How effective are hospital, orphanage, educational, and camp ministries in Romania? What are the needs?

• As you know, we work in hospitals and have found many openings and needs that are not being fulfilled.
• Most of the orphanages a few years ago were being cared for well by western aid organizations.  The competition is so tough to work there that you really need to have deep pockets to be accepted.  It has become big business and tends to be corrupt.  There are opportunities but you have to really get into the boonies to avoid the corruption.  Usually there is someone who is informally the one who makes connections between the orphanage and the foreigner. They get very territorial and usually take a cut of the proceeds whether you know it or not.  Personally, I would avoid orphanages.
• Schools consider themselves taken care of spiritually because they have religion classes.  There are opportunities to work in schools teaching the computer or English.  That can open the doors to other things. English classes are good door-openers anywhere in Romania.  Many people are using these effectively.
• Kids and sports camps are done but you really need a partner to do follow-up so that you really make a difference in kids' lives.  Otherwise it is just a way for a missionary to make a living.

There are few non-legalistic Protestant churches.  I find that the Orthodox make the best partners for such work (as with all work in Romania).

Where is the church at now spiritually in comparison to 5 years ago?

Not much has happened in the past 5 years.  It won't in the next 5 years.  Things move slowly here.  It will take 10 years to notice any change and I don't expect that to be much.  Romania moves slowly in every area. For more information, read "Mission to Romania"(Prochnau T. May 2001) and "Romanian faiths and their impact on society" (LaBrie L, January 2002)

What is the attitude of the people?

This is an essay question, not short-answer, but I'll try to make it short. The top adjectives I would use are materialistic, discouraged and disillusioned.  TV has misled them to think that modern life brings money quickly and easily.  Half would elect Ceaucescu, the dictator that ruled for over 40 years. That is why they voted Ion Iliescu back into power in 2001. President Traian Basescu seems to be making some progress with corruption in the upper echelons of the government. I never noticed much corruption in the lower echelons, but it is my opinion that people are more dishonest in 2005 than they were 8 years ago.

Where do you see the greatest needs in Romania?

Teaching, teaching, teaching.  I have a vision for a team of a computer teacher, a business teacher, and a church planter to come in and establish a loving Protestant church that is practical and alive.  People don't know how to succeed.  In virtually all third-world countries, as David Landes points out in his fantastic book The Poverty and Wealth of Nations (New York: WW Norton & Company, 1998), the greatest needs are technology, understanding of capitalism, initiative, and ethics.  This explains the composition of my dream-team.    The Repenter (nominally evangelical) pastors are uneducated and reinforce the superstitions of the people.  They don't understand the Gospel and don't consider it as a relationship and a lifestyle, not just a dress-code.

Do you take short-term ministries?

Honestly, missionaries believe that short-term teams (anything shorter than 6 months) can serve the following purposes:

1. introduce the team to the ministry
2. inspire the team to a world vision
3. help individuals to determine if long-term work is their calling.
4. entertain the locals

The approximate costs for a month (in $US, in the villages (double each for approximations in Bucharest), as of 1/2006) are as follows:

	Single	Couple
Housing	140	140
Utilities	80	140
Food	80	170
Tithe (Long-term only)	70	90
Other personal items	70	140
Taxes (Long-term only)	100	190
Recreation	50	100
Transportation	70	140
Donor Relations (Long-term only)	130	260
Hospitality/Outreach	10	10
Equipment (Long-term only)	20	50
Correspondence (Long-term only)	10	20
Phone/Fax	10	10
Language Study (Long-term only)	70	140
Visa related expenses (Long-term only)	10	20
Health Insurance (Long-term only)	110	220
Other business expenses	20	50
TOTAL	Short-term 530 Long-term 1050	Short-term 900 Long-term 1890

What will we be doing all day?

That depends on your interest. We must cater each work to the objectives desired.

Do you have any more questions? Write me at 
 

Please send me an application. Return to top of page

Go to front page of Liv-n-Letliv