that got the right partners for their life.
Another family that we visited from the city Radauti had nine children whose parents passed away this summer in a tragic accident. The children range from 2 to 18 years old and are under the supervision of the local church. They lost both parents. They got so much comfort in this hard time  from God and lovely and godly people that surrounded and embraced them. They were not depressed or discouraged, but they understood that somehow it was God’s will to take their parents home. I was surprised to see everyone doing their homework, the oldest one working outside fixing a fence, the older sister preparing a meal for the family. Indeed, “pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,  to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world”(James 1:27).
There is so much need materially and spiritually in Romania. Everywhere you turn you see crippled children, and older people living alone with no help. These are the most affected people, the sick and the old. Others just left the country and went to Spain, Portugal, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, and other countries, looking for work.
I had the opportunity in this to attend two funerals, one uncle Constantine Locovei passed away, and it was a traditional Orthodox liturgy with a lot of smoke from candlesticks, and a lot of rituals done by the Orthodox priest who misinterpreted the word of God . The other funeral was held on the same day, but it was conducted by the Pentecostal church, and I was able to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the only way of salvation, and to make a call for those that are not right with God to reconcile and to make sure that they are saved before it is too late.  When someone dies there is no other chance.
Wednesday, October 11, I attended the church at Falticeni where one young lady has accepted Jesus Christ. After the service we had fellowship and dinner at Iulian Calistru’s home. Thursday night I attended church in the village of Satu-mare where I was born. Friday I visited the area where there was another wave of floods this year in the village of Arbore and Lazlovat. Saturday I made arrangements to move my parents from Satu-Mare to Suceava to be closer to my sister where years ago we built a home. Sunday morning I drove with Daniel Ursulean to the Oniceni where we helped to build a church years ago. From there I went to another
Village, Boroaia, near the city of Falticeni, where I found a group of old brothers and sisters, and I brought a message of encouragement, telling them  not to give up the precious faith in Jesus Christ.         Last year together with Niculai Barsan we helped them to buy land with two homes on it to restore and to rebuild one church for this village where about 2,000 people live. They live in a lot of confusion brought on by Orthodox Church tradition.
In the afternoon we drove to the village Brodina,Straja,Vicov where we visited needy and sick people, and brought encouragement, and shared material help. On our way back to Suceava we stopped at the church in Radauti called “The light of the old path” or church number 4 of the city of Radauti. This church has been inaugurated and dedicated to the Lord a couple months ago, and I told them  to “keep the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Tuesday October 17, by train I traveled to Bucharest where I was welcomed by Remus Munteanu. We spent that night having dinner and fellowship with his family. Remus Munteanu is a Christian worker that was doing a ministry in Bucharest jail, and he is sponsored by brother Bob Faulkner. Other families from Urziceni Ialomita are sponsored by him as well. Remus and other families are expressing thankfulness and gratefulness for the acts of compassion done by a brother that they met one day in  August, 2002 and who  is consistently supporting them since then. They expressed their love and blessings to his family. God answered Remus Munteanu’s family’s prayer and others that prayed for him, and today they live in a spacious apartment, and they want to thank God and all the people that helped them.
Wednesday morning we left Bucharest, and flew to Chicago, and praised God Who led us and protected us and our family. These were not the only families we visited, but  these people were in situations that grabbed my heart and ripped it up, and I felt that I needed to put this in the report. Romania is one of the nations most in need spiritually and materially. If anything from this report touches your heart and the Lord seems to be directing you to do something about needs, contact me and we will talk about specifics,  and pray.
God bless you and touch your heart as you read this report, and I want to express thankfulness to those of you who prayed and supported this trip and helped those families financially, or in any other ways.