"...but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Jesus (Acts 1:8)
Romania
Romania is a curiosity. In the midst of a Slavic world, it is a Latin people with warmth that invites you in, tempers that explode in an instant, friendships that reach deep within and souls that long for hope and meaning. The people have survived centuries of occupations and conflicts, but have held on to their identity and pride. It is a place that brings to light images as varied as the people and cultures that are found there. Now the people are searching to find something to fill the void left by communism and unmet by the state church. A place with hungry people; hungry and searching.
Romania is a place of excitement and change. Starting well before the revolution of 1998, the widespread passion of local believers now continues to grow as they work to spread the Gospel while learning to deal with sin that has resulted from years of living with fears and suspicions.
Romania is a place of opposition. The Romanian Orthodox Church's sense of ownership and control over the people means that they are prepared to fight for their souls against evangelical groups who threaten their influence, power and authority. This religion is plagued with false teaching, rituals and ceremony that obscure the truth of the Gospel.
Romania is a place of poverty. The uncountable numbers of street children who live in the sewers, the children that are prisoners in the orphanages, the families who eat only bread because it is all they can afford and the parents who send their children out to beg on the streets desperately speak of the hopelessness of having nothing to depend on, no future.
There are so many faces to this diverse and unique country that reaching it for Christ is a challenge that takes creativity and a willingness to adapt to not one, but many different peoples and cultures. Romania is home to 18 different identified people groups with almost half never hearing the Gospel and the remaining, though reached with the Gospel, need leadership and church-planting skills as well as the support and encouragement of other believers as they seek to win their own people to Christ.