But they had forgotten that in our crusades we don’t rely on the topic, or the music, or even the number of crusades we have already held to attract people to come. We rely on the Holy Spirit. And again, God was faithful! The meeting hall was filled to overflowing again, as it was for the first crusade. Again, the messages were telecast live, and again the Lord answered prayers and confirmed the preaching of His Word. The television station informed us that 800 receptors (homes) were receiving the crusade. It was estimated that about 4,000 people were viewing.
After ten meetings, I made the first appeal for baptism. I invited those who wished to make their decision for Christ to come onto the platform with me. With tears in my eyes I witnessed the Holy Spirit leading fifty people onto the platform. In front of the television cameras, I also invited those people who wished to decide for Christ to stand in front of their TV sets at home, and join us in a special prayer. Pastor Ciobanu has told me that the total number of baptisms will exceed seventy.
The next baptism for the region of Peretu is scheduled for the first weekend in June, at the same river we have used before. We are planning to have about 3,000 people in attendance. And the incredible thing I praise God for is that almost 80% of the baptismal candidates are young people and young families! This is the first time in my life as an evangelist that I have seen such a large number of young people making their decisions for God!
Peretu was not the only crusade I held in Romania while I was on “vacation” there. The crusades began in Alexandria the first week, adding the town of Bufescu the second week, and Peretu the third. Every day I was preaching first in Alexandria from 6 to 8 p.m. Then I was flying in the car, reaching my next appointment in 15 to 17 minutes. The original plan had been to have only one crusade in the sports hall in Alexandria, and to bring people from Peretu and other places. Later, it was decided that it would be too expensive to provide transportation, and too tiring for the people, so they decided to have more crusades at different times. I believe it worked for the best. The first night in the civic center in Alexandria, the hall was overflowing. We had to ask all the Adventists to go out into a corridor. It was the highest level of interest I have ever seen!
The Orthodox bishop of Alexandria became very angry over our meetings, and to try to weaken our influence, he invited the greatest Orthodox theologian in Romania, Dr. Galerin, to come and speak. This man is the highest authority of doctrine in the Orthodox Church. The bishop asked our permission to use the civic center, which we were renting, and I agreed to let them speak one Sunday afternoon. We cancelled our own meeting, but I invited everyone to come with their Bibles, and to pray for the speaker to be led by the Holy Spirit in his presentation.
The meeting hall was packed! First the bishop spoke. He emphasized again and again that the crusade I was having was from Satan. Then he said that the Church’s greatest professor would be speaking about “the significance of the cross in the Orthodox Church.”
In my opinion, Dr. Galerin is a very sincere person. He presented a very elevated sermon, but didn’t say a word about worshiping the cross. He spoke just like we do, using only the Bible, and the bishop (as in the story of Balaam) was bitterly disappointed.
After Dr. Galerin finished speaking, I stepped up to the platform. I thanked the professor and told him I wanted to spend eternity together with him. In front of the television cameras and the packed house of the civic center, he kissed me three times. I also congratulated the bishop for the wise selection he made when inviting Professor Galerin to come. His face went pale. He said, “I am sorry for how I spoke in the beginning.” I answered, “It’s all right. We all make mistakes.”
The next night my sermon topic was the unpardonable sin, and I showed how the pharisees said the work of the Holy Spirit was done by Satan. The people in the audience said, “Aha! Like the bishop has been saying.”
“I beg your pardon,” I answered quickly, “but the bishop apologized for those words.” (Although he didn’t do so publicly, as would have been right, I excused him before all the people there.) After that meeting with the Orthodox bishop and Dr. Galerin, it was almost impossible to manage with the space in the civic center.
I preached there for three weeks, and when I made the appeal for baptism, the platform was flooded with young people (again young people)! Some had attended last year’s crusade, and only now have they made their decision for Christ.
After careful examination of the candidates, the boards of the churches in Alexandria decided to have a baptism of the first fruits, and 57 people (mostly young) were baptized. We held an intensive preparation course every day for nearly two hours, so the candidates were well prepared for the examination. Although the Romania Union hadn’t been enthusiastic about the crusade to begin with, they were very kind. The secretary of the Euro-Africa Division came to help, and many from the Union, also.
Each of the baptismal candidates has his own special story. I wish I could share them all with you, but there is only space for a few.
Spartacus came the first night of the meetings. He was a very tall fellow, and deaf and dumb. But through God’s power, he understood the message. That night in his home, he had a dream. He heard a voice tell him, “Go and tell Alina the truth.” Spartacus knew no one named Alina. But the next day, in a nearby town, he saw a girl who was also deaf and dumb. He asked her, “Are you Alina?” “Yes,” she said. Then he told her the story of the meetings, and of his dream. He invited her to come with him that night. Spartacus interpreted for Alina in sign language, and both of them were baptized.
A young lady was persecuted by her parents because she wanted to be baptized. We prayed together for her situation, and the next day her mother congratulated her on her decision to follow her conscience. She was baptized, and her parents came and assisted her.
Another young lady had a horrible problem with cursing. She came to our meetings, and after the first night, she forgot to curse. She really did become a new creature, and is now baptized.
A young family was preparing to baptize their first child, a boy. They wanted to make a big feast, with much alcohol, music, and dancing. One night they came to the meeting hall, “just for fun,” and instead of baptizing their baby, they were soon baptized!
During the second week of the crusade in Alexandria we added a crusade in the town of Bufescu. Many very wealthy gypsies have palaces and mansions there. We invited all those very rich gypsies to come, but they refused. They said, “We cannot come there because we steal.” I told them, “But these meetings are for stealing people, too!” They finally refused the invitation of the Lord, but though they said “no” to God, many of their young people came. When I made an appeal for baptism ten days into the crusade, 32 people came onto the platform, most of them young people. They will soon need a gypsy church.
By the third week I was holding three crusades every day, the last one from 9:30 - 11:00 p.m. The good Lord gave us souls everywhere. The last time I called Alexandria, the local pastor told me that many other souls are being added to God’s people. I asked him to receive these newcomers into the church as members after about a month of study and preparation, to be certain they stay fast in the Lord. He told me that many of those who had already been baptized were suffering persecution, hunger, being put out of their homes, beatings, loss of their jobs, divorce, and rejection by their friends and families. Many of them had been severely tested! He went on to say, “When I made the appeal in front of the church to welcome these new souls as members, none of them was missing. All of them are standing fast in the Lord! The congregation stood for 45 minutes until all 57 new members were called and welcomed into the family of God.” Many were crying, but all the church members were so happy, especially since so many of these new members are young people!
For the next year, if this year will be, the people of Alexandria are praying to broadcast the evangelistic crusade on cable television, and they hope to baptize 500 people! It is a matter of prayer and faith.
