Our crusade in Sîmpetru was refreshingly different—a village of 300 houses, a newly built, not yet finished Adventist church, and twelve Romanian/Hungarian Adventists, some of whom are prejudiced against gypsies. The gypsies make up about 30% of the village population.
The Orthodox priest basically runs the village, but we averaged about 40 visitors each night at our meetings, and the people were eager for visits in their homes, and very full of questions. A big initial question for many villagers was the head covering for women. I was told on my first night there that my teaching would not be respected if I had no head covering. I quickly sewed up a scarf with fabric left over from some curtains.
Interestingly, the Adventist church members were not enthusiastic about holding a baptism. “Baptism!” they cried, when we first began planning the date. “We can’t have a baptism here! We’re not set up for it!” So Rick and Emelin spent a day finishing the baptistry stairs, and then there was no more excuse. Everything goes one step at a time—the blade, then the ear, then the harvest.
The baptism was held Sunday, May 3rd. We baptized four precious souls, and there are fifteen more who badly want to be baptized, but need to get legally married, or become more stable in their experience with Christ. We’ve promised to come back in August to gather them into Christ’s fold. We are truly thankful for this harvest!
We found extreme poverty in Sîmpetru. One mother with five children is trying to eke out an existence in a one-room mud brick hut, her alcoholic husband providing nothing for their upkeep.
Another grandmother is trying to raise the two young children of her shepherd son, who was murdered last year on his return from the summer sheep pastures (wages in pocket). These children came almost every night to our meetings—big-eyed and ragged. Two sisters from the church taught them every night with just a few felts propped up on a piece of cardboard. Yet, they put on a very touching closing program of songs, poems, and Scripture verses. The next day we took 18 children (those who had attended regularly) to the zoo in Tirgu Mures. I don’t think they’ll ever forget that trip! For children who have nothing, they deeply appreciated the adventure. Renati, one of the sisters in the church, has agreed to keep the children’s program going each Sabbath, and we plan to send a box of materials every quarter, if anyone would like to donate for this cause.
Let me tell you of some of the victories won for Christ in this little village. A young man named Anger regularly attended our first few meetings in Sîmpetru. He purposefully sat by himself, leaning against the wall, listening intently. We learned that he holds a black belt in judo, and worked in Yugoslavia as a judo instructor. He was visiting his sister, and planned to return to Yugoslavia at the end of the week. We felt strongly that the Lord had a call in Anger’s life, so we began to pray that something would happen to prevent him from returning to his job and “business as usual.” Even we weren’t prepared for God’s dramatic answer!
We thought Anger was gone for good when we saw him no more after the first week of the crusade. But then, just as the baptism was about to begin, he hurried into the church. We smiled and waved, but were too busy to find a chance to speak to him until after the service.
“What brings you back, Anger?” I asked, trying to sound casual. His story was amazing!
When he reached his home in Yugoslavia, Anger was promptly arrested and accused of being a terrorist plotting the death of the Serbian leader! He pointed out the posters advertising his judo club, and protested innocence. But when he showed his identity papers (hoping the police would realize that as a Romanian he had no motivation either pro or anti Serb), they further accused him of being a communist spy, took him back to the border, and extradited him from the country!
Anger stood there at the border, bewildered, and finally dropped to his knees and prayed, “God, I think it’s You who has done this. But I want to be sure. I have no money to travel back to Sîmpetru from here. I have only enough for a train from Cluj to Sîmpetru. If you want me to go back and follow what I learned in the meetings, please get me there before those missionaries leave!” That was Saturday morning. The baptism was Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. and many hundreds of kilometers lay between Anger and the train station in Cluj.
Anger told us that only moments after his prayer a man driving a Mercedes stopped beside him. He told the driver that he needed to get to Cluj in time for the early morning train, which would take him to his village. The driver didn’t hesitate, but scooped Anger in and set off in haste. Anger reported that much of the time they were driving in excess of 120 km per hour, even all through the night! They pulled into the train station in Cluj with only 10 minutes to spare! Was the driver an angel? We don’t know, but Anger is certain of one thing—he was heaven-sent.
More miracles took place in Biri’s family (Biri is Anger’s sister). Biri and her daughter, Lili, both accepted Christ and His Truth into their hearts four years ago. Sadly, the daughter got involved with a young man and was disfellowshipped. She came to our meetings, though, hungering again for Christ. Lili’s husband’s parents, with whom they live, were strongly opposed. “She can’t be baptized now,” they said. “She will not be able to stop eating pork, and we can’t cook without it.” But Lili’s love and faith grasped the outstretched arms of her Saviour—she went forward in faith and was baptized. What joy was shining on her face! She knew that she could do all things in Christ.
One day while visiting in Biri’s home, we met her husband, a man enslaved to tobacco. He told us he wanted to quit, but couldn’t. We explained that human strength was helpless to change the heart. Then we shared how Christ in His humanity united God’s power with human weakness. He was willing to put himself fully in Christ’s hands, and we anointed him right then and there. He began attending the meetings, and every night he told us, “I’m still a free man!” Later, Biri told us he is studying the Sabbath School lesson with her every evening, and they wondered how they could possibly get the book they are constantly being referred to—Ministry of Healing. God is always showing us that He is one step ahead of our needs: we had brought a copy for them in our bag! A few days later, we met Biri’s sister for the first time. She, too, was smoking heavily. We made a deal with her: we’d buy all her cigarettes from her if she, too, would decided to let God into her life and help her quit smoking. Two days later she also found freedom through Jesus Christ.
Another victory took place in Camelia’s family. Camelia lives with her husband, Nelu, on his parents’ farm. She and Nelu have two little children. Her father-in-law became a Seventh-day Adventist a few years ago. He brought Camelia to the meetings, and her heart became warmed by the love of Christ. We visited in the home and she asked question after question.
Camelia introduced us to her mother-in-law, a woman only 51 years old, very overweight, and troubled with sciatica and rheumatism. We gave her massage therapy and a diet plan, and were able (through your donations) to send her to Herghelia, our Adventist health center in Romania. She packed her suitcase and was ready the same day we told her about it! I believe that when we return in August, both Nelu and his mother will be ready for baptism. But for our recent baptism, it was Camelia who stepped forward for Christ. An extra joy in working with this family has been that we return to the village by horse and cart—about a 30-minute trip—and I get to drive their powerful Lippizaner stallion, Elijah.
Aurel is an interesting man—an English teacher at the village school. He is a very intellectual, artistic man who doesn’t fit into the village society. We visited him in his one-room apartment. It was more like a monk’s cell, with icons, Orthodox calendars, and candles all around the wall. He attended every meeting of our series, and asked many searching questions. But we fear the priest has given him a warning, because although he sees the truth and reaches out for it, he seems unable to step forward to make a decision. He invited Rick and Emelin to the Orthodox church for Easter. They went, and the priest preached an adapted sermon, saying it was important to be tolerant of other faiths, and be kind and good to all people.
Strangely enough, that same priest followed us in the village only recently. He threatened us, saying we should leave town right away, or be dealt with severely. In Romania, Adventists are known as sheep stealers, or “repenters.” It is meant as an insult, but we take it as an affirmation of our ministry.
It was significant that we were on our way to visit the John Radu family at the time. John is the priest’s right-hand man. Both he and his brother, Petru, have attended the meetings regularly, and are seriously considering baptism. John Radu is held back because he fears his family, who are demanding that he have an Orthodox wedding this fall for one of his daughters, and an Orthodox baptism for another daughter’s child.
At our recent baptism, John’s brother, Petru, sat in the audience, tears streaming down his face. He is drawing closer to his own baptism in the future.
Because of the threats from the priest, our intention was to keep the baptism quiet and low-key. However, God had other plans. The Sunday morning of the baptism, a full brass band (big bass drum and all) arrived to show their support. They stood outside the church, playing such rousing hymns that the whole village was wide awake and curious about what was happening. Many people opened their doors and windows to see what the commotion was about, and soon the church was filled beyond capacity—there wasn’t even any standing room left—as villagers flocked in to join the celebration!
I’m not sure if the priest had any congregation that morning, nor whether they could hear his chants above the praises of the trumpeters, but our house of prayer vibrated with hope and joy. We wish we could bring such a band with us everywhere we go. They certainly brought out the meaning of resurrection to new life in the Lord!
We covet your prayers for these precious people who have united their lives with Christ, and for those who are feeling the pull of the Holy Spirit on their hearts. They face so many difficulties in making their decisions to follow the Truth, but there is such peace, strength, and joy when they do surrender to the love of Christ! No difficulty can compare with the gifts the Holy Spirit brings to their hearts and lives. The seeds are planted, and we are seeing the growth. Please pray for the harvest.
Pastor Rick and Jane Kuntz write to us from Romania, where they are planting churches in various places
