News from our organization
“This tough existence suits me”
News from our organization
“This tough existence suits me”
News from our organization
“This tough existence suits me”
At the beginning of December, the Romanian Facebook page reached a great milestone: 100,000 followers! Else and Daniel Mic are the leaders of the Romanian team. Now that they are in the Netherlands for a family visit, there is a good opportunity to talk to Else about the dreams and challenges the team has.
In the two and a half years since Daniel and Else joined the team, the number of followers has grown from 30,000 to 100,000. Else: ‘ Every day I try to post a Bible text or question on the Facebook page, for example: what are you thankful for today? That produces reactions, which you can talk about again.’
In addition, the team also posts Lumo videos: these are videos in which the literal text of four Gospels is told, supported by video material. Else provides the Romanian subtitles. “We reach a lot of people with those Lumo videos. Each video is viewed and shared thousands of times! We have already posted the entire Gospel of Luke and Mark in resp. 24 and 16 episodes. And at Christmas we start with Matthew; that gospel also begins with the Christmas message.” Most of the viewers live in Romania itself, but there are also many Romanians in the Moldavian Republic, Italy and Germany who know how to find the videos.
“We are with six mentors, three Dutch and three Romanians, including Daniel and me. We also have an editor (someone who puts articles on the website) and a translator. They are very different people: a young mother, a student, but also a few older women who have retired.
Last September we had our first meeting with the team, we want to meet three times a year. It’s nice to encourage each other and give advice. One of the mentors, a Dutch girl who has lived in Romania for a while, thought it was exciting whether her Romanian was good enough to be a mentor. I advised her to just start slow and see how it goes. The plan is to start a Whatsapp group for the team members – it will then be easier for you to respond to each other and pray for each other.”
“We want growth in the team and in the number of followers. We hope to help students looking for a church find good churches. We want to build a network of churches, so that we can refer students properly.”
When someone is looking for a church, the team searches for a suitable church. “We look at the website and we watch sermons from that church on YouTube. Then we contact the church and ask if they can take care of a student. Churches in Romania are generally very welcoming. There is a team that welcomes you, they introduce you during the service and ask you to leave your contact details.
I have asked the mentors if they can recommend churches; I’m in the process of compiling a list of them now.”
Sometimes special people come along and do the courses. Else: “A month ago I had a Romanian woman from London in the course. She did two courses: Bible Basics and Life of Jesus. She gave more extensive answers to the questions than you normally see. I saw growth as she progressed through the courses. At one point she said, “I really learned that you should not only read the Bible, but also study it.” She longed for more depth. Her answers were not about rituals, but much more about Jesus being her Savior, how she feels the Holy Spirit guiding her. I found that very special to read.
She was Orthodox, like most Romanian Christians. In London she visited an Orthodox Romanian church where there are no chairs. She was unable to stand during the service due to back problems. That’s why she was looking for another church! I found a Romanian church for her and she would go there.”
“We sometimes get difficult questions or critical comments, such as: You are a cult! The Orthodox Church in Romania is the only good church for many. It is a challenge to respond properly to such comments. Often we respond along the lines of, “We serve the same God and that is what unites us.” The Orthodox faith is very much about tradition. Icons and rituals play an important role. They believe that you can get to God through the priest. They don’t know that you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ yourself. For the majority, they go to church at Easter and Christmas. More than ninety percent of the population declares to be Christian, but in practice it is only thirty percent who actively do something with the faith.”
“I’m a full-time mom, so when my daughter is sleeping or playing I can get involved. There is satisfaction in doing something for God’s Kingdom. I really enjoy getting grateful responses from people in the chat or from students. Nice that you could help or explain something to someone. I spend about eight hours a week working for GlobalRize. I just think it’s great that we get to do this work. It started here in the office in Oldebroek, and we were able to take it with us to Romania.
Daniel preaches twice a month in the congregation. We worship together. Daniel attends a preaching school once a month, together with someone else from church. They are taught about sermons and other subjects by a well-known preacher. He is also an electrician.”
Else is from Oldebroek, but emigrated to Romania with her family last year. What’s it like to live there? Else: “Life in Romania is completely different from here. In the morning I first start chopping wood so that we can heat our house and cook. I also sometimes slaughter a chicken myself. I don’t think many Dutch women my age ever do that.” Elsie grins. ‘That tough existence suits me.’
