From left to right - Mr. Wong , me, Chow Ling, Kah Wei, Glory, Timothy, Thiran
The country
Still recovering from the influence of communism, Romania is a relatively poor country. Things have improved but can still be better. We were told that the monthly income of a lot of the farmers there is 200 Euros. Most of them cannot afford to drive. It is a common sight for us to see horse drawn carriages along the streets.
One-horse-powered vehicle
The main religion there is Orthodox Christianity. Evangelical Christians are sometimes viewed as a threat.
Sibiu is a beautiful place and is one of the chosen cities to be the European Capital of Culture in 2007. The country side is beautiful and I never tire of gazing out of the windows in our van as we travel to town or to other villages, admiring the beautiful landscape, the wild summer flowers, the mountain range in the background, the haystacks in the fields.
We stayed at the GLO Centre which was cosy, clean and comfortable.
The Christians
We visited mainly the brethren assemblies and some Baptist Churches. We were always touched by the warmth and friendliness of the Christians there. Despite not being able to speak in English, they nevertheless made us feel welcomed and appreciated – it is obvious through their eyes and their faces. They were also always very humbled.
There were many simple practices which impressed me. One was how they greet each other. Each time they meet another Christian, they greet them by saying “Pace” – this meant “peace”. I thought it was a wonderful way to greet a brother or sister in Christ, reminding them of the peace that we have with God and with each other because of what our Lord Jesus had done for us.
Another thing was how they would rise to their feet when they are praying or reading God’s word in church. It is a simple way to show reverence and respect to God and to his word.
There were 2 families who were taking care of us throughout our stay there. The first was George’s family – his wife Lidia who worked tirelessly daily preparing wonderful meals for us, and his two sons, Cristi and Sami. The other family was Dani’s family. His wife, Doina, was our main translator and she was truly gifted in that area. Dani stayed with us everyday and ensured that all our needs were met. They have 2 lovely twin girls, Andra and Delia who never failed to delight us. Being of around the same age as Dani and Doina, I got along really well with them and have been very encouraged by their testimony.
What we did
The main evangelistic work that we did was among the children. We held a programme for a children’s camp and conducted something like a vacation Bible School for children in 2 separate villages.
Shannon and David handled the programme for the children’s camp and entertained them (and us too) thoroughly, while telling God’s word in a creative manner.
The vacation Bible Schools were held for 3 days in a little village called Gura Raului and another 3 days in another village called Cristian. Basically, we had games, items and Bible lessons. Doina led in the singing and did most of the translation.
We were touched by the children we met – most of them were gypsies. There is so much potential in them. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. A lot of the children live in poverty – they would come in their dirty clothes, all torn and having holes, picking up apples from the ground to eat. Yet their eyes showed so much potential and interest.
We also attended 5 Church evening services where we would normally present an item, gave a power point presentation on Malaysia and the work of our assemblies, have one brother share a testimony and another preach from God’s word.
On the 2 Sundays were there, we broke up and covered 7 different Churches where one brother would preach God’s word. We also conducted a Youth Meeting and a Ladies Meeting.
For a more about the churches we visited, see here.
