Romania 17 Years Later (After the Communists) – Aug 1

Seventeen years ago I was in Romania to take relief to various orphanages across the country in a 1964 Mercdes-Benz Truck (It was 1990). It was six weeks after the revolution that toppled the Communists here. It was a stark land with much suffering, but it also was a country with much hope. There was next to nothing in the stores or available to the average person.

Seventeen years ago I was in Romania to take relief to various orphanages across the country in a 1964 Mercdes-Benz Truck (It was 1990). It was six weeks after the revolution that toppled the Communists here. It was a stark land with much suffering, but it also was a country with much hope. There was next to nothing in the stores or available to the average person. Nothng was more sad than to see hundreds of children absolutely stacked next to each other and rarely held. Eggs were often the food of necessity (from chickens each family raised). By now these kids have grown up and have had to mostly fend for themselves as support for them dwindles once they get older.

I have been here a week now and the country is quite different. You can still tell you are in the East, but there is more hope, I have been to Arad and Sibiu this trip. Sibiu is the European Cultural City this year. As I write Romanian folk music is blaring in the background in the city square as thousands are gathered to listen to music that is filled with Romanian history and culture. Pizza is available everywhere. I am here for the Studiorum Novi Testamentum Societas meetings. There are about 300 NT scholars here. But for me the trip is a chance to see where a nation has come in 17 years. I love the people here who are so friendly. The language sounds like a cross between Italian and French.

There also is much media here. I spoke to over 1000 in Arad this weekend at the Cultural theater on DaVinci (yes, even here), the gospel fo Judas and the tomb of Jesus, where the book is currently selling in the stores. It has been quite a trip to get back and see what is going on here. There also is a generation divide of sorts between what one Romanian said to me was post-Communism for the older generation and post-modernism for the younger folks. That is quite a clash. Pray for people here as life is still complex for many and issues that used to be unspoken are now coming out (such as addictions and wife abuse).

Below is a picture of my Romanian lecture In Arad on DaVinci, Judas and the so-called Jesus tomb. My translator is Cristian Barbosu of Romania.