Lessons from the Underground Church - Peter Lucaciu

Life during Kamoniz, they talk about a new road, the road of Kamoniz, the victory and Kamoniz and they were sure that Kamoniz will conquer whole world through their ideology. And suddenly the collapse of Kamoniz, Eastern Block, was beyond your imagination that this will happen in your life. And when you look at what happened during revolution, people fall on their knees and start Lord's prayer. Close to Christmas, in very cold and people starting Lord's Prayer, 100,000 people or more. And that was after almost half a century of Kamoniz, 80's, they illuminate, they educate. How people, they knew Lord's Prayer and they shouted, God exists, God exists, God exists. And God is with us, God is with us, after what blood, after what people had been killed. Suddenly, their eyes were upon that only God can say hello. My name is Peter Lukacho, I am Executive Director of Romanian Evangelistic Medical Mission, based here in the United States and our field is in Romania. And this is my Faceless Store. Welcome to Faithless Stories, the podcast that brings you inspiring tales from conversations with church leaders. As they navigate the peaks and valleys of their faith journeys through their ministry work and everyday life, join us as we delve into their challenges, moments of encouragement and answered prayers. The Faithless Stories podcast is brought to you by Faithless, an online community committed to empowering church leaders, pastors, staff and volunteers. Learn more at Faithless.co. Get ready to be uplifted and inspired as we unveil the heart of faith through stories from the front lines of ministry on the Faithless Stories podcast. Welcome. So, Peter, can you tell me a little bit about your faith journey? My faith journey. I was born in 1951 during hard years of communism in Romania, and at that time I was born in a Christian family. My grandfather came from Siberia, prisoner camp. He was a prisoner in Siberia for six years. He came back in Romania, where I was born, in northwest part of Romania called Transylvania. And he founded a church, an Evangelical church in my village. He was very persecuted. I was born in this family. The communists came in power and one thing they taught us in the school that religion is poison for the people, is darkness, keep people in slavery, and they saw that in three generations will be no more religion, will no more faith. So how did you come to believe in Jesus? I came to believe in Jesus through several people. My grandfather, I remember my grandfather when he taught me Lord's Prayer. I was four or five years old, and he was a preacher, a late preacher. Then a young pastor came to my church, and he was severely beaten by militia men because of his faith. I saw the price that my grandfather paid. He was in jail for his faith. Then the pastor, after he was severely beaten by militia men, he died. And he was in late 20s, when he died, he had the family, two little children. When I look at the price they paid, I look at my father also was a late preacher, and look at how much they were ready to pay for their faith. The communists, they came and you know, one said that religion, the war started in the world because of religion, and now it's all history. The communism will bring peace, will bring a job for everyone, and it was like they promised the paradise on this earth. And I look at the communists leaders many times, and they said they don't want to pay for their faith, for what they believe, because still in cheating, lying, all of these things, I saw how flourished during communism, and I look at how honest was my grandfather, my pastor, and how much they were ready to pay for their faith, and that impressed me a lot. And I came through faith through these people, my family, who pay a huge price for this, and that's how we get to know Jesus and follow Him, and that's how we are now, and almost everyone from the family is a believer in following Jesus. Well, that's amazing, and astonishing because for me, these past couple of months, the Lord's been really pressing into my heart, what it means to live with urgency, which seriousness, and I don't think for a long time, until recently, I understood what you were talking about, like I'm willing to die for my faith. Like I always said that, but there was a lot of fear in my heart, not physically dying, but worrying about money or worrying about the future, but it's all the same, right? It's like if you have fear, you're not trusting. And so when I started to look at people who had extraordinary faith, they lived a very simple life, but also a life that's very strong on the inside, right? So that anything in the outside doesn't help, so thank you for sharing that. Yeah, so what was it like in Romania during, are they still communists now? No, it was for me, unbelievable beyond my imagination that communism will collapse. And 1989, it was like a miracle for me. It was, I mean, incredible events. The communism, an Eastern country like Czechoslovakia is checked now in Slovakia, there are two countries now. Hungary, then country after country, and the rich, the border of Romania, and the leader of communist party, the dictator of Romania said this will never happen in Romania. And we pray a lot, and that Christmas, 1989, on Christmas day, the dictator of Romania was executed, and people who had been taught about, you know, 80s, communism, they came together in large places, they came in the big cities and they knelt, and they started Lord's Prayer after half a century of communism. And so you saw something that you never saw, this will happen in your life. And for me was a miracle how God was working, like Daniel said, you know, he left up the lift of the kings and he deposed them. For me was right there, in front of Hawaii. Yes, that's so interesting, because I'm currently reading through Daniel right now. Yeah, about like how to live in a kingdom or a nation where they're oppressing you religiously, and Daniel says, hey, I'm not going to follow no matter what, and they kind of faith. I think I'm just beginning to understand what that means. So for you, like, was it like to live under that oppression where they're trying to say, you can't have faith and you have to follow the communists, you know, understanding. But I don't think a lot of people understand what it means to live in a religiously oppressive state. So could you kind of share that experience? Yes, when the communists came on power, they promised that there will be a freedom of religion, and they will treat all religion equal. Once they won power, they changed a little by little, they banned the people, the people who really preached the gospel, and they put their own people as leaders of different denominations. So they changed and all leadership. I grew up in, for example, in the Baptist Church, which we have not so many Baptists in Romania or in Eastern Bloc. But it was incredible to see how they started a war against the world of God, for example. They would not allow for years to print the Bible in Romania. They reduced the number of pastors so much that they saw that will be no more pastor in the churches, the church will die, will be no more ward of God, will no more bibles. And what's happened is the church started on the ground, on the ground church. For example, we had secret camps in the mountains, which was illegal. So you invited preachers, preachers who spent many years in prison because of their faith. So they taught us in a Christian camp, then people from states or from other countries, they came to teach us in this secret camp. At the border, some of them, they said they had been asked, do you have with you guns? Do you have with you drugs? Or do you have with you bibles? So the Bible had been very dangerous for them. So that's kind of activity. How does Muggle Bibles from people that had been called Brother Andrews? So you brought Bibles from one city or one town in your town and you should do the delivered immediately all these Bibles and Christian literature. People had been killed for that or people had been imprisoned for that. So you saw on different parts of Romania, people started this on the ground church activities. And the ward of God was spread. They will not allow somebody who has been educated the day school. All the school had been communist one. So they saw that after you study in the school, for example, I I graduate medical school in Romania in order to be a physician or in order to be a teacher or in order to be engineer of whatever you need to study communist philosophy. So for one year you need to study socialism scientific socialism. And after you had studied this and you passed the test, they saw that once they you educated through education will be no more Christian. So in parallel you have this underground Christian activity strong people. I remember when I heard one preacher he said we need to pray. We need to pray and pray that in one day in Romania we can preach at on the stadium. And many people saw that you how can you think when in this way when the community will not allow even in your church to do this activity. The day for such incredible time miracle right now that we can preach we had we preach on the stadium in Romania at radio TV. Unbelievable time of freedom right now after a revolution. So people started in the church from the pulpit underground praying and praying and praying and you see like what's written in Daniel that got changed the times. And many times I go on churches and say now we live on that time. So you see this journey from that time when they killed people because somebody smuggled bibles and now you have bibles all over Romania you see the bibles even hands of former communists, former militiamen who beat the old preachers and now it's that kind of time that we have a Roman that's fascinating. Yeah because I think for me those kind of situations only happen in movies and so I don't I don't really know what it's like to kind of live in that yeah environment. So how did you go from there to your organization? It was called Romanian evangelical military right there are many evangelistic medical mission. I came I found out that my son had an eye problem. So we tried to go to doctors in Romania and some of the doctors bold enough to say we don't have this treatment for this kind of myopia in Romania but there are doctors in the west and one of the doctors from United States who came with medicine kind of model medicine or bibles in Romania he knew me and he sent me an invitation to come here to United States or the communists would not allow entire family they kept like hostage part of your family so they knew that you will come back or something but I came here in United States and one of their evangelists that I heard in one of Romanian churches his name was anchorberg Floyd Anchorberg he worked actually with Billy Graham for many years and he brought me the Witten Eiklinik for treatment to a medical Christian doctor and Witten the Illinois and that's how they started to treat my son and said you need to stay here for a long time he needs contact lens and we need to change and his eye is growing he was only seven my son when they came here he was very very tough time but anyway they replaced me as medical doctor in the area where I work then was all kind of threat and I decided to stay in United States and ask authorities to allow my wife to come with my daughter she was she lived in New York and she was five in that time that's how the journey started I came in United States and after 20 months of separation after a lot of prayers the churches here they start praying for my family because at some point Romania Romanian dictator Romania lost most favorite nation status and I knew that there is no hope then for the reunited very soon with my family it was a kind of disparate case and I started to pray the churches that knew about me in Romania and here they started to pray and it was like a miracle when I call my wife and she told me that no way that she will come soon that's a story she told her and they became very nasty to her and I pray and pray and when I call her usually when you call Romania at that time they interrupt you your phone conversation so just I heard my wife her name is Anna she was full of joy I said I have passport I have visa I have everything ready to go in America on December 13 1988 after 20 months of separation my wife and my daughter came on her Chicago airport it was for me like a miracle so how did you start the organization so my wife came in 1988 in 1989 already we heard that country after country in eastern communist bloc collapsed and finally this happened on the Christmas I mean when the revolution started in Romania then the dictator was executed that was in December 89 in January 1990 I went back to Romania with my wife my children they were left behind here in America with some friends and people the everything was unbelievable for me in Romania because everything was collapsed you saw lots of abandoned children you saw orphanages you saw a deplorable situation the hospitals in Romania medicine everything was missing and people begged me ask me to come back as a medical doctor and that's we I came back to United States in February following month and I talk with Christian doctor from here they came in 1990 in Romania and it was unbelievable because every year the medical doctor Christian doctor from here came with me in Romania we had a long line of patients of people waiting and waiting they brought ultrasound machines all kind of equipment for the hospitals and suddenly I saw the entire Romania was so open to gospel and so we started this organization called Romanian Evangelistic Medical Mission with the vision in one hand to have the medicine another hand to have the Bible and many people came to Christ in this way through medical doctors through this kind of mission so until today now we work for 35 years that's how we started what city are you guys located in Romania it's a town about 11,000 people but in West Carpathians called Bayouche Bayouche town Bayouche in Transylvania and we started to work there we started to build medical clinic there then we started to build a Christian orphanage we work in about 100 villages towns and villages around the health needed families to prevent abandonment of children so we went with food, clothes and then brought them medicine and so on until today that will do in Romania so that's in our area but actually we work in went in the capital of Romania with medical doctors in Bucharest when city a big city in Transylvania it's called Cluj city and we send medical doctors to teach Romanian doctors for example about about a laparoscopy or different method and that now you brought doctors that taught some Romanian doctor you brought equipment and lots of bibles had been now distributed in the hospitals and everywhere how do you find the doctors? I had connection with doctors during communism my colleagues I worked in the hospital we had many colleagues they are communists or former communists but they never loved the communism but in order to have a position high position to be president of the hospital or you need to be member of communist party but it's amazing because lots of people and former communists they really respect you for what you believe despite the fact that publicly they went and they were very strong against you because you knew that that was politics of communist party but behind the door they tried to help you so right now are you just using the same doctors or do you recruit new doctors or if someone else wants to? Yes we recruit new doctors some of the doctors when we started in 1990 some of the doctors they are with the Lord now they came in Romania year after year and it's absolutely amazing for me because we started in Romania and some of the doctors here in the United States they came from different states some of them they knew each other only in Romania not here and they came and I got messages from many of them and said Peter I'm recruiting a team the girl in Africa or in Asia or in South America and the mission was born there in Romania in Transylvania and beginning of 1990s and you saw the impact of Christians doctors how they some of them they said well Peter we came as a medical doctors in Romania now we go back as the preachers so I love that how the impact of the world of God you know was so strong that you see now not only Romania but going beyond the borders in different countries in Europe different countries in Africa and Asia South America all over North America and I praise God for this that's so wonderful to hear yeah a lot of times when people go into missions they go just to help but then they get so blessed and they change more than the people it's incredible um so let's move toward how did you get involved with Facebook then with your group my daughter Enca that she is in New York she is very much involved with churches there and she told me a lot about faithy and I was very impressed with this because I tried to spread the word of God I'm on Facebook for example or and I tried to build bridges because that's our mission the build bridges with different people different communities and especially right now because you kind of dangerous environment or Romania for example is surrounded one of the neighbors Ukraine last year we have about 50 Ukrainian refugees in our orphanage children mothers and children but the children were most of the refugees and now you see the war is kind of in Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, the Republic of Moldova some I mean all of this area where your work is a lot of troubles now and I was in Ukraine I worked with Ukrainians I was in the Republic of Moldova I was in Yalta before 2010 and we spread the word of God there so when talk about faith it's so such a great need spread word of God in this way so I appreciate I'm very grateful to you Danny for what you're doing it's amazing how you build the bridges and I try to go ahead you know with all this bridges so what made you want to start a Facebook group first with there like a lot of people that were trying to connect with you or are most of the people on your Facebook group from Romania or the United States they are from all over especially through we had them every year we had American teams that came it was not only medical doctors came Christian doctor they went back in the communities they hospitals they churches then they following year they came with their family even with children and then they came with their pastor or other people like farmers like policemen people who work in army all kind of group as people that came we have for example students from oral Robert University students from Azusa Pacific University students from Trinity in Illinois from Whitton College from Bryan College from Covenant College you saw how this young people went back and was like a fire like a snowball growing and growing and we tried to keep in touch with we tried to encourage them and they encourage the mission in Romania and exactly what we needed faithfully now connection so that's kind of what I have on Facebook there are people there are Christian non-Christian former communists and you try to spread the word of God in many ways and I saw that what you're doing it's absolutely amazing and I tried to spread the news about it how can faithfully be helpful to you and what you're trying to do so I reached the number on Facebook 5000 the limit I try already I talk about this with friends that they are very eager to start the new door open there are open through you so I'm very eager to go ahead with this and sometimes on Facebook or other they saw that you talk too much about religion or something kind of you so that they reduce the people who real strong Christian or something like that and it's great to hear that you are such a bridge between Christian between Christian organization there are more Christian organization in Romanian Eastern block formal Eastern block formal communist country you got to work and they are looking for something like what you're doing to this big Russian in Romania what's the language or do they have their own language I study russian because during communism I mean that's in my village or we study the school of russian now when we have Ukrainians that came as refugees they most of them they speak russian so in some way when they force you to start the study russian language it was kind of you don't want to do that I never study English for them which was very difficult after it came here to learn the through English to say so even now I struggle but it was unbelievable how God used all these languages to build a bridge I for example I went to an republican moldova and republican moldova long time before communist came it was part of Romania so when I talk with them I saw that there are mixed families I mean there are some Russians some Ukrainians starters people from from former Soviet Union republics because Stalin moved people all the way you know and deported them but when I preach in the church they said well we need interpreter now from Romanian language to russia how is that possible because this is it well part of my family is russian part of my family is this but think in this way you as american you cannot go now as all these former republics but people from this year they can go all over because they have brothers sisters in Kazakhstan to many stand and they can go share worth of God and they said it's amazing how God was working through all these connections Stalin wanted to destroy religion wanted to destroy the family wanted to destroy all connection in fact God used this in an incredible way so even now I'm connected with people from republic of moldova from Ukraine and you see how God used all these languages to spread the word so that's I'm very grateful to you for what you're doing then yeah it's incredible that like in the beginning we had a common language and with the tower of babel in genesis against all the language but now he's using all the different languages to bring us back together so yeah I kind of see that full circle moment it's kind of incredible in your opinion is communism like embedded that their ideology says you have to get rid of religion or is it just like the russian communists kind of used it that way well when you had been taught in the school that religion is darkness is slavery is opium for the people and you started from and they say okay now you educate it to be a new man a new society in religion all of the we need to get rid of this for the give freedom to the people open mind to the people and will be a paradise but not in heaven will be a paradise here on the earth well when they think that after you graduate the school or the end of the education will be no more faith they will destroy the faith it's kind of I think in all communist countries it's kind of rule or something looking for long term that will be no more faith so what would be your advice or encouragement for people living in countries where the government is trying to kill the faith I think when we started the mission I heard a lot of christian god will provide when many in romania say you cannot do this romania I cannot do this in romania and when I look for 35 years how god was working and kind of pave the road the way and I never saw this will happen like magi's or people from east came to the worship Jesus and they in romania language they they went back in their countries on different road when you say that how do you say that in romania um pure alta calipon al drum al drum a different road and you know all my life during communism they talk about a new road road of communism the victory communism and they were sure that communists will conquer whole world through their ideology how and so they you have been taught like that and suddenly the sick collapse of communists eastern block it was beyond him at your imagination that this will happen in your life and when you look at what's happened during revolution people fall on their knees and start lord's prayer he was close to christmas in the very cold and people starting lord's prayer hundreds of thousands of people or more and that was after almost half a century of communism and 80s of they illuminate they educate how people they knew lord's prayer and they shouted god exist god exist god exist and god is with us god is with us after was blood after what people had been killed they suddenly their eyes were upon that only god can save us and we can look at these facts because you have the leaders from Poland from Czechoslovakia that came here they had been asked i said you are the hero because of you the the communism because the told journalist don't look at me only god made these changes we are not able to overthrow the communism so when you look at that that's i would like to teach my children my grandchildren here in america everywhere they say only god god i love this times i love because i think right now in america we're too busy fighting instead of just praying right and i think it's because we feel like we can do something and we can but like you said if god is not behind it if god is not working if god is not doing the work of bringing about the change it's meaningless and so i think we've lost a heart for humility and what i'm hearing in all of your stories is this heart and the sense of like i can't do it i can't do it lord you have to do it you have to do it and for you you saw the impossible happen when communism fell and you were probably wow this is like the gospel coming alive right um many times i share from passages from scripture and that these words what is impossible with men is possible with god um Jesus words so you so in front of your eyes things that you saw you're convinced that they were impossible and yet now we will look back you see how was possible what is impossible with men is possible with god so what would you tell all the young people now in like their teenage years and the early 20s who don't believe in impossible thing because and who's kind of very comfortable and who's worried about their future and yeah even right now like if you watch the news everyone's like like everyone's worried about like the recession and getting a job and the political stuff and that's the election this year what would you tell people the young people the new generation coming up we were on this road during communism is no they told you there is no future for you in Romania if you are Christian i was expelled from students organization my wife was expelled from students organization you knew what means to be in front of your community your colleagues everyone to look at you and said now you finished is there is no future for you there is no hope for you in this country now i think in this way after so many years after they expelled me the goons same medical school same university same school and the bring doctors from here and when nobody gave them hope in hospitals when nobody came in Romania to help you had Christian doctors uh but we uh i grew up in a church that a small church where people paid the price and you look at what was painted in the behind the pulpit this gospel will be preached in whole world Jesus world in the whole world that how is that possible now i look at that and i see people from former communist country like Romania they go as missionary in Africa they go as missionary and so and you see how they spread the world of God only through we ask all organizations through our organization how many people went all over the world and they had been very encouraged what they saw um and this mission and uh you saw how you build these bridges with other countries because we have friends in different countries in Europe and they said okay what hope is for the new generation keep in mind that my generation was they brought me in front of all colleagues and students there is no future for him i very few people in our area um came back like we came back and the share love of God with all people the we we have community gypsy communities in Romania we have Hungarian community you have you build bridges between all these communities only through love of God and they okay what hope is for children for young people in this community they they watch you very careful they look at you they look at the results they look how God was working uh they look that you it was impossible for you to do things like you do today it was only God and that's many people it's they many young people follow Jesus because they see now um they had a hope they uh look why it was what hope you had after the bloody revolution in Romania that they can you can do in Romania everything was collapsed and yet through love of God uh all of this has been built and many many had hopes in Romania but not through uh i don't know kind of uh now do you have a strong economy now you have no it's actually uh millions of Romania left Romania but we try to be in contact and touch like your organization to be in touch with all these people who go in France and Germany uh great Britain uh Italy Spain and many many open the churches in these countries new countries but it was because of hope and Jesus that they opened the churches and they build new communities and all these countries so you see how the word of God is spread through all these people because they have hope hope in God one last thing is i'm just curious as to what church was like um because you you brought up the word community i think community is really important especially when there's a lot of oppression like you need to be surrounded by people who will pray for you support you uh maybe even hide you right if the authorities are looking for you um but when I see the church in the United States we're not as connected right it's more like we come we experience and then we go home and then we don't talk to anybody for one week and then we come back on Sunday but yeah what was church like for you and community like for you um growing up in Romania uh how do you spread connect connect connect um despite the fact that secret police of Romania infiltrated i mean you there were informants in the hospital in the church in the school everywhere now after collapse of communism when you see the files and you see what's happened unbelievable the secret police infiltrated public school and the students needed to give reports about the teachers their colleagues of everything um then the children had been asked by secret police the spy on their parents so everywhere they communists had control and yet through all of this um you had been very connected with brother and sister in christ i say the church was much stronger during communism that now that ties that connection was much stronger than today in freedom um and that's uh rather people they uh during communism they ready to pay a price rather than today in freedom and it's still alive in my mind how people they um gave a place for example for secret camp that was you know they knew that they would be punished for this they knew they would pay a huge price or people they try to help you in many ways during communism which i don't see the day in freedom because it's maybe we trust too much in ourselves then in god and the you have a prayer room for uh upper room that you alone with god you spend a lot of time in prayer now is normal like that during persecution when you have a brother in prison i still had a great christian who was close to my town he spent 17 years in prison because of his faith and many times we went on his house on different path um the the street police watch you and nobody to visit him um and yet the connection was so strong uh despite of informal despite of all obstacles one of the thing was everybody urged the other one okay pray pray pray connect connect connect um so that's that's an um my not only my people they are convinced about this during communism the church was stronger because of prayer because the love uh because connection and that's we should do now when we look at around scold when we look around society and communities we need more the big connect than disconnect yeah i totally agree with you i think it's easier in a sense when you have a common enemy because it's like a push right yeah but when that's gone then it's like a child with no rules you're just like oh i do whatever i want and then you forget that the evil is still there right and so like maybe like Satan is like you know what pushing them is not working so i'm just gonna let them do whatever they want and then our selfishness comes out and it's like oh i don't want to connect and it gets fragile um and that's why i believe like the best thing that can happen for us is some kind of suffering that comes persecution that comes so that the church will wake up again but it's like i don't know there's this double-edged sword um yeah so about connection how did you meet your wife that's uh in the church the church the church Christian community uh despite the fact that as i said there are no all kind of informants all kind of uh threat if you go to church you don't have a future both about um so we knew each other through the church but did you just like meet her and you fell in love or like a family knew each other what's the story no family actually i was born in uh it's a called valley of white river and she is born uh river called black river so i came to the church and i saw her in the church she um both in one way after we had been expelled from from students organization we had something in common but we fall in love to each other and that's how i get married um i came in her town a move from my town to her town and i work as a medical doctor there and um it was a very small community church was kind of illegal meetings uh despite of the uh we have a building but they didn't allow you to go in that meeting you did they have a authorization or license um so that communist writer what if you don't have a church they're not allowed to put a lot of obstacle so i became the time the leader of the church in her church how long have you been married uh we get married in 1978 August 78 older than me so during that time like what was that like on your marriage because that must have well it was during communism and that time uh to have a wedding you need to wait in line for meet for bread for uh that's for during communism but uh the parents her parents my parents everyone made a lot of sacrifice to put together something you know to uh see the wedding what did they um sacrifice well in order for a family um you have a maybe towards regeneration same family um you have a maybe a house you raise some um uh hogs some um maybe some shapes or chickens or something like that and the whole year you feed the family so they brought some of the food or the animals to the wedding yes yes gotcha gotcha man that sounds so beautiful a community that's connected sacrificing for each other while still standing up against oppression again it sounds like a movie and i'm like i kind of want that for us here thank you then well i was very connected during communism with churches i'm still connected through old connection you know but uh really uh god help us uh to keep all this old connection until the day i have a couple of questions to end the podcast the first question is what is your favorite childhood memory uh lots of memories maybe christmas time uh because of Easter time or christmas time from communist forced you to go to call cultural hold after i went at school at high school in medical school i was far away from from home we came back from that small we grew up in a small church where our teacher said um you don't have a future in Romania and now from that small church uh we successful we succeed to go in university only few young people from entire village you have anonymous tests to go so i went to medical school i have other two brothers in university uh which suddenly teachers and others so wait a minute how was possible that we told them that they don't have a future in Romania and only them and few others they cousin but from same church small church which was very small comparison with a village of three thousand people you came back at christmas time on vacation and now we went with carols uh singing songs at our teachers and was a great joy i mean the teachers came so sorry for what i told you when you're in the school uh you encourage a lot of people they you became kind of example of the village look how god um uh show them or how god opened the door for them and suddenly everything was overthrown and they are the memory great thing and uh when i was a student to come back in my village to go to the mayor to former communists to go and uh they're share with them love of from the christmas from the good news and that's it's a great memory for me what are you hoping for in the future i hope in the future see my grandkids um i i had the four children and i have four children all of them they went to school and they brought their colleagues friends and even the teachers from here from states they came to work with us with me and my wife the people and their arms abandoned children of Romania even to adopt children from here and their families from Romania and um i hope that my grand children and they started to do this that be connected with Romanian Christian communities with churches that they already have friends they already they are interpreters they have good bridges um and i think your organization i mean your connection will be great to continue and to spread all these bridges especially in young among young people so that's kind of what are you hoping for at faith we i'm praying that as we work with so many communities here in united states with so many churches this the bridge enlarge the be more effective um the here that more bridges they are built through you through others and uh here in the future that will be other countries that will benefit from these bridges and the strong message of god uh his um world will be spread more effectively through these connections and how can we be praying for you and your family uh please pray uh we are in that area of the world uh neighbor with Ukraine still we have Ukrainians refugees um is uh the lots of uh spread and i cloud of spreads in that area uh please pray that um american teams will be great witness for christ uh we will have my family uh my grandkids they want to come to romania they um there'd be a peaceful time there for our health um i born in 1951 i'm 73 almost so i can still to have health i mean good health to continue the ministry to build the bridges please pray for my family for safety we travel a lot in romania uh we work with different communities like i said hangarian romanians gypsy and other communities and uh this uh the share with them love of christ more um we work with we have friends russian friends that they are either in the ukraine or republicum all over that uh god protects all our uh people and for american teams thank you peter this was um refreshing to talk to you about what you're doing in romania um that's a food podcast thank you for tuning in to the faithless stories podcast we pray this episode gave you the encouragement you needed to continue on your journey the faithless stories podcast is brought to you by faithfully an online community committed to empowering 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