Mission – Romania

For 45 years Romania was ruled by one of the most oppressive and cruel Communist regimes the world has seen. People starved while dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu sold the food the country was making to other countries. Government policies tried to make families have loads of children by making contraception illegal. Because of this, many unwanted children were left in overcrowded and squalid orphanages.

Under Ceaucescu’s regime Christians were under great persecution. Their lives were severely restricted – denied access to higher education and refused decent jobs. Many were thrown into prison or tortured. Many Christians bravely refused to deny Jesus and risked their lives to demonstrate against the dictatorship.

In 1990 Ceaucescu was over thrown and executed. Conditions in Romania struggle to improve while drug abuse, abortion rates and prostitution are all on the increase.

Translyvania, home to the legendary Count Dracula, is now part of modern Romania. A Dracula themepark is opening soon and hoping to attract tourists from all over the world.

Since 1989 there has been a steady movement of church planting. On average 5 new church buildings were opening every week until 1999. Pray that these churches will become established and effective. Pray that more money and people will be able to be released, so that more churches can be planted.

Romanian society is affected by high rates of violent crime, prostitution, alcoholism and drug abuse. Romania has one of the highest abortion rates in the world. Pray that people would find hope and freedom in Jesus.

Unfortunately some minority religious groups still suffer from persecution from the Orthodox Church rather than the government itself. Pray that there might be even greater opportunities and freedom for people to share the gospel in Romania.

Thank God for the survival of the Romanian church through the years of persecution. Pray that the church would continue to adapt and grow, without compromise, now that there is more freedom to worship.

One of the most haunting of Ceaucescu’s legacies is the hundreds of thousands of children abandoned in orphanages or living on the streets. The HIV rate among them is the highest in Europe. Pray for all those who are working with these children that God would use them to love and reach out to this broken generation.