Eastern Europe’s harvest fields in urgent need of cultivation: Short-term mission report to Romania
First arrival in Romania’s capital
On the evening of November 2, 2007, my husband and I (Wen Yingqian and Wu Guiying) flew to Bucharest International Airport, the capital of Romania. After clearing customs, I saw Pastor Chen Qifang and Sister Wang who came to pick me up at the airport, and I felt very friendly. Preacher Chen is from Hong Kong and currently serves as the liaison officer for the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM, headquartered in the UK) in Europe. She travels around Europe to preach and often comes to assist the "Romanian Chinese Christian Church" in Buenos Aires. Everyone calls her For Teacher Chen. In order to lead our short-term mission, Teacher Chen came to Brisbane from the UK a few days ago.
It was already Friday evening when we arrived, and there were many cars entering the city. It took more than two hours to get from the airport to the reserved accommodation. Brother Zheng from the Chinese church entertained us with a rich dinner. That night we stayed at the "Gospel Center", an apartment rented by the church in the center of the city. It had only one bedroom and one living room and was used as a church office, a temporary residence for preachers, and a place for daily prayer meetings and class training. From the second day until we left on November 12, Teacher Chen arranged for us to stay at the home of Brother Jin, an enthusiastic young couple nearby. Two members of our church’s short-term mission team had just stayed here in September, and now they came to host us again.
▲The sumptuous dinner at the Gospel Center made the short-term mission team, who were tired of travel, feel the joy of entertaining each other in the Lord’s love!
Romania’s current political and economic situation
Romania's land area is 6.6 times that of Taiwan, but its population is almost the same as Taiwan's, with 22.3 million people (2007). It is a Christian country in terms of religious beliefs: Orthodox Christians 86.8%, Protestants 7.5%, Catholics 4.7%, and others include a small number of Muslims and people with no religious beliefs (2002 census results). Romania broke away from communist rule in 1990 and is currently a republic. Seventeen years later, it is still a middle-income developing country economically. In 2006, the average gross national income per person was US$4,850 (neighboring Bulgaria was US$3,990). US dollars, Turkey US$5,400, Poland US$8,190, Hungary US$10,950).
Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union (EU) at the same time on New Year's Day 2007, bringing the number of EU members to twenty-seven countries with a total population of about 500 million. Compared with many wealthy EU members such as Germany, France, and Italy, these two countries still have a lot of room for improvement, especially in their economic and political systems, which will face major reforms. In order to enable the poorer new member states to catch up with the original EU countries economically, the EU headquarters has provided substantial assistance to these two countries in recent years to improve their infrastructure, resulting in the rapid economic development of these two countries.
Background of the Chinese Church in Buchford
After mainland China’s reform and opening up in the 1980s, people began to immigrate to Eastern Europe, including Romania, to do business. In the 1990s, more and more Chinese people poured into Romania. Most of them came from Wenzhou and Qingtian areas in Zhejiang Province. A few came from Luoyang, Kaifeng and Zhengzhou in Henan Province. They mainly lived in the Europa area of Str. Colentina in the northeast of Buenos Aires. ) rented a stall to do wholesale business, selling products from China.
In June 1994, God sent COCM Pastor Zhang Yaoxun to lead a seven-member short-term mission team to Bu City where Chinese people gathered to visit one by one the places where they do business, and gathered several believers to start a fellowship meeting. After that, preachers often came to preach and preach the gospel to them. In the summer of 1995, Missionary Li Mingren from Chicago began to help in the city. In 1996, the first group of thirteen believers were baptized. In 1997, the Bethany Baptist Church in the city was found as the Sunday gathering place until now. In April 2000, the Chinese Church in Bucheng was officially established. The Lord continued to increase the number of people being saved and gathering. It is a pity that Pastor Li Mingren left for some reasons soon, and there has been no fixed pastor to lead the past few years. Fortunately, COCM arranges for Mr. Chen to come here often to help. In addition, short-term mission teams from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom come from time to time, so that church members can improve their lives and All are supported spiritually. Currently, the number of people who come to the church for worship on Sundays has exceeded 100, and the gatherings are held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
▲In addition to the urgent need for full-time preachers, the Chinese church in Buenos Aires also needs to build or purchase a church. It is not a long-term solution to continue to use the Luoguo church.
Short-term missionary schedule is tight
The "Maryland Chinese Bible Church" to which we belong has been burdened with the Chinese churches in Brooklyn since 1999. In July 1999, Pastor Liu Chuanzhang of the church led a six-member short-term mission team to Bu City for the first time, and then successively sent short-term mission teams here. This is our seventh visit. The purpose of this trip is to train, preach and visit members. It is of a discipleship training nature. It only lasts eleven days, and the program is quite compact.
According to the itinerary arranged by the church for us, except for the Sunday worship time on two Sunday afternoons, where Yinggan preached, most of us went with Teacher Chen in the morning from Saturday the day after arrival to the next Saturday. Visiting members at the market where Chinese people gather on Gaoliangdi Street. In the afternoon, I attended a Bible study class held at a friend’s house on the first Saturday, and a regular prayer meeting at the gospel center on Thursday. On the remaining days, we and I took turns taking turns to train the members in two courses, each lasting about an hour. .
The hinterland of Buzhou City is very large. Many retailers come from the suburbs and other places in the early morning or early in the morning to buy goods in bulk and bring them back for sale. The Chinese usually get up at four in the morning, go to the market to start business at five o'clock, and close their stalls around noon; therefore, Church members can come to class every afternoon, which is a major feature of the local Chinese church.
The first course, "A Life of Growth and Victory," is a condensed version of a basic course we take at Maryland Bible Church's Sunday School. The content includes living after God's heart, church and faithful service, spiritual warfare, and Temptations, etc.; the second course "Harmonious Kinship" uses biblical principles to explain how to "build a functional Christian family", including the relationship between husband and wife, parent-child relationship, and relative relationship. The class was held at the Gospel Center. Although the venue was small, everyone was crowded together, so the atmosphere was warm and the members interacted well with us.
▲The Chinese in Luo Guo usually come early in the morning to buy goods in bulk and take them home for sale; members can come for equipment classes every afternoon, which is a major feature of the local Chinese church.
There are many Chinese people visiting the market
Market visits are our morning activity. Usually after a simple breakfast, Teacher Chen takes us to visit the Yuroba area where Chinese people gather to do business.
Bu City is the largest city in the Kingdom of Luo, with a population of about 2.3 million, accounting for 10% of the population of the Kingdom of Luo. Because roads are being built everywhere with subsidies from the European Union, coupled with rapid economic growth and the rapid increase in private cars, the traffic in Buenos Aires is very congested. We experienced this when we first arrived at the Romanian gate on Friday night. The next morning after we arrived, Teacher Chen took us to take a minibus from the square near the gospel center to the market. We saw that both the big and minibuses were packed, and there was an endless flow of people in front of our eyes. We had to wait for a long time before the minibus came. We stopped, got in the car and didn't have a seat yet, so we bumped along Gaoliangdi Street in the traffic for ten minutes before we arrived at the market. In the next few days, church brothers would come to the gospel center to pick us up or take a taxi when we went to the market. It's the same every time, the traffic is heavy and it takes a long time to get to the destination.
There are two open-air markets here, called Niro and Europa by the Chinese. Each has several small streets with stalls on both sides, with goods in the front and warehouses in the back. The Chinese who came here in the early days rented stalls. Later, as the economic situation improved, they gradually bought stalls. The open-air market is severely cold in winter and scorching hot in summer. A cold wave has hit these days, with the temperature often ranging from zero to ten degrees Celsius. Walking on the bustling streets still feels cold. The Chinese have gradually migrated to the nearby large indoor shopping mall called Dragonul Rosu in recent years.
According to informal statistics, there are 20,000 Chinese in Buenos Aires. According to statistics in September 2006, there are 8,000 Chinese registered businesses in Romania, most of which are engaged in import and export trade. Most of the goods are imported from China and wholesaled to retailers from all over the country in the market on Kaoliangdi Street. In recent years, Chinese entrepreneurs have raised funds to build Red Dragon shopping malls next to Nile and Europa. Six buildings have been completed. After the entire project is completed, this area will develop into a large Chinatown with wholesale shopping malls, exhibition venues, and hotels. , office buildings and large residential buildings.
In the past few mornings, we have been "parading" with Teacher Chen in Nile, Europa Market and Red Dragon Shopping Mall. We met brothers and sisters from the church everywhere. They all greeted us cordially when they saw us. We also met sisters who had not come to the gathering for a while. Teacher Chen I would take the initiative to ask her to sit down and pray for her and her family together. We also took the opportunity to distribute the tracts to the Chinese who were setting up stalls nearby and had not yet believed in the Lord. The church members who do business in the shopping mall are very enthusiastic. Every day at noon and evening, the church members take turns hosting, entertaining Teacher Chen and us with sumptuous meals in the restaurant or at home. The enthusiasm is palpable.
▲In the 1990s, more and more Chinese people poured into Romania, and the Red Dragon Mall under construction will develop into a large Chinatown.
Serious attitude in Sunday worship
On the morning of the first Sunday after we arrived, a couple named Brother Jin took Teacher Chen and us to visit and take photos in front of the Capitol Building, as well as to the headquarters church of the Orthodox Church, where we saw many devout believers receiving the sacraments. This is the only scenic spot sightseeing we did on this short trip, and it takes less than two hours. After lunch, we went directly to the Baptist church to worship; after that, we followed Teacher Chen to the home of a co-worker, Brother Xu, to attend their co-workers’ meeting (and dinner). About ten co-workers attended, and they seriously discussed their attitudes towards church affairs. We were very moved, especially since we had to go to the market early the next morning to do business, but they still served diligently.
The second Sunday service included a communion ceremony. What impresses us is that all baptized members must stand up to receive Holy Communion with a serious and serious attitude, which is worth learning. After learning that we had a professional background in finance, the church members asked Ying Gan to give a special topic "Christian Biblical Ways to Manage Money" after the Sunday service. The main content emphasizes that the ability to earn money is given by God; all our property belongs to the Lord, and we should be a good steward before God and manage the property that belongs to the Lord. After the session, some brothers came forward and told Ying Gan that this topic was exactly what they needed.
Brave the wind and rain during class training
We will start class on Monday (November 5th) afternoon. It rained in the morning, so I thought there might not be many people coming to class. But when we arrived at the gospel center before 3:30, several brothers and sisters had already arrived. Soon people came in one after another, and eventually the entire place was filled. There were even people sitting in the corridors and bedrooms. It was estimated that there were about forty people. Guiying began to lead the arriving members to sing hymns. In the warm room, the atmosphere was very lively with the singing. Then she gave the first lesson on "A Life of Growth and Victory". Everyone listened attentively, read the Bible loudly and in unison, and actively participated in answering questions. In the second session, Ying Qian started the first lecture on "The Kinship Relationship of Harmony". After two hours, they seemed to respond very well, which gave us great encouragement.
In the afternoon classes of the next few days, despite the cold weather, the gospel center was filled with serious members, some of whom even had babies, and Teacher Chen volunteered as a nanny in the kitchen. Seeing that many sisters in the church are enthusiastic about serving, but many of them have husbands who have not yet believed in the Lord, Ying Gan talked about a special topic "How to Preach the Gospel to Unbelieving Husbands" to encourage those whose husbands have not yet believed in the Lord. Sister, strengthen your faith more, have good testimonies, pray more, entrust your unbeliever husbands and family members to God, and let them believe in the Lord.
The Prospects of the Chinese Church in Bruce
After eleven days of intensive contact and fellowship, we have established good friendships with many brothers and sisters in the church. They welcomed us to come back for short-term missions. Maybe they were polite, but we felt their love deeply.
The Chinese church here is still small and there is a lot of room for evangelism. Buddhism and other religious forces are also actively preaching to the local Chinese people. It is worth seizing the time to help equip the members here to become more solid in their faith in order to spread the gospel to the local Chinese people.
The characteristic of the church members is that most of them are engaged in business. They started to work in the world at a very young age. They also got married and had children at an early age. They have rich social experience. Although most of them have not received a college education, they are very pursuing after they believe in the Lord. I usually leave early in the morning and return in the afternoon, and I am willing to come to class from afternoon to evening to receive equipment. It is very suitable for preachers or lay believers who are well equipped in their faith to do intensive training. It is better to have systematic courses rather than come in piecemeal form. Christians with professional backgrounds can also come here to teach them the knowledge they need, such as stress management, marriage counseling, medical health, investment and financial management, logistics management, financial management and business management, etc. In addition, during this trip, we had the opportunity to meet several local overseas Chinese business leaders who are very interested in the Christian faith. It is worth following up with them by Christians with professional backgrounds.
In addition to the urgent need for full-time preachers, the church also needs to build or purchase its own church. It is not a long-term solution to continue to borrow Luo Guo Church. Romania's political and economic stability has been stable in the past ten years. After joining the European Union, its prospects have become more promising. Real estate has soared. Because the church does not have a full-time pastor, members are hesitant and have lost many opportunities to purchase land and build churches. In fact, although it is necessary to do so now, The price is high and still worth it.
Benefited a lot from studying on short-term missions
The people who benefited the most from this short-term missionary trip were my husband and me. I would like to share the following lessons learned and thoughts:
1. Working together as a couple to engage in short-term missionary work not only helps us grow spiritually, but also makes our relationship stronger by serving and praying together. The two took turns as lecturers and encouraged each other to make further progress in our lectures, preaching and evangelism skills.
2. We learned a lot from the brothers and sisters in the Bucheng church in the prayer ministry, especially the prayer meeting on Thursday afternoon. We all knelt on the ground to praise and pray to God with one heart, and sang spiritual songs. We felt filled with the Holy Spirit. of joy.
3. During the short-term mission, you must obey the guidance, arrangements and work assignments of the leading pastor and co-workers (for example, Teacher Chen this time), learn to have good "co-workers" with local co-workers, and pay attention to the culture of the local church. It is not appropriate to rely on Make up your own mind about your own likes and dislikes.
4. Follow-up can be carried out, not only for Christians in the city, but also in other workshops:
1. During the short-term mission, some brothers and sisters specifically came to us to share their concerns, which made us feel that we needed more equipment in marriage and family counseling.
2. Some sisters’ husbands have not yet believed in the Lord. Through lectures and discussions, we have gained a little understanding of this ministry. We hope to be further equipped in this area in the future to help more Christian sisters whose husbands have not yet believed in the Lord.
3. The response to this lecture on "Biblical Financial Management" seemed to be good. After the lecture, a brother came up and said, "This is exactly the course we need." He hoped that Christians could be edified in this area more systematically in the future.
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missionary outpost
The founding purpose of the "Kingdom of God Resources for Christ Association" is to mobilize various professional resources of the Kingdom of God for the main use. Therefore, we have always been actively connecting with referral channels for various services. If you are well equipped in your faith and profession, I hope you can go to Romania or other Eastern European countries through churches or organizations such as COCM to do short-term missionary work in training and evangelizing local Chinese churches, especially if you are retired or have grown-up children. Large Christian couple.
COCM website: http://www.cocm.org.uk/
Author profile
Wen Yingqian and Wu Guiying are from Taiwan. They both retired from the World Bank affiliated with the United Nations. They are members of the Chinese Bible Church in Maryland, USA. They have a daughter and a son. They are already married.