Church in Tigmandru

Roberta took us to see her second church in the village of Tigmandru, about 30 minutes through the beautiful from Romanian countryside from Sighisoara. It's a typical village of 2 streets with tile-roofed houses, but I was really surprised when we drove up to a beautiful brand-new building.

But first, there's a story about how this church started. Several years ago, three people from Roberta's church in Sighisoara drove out to Tigmandru to pick up some turkeys for an American Thanksgiving celebration that they have each year. Just as they left the village, they were in a bad car accident and the van they were driving was totalled. But the three people in the van only received minor injuries.

When the car was towed back into the village, people said there absolutely must have been three people killed. They couldn't believe that anybody had walked out of the accident, and began to ask, "How could this have happened?" A couple from there who had already started to attend church in Sighisoara said they believed that God had looked after them, and that started conversations that led to more questions that led to several people becoming Christians.

Today, this church is a ministry centre for the entire village. There is a big bright worship area, but that's just the beginning. On the main floor there is an office/meeting room that is used by a doctor for a clinic. On the second floor there is a wood shop with power tools, and something called an "ecology lab." Roberta is a former chemistry professor and one of her tools for outreach has been to start an ecology club. Young people from the village learn about science, learn how to test the water in the local creek and how to use a microscope. Through the club, they build relationships that have been life-changing.

On the third floor is a large room set up for sewing. Magda, the main congregational leader, has taught many local women how to sew and they have begun a project making souvenir dolls in traditional Romanian dress that they can sell to raise funds.

It's more than just sewing, though. Magda leads them in a devotional time and talks to them about their spiritual lives as well.

Across the hall is a "baby room" where up to 30 mothers meet with their infants to build community and learn parenting skills. Many of the Roma families in the village do not have running water, so one thing that they are able to do is give their babies a bath. On top of one of the cupboards are a whole stack of baby baths.

This Nazarene church in a small village in the hills of Romania is making an incalculable difference to people's lives in every way -- materially, socially and spiritually. It's all come about simply because people were faithful. Roberta speaks quite matter-of-factly about the difference it makes in the lives of many of these families when the parents become Christians. They really do stop drinking. The incidence of domestic abuse really does fall. Others begin to notice a difference in them. It's kind of fallen out of fashion in North America to argue that it's good for people to come to faith, but what's happening in Tigmandru shows that we shouldn't be too glib about dismissing that reality.

Breaking down Loneliness

Roberta Bustin is our other host in Sighisoara. She's from Arkansas and speaks with a gorgeous southern accent, even when she's speaking Romanian! Roberta retired from teaching chemistry at a Nazarene college twelve years ago, and decided in her retirement to come to Romania and plant churches!

One of her responsibilities is as the leader of a Nazarene congregation in Sighisoara. She also leads a church plant in a village about 30 minutes from the town. Roberta led us up and down over Sighisoara's famous cobbled streets (currently all torn up as part of a never-ending "improvements to the infrastructure" of the citadel area, which has been going on for several years now with no end in sight) to her little church building in a pleasant neighborhood.

What she wanted us to see was the club the church runs for elderly folks. Many are quite poor, they live alone, and without the church they would be almost completely isolated. The church is open each day from 10 till 12, and they can come and socialize, drink coffee, have their blood pressure taken, and receive a time of precious human contact. We were greeted by Mia who runs the program. Each of the seniors shook hands and gave us a hearty "Buna ziua!" (Good day.)
So much of what Christ calls us to do is very simple -- to open our eyes to those in need and simply to love them. The church may not be able to meet every need, but it is such a simple thing to overcome the loneliness and isolation that would otherwise be the daily lot of these folks. As a result of coming to the seniors club, many have joined the church, extending their "family" further.

Sighisoara

We're staying at the home of Dorothy Tarrant and Roberta Bustin, right inside the citadel of Sighisoara. This city dates back to the 13th century and is one of seven fortified towns in Romania populated by Germans called Saxons. It is one of the best preserved old cities in Europe and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.



That's Sighisoara. Dorothy and Roberta's house is a beautifully restored old house with a charming guest apartment on the upper floor which is all ours. This is what we see when we look out our bedroom window.

Not too shabby!

Dorothy grew up in England, taught in Boston, Mass. for 20 years and has lived in Romania for since 1993. She directs a program called Veritas which provides supportive services to disadvantaged children, youth and seniors in Sighisoara. Most of the people benefiting from Veritas are Roma (Gypsy) and it began with a group of American college volunteers who came to help out after the fall of communism.

Veritas runs an international cafe, a children's center, programs for the isolated elderly, camps and other programs. There is also a Romanian Studies Program that allows college students to live with a Romanian family and volunteer while they are here. It is affiliated with the Nazarene church.

You can check out what Veritas does at www.veritas.ro.

High school students are recruited to provide walking tours of the historic areas of the city. We had two lovely tour guides, Grade 12 students, whose English was amazing. Since we were the only two signed up for the tour, we got very personalized attention and learned a lot about this amazing city.

Weekend in Arad

Arad has been nicknamed "Little Vienna" because many 19th century buildings were deliberately patterned after the architecture in its imperial Big Brother. Here's the city hall lit at night.

Friday night we went to The Strand, a riverside entertainment complex, to celebrate Paula's birthday. We had local Romanian food and beverages and met some great people.

On Saturday, Scott drove us up into the Carpathian foothills through some old villages populated mostly by Roma. It was like stepping back centuries. We saw a shepherd who could have been from biblical times. Chickens and goats roamed the dirt streets winding past old tile-roofed houses.

Saturday afternoon, we visited Oaza (Oasis) which is a home for children run by the church. It began as a rescue mission after the fall of Ceaucescu when the streets of Romania were full of abandoned children. With the coming of the EU, things are much more tightly regulated. Facilities have to conform to EU standards which means that they can only accomodate 12 kids. Not all are orphaned, some just can't (or shouldn't) be cared for by their parents. As with any ministry with needy children, there are stories of wonderful victories and heart-breaking losses. But the staff are incredibly faithful and filled with hope. Here's Diane watching one of their favorite movies, a Bollywood musical. They've seen it so many times, they can sing along with all the songs -- in Hindi!

On Sunday, we attended the church that Scott and Paula have been working with. Originally a Pentecostal congregation, they are now affiliated with the Free Methodists. They meet in an old union hall where, Scott says, they used to show communist propaganda films. For that reason, some older people won't attend because of the memories the building brings back.

There were about 40 people at the service. They start with an hour (that's right, an hour) of singing, take a break, and then it's time for the teaching, which can also last anywhere up to an hour. Here's the guest preacher for the day, along with his Romanian translator.

In the afternoon, it was off to the train station to get our tickets to Sighisoara. We learned that Romanians don't use credit cards. I had to walk across the road to get cash from an ATM. We also decided to buy our tickets to Bulgaria while we were there. One less thing to worry about.

And, of course, the train was late. But we made it. I'm writing this blog entry from Sighisoara. More about that later.