http://www.reformationitaly.org/2012/07/reflections-on-romania/
Reflections on Romania
By Daniel Ventura
Rev. Andrea Ferrari and I had the opportunity to go to Bucharest, Romania and meet with six brothers and sisters who desire to see a reformed church planted in their city. They have been meeting together to read the Three Forms of Unity, pray, sing Psalms, and translate reformed literature into their own language. Andrea and I enjoyed rich fellowship with them over good food and the Scriptures. We were able to give a couple brief teachings on the sacraments in preparation for the six of them to become members of the church in Italy at the end of the month (July). Not only will we witness many public professions of faith, but also the baptism of Claudiu’s and Eliza’s newborn son, Daniel. Please pray for our brothers and sisters, that God would sustain and nourish their faith by the means of grace as they pilgrim in a tough area there in Romania.
Bucharest is about two million people, and has suffered greatly from the effects of communism. As a consequence, the mindset of many is to refuse any type of authority structure, including organized religion. According to our brother who there, people are highly superstitious and tend to a more privatized spirituality. The major denominational influences are Greek Orthodox, Pentecostal, and Baptist in that order. I was surprised, while waking around the heart of the city, to find not one evangelical church building. If fact the only churches I saw were Greek Orthodox and even those were scarce. Visiting inside those churches was an eye opening experience as well. We saw people come in and kiss the various saints, as well as offer prayers and incense to them.
There is a great need for gospel-centered churches of Word and Sacrament in Romania.
One married couple from the group, Mihai and Lydia, are planning to move to California in order that Mihai can study at Westminster Seminary and, Lord willing, plant a reformed church in Bucharest. Please pray for wisdom for them as they seek wisdom in making these various decisions. May God bless this small seed and cause this vision to become a reality, so that more and more reformed churches would be planted throughout Romania.
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