This is a story I wrote for the pastor we worked with in Romania. He is one of the most anointed men of God I have ever met and God is blessing his ministry in crazy beautiful ways. This is part 3 of a 3 part series telling about how Raul came to Draganesti and how his ministry started. My hope is that Raul’s story will encourage and inspire you to step out in faith and really trust in Him wherever He calls you.
Things were really looking up. Raul had finally found a place for his family to live and had made the move to Draganesti. His mission had finally begun. The people will be so happy to receive the gospel and hear about Jesus’ love, thought Raul, they will be so hungry for it.
They were not.
It was the total opposite of what Raul expected. They rejected him and pegged him as an enemy. They wondered if he had secret motives to hurt their children or even worse if he was a spy for the Americans. A priest from an orthodox church even started a petition to have him kicked out of the village. As a Romanian citizen, Raul has the right to live anywhere but they wanted him out because he had brought a “new religion” to their community.
When Raul was brought before the police station the chief said he could not kick him out, but then brought him to his office. The chief sat down in his chair, pointed his finger at Raul and said, “As long as I am in this chair, never will there be a church in this town.”
Every day the people wanted to take him to the police. They pressured him and intimidated him and even followed his every move, just waiting for him and his family to mess up.
Little did they know that God was using this situation to allow Raul to preach the gospel to them every chance he got. They thought they were silencing him but really he was speaking louder and reaching more people than he ever could if they had not been persecuting him. God later removed the chief from his position and the church was finally allowed to be built.
Not long after all this happened a hundred Americans were scheduled to come to repair the high school and hospital. The only place that could hold so many people were some dorms in the high school. Raul asked the principal of the high school and some other leaders and all whole-heartedly agreed. Around the same time Raul was also visiting a family and started sharing the gospel with them. This family was the son and daughter-in-law of the principal of the high school.
When the principal found out that the gospel was being preached to his family he came to Raul and told him, “If you ever go to my family and preach the gospel again there will be trouble.”
This was a big decision for him to make. The principal had the power to say that the Americans couldn’t stay in the high school anymore and they had already all purchased their tickets. On the other hand there was the eternal significance of sharing the gospel with the principal’s family.
When Raul got back to his apartment he started praying. He walked slowly up the stairs. With each step he felt the weight grow heavier and heavier on his heart and he started to cry. Suddenly the Holy Spirit brought scripture to Raul’s mind to encourage him from Mark 8:36 that says, “For what will it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul?”
His choice was clear. He had to keep sharing with this family even though it would mean the Americans wouldn’t have a place to stay. Because of that decision, three people in that family came to know Christ. Because of this the principal made good on his threat.
The Americans were not able to come anymore but three souls had been won for Christ and those three souls made a greater impact than anyone could ever have imagined.
Years later the grandson of the principal, who had come to know Christ, suffered a stroke and passed away. He had made a huge impact on everyone he had come into contact with. The funeral was held at Raul’s church, Hope Church. Hundreds of students, police officers, professors, family and friends showed up, so many came that it was standing room only and they were shoved shoulder to shoulder. Some even had to stand in the street. All were presented the gospel and many came to Christ through this tragedy.
On the day Raul said no to the Americans and yes to Jesus he never imagined the future repercussions that God had planned so that many more people could come to know Him.
On the day of the funeral the principal came up to Raul, crying. “You are a good man, Raul,” the principal told him as he gave him a hug. God had changed his heart.
In times of hardship or trouble we may not see God’s plan for it in the moment but He is always working and always has a plan. If you press into the hard things and make the hard decisions that you know are right then God will use it. It’s the little decisions that we make that can have huge repercussions in eternity.
