Medieval Hunedoara
Romania is definitely the “old country.” The architecture is amazing and even more amazing is the age of the buildings. Hunedoara is the home of the Hunedoara Castle built in 1320. (And you thought your house was old!) 50 rooms, 4 circular towers, 3 rectangular towers, winding staircases, a moat surrounding the castle, and even a drawbridge, all make this castle exactly what you would picture a medieval castle in Eastern Europe should look like. As we walked through the courtyards, hallways, knight’s room, and throne room, all I could think to myself is “what if these walls could talk!” Actually, I’m not so sure that I would want to know what they might say!
Our Evangelistic Crusade was held at the largest hall in Hunedoara, “Sala Siderurgisdul”. The acoustics were amazing. I could just hear myself singing one of the Italian Operetta’s from my voice lesson days at Grand Rapids Baptist College with the melody ringing throughout the building with no microphone needed. The crowd wasn’t nearly as large as in 2008 due to a storm that was rolling in. Most of the people had to walk to get there and the pastor’s said they believed that is why it wasn’t full. There were probably 800 – 900 people despite the threat of the storm, which began shortly after we left the hall. The hall was used during the communist days by the steel workers union, which was the main source of industry for many years. In fact, some of the steel manufactured for the Eifel Tower in Paris came from these factories. In its day, the hall was also used for the proclamation of the glory of communism, and here we were, proclaiming the gospel, praising Jesus Christ, encouraging the saints, and watching lives transform as they came down the aisles to accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior. If those walls could talk, they would now proclaim the goodness of the Lord, rather than the glory of communism. What a difference!
Inviting Romanians to walk down the aisle to accept Christ and have a trained counselor pray with them is a new concept for the Romanian churches. It was evident that the Pastor’s were a little nervous about the whole experience, but they cooperated and trained counselors before our arrival. One Pastor shared with me that Romanians are afraid to prompt people too much to accept Christ because they do not want it to be an emotional experience, but an intellectual one. I have been speaking all week about the Samaritan women at the well that Jesus engaged in conversation, and one of my points was how Jesus touched her emotions. He said that it really meant a lot to him that I pointed out that fact and he knows that he needs to be bolder and more confident in inviting people to accept Christ. What a blessing to once again know that one simple point had such an impact!
If you read my last blog, “The Children of Romania”, you read about my curiosity with the teens of Romania. The hall was filled with them and many wanted to engage me in conversation. One young man told me that he accepted Christ at our crusade in 2008. He came from a Greek Orthodox family and he now attends a Pentecostal Church in Hunedoara and is growing in his faith. His family is okay with this change because his father now considers him a man and he is capable of making his own decisions. He is praying for their salvation. Another young man, who learned English by watching English speaking movies, ended up as my translator at the door at the end of the concert. I had gone to the foyer while the service was being closed and he engaged me in conversation. As the people came out he was so impressed that I would stand by the door and thank people for coming that he asked if he could stand with me. He tried to teach me a few parting phrases to use with the Romanians as they exited, try as I have, I will never remember them. He commented that most of the people were saying in either Romanian or English “God Bless You” to me, but when he greeted them, they only said “Peace” in Romanian. He asked why I get the blessing of God from them as an American Pastor and he only got their wish for peace! He said he figured it was because he was not important. I assured him that he was important and he agreed. Another man approached me with a translator to tell me that he accepted Christ at our crusade in 2008 and he told me that also was a Greek Orthodox. He had been living in Toronto, Canada and he was in Romania to visit his 4 year old. He explained that he was divorced and he was living in Toronto because he could make a better living. Well get this, after his conversion, he went back to Toronto and resumed his life there until he became convicted that his 4 year old needed to hear about Jesus too. He moved back to Romania so that he could see his son and influence him for Christ. He now attends Holy Trinity Church in Deva, where we held a crusade earlier in the week, and he gets his son almost every weekend and takes him to Holy Trinity. He went on to say that he lives poor in Romania, but one day he will live in God’s house and he knows he will be taking his son with him, and that makes a life of poverty worth living. Talk about the transforming power of God!
I could tell more stories of the conversations I was engaged in at this crusade, but you will have to wait to hear more of them at another time.
Our time in Hunedoara has come to an end and as I write this blog we are on our way (an 8 hour drive) to Bucharest, the capitol city of Romania. I know that this will not be my last trip to Hunedoara, Lord willing, and I look forward to so much more.
Pastor Al