‘I never thought I would have to counsel a young man going to war’

I have had the pleasure of working with Biserica Crestina Emanuel in Galati since 2017. Galati is my paternal homeland and Romania has a special place in my heart. 

Over the years I have made friends with the most beautiful devout Christians who stood firm under the brutality of the Ceaușescu regime and in more recent history have kept the church growing despite the mass exodus west of 30% of all their 18–30-year-olds since Romania joined the European Union in 2007.

Biserica Crestina Emanuel is a thriving church welcoming hundreds through their doors each week. They have a school, an extensive youth and music programme, and a variety of other ministries. They are just 10km from the Ukrainian border, and in February 2022 the church rose to the challenge of supporting Ukrainian refugees. They converted their buildings into hostels and provided a safe place for thousands of families to stay as they were processed. Many came to faith through this ministry.

My visits often comprise of a preaching tour in the central church in the City of Galati and then in surrounding (much poorer) villages where many gather to hear Reformed Evangelical teaching.

On my recent trip this summer we took a large youth group from Galati to the beautiful mountains of Brasov. Each morning we would spend hours together studying the Scriptures. The questions were profound. We discussed theology over the beautiful food of my youth, Ciorba, Sarmale, Mamaliga, Mici and our favourite Papanasi. We went for long walks up the mountains hoping to spot a bear, and played sports and many games. These times allowed for relationships to form and trust to be built.

A young Ukrainian turned 18 at the camp and received his call to enlist in the conflict. I never thought I would have to counsel a young man going to war. A Ukrainian girl on the camp had a friend killed in action during the week.

Each evening we had a service where the gospel was preached, and we sang and prayed together until late in the night.

Many of the youth were brought to repentance and when the service had long since finished they would gather and weep in thanksgiving until the early hours.

Several who had met with Jesus on camp voiced concern as to what awaited them on their return home. Persecution of Evangelicals is common in Romania, we are seen as a fringe cult by the governing Orthodox Church, militant atheism still echoes from the Communist era, and among the youth there is the ever-increasing threat of secularisation and the woke ideologies of the West.

Every time I leave Romania, I am filled with hope. The youth are well-educated, diligent and industrious. They welcome the freedoms and creativity of the West but are desperate to hold on to traditional Christian values that make it work. They love Jesus and cannot get enough of His word.

I return to Romania in October to speak at a national conference. I have been asked to advise Evangelical ministers on the LGBTQ+ phenomena, so they can prepare and learn from the many mistakes of the Western church.