Romania and Ukraine Mission 2007

Tuesday, June 26 through Wednesday, June 27

Our Presbytery team (Steve Magee, Bruce and Betsy Johnson, Julie Kyle and Dave Herrod) left Exeter for New York City, then Milan, then Timisoara, then Valea Draganalui, the site of the conference, Christianity and Society.

Thursday, June 28

The approximately 150 guests at the conference began to arrive Thursday morning. The conference center included a main building where we took our meals, a conference center where the plenary sessions were held and a third building with additional rooms. The guests included mayors and other political leaders, many pastors and leaders of various Christian ministries. There were more Christians then expected. Hong Key Chung, the host, had many people extend greetings to the assembled guests. This was a nice feature, and something different than what one might expect at a similar American gathering. People from each denomination greet everyone. People from each region greet everyone. People who are known leaders greet everyone.

It was surprising that among those present were three relatives of Costin Suster, our long-time friend and partner in Romanian ministries. The first plenary session was a very forceful, professional, and entertaining presentation of biblical roles within the family. I was struck by the clarity of the message from Viorel Lugo, a Romanian pastor who has written extensively on this topic.

Later that afternoon our team gave our first seminar presentations: Dave Herrod on trials, Bruce and Betsy on peace-making, Julie Kyle on being a single Christian, and Steve Magee on European and American examples of family leadership. The team felt that the presentations went fine, but we were not entirely satisfied with our first efforts.

Ionel and Mihai Szuroka, two of our Romanian family, arrived. They wanted to attend the conference very much. They shared a dorm room with Dave Herrod and Steve Magee. That evening the four of us took a walk around the village where the conference was held.

Friday, June 29

The 2nd plenary session of the conference was held Friday morning. Costin Suster’s uncle Costel Sofronie give the presentation on the topic of Christian interaction with society. After a short break Steve Magee gave the next talk on the importance of the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God for individuals, families, churches, and the world at large and presented some of the material on "nonpracticingism" as contrasted with Calvinism.

Later the team gave the small group seminars a second time. We all felt that they went better, since we allowed more opportunity for interaction in that smaller setting.

John Ashcroft gave an excellent talk on four things that we need to emphasize in our current environment: 1. Nobility, 2. Humility, 3. Integrity, and 4. Availability. The attendees really appreciated his presence at the conference.

After dinner Dave Herrod, Julie Kyle, Ionel Szuroka, Mihai Szuroka and Steve Magee took a walk on a mountain road. We met an old man resting at a small orthodox shrine tucked away on that path. The communications with him were somewhat confusing, and we may have accidentally purchased some fresh milk that we did not take delivery on.

Saturday, June 30

We had the final plenary session of the conference, with General Ashcroft singing several songs at the request of the crowd and adding some brief remarks on the importance of human responsibility for bringing about justice in society. The day was filled with excellent interactions with many Romanians. Ionel and Mihai got a ride to Cluj from a vacationing couple from Baia Mare who were attending the conference. They took the train home from Cluj. It was great to see them.

Our team took the train from a nearby village to Arad, with our Romanian friend Ciprian as our guide. We enjoyed lots of theological discussion on the train. We were met in Arad by Ovi Martin, the Romanian director of Romanian Christian Enterprises. The group was distributed over three host homes. Dave Herrod and Steve Magee stayed with Ovi, his wife, daughter, and their three girls and their home in Arad.

Sunday, July 1

Steve Magee preached at two Baptist churches on Sunday, one in Arad in the morning and one in a nearby village late in the afternoon. Along the way the team enjoyed delicious meals with many friendly people, including both staff and clients of RCE including several families that had adopted Romanian children through the RCE ministries.

Ovi, his wife Doina and Mimi and Carmen and the entire RCE staff are a great joy. It added a lot to have Scott Brown from the US with us. Scott is on the Board of RCE.

Monday, July 2

RCE has various ministries (Sunshine School, Darius House, Cottages for Disabled Children, Love Houses 1, 2 and 3). I am especially impressed by their efforts to help families of faith stay together when they are facing sudden severe economic stress. That was something of a theme of this particular trip for me. In most cases I think it is best if there is some way to keep families together, even when the situation in that household is not optimal. Many of the above ministries have to do with education, housing, and care of children with mild to severe handicaps. This is good work. We met one family with fourteen children, a gypsy family, a family that had just moved into their first house and a family, only one year removed from a desperate financial situation, with an extensive home garden that even provides fresh produce to RCE.

Tuesday, July 3

We received a hands-on opportunity to help when each of us was assigned one child from the Cottages for Disabled Children as we took some of the children for a morning at the park. That kind of experience really helps one to appreciate the challenges that workers face in these situations.

Early Tuesday afternoon we had the opportunity to tour Arad including a visit to the town hall, the opera and an open-air market. Later in the afternoon we met several more families including a widow with three children who has just become a client of RCE.