Romania… Words are not Enough
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personal testimonies
“Revival
is not for those who want it; it is for those who want nothing else.”
I was in Romania from May 31st to
June 12th, returning home on the 14th. I´m sitting here
thinking about writing an article for my blog about what I observed in that
country. My special interest is with a group of younger Christians, couples and
singles, with Brethren background, who have been praying for revival before I first
met them.
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| Eliza and Vali |
Vali was a roommate at a camp
maybe 10 years ago, probably more, and when I arrived, the camp director,
another roommate, said, "There is a 26-year-old young man at this camp
with a special hunger for God. I hear him crying even in the bathroom, as he
prays for revival." Since that time, I have come to know Vali well; in
fact, I spoke at his wedding. He has become a publisher, who translates and
publishes the very best in Christian literature. (http://www.perlasuferintei.ro/)
One book that has had a
tremendous effect, as well as serious repercussions, upon Romania is "Joy
Unspeakable" by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Because Jones, a theologian, pastor
and writer, highly respected in all of Europe, advocates a post-conversion
baptism in the Holy Spirit, people in the “Brethren” movement had denied Vali
any position of leadership in the church, as well as any opportunity to preach.
He pressed on, meeting with
other young people in the town of Vatra Dorni for week-ends of prayer and
fasting, always bathed in tears, and I frequently was invited to speak to them.
Prayer often continued after midnight until one or two in the morning. An order
came from their superiors, commanding them to stop, but they humbly, but
firmly, continued. Sometimes, they asked me for counsel, thinking possibly
about starting a new body of believers.
However, because of the many failures that I've seen, as people try to
start a new church, I suggested that they continue on in theirs. Well,
after many years of good testimony before all, they have been given a deserved
respect and consideration and have been restored to participation in sharing
the Word.
Vali, many times, has had to
manually work in England in order to finance the publication of books, some of
which has been reached with tremendous sacrifice. One, for example, “Looking
unto Jesus”, a classic by Isaac Ambrose, has more than a thousand pages and
Eliza, Vali´s wife, dedicated exclusively a year and a half to its translation.
It is published with a hard cover.
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| New house for publications |
His brother, an example of
what a successful Christian businessman ought to be, with much love for God´s
work, helped Vali obtain a piece of land and build a house for the publishing
ministry. Now Vali and Eliza live there, where there is also an office and a
storeroom for books. Also, upstairs there are six bedrooms, two baths, and a
large meeting room, where people can gather to pray, praise and have
fellowship.
Now, here things really get
interesting! Who would think that the cries of these young people for revival
would reach as far as Brazil and affect God's people there? Members of the
Brethren movement in Brazil have been visited with an outpouring of the Spirit
akin to that of the early church in the book of Acts. Literally and simply,
sinners repent, are baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts
2:38). The Spirit is leading them to the north of Romania to their brothers in
churches of the same movement to give testimony of what is happening in Brazil.
As you can imagine, this is causing a tremendous effect! The main presbyter
over the Brethren movement in the north went to Brazil to see with his own
eyes, what was taking place and returned, proclaiming it to be a genuine work
of God. Now, the question concerns how this will be received by the rest of the
leaders.
I met with this man several
years ago. He invited me to speak at his church, with an invitation that I
should come afterwards to his home. I must admit that I feared an argument was
in the making over doctrines related to the Holy Spirit. Much to the contrary,
this man humbly asked counsel, concerning the well-being of the flock under his
care. Trying to react in that same spirit of humility, I answered as one, who
recognizes his own need in the work of the ministry.
When I came to one of
these churches on this trip for a Sunday morning meeting and the following two
nights, I noticed the tremendous difference from what I had observed in past
visits. In praise, in prayer, how the congregation responded to those prayers,
and in the atmosphere itself, I noticed a new infusion of spiritual life.
Something significant is happening! There were many young and middle-aged
people, too, who are deeply stirred and have determined to go on with God,
regardless of the cost.
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| Ionut, Nicoleta and girls |
Some of them went to a family
camp in the mountains, more or less half way between Bucharest and Suceava. The
couple in charge of the camp, Ionut and Nicoleta, participates in the things that the Lord has been
doing and I see that God has especially placed them there. Years ago, as I was ministering in the north,
I received a conviction that God would unite what was happening in the north
with people in the south. Since that time, several marriages have formed with
one person from the north, the other from the south. I think that this camp has
taken the place of the weekends in Vatra Dorni and some come down to it from
the north, while others come up from Bucharest in the south. One night I spoke
about Israel, in relation to the days, in which we are living. I don´t know how
or why, but the seriousness of these days gripped us in prayer after the
message. The prayer was fervent, but orderly, and one man told me the next
morning that his wife was spontaneously submerged in the Holy Spirit as she prayed.
I also want to mention
another Christian businessman, a Pentecostal, who years ago opened his home for
people who want to come together to pray or praise God, regardless of their
denomination. I have been in a number of meetings in his house. He is a man, who
disinterestedly and with great desire gives himself to serving God´s people. He
actually built a very nice “upper room”, complete with air conditioning, a
piano, and… well, everything needed and more, to make it an ideal place for
people to meet. He came to the last meeting, when I was at the church, and
after the message, he led us in songs of praise, playing his accordion and
singing with anointing. May God richly bless such lay people!
Well, you had to have been
there! No, I can´t explain adequately what has moved me inside. I am not able
to put my feelings into the words that are necessary, so that you can capture
what is happening in Romania. When you think about it, what writer can describe
who God is and what He does, no matter how agile he is with words? The apostles
had to be satisfied, simply by speaking of “joy unspeakable and full of glory”,
“the peace of God that passes understanding”, and “the love of Christ that
surpasses all knowledge”.
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