"I just got back from Romania recently, where we traveled to various places, and spent the last four weeks in a village called Hunedoara, located in the region of Transylvania. The time I spent there was a real blessing. It was school holidays, and the place where we were staying was in front of a playground. I ended up evangelizing to the kids, and became friends with some of the parents, and was preaching the Gospel to them also.
It amazes me how places like Romania, where almost everyone believes in God (as they are either Orthodox or Catholic or Reformed), can still be so far away from the truth or blinded from the truth.
In that village, born again Christians are seen as a cult like the Jehovah's Witnesses. And they are very disliked much more than in Australia and what they would be in USA I assume. And I realized (I could be wrong) that it's because they are living a more holy life and preaching more against the sin in church and out of it. For example, they preach against drinking, smoking, worldly music, and TV ( they don't do that here in Australia), worldly dress, going to worldly venues or events, etc. They also use the head covering there -- another thing that is not liked.
It really reminds me that when someone follows Jesus, they will be hated for his name sake, unless the Gospel is so watered down and the Christian lifestyle imitating the world to "win the world" like has happened here in Australia.
Of course, they are far from perfect over there, and have other problems or issues in the church, but they stuck to the old paths, and are very disliked or I could say hated for it.
I thank you for your prayers, because in spite of this opposition to the Gospel in the village, I had so many God-appointed opportunities there to talk to people about the Gospel with hearts that were prepared to hear it.
I struggled with the language with some older people that didn't talk English, but I learned the words 'God loves you and sent his Son Jesus to die for your sins' and 'to repent.'
I was amazed how little children understand or are open to hear about God, as I often think they won't understand or be interested. But I am understanding more about the child-like faith we are supposed to have."
-- Gino V.,
VIC, Australia
Praise the Lord for this short testimony from brother Gino, which contains an important message. Thank the Lord for the souls that he evangelized to, including those children and their parents. How true it is about the need for us all to have childlike faith, regardless of our age! The Scripture says:
"[Jesus] called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"(Mat 18-2-4).
The Lord wants each of us to obediently follow him with a pure heart and a sincere faith. That means we take His Word seriously and put it into practice like Gino and those born again believers in Hunedoara. I hope this has been a wake up call for those who have fallen away from their first love, and an encouragement for those who have remained steadfast on the straight and narrow road.
Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from the NASB.
Author's Note: Gino is on the board of Doulos Missions International, which is based in the United States. You may also enjoy reading Testimonies from Voila and Testimonies from Budapest. And you may find my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
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