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Previous Missions > Romania 2018

Romania 2018

After a 2am start in below freezing temperatures a very excited and expectant five person team from King’s Church landed in Cluj, Romania. Happily awaiting our arrival was Pastor Eduard and Jenci ready to take us to Pastor Eduard’s home for a lunch, ready to strengthen us for the five hour drive ahead. We were welcomed by Pastor Eduard’s wife and enjoyed our first Romanian meal.

 

The five hour drive from Cluj to Apatta was no hardship as many of the team slept and it was wonderful to have stories and knowledge of the areas we were going through and the culture we were about to minister to from Jenci, a valued member of Kings Church several years ago before moving back to Romania with his wife, Emese. The journey held excitement and anticipation for the days that were to come on the mission but we were all glad of a warm room and bed for the night after a very long day of travelling.

 

The next morning Romania was unrecognisable as the country we had gone to sleep in because covering every surface was the thickest snow we had ever seen, and it was still falling. It was an incredibly beautiful way to start the first day of the work.

 

After breakfast the Romanian team from Pastor Eduard’s church joined us in the chapel were we worshipped and prayed ahead of each day of the mission.

 

Several times throughout the year the Church in Apatţa holds a youth conference. Our work in the mornings was to clear a very large hall of wood pallets, doors, old electric organs and more for this space to be ready for the youngsters.

 

Romania’s heating systems work through firewood with temperatures down to -30o! This requires a lot of wood for the winter and our other main task was to help ensure there was as much firewood as possible. To do this rather excitingly, Stelli, from the Romanian team used a chainsaw (please note that health and safety doesn’t really exist in Romania so this is a lot more exciting and dangerous than it sounds.)

 

The team were split into groups and at one thirty each afternoon we visited Gypsy families in Augustin. The teams had a mixture of King’s church people and Romanian church teams so that there was the facility to translate. The very first house visits were a revelation to some of us as to how much reliance on God was going to be required in order to share compassionately and empathetically the good news of the Lord.

 

The people the team met in three houses in particular left a great impression on them. The first being a lady called, Mariah. Mariah is seventy years old and looks after numerous grandchildren. She welcomed us into her home which consisted of two rooms, a roof with holes and as we entered she was washing clothes in a plastic bath tub. The team that were visiting her had prepared their hearts to share the Gospel with her however it turned out that they were the ones to be so inspired and encouraged by this woman of God’s faith that they left her home with a new sense of boldness to continue their journey of sharing God’s love within the community.

 

The second family lived in a one room house with no roof, at the very top of a mud hill. The only way to enter the house is by squeezing narrowly between their home and the walls of the neighbouring house (we were worried some of the team might get stuck!) The room consisted of one bed and seven children plus three more whom were currently being looked after by the family.

 

The third house we visited will stay in my memory very clearly for a long time. The house was in the village and although again only one room, it was much larger than any we had been in. Within this house lived a brother and sister who must have been in their sixties. She shared her heart breaking story with us which not only inspired me greatly and excited certain members of the team’s spirit. We spoke with her for a long time and encouraged as best we could however the team felt strongly that there were no human words or deeds that could heal her her brokenness, so we prayed for the Holy Spirit intervene. As we prayed tears started falling gently and quietly from her eyes but they were not broken or desperate tears they were tears of letting go of the pain she had held onto for so long. She had described to us that her heart felt like stone and as we finished praying she told us that in eleven years our visits had been the most “effective” from anyone as she felt as though something was changing. Even now, three weeks on, this amazes me. When we stop trying to do things in our own strength and start to act through and with the Holy Spirit even those with the most broken of hearts can start to be healed.

 

After visiting the families on the Friday night we held a children’s service and a youth service on the Saturday.  The children absolutely loved the puppet shows we did, especially with Raymond the donkey and here Katie shared a testimony that really spoke to the Children. Asia also lead worship at this event and everyone enjoyed singing along and praising in both Romanian and English. At the end we also only had fifteen minutes to blow up seventy model balloons which was both brilliant fun and rather chaotic!

 

The youth service consisted of worship, games and dramas. One activity in particular we did with them was to talk through a tin can telephone. We asked two of the youth to demonstrate how it worked and the congregation of young people were astounded that you could communicate with someone through a piece of string and two plastic cups – it was clear that they had never seen this before. Jonathan talked about communication with God and how it important it is to pray and to listen to him. He then broken the string of the telephone to demonstrate how easy it is for our communication with God to be lost.

 

Our final night in Romania a meal was prepared for the King’s Church and Romanian team to say goodbye. This meal was wonderful as we talked about all the things God had done over the past week and shared testimonies with each other. There were also a lot of riddles and puzzles presented to us by Jenci that we spent the majority of the evening trying to solve!

 

The next morning consisted of a 7.30am start for the long drive back to Cluj. We stopped at Jenci and Emese’s beautiful house in Târgu Mureş which they have built themselves and were able to see their wonderful guest house, both buildings still a work in progress. We said goodbye to Jenci and Emese and continued to the airport via Pastor Eduard’s house for a final meal.

 

During the waiting time at the airport Pastor Chris shared with us stories from Pastor Eduard about persecution and God’s incredible faithfulness through it all during his life. We landed safely in the airport and it was quite a shock to see so many people and so much city after the beautiful landscape of Romania.

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© King's Church Medway 2017. All rights reserved. King’s Church Medway is a Registered Charitable Company No. 8438643, Charity No. 115247

The second family lived in a one room house with no roof, at the very top of a mud hill. The only way to enter the house is by squeezing narrowly between their home and the walls of the neighbouring house (we were worried some of the team might get stuck!) The room consisted of one bed and seven children plus three more whom were currently being looked after by the family.