Remarkable Breakthroughs in Romania

God has given Gheorghe (George) & Lidia Sortan, and now Cristi & Simona, their son and daughter-in-law, a remarkable burden for the Romani people. The Romani people, colloquially known as Gypsies, make up over 8% of the Romanian population and as Gheorghe puts it, are largely a “rejected and neglected people who live on the fringes of society.”

The good news, however, is that God loves to work amongst the rejected and neglected by blessing them and bringing them into His forever family. Recently Gheorghe and his family are thankful for three stories of remarkable breakthroughs amongst the Romani people in Romania. 

A Story of God’s Word Not Returning Empty 

In Isaiah 55:11 (NIV) the Lord declares, “my word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” This is what Catalin & Ioana, who live in Gura Raului, recently experienced. 

Fifteen years ago, when the church in Gura Raului was first planted, Catalin & Ioana, who are now married with two children, attended the children’s ministry where they heard the gospel taught. As teenagers, they stopped attending church. 

Recently, Catalin bought a rosary bracelet from an orthodox monastery. During the night he heard God’s voice speaking to him in a dream, saying; “Why do you have other gods? I am the only God.” The next morning, He awoke to find the rosary bracelet was broken. The dream returned the following night so Catalin reached out to George who shared the gospel with him. 

Catalin & Ioana have since trusted in Christ, and are attending Gheorghe’s home church in Sibiu, where they are actively involved. To which Gheorghe fittingly concluded, “The Lord’s word will not return without bearing fruit.”

A Story of Repentance that Leads to Salvation

In another village where a church has been recently planted Gheorghe reports that a young Christian man fell into sexual sin. As the news became public many in the village blamed the church and it was feared that this would adversely impact evangelistic efforts and the reputation of the church.

Thankfully, however, the young man repented and publicly asked for forgiveness. As Paul states in 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV) “godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.” Which was the case in this man’s life, as well as for 19 others in this small village, who in subsequent months came to faith. Gheorghe commented that he had never seen God work in such a way before, but is not surprised, because the gospel is powerful to save and Christ has promised to build His church.

A Story of God making All Things Beautiful in His Time

Arguably the greatest breakthrough for Gheorghe is seeing how God is working in and through the Romanian Church to reach the Romani people. He noted, “it has taken 20 years for the Romanian Christians to get involved in the Gypsy work, but now that they see how God has changed the lives of many Gypsies and is raising up preachers from the church plants, they are getting more and more involved.” For example, many Romanian Christians volunteered their time and donated money to help build the fourth Gypsy church building in Geoagiu. Which brings to mind the words found in Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV1984), “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

Gheorghe & Lidia are thankful for these remarkable breakthroughs, appreciate Cristi & Simona joining them in the work, and are praying that God would raise up others with passion and love to join them in their work with the Gypsies.