Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24
Until the fall of President Ceausescu in 1989, Romania was one of the most
important countries for Open Doors Bible delivery ministry. We supplied
countless Bibles and books—especially to Pastor Paul Negrut of the Baptist
Church in Oradea. He later wrote to Brother Andrew and said, “In a divinely
appointed network, we would receive a small number of Bibles to be distributed
quietly and carefully among believers. Although the food supply was scarce, the
Romanian believers treasured the Word of God more than anything in this world.
When asked to choose between food parcels and Bibles, every Romanian that I know
asked for Bibles.
“What Open Doors has done for us is better described in the words of a
Christian lady who whispered to her husband, ‘The angels have arrived.’ Their
little daughter heard those words and rushed into the next room to see the
angels. To her surprise and disappointment, the ‘angels’ she saw were two
bearded men casually dressed. The little girl had great difficulty reconciling
her imagination about angels with the reality she saw. As strange as this looked
for that little girl, this is the spiritual reality: for us you have been God’s
angels that brought us the Bread of Life.”
Previously, Open Doors knew that the little Baptist Church of Oradea was
likely to be knocked down at any moment as it was located in a slum clearance
area. A new building was badly needed, because the little church was nowhere
near big enough to accommodate all the believers anymore. However, the
possibility of the church being granted planning permission for a new building
was very slim.
At the beginning of 2005, we found that the little church still had not been
pulled down, but it was no longer in use. A beautiful, big, new church had taken
its place—a gigantic church, which seats 3,000. Every Sunday it is completely
full, as it was in the past, right into the aisles. During the week, Bible
studies are held for about 400 teenagers and young adults.
Dr. Paul Negrut’s church is heavily involved in evangelism and missionary
work, reaching to Central Asia, Russia and the Middle East. They even have a
theological university where pastors receive training. Students come not only
from Romania but also from the missionary fields. One student is from Yakutsk
(Siberia).
But not all believers in Romania are getting on well. Pastor Paul says, “In
my experience, 95% of the believers who faced the test of external persecution
passed it, while 95% of those who now face the test of prosperity fail it.”
But he also quickly analyzed the situation of persecution well: “It is not
persecution itself but the lessons learned under persecution that make and keep
the church and an individual believer strong in the Lord… what makes the
difference is how we respond to persecution and how we respond to freedom.”[1]
Stand strong in the Lord!
RESPONSE: Today I will prepare myself for the hard assignments in
responding biblically to challenges.
PRAYER: Pray for Romania that God will revive His church to stand strong
in the face of prosperity.
1. Audrey Dorsch, “After the Persecution—What Then?” Faith Today
(November/December 1992), p.60
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