In the town of Buziaș, Timiș, România, there is a Juvenile Re-education Center for boys and girls who have committed serious crimes. The primary function of this prison is to successfully integrate its occupants back into society through education and through teaching the importance of being good and productive citizens. It is truly a spiritually and emotionally dark place.
Many of these boys and girls have lived extraordinarily hard lives. Some of them have been abandoned by their families and hardly have any concept of what it is like to be loved. These boys and girls are in desperate need of being introduced to Christ and His message of love and hope.
There is a great need for a consistent Gospel presence. On our trip to Romania in March of 2016, we were able to share the Gospel with over one hundred prisoners. Twenty-five of them responded in repentance to the Gospel for the first time. On Brandon’s trip in 2017, he was able to share the Gospel with twenty different boys and they all responded in repentance to the Gospel for the first time. This is an incredible work of our great God! The problem is that we had to leave the new converts in this dark place with very little discipleship. There is a great need for weekly discipleship and a continual sharing of the Gospel to those that are lost.
In 2009, Brandon was given the opportunity through North Greenville University and Macedonian Call Ministries to go to Romania for the first time. That trip began a change in his life that God has continued to shape. He has had the privilege of going to Romania to minister and share the Gospel at the prison in Buziaș three more times. God has given him a heart for the Romanian people and specifically for the boys and girls in the prison.
In March 2016, we were able to go to Romania together for the first time. This was a life changing experience on many levels. We prayed for several weeks leading up to the trip that God would provide clarity, unity, and peace as we considered becoming full-time missionaries to Romania. After that trip, and through much prayer and seeking wise counsel, we fully believe that God is calling us and we are stepping out in faith to go. We are partnering with the Crossing Church and Macedonian Call Ministries as our sending organizations.
1. The prison will have a consistent weekly Gospel presence.
Currently, there are 190 boys and 20 girls in the prison and they have limited access to the Gospel. There are some Romanian Christians that have a heart for ministering to the boys and girls but are limited in the amount of time that they can spend in the prison. Many of the boys have responded positively to the Gospel and some have even responded in repentance and have received salvation by grace through faith, but they do not have sufficient discipleship available to them. We will be able to go into the prison on a weekly basis and disciple the new converts and continue to evangelize those who are lost.
2. The prison will be a launching pad for church planting across Romania.
The boys and girls come from all over Romania. As we build relationships with the prisoners, we will find out what areas they are from and attempt to reach out to their families. By making partnerships with other Romanian Christians and missionaries that live in the same areas, we will connect the prisoners’ families with a local body of believers. If there is not a good Bible teaching church where they live, the families of the prisoners have potential to become new church plants.
3. We will create a sustainable infrastructure so that the ministry will continue after we leave.
This process will require multiple partnerships with other Christians throughout Romania and in the United States. We will build strong relationships with Gospel-centric churches that we can trust to continue investing in the young converts and their families after the prisoners are home. We will also connect with other missionaries that may be living in different areas of Romania. It is essential to keep the new converts connected to a local church body that will continue to love them and invest in their spiritual growth.
The second aspect of this goal is to find someone to continue the ministry in the prison when we are gone. We are and will be continually and prayerfully seeking out a Romanian National that God will lead to partner with us and continue the ministry after we have left. In order for the ministry to continue after we leave, there will have to be continual financial support coming from American Christians and churches.
Romanian Missions Team
Ovidiu & Adina Patrick
Sam "Sami" Bejinar
Daniel & Claudia Bagoși
