Last week, My team was blessed with the opportunity to do an outreach to the homeless community of Pitesti, Romania. We were led through the streets by a man named Marius. He has an amazing testimony and I would like to share a little bit of that with you;
Marius never knew his parents. He grew up in an orphanage in Romania. He never experienced love and never felt wanted. He felt alone and that made him very angry at a young age. He used to get into fights with other kids in the orphanage and they would place bets on who would win. There was no good influences in his life and no one ever invested in him.
When he was 18, he got kicked out of the system, All he had was 2 bags of clothes and was left to fend for himself on the streets. He started stealing, drinking, and sniffing glue to get high/fight off his hunger. He would steal everything from people, even the clothes off of their backs. He ruled the streets and was respected/feared by many.
There was a group of street kids that looked up to Marius a lot. Like Marius, they had no parents and felt unloved. The children were raised by the chaos of the streets. All they knew how to do was steal. The kids would follow Marius around everywhere. He became a leader and a role model to them. However, Marius never changed his lifestyle and continued to do bad things.
One night, Marius got into a horrible fight. Men brutally beat him with baseball bats and he nearly died. He spent 2 months in the hospital and could barely function. He is now missing part of his skull and it's only by God's grace that he is still alive.
Shortly after that, Marius got arrested. Things from his past caught up to him and so did the police. He said he experienced even more evil inside of prison and it was very hard. However, while he was in prison he received encouraging letters from a christian. He didn't give his life to the Lord, but it stuck with him.
After his time in prison was up, Marius was visited by a group of Christians on the street. He remembered the letters he had received in prison and decided to go to church. It was there that God showed Marius that He had been there all along. God showed him that he was there in the orphanage, in the streets, in the hospital, and in the prison. Marius realized that he was loved and wanted. He found the only thing that could truly satisfy.
The Lord broke Marius free of his chains, shame, and past mistakes. He has attended church for the last year. Over those that time, he has expressed his desire to go back to the streets. Only this time he would be back on the streets for much different reasons. He wanted to go back to for his friends, gang members, and addicts. He wanted to show them How God has changed his life.
Last week, he started his street ministry. I feel so blessed to have been a part of it. He went and talked to people that had called him their “leader”, a few years ago. He went back for the thieves, addicts, and social outcasts. He went to tents hidden underneath brush by railroad tracks, he went to park benches, alley ways, and street curbs. He went to places that where no one else would know to look.
He encountered friends he grew up in the orphanage with, gypsy families that were in a gang with him, and people living under stairwells that he had spent time with before. He went back and he told them about the love, grace, and freedom he had received.
He spoke with such authority to them. He used the respect that they had for him for God's glory. He told them that the things they are doing are wrong and that there is more for them. He told them that God hates what they are doing, but still loves them.
Marius prayed for them, talked to them, and listened to them. He gave them food, Bibles, and hats. Most importantly, he showed them that they are pursued, loved, and wanted.
Marius hasn't gained earthly treasures. In fact, he still lives in a house that is in such bad condition that it rains on his bed. However, he proclaims that he is rich. If you met him, you would definitely agree.
