After a five hour ride from the country’s capital, the van rolled to a stop at the beginning of a tiny town. I hopped out and was herded into a small house that I’d share with 37 others over the next month. Soon after arrival, we were instructed not to walk alone, to stay inside past ten, and to always walk on a certain side of the road in order to distance ourselves from the local Roma people, notorious, here, for harassment and theft. We were told that the town of 9,000 souls is scattered with witchcraft and resistant to change, and, for these reasons, deemed “a graveyard to missionaries” by Christians across the country.
Hues of grey seem to be constantly cast over all of Draganesti. If you rise before the seldom appearing sun, the smell of incense will fill the breeze around you as the old women of the town walk to the graveyard with pots of simmering coals in hand; smoke billowing behind their slow, staggering trail. Walking down the main road of Draganesti will take you all of ten minutes, you’ll then be at the town’s end. If you’re curious, you may stray down a few of the muddy dirt roads that branch off the main street and find yourself in a sea of makeshift shed homes.
You’ll be intrigued by the handful of large, gated houses, standing in grandiose manner, amongst the dirt floor shacks around them. Later, you’ll be taught these modest mansions belong to Roma families who’ve made small fortunes from their involvement in human trafficking, prostitution, fraudulent scams, and other major crimes.
You’ll be lucky if your path isn’t crossed by a random herd of livestock, a horse and buggy trotting by, or a speeding mercedes driven by one of the mansion’s inhabitants.You’ll pass several clients of the local mental hospital, which allows its patients to roam the streets freely, and you’ll never leave the house once, without an unchaperoned, dirty faced child approaching you to beg for food.
This is what this tiny broken town looks like, and I want you to visit it. I want you to visit it because in all the darkness, there is one church fighting to bring light to Draganesti. Hope Church reaches out tirelessly to the people of the area. Through various programs they’ve created, they’re able to offer English courses to local students, deliver milk to feed children, donate firewood for harsh winters, sit in company with shut ins, teach viable skills to encourage self sufficiency, and so much more!
If you’re at all interested in visiting Draganesti, Romania and working with Hope Church on a short or long term mission, please check out their website at: http://www.hoperomania.org/
