I haven’t written a blog in a while because I’m trying to
wrap my head around all the changes that are happening. I figure people probably want to be updated,
so let me set the scene for you of what’s happening right now-
We are having a youth afternoon at the church we are working
with in Pitesti (sounds like peh-tesht), Romania. An hour before it started we handed out fliers in the
community with out contact/lead pastor of this church, Cristi (which is short
for Christian). A couple of other
young people in the church and Cristi’s 7-year-old son, Dennis, came with us.
As you can imagine, Dennis has the boldness to hand fliers to LOTS of people.
Because of these fliers and the relationships Cristi has
built with youth in another community, Razboieni, we now have about 20 kids
between 10 and 16 years old here at the church, playing ping-pong and Dutch
Blitz, with a worship concert soon to come.
This is what ministry looks like here in Pitesti. We work with Cristi and his church to
build relationships and spread the love of Christ. We don’t really do anything special, we just shine a light
in a country that has been covered by darkness for a few decades.
Cristi and an entourage of kids that just adore him in Razboieni.
Communism left many Romanians skeptical and hesitant to
trust, and it also hindered many people’s faith. Only about 4% of Romanians consider themselves Protestant
Christians, while the majority of the population is Catholic or Orthodox. The people who identify with these two
religions here in Romania consider themselves Christians, but they live more by
a list of do’s and don’ts than an actual relationship with Christ. Cristi’s dad is a pastor, and has some
incredible stories of what that was like during communist rule. Since Cristi is the oldest he was often
with his father and witnessed the oppression firsthand. He told me that his father was once
arrested and a policeman held a gun to his head. He told him “I could kill you right now,� and his father
replied, “Kill me if you want, but then you would be the father of seven
children.� These are the kinds of
things that were happening to Christians here within the past few decades.
Today we are at the church, but almost every day we spend
time in a community called Razboieni. The word Razboieni (razz-boy-en) is just
a name, but it sounds very much like the Romanian word for “war�. That’s what’s going on in that
community, a war of good and evil.
Razboieni is a place where many people are crammed into apartment blocks
that the communist government built a few decades ago. The individual
apartments are very small, and people live in tight quarters. There are many gypsies that live in the
community as well, and the majority of them resort to stealing and digging in
the trash to support themselves.
Alcoholism, smoking, and domestic abuse is rampant. The school there is not very good, and
there is no church.
These are some of the block homes in Razboieni. They are very small, and when the communist government first forced people to move into them, there was no room for their pets. As a result, Pitesti (and I think much of Romania) has a plethora of cuddly looking stray dogs.
Cristi has been working in Razboieni for a few years, just
building relationships and providing activities for the kids to do, all the
while sharing the gospel and displaying Christ’s love. Last week our two World Race teams
collaborated with Cristi and some others from the church to create a program
for the kids. We taught them a
praise song- the Romanian version of “Day to Day� (“Zi de Zi�). Nathan led the music and I got to
choreograph motions for the song, which the kids loved. Before we prepared music for them to
learn we saw them perform the Romanian version of “Waves of Mercy, Waves of
Grace� and they LOVE it. They get
so excited, the love doing the motions, and they argue over who gets to lead in
front. It’s so cool to see them
get so passionate about a praise song and enjoy it so much. They are developing a repertoire of praise
songs! After the praise songs we
have been doing a short English class for them. Julie and Chase lead it, but the rest of us disperse amongst
the tables so that we can work with them one on one. Since I taught English last summer I also get to help Julie
plan lessons, which is fun for me.
The kids doing the motions- this part is- “Everywhere I LOOK, I see your face!” You can see that they get a lot of joy from singing and dancing.
The kids in Razboieni are so hungry for love. Some of them have a tough exterior, but
just like our boys in Honduras, they love to love and be loved. They don’t really get that at home, so
it’s especially important that they get it from us. Some of the Razboieni kids even have a bad reputation in
town- when Julie and Emily saw one of the boys and started talking to him on
the bus one day, another woman riding tried to warn them. She shook her head and motioned them
away from him, but Julie and Emily of course kept talking to him anyway. I think that was a fantastic testimony
for the rest of the city to see that these kids are real people with feelings,
and not people to fear.
Nathan with some of the boys.
We only have two more weeks here in Romania. Two more weeks with the Razboieni kids,
to deepen our relationships with the church members here, and to be a part of
what God is doing in Romania.
