My name is Nina Dinca and I am Romanian. I was born in Bucharest in 1960, was reborn in 1991, and baptized. At that time I was working at the Nigerian Embassy. Because of my convictions, I was no longer available to work on Sabbaths.

The ambassador’s wife proved her love for her neighbors when she fired me and refused to accept my return to work, in spite of the insistence of her husband and other diplomats.

During the following nine years, I was only able to work for a diplomatic mission once, and that was as a baby sitter for the military attaché of the U.S. Embassy. For most of those nine years I was out of work—and I think this was my “cross” to bear for Christ. I was alone, single, and facing all the hardships, difficulties, and temptations that come with being on one’s own. I prayed for a husband—I didn’t care what he looked like—I just wanted to have a family.

In 1994 it happened—I married Andrei, who had suffered much after his first wife divorced him. At one point he had a very serious breakdown and even contemplated suicide. But God intervened and helped us to meet each other. Andrei was also baptized, and with the help of medications, he now no longer suffers from depression. In 1996 God answered our prayers and blessed us with a wonderful child.

In 1999 a brother in our local church made an appeal for help in prison ministry. Since neither Andrei nor I had jobs (unemployment is really high here in Romania), and I had a sincere desire to work for God, I decided to give this a try. Women in Romania are allowed to go into the prisons and teach about God. I was glad that finally I could do something for Jesus, who has done so much for me. So I began my work with HPS (Humanitarian Prison Services) as a volunteer with another HPS worker. The inmates we studied with consisted of both Romanians and foreigners. There were seven black members in my group, six from Nigeria and one from Sierra Leone. I had never considered the fact that there would be black men in prison in Romania.

In the year and a half since we have been having Bible studies with these inmates, none of the black prisoners have missed any of our meetings! They came even when sick. We share our joys, our hardships, our persecutions—all our problems—with prayer and faith.

Among the black inmates I worked with there is one who stands out, and I would like to share his testimony with you.

Clement’s Testimony

Hi! My name is Savinbi U. Clement, and I was born in a Catholic family in Nigeria in 1967. Presently I’m facing seven years of imprisonment, where only the Almighty God could be witness of my innocence. Yes, I know, that’s what all the inmates say, but in my case, it is true.

Most of my life I have taken a keen interest in God. I went to many different churches in Nigeria, even to the Moslem mosques, in my search for the TRUE God. At one time I even contemplated entering the Catholic priesthood, although my family did not encourage me in this.

I finally decided to leave Nigeria because of all the political turmoil in my country. Since it is easy for Nigerians to get visas for countries like Romania, I decided to come here in 1995. I met a very friendly man who told me that he was a Christian, and he offered to help me in getting around in an unfamiliar country. Thanks to this Christian “friend,” I soon had lost my legal documents, my return ticked to Nigeria, and most of my money. I went to the Nigerian Embassy—they only advised me to go back to Nigeria, but how could I do that without any documents or money! The small amount of money I had was just enough for three months rent for the apartment I shared with some other Nigerian citizens.

I called my family in Nigeria and told them what had happened. I begged them to send me some money, but the money they sent through a government agency was stolen. They knew of no other way to send money from Nigeria to Romania, so I couldn’t even get help from my family.

I organized a fellowship of black brothers in our apartment because we had a hard time finding any church where we could go. Our neighbors called the police, saying that our worshipping disturbed them. I was afraid of the police, but with their help we were able to locate a worship center. Even this proved difficult, because it cost money for the bus or metro train, and we had so little. Often we walked for a long way, arriving at the worship center very late. The people there were able to help me get some warm clothes, however, as the first real winter in my life was fast approaching.

In the middle of winter we had to leave our apartment because we could no longer pay the rent. I met an American man whose family was Nigerian, and he hired me to work in a restaurant. Unfortunately, I began to associate with low-life people in Romania, and soon got into trouble. I knew that what I was doing was wrong, and that I should break from the bad habits I was forming. But like so many others today, I kept putting this decision off.

I never expected myself, a professed Christian, to have a child without being married, but that is exactly what my lack of determination got me. The mother of my daughter became very angry with me and conspired to betray me to the Romanian police. Yes, I have done some bad things, but nothing worthy of going to prison for. On August 29, 1997, I was arrested for drug possession, and only God knows that I am not guilty of this crime. This was my first experience with incarceration, yet I believe God has used this experience to help me to find a real and abiding relationship with Him.

For six months I was held in police detention with six other inmates who were hardened criminals, and who had no interest in God. As you may imagine, the inmates were not at all friendly. Picture my situation: a black man in a foreign country, in detention, in the middle of very wicked Romanian men! At first I was afraid to pray, as these men might see me, so I prayed quietly in the middle of the night. God gradually helped me to make friends with the other men in my cell. Some let me pray for them, and listened when I spoke to them of God’s love. Others mocked me: “If you are such a good Christian, why are you in police custody?” My answer was, “No man is perfect, and if we are guilty of the crime or not, it doesn’t matter before God, for we are all guilty of sin. We can be sorry and repent from our sins. God is always ready to accept us as His children.”

After three months I was released from prison on the grounds of an illegal arrest and lack of evidence. Romania was still a “communist” country, or at least people still have this mindset. The officials were never concerned about fundamental human rights, let alone about God’s design for humanity. After 72 hours, the prosecuting attorney made an appeal and I was re-arrested. Six months later I was transferred to the Maximum Security Prison of Rahova, pending further trial. It is a strange way they do things here in Romania!

At this time there were no religious services in the prison. I was alone and understood very little of the Romanian language, yet I knew that God was with me. I continued to pray and sang all the religious songs I could remember. Some of the inmates in my cell tried to intimidate me a few times, but decide not to push the matter, as I am a big guy.

I often spoke with inmates about giving their lives to God and about the need for repentance from our sins. It was very difficult for them to understand. After so long under communism, their knowledge about the origin of life was that humans evolved from fish and monkeys. They believed this to be scientific fact. I talked with them about God as the Creator of heaven and earth, about Adam and Eve, and death and resurrection. It was interesting that they emphatically believed in the presence of the devil, yet never thought about his origin.

I desperately needed a Bible for my own study and to support my claims from the Scriptures with the inmates I spoke to. Then an Orthodox chapel was provided for the prison. I was able to convince one of the inmates to go with me to the services. I could understand very little, but this inmate helped me. He soon accepted God and turned from his bad habits to serve Christ. He begged me to teach him how to pray. When he was released from prison, he was a new child in Christ, and today continues to serve God!

I later met some other black men in my prison. Eric was from Jamaica. I was very relieved to find someone with whom I could speak English. Two days later I had a chance to speak to the sectional commander of the prison, and he arranged for Eric to be transferred to my cell. Eric was a Christian, and we enjoyed singing and worshipping together with Nicolae, a Romanian boy who was also a Christian. Within two weeks four other black prisoners were also transferred to our cell! These four men were Nigerian, too!

In spite of being jailed unjustly, it was nice to have friends I could talk freely with, and whom I could worship with. About this time I met sister Emilia from Laymen Ministries sponsored Humanitarian Prison Services. She began Bible studies with prisoners who were interested. The four Nigerian inmates gladly went with us. It was on the 5th of May, 1999, when Emilia distributed Bibles to the inmates. There were Romanian Bibles, but she also had English ones for us! It was a joy to share our faith in God’s promises and to pray together.

Nicolae, my Romanian friend, was released from prison. His parents wrote to me and thanked me for bringing their son into God’s way. They assured me that he is now well respected, and he goes to church every week, and is very humble. He got a job and promised me that he would continue to worship God. The last time we communicated, he was planning for baptism.

My case was finally tried, and I was devastated to receive a seven year sentence. In spite of feeling so low, I continued to meet with our group, which consisted of about 20 persons, including my Nigerian friends, and one man from Sierra Leone.

Sister Anisoara, also from HPS, continued to help us by supplying Spirit of Prophecy books, Bibles, tracts, and writing material. Not long after we met, she brought sister Nina along with her. Sister Nina came especially to minister to those who spoke English. After that we grew quickly. One day Nina brought some Bible study guides for us to study as homework. We reviewed and discussed them the following week. I was introduced to many Bible subjects I had never encountered before, even though I had read the Bible a great deal. I was even able to help sister Nina to translate some material from Romanian into English.

With Nina’s help the other Nigerian boys and myself were moved into one cell together. Now we were free to study, pray, and sing together every day. We studied our lessons together, and made a list of our questions for discussion with sister Nina.

I experienced frustration when many of my fellow inmates, some of whom were really guilty of the crimes they were charged with, were released on parole while I languished in prison. The other inmates taunted me, saying, “How come you pray and God never answers your prayer, and people who don’t know God and don’t pray are released before you?” It was a comfort to know that we live by faith, and our reward is in heaven. And Satan never wants any good to come to the people of God.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is not easy to serve God in the midst of struggles, poverty, and prison. We need to remind one another that God cares, and we need to lift each other up morally, spiritually, and materially. I realize today that all of these hurdles I have had to overcome have helped me to be stronger in faith, and I am eagerly waiting for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

—Note: Since writing this testimony, Clement has been released from the penitentiary, and now works for an SDA employer in Romania. He continues to be close friends with Nina and her family. Thank you for supporting the work of HPS through Laymen Ministries. We are currently sponsoring 12 workers in the prisons, as well as helping with other prison ministry needs.

By Nina Dinca
Nina is sponsored by Laymen Ministries through Humanitarian Prison Services. She lives and works in Bucharest, Romania.

Women are allowed to do humanitarian work in Romania's prison system. Prisoners must often rely on the generosity of people like the Humanitarian Prison Services workers for basic necessities like writing paper and personal care items.

Clement found himself stranded in Bucharest, Romania, with very little money, no papers, and no return ticket home.

The Romanian prison system was Clement's first experience with incarceration. He was held with hardened criminals who spoke no English, and who had no interest in God.

An Orthodox chapel was provided for the prisoners to attend if they wished. Clement convinced another inmate to go and translate for him.