Our Mission in Romania

FEBRUARY, 2014

We are located in the City of Cluj-Napoca, which is located in the worthwestern part of the Country of Romania.  Cluj-Napoca has a population of approximately 300,000.  We started the Mission House in May, 2005.

Presently, we are financially struggling to keep the mission operating.  When we can, our mission supports the poor, orphans, abandoned children, families, elderly and the physically and mentally challenged with medicines and medical supplies, food, clothing, housing (shelter), educational materials, programs and counseling, and we assist in other areas of need.

We do what we can to improve the quality of life for these less-fortunate people.  We also try to assist local communities with business development which will create jobs, and we work with local Christian Churches to help meet these needs.

Because of the economic problems of Romania, many of the young people are leaving Romania and going to other European Countries to work because they are unable to afford to live and go to school in Romania.  Most of these young people never return.

What can one expect from an economy that pays its general workers from $350 USD to $500 USD per month?  On top of this, others from outside the country are investing in Romania in different sectors and driving the prices within Romania out of the reach of the working-class population.  The economy is becoming out of reach for the average Romanian citizen which is pushing them deeper into poverty.

The “Cultural and Brain Tank” here is Romania is depleting.   This is not good for a country trying to redevelop its identity and culture that was destroyed by Hitler, and then by communism.

We are helping to keep the young people here in Romania to go to school, work, and someday lead the country in development, progress, industry, arts and sciences.

This was a great country prior to the Nazi invasion of 1937.   The country and its people suffered first at the hands of Hitler, then Stalin and communism.   In December, 1989, communism was defeated, and the country gained its independence.

Since its independence, Romania has been striving to rebuild its identity and economy.  The economy is trying to define itself.   It is operating on three-levels using the U.S. Dollar, the Romanian LEI (now new "LEU" - also refered to as "RON"), and the EURO.

Prices are rising but the paychecks are remaining the same.

The gap between the rich and poor is gaining momentum and becoming wider each day.   Poverty and inflation is still growing.

Mechanisms are in place to assist the poor and needy, but the country is out of money for most programs, so, in reality, there are no public programs to help these people, with the exception of very feww.  The public programs that are out there lack the basic essentials to be effective.  There are some charities and foundations from other countries assisting, but too few and far in between to really do a good joband remain effective.

We are beginning to work with a few local Churches to help meet these needs.   But, most of these churches lack even the basic necessities to operate and sustain themselves or help others.   We still have a long way to go and grow for God.

We have succeeded in many areas in helping people, but we need outside help form people like you.   We lack money, proper medical, educational and Christian resources and equipment and supplies.  Most of all, right now WE URGENTLY NEED MONEY!

One of the things we try to do to get money to keep going is to create jobs and generate business to be able to trade for other goods and services, since money is so scarce.  We currently have programs available where we can trade service like computer and information technology, software application and web site development with a team of programmers we have, with companies in the United States, for money, goods and services.   We can also locate manufacturers to produce goods for sale in the United States or for private labeling.  We also look to conduct other trades.

We then use this income-stream to help support the Mission here in Romania.  When this does not bring in enough revenue to support our mission, we have to seek direct cash donations from people and businesses like you.

Most of these people here in Romania, with the exception of the children and elderly, do not need or want charity.   What they need are jobs...good paying jobs.   They want to work and earn their pay.   They only ask for recognition and a paycheck for good work performed, which gives them dignity and self-worth, and allows them to pay their bills.   That is very little to ask from a people who were oppressed for so long.   What is considered "good wages"?  Well, good wages for one month in Romania is equivalent to $600 USD.

All of us who volunteer or work as paid workers in the ministry or public assistance sector have an overwhelming task before us here in Romania.   But, God is bigger than the task.

Though, in some sectors of industry and business, the economy is thriving.   Unfortunately, in the very prosperous sectors very little money trickles down to help the poor and needy with food, medicines, medical care, educational programs, counseling, etc.

Then, there is the medical\health sector.   The medical care in Romania leaves a lot to be desired.   Most public medical facilities (hospital and clinics) are under-funded, in poor condition, ill-equipped, and lack many of the basic medical supplies we take for granted in the U.S.

These doctors here have a tremendously difficult task before them.   The hospitals (most) need complete renovations, medical supplies and newer equipment, and some of the training facilities need to coordinate with United States and United Kingdom medical schools to bring new techniques to Romania.  Though, the Doctors and Medical Staff are good in Romania, they have very little to work with.   They do without most of the time.   It is a large task to undertake, but, as I said above, and we all know...God is bigger than the task.

Another major problem is that many parents lack parenting skills.   In addition, the abandonment of children, especially those who are physically and mentally challenged was common practice in the past here in Romania.   Not so much now as it was a few years ago.  But children here are still abandoned. Even many who are healthy are also abandoned or put on the street to beg.

You can still see street children here and there.   The Romanians are getting better equipped to deal with their social problems and issues, but you can still see the problems on the streets here in Romania.   There is still much work to be done on this social issue.

One of the social problems here is that there exists serious bias and prejudice against orphans and the handicapped for employment and housing.   Most of the population turns their back on them.   The general consensus is that they should not be living and are of no use and value to mankind.

For the most part, jobs and housing just do not exist for the mentally or physically challenged.   No employer wants to hire them and landlords do not want to rent to them.  The reason: because employers and landlords are embarrassed that these people are "different" and are afraid that their friends will shun them if they hire or house them, or that this class of people can not do the work they will be hired for.   What jobs and housing are available for these people are poor-paying and health-risk jobs, and slums to live in.   Some employers and landlords are taking the lead in hiring and providing good housing.  But, there is still a lot of work to be done in this sector of life here in Romania

This class of people want to work, are good workers, and can do the work.   They do not see their challenges, as challenges at all.   These are the most able, disabled people our Ministry has ever worked with.   All these people want is to be self-sufficient, work at a decent job, to earn a decent living, and live in decent living accommodations.   These people have dignity and feelings.   This discrimination is a tragedy and a big problem in Romania.

To help the less-fortunate here, we are now putting together a computer learning lab and trying to purchase or seek donations for computers and other equipment to teach graphic design, animation, photography, video production and media arts.   It is a slow process.  We need equipment.  We can purchase most of the electronics and build our own computers here locally but the camera equipment and other components and software we have to buy from the U.S. However, we can not do this without money!

Our Romanian Outreach Program has a staff of three, presently. All involuntary, volunteers. We are paid workers once (Smile!). It is the Love of God that keeps us going.   And, we have a volunteer part-time worker who assists us in working with the authorities and handles some of the paperwork shuffle for our Charity mission.   He has been showing our Mission Staff the ropes on the issues and the laws in Romania concerning Charities and discrimination, and introducing us to the areas of need here.   He is an orphan, has polio and walks with either crutches or uses an ill-fitting brace.   He resides with a young man who is also an orphan and was born with no hands.

One of our clients is a family consisting of a mother and 14 year old boy.   The boy has a low-level form of leukemia and is a hemophiliac.   When I originally wrote this, they were homeless and were temporarily living in the Mission House.   Then we got evicted because we ran out of money.   So, we all moved into my office at another location.  Finally, this family was able to find a room for rent.   The child requires monthly medications and vitamins.   The mother is starting to assist us in the Mission Charity work.   We would pay her to work and would pay for the child’s medication and housing, but we are out of money.

Previously, we were supported by two programs which were located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana.   Unfortunately, due to Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, money destined for our Mission in Romania was re-directed to assist the hurricane victims in the U.S.

To keep our mission operating since the hurricanes I used all of my savings, sold my laptop and iPaq, and borrowed from friends and relatives.   Unfortunately, not only did I run out of money and financial resources and things to sell, but the damage in New Orleans and Fort Lauderdale from the hurricanes was so great that the programs in Florida and Louisiana never recovered enough to start assisting us again.   So, the end result is that we are out of money and are unable to keep helping the Romanian people.

I can go on and on in telling you about the many problems we face and the many people in need here in Romania.  But telling you about it does not help them in their struggle to improve their quality of life.   We would love to assist them, but we are out of money.

We are seeking Prayers and Blessings this Christmas Season.  The Joy of Christmas was founded on the Joy of new life!  God sent His only son into the world so that we may have a new beginning.   We want to keep Christmas and Jesus alive for theses needy people here in Romania.   We need money immediately to keep going to assist the poor and needy, but we also need money to pay our employees and operating bills and to prepare for Christmas.   We need to make Christmas packages with food, clothing and medicines for the people we serve.

We would love to get items donated and shipped to us here immediately but The Government of Romania does not allow us to accept used clothing or new medicine donations from outside of the country.   Also, most other supplies we need are too expensive to buy in the U.S. and ship to Romania, so we have to purchase them locally.

If you can donate, you can either donate through our sponsor in Canada through by a Visa credit card or send a check or wire funds to our Church and Escrow attorney located in Sunrise, Florida.   Though we have missions Churches in India, Bulgaria ans Italy, they are unable to help us - they are struggling too.  There is nothing more I can add.   We are desperate!

PLEASE HELP!!!  What we need IMMEDIATELY is financial donations.  Then, we desperately need King James and Revised King James Bibles in English and other English Christian Materials.

Even though Christimas is only a few days away, you can still donate money.   We will stil have enough time between now and January 1st to give a Chritmas on time or a belated one.  Even a belated Christmas and the Celebration and Joy of the Birth of Jesus Christ is better than no Christmas at all.  As I mentioned above, we do not need much to carry us over the next several weeks.  For information about our needs and how to donate to our Mission, please click here to see OUR NEEDS page.