TEAM TESTIMONIALS
Long History of Partnership between REMM and Individual US Churches:
Personal Accounts of individuals that have volunteered with REMM –
Lisa Wink (Church of the Resurrection, Washington, DC): I have been involved in helping out with the Romania Evangelical Medical Mission since 1999. This organization has been a huge blessing in my life in teaching me more about my Father. I have seen first hand that this organization is truly making a powerful impact for the Lord Jesus Christ in Romania and in the lives of many Americans who go there to serve. Peter Lucaciu is committed to serving the poor families in the area, the orphans, abandoned babies and “gypsies”. I can fully endorse the credibility of this group.
Sarah McNelly (East Auburn Baptist Church, Auburn, Maine): Our church has been sending teams to work with REMM in Romania since 2000. Through those trips many lives have been changed, including mine. Two families from the mission trips were able to adopt children that they met at Casa Josef, while another family has been in the adoption process for 3 years, waiting to welcome twin girls into their family when the ban on foreign adoptions is lifted.
One life that really affected me in Romania was a little girl named Ina. The first year I went to Romania we were asked if anyone wanted to go to the state hospital to bring back two children to Casa Josef’s, so I volunteered. I will never forget that day. I felt like I was walking back in time; the beds were ancient, the halls smelled, babies were screaming or laying there lifeless! One of the children that we were going to get was in a room with 10 others, she was tied to her crib and lifeless. She had no expression on her face and, although she was three years old, couldn’t sit up, walk or talk. The only time she was touched was to change her diaper once a day! The day we took her out of the hospital was the first day she had ever been outside in her 3 years of life. I held her all the way back to Josef’s and she just sat there and touched the cool van window, a sensation she had never before experienced. Ina is now a much different child than she was back in 2000, as a direct result of the care Casa Josef was able to provide she is now a thriving 10 year old, goes to school and is loved by an amazing family! A few years ago Ina was placed in a foster home sponsored by REMM and is she now not only able to speak her native Romanian, but is also fluent in Hungarian and is learning English. If it wasn’t for REMM and the help that they gave to Ina, she would have probably died in that state run hospital due to neglect. REMM is committed to helping the poor, orphans and neglected people in Romania. I have been very privileged to be involved with this ministry and personally see lives such as Ina’s radically changed.
Rebekah Coons (National Community Church, Washington, DC): I wholehearted support both prayerfully and financially the work of REMM, specifically at Casa Joseph Orphanage in Beius, Romania. If you want to be a part of a ministry that is meeting an overwhelming need with visionary passionate leadership, this is a ministry worth partnering with. Seeing their work first hand, this ministry is an amazing steward of God's resources and operates with excellence. I couldn't be more excited to support the Lords work in this way and I strongly encourage you to do the same.
Miriam Clement (Church of the Resurrection, Washington, DC): Without a doubt, the Lord used this trip to Romania to show me clearly how much we here in America—and specifically Washington, D.C.—can work alongside and partner with our brothers and sisters in Christ halfway around the globe. My prayer was that the Lord would give us eyes throughout the week to see ways could serve from the States upon our return. Each day we had the joy of playing with the children of the Casa Joseph Orphanage in Beius. These little girls and boys—though happy, healthy, and well-cared for—are denied the blessing of growing up in a two-parent home because the Romanian government has closed international adoptions. It would be ideal to be able to open the doors of REMM's orphanage, to the 60+ abandoned babies currently lying in cribs and receiving little attention in a hospital just an hour's drive away in Oradea. This cannot happen, however, until $300/month is raised for each child, as the living expenses and hefty Romanian taxes dictate.
We also had a wonderful time of fellowship and laughter at a Christian Roma (Gypsy) village. We climbed out of the van and were immediately swarmed by handshakes from little hands and cries of “Pace! Pace!” (Peace! Peace!). Here we played soccer and sang songs with children whose (sometimes toothless) grins stretched from ear to ear, and sang praises to the Lord together. We saw profound needs for health care, education, food, and water, and went away brainstorming ways to help. Our prayer is that we will love and serve our own city better because of our time in Romania, and that we can share the vision of partnering with REMM with our brothers and sisters in the U.S..
Jenette McEntire (First Presbyterian Church, Tulsa,OK): My heart had been in Romania for a while. But it wasn’t until the summer of 2005 that the rest of me was fi nally able to make the trip. My husband’s cousin adopted a son from Turnu-Severin nine years ago. The stories we were told of his state institutional “care” put a special burden on my heart for the
orphans of this country.
The Lord answered this long-felt burden with a spot on our church’s travel team to work with the ministries of REMM, specifically helping in the orphanage. To be able to simply hold these kids, sing songs about Jesus with them, or spin them in the air was a delight I can not begin to express. Even more than that, to know the children are in this safe place, being cared for and loved—and not just in a human capacity, but with the very love of Christ—brought a deep joy to my soul. It’s a real picture of what God has done for each of us, adopting us as His own sons.
But, my vision of God’s hand at work in Beius went far beyond the walls of Josef ’s House. I saw the love of Christ at work in the gypsy community where we helped Peter deliver roofing materials so a family could have a home that winter. I saw the love of Christ at work in the faces of the kids in our VBS programs and in the Sunday worship services we participated in. His love names and permeates the Agape ministry, and is felt at The Bridge where so many ministry events and gatherings are given the space and atmosphere they need to flourish and grow.
The burden on my heart is still there, but it has been transformed into a burden of hope— that I’ll be able to go back soon, that the ministry of REMM will continue to be blessed, and that the work of Christ will be brought to completion in the lives of all this ministry touches.