The Romania Ministry

A letter for anyone who feels called to start or participate in a ministry in Romania...

Proverbs 1:20-22 --- "Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:  She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge."

My purpose in writing this is so that anyone who may feel called to start, or participate in, a ministry in Romania, may learn ahead of time from some of my mistakes. I would hope that you would receive this as word of caution and profit by it. I have always tried to learn from other’s mistakes and hopefully you can learn from mine.

In the 14 years that I have been working in Romania, I have started one association and one foundation, and because of mistakes I am now starting a second foundation.

Sometimes it’s easier to start over than to try to repair the mistakes. Do try to get it right the first time and it will save you a lot of trouble later.  Also, in these years, I have been able to ship 64 cargo containers from the USA to Romania which contained food, clothing, medical supplies, Christian literature, toys, etc.  With some containers, there have been many problems.  But with most, there have been no problems at all.  I have also purchased land and vehicles.  So I have had a variety of different experiences in the years I worked in Romania.

I can say these things from my experiences and also from the experiences that have been shared with me by others. I hope they will help you:

1)     Please, if you consider joining into any sort of legal agreement with Romanians before you sign anything, have the document legally translated. There are “official / legal” translators in every city in the country and before you yoke yourself in any way please have a very clear understanding of what you are signing and what it says. I would recommend that you talk to other American missionaries and ask them to direct you to a reputable attorney to explain the documents to you

2)     Know that the best of intentions will get you and whomever you are trusting in trouble. The key to any of your relationships in Romania is accountability. Be clear about what any moneys are for and that they are not to be used for other purposes. Often money goes to “good” uses but not the use you sent or designated it for.  An example:  A close friend was given money to have a roof on an orphanage repaired but the director of the orphanage wanted to use the money for gas for his car. It became quite a battle that would not have been won by my friend if the money would have been in the hands of the director. You may find that you have different priorities than your Romanian coworkers. Be clear and firm.

3)     Sponsorship is common in Romania. There are sponsorships for food for the poor. There are sponsorships for orphans. There are sponsorships for elderly. There are sponsorships for widows. There are sponsorships for employees.  Be careful. Many people do not give it a second thought, but it is common for the group receiving the moneys for sponsorship also receives money from some other source like the government, or other donations for the same purpose. Thus, they can allow both parties to be provided with receipts for the funds used in the program and then pocket the difference. I know this very scheme was run by a now defunked old folks home gathering money from one or more charity in Europe and also from the Romanian government. Workers at the home benefited from this scheme for years before it was uncovered. The charity could see the work being done and get copies of all the receipts and the government also. Everyone was happy until it was discovered - then everyone felt like a poor steward.

4)     Sadly, many of those implicated in various schemes are people who are active in churches - pastors and deacons, as well as others.  So please don’t let the fact that someone is a member in a church, or recommended by a pastor, cause you to let down your guard.  Sadly, even some of those who suffered for Christ during the communist era have taken advantage of well-meaning people wanting to help. 

5)     Romanians have an uncanny way of knowing what you want to hear, so it really appears that you are on the same page when, in fact, they think you are completely wrong or silly with your idea or plan.  You will probably not know until it’s too late.

I say these things so that one month, or one year, or five years down the road you do not become discouraged in finding that the intent the Lord placed on your heart had gone to some other purpose.

As a safe guard, please seek advice from foreigners in Romania - people from your own country or those working in Romania from somewhere outside of eastern Europe. These people can often help you get past potholes. Many of these people have been in the country for years or can point you to someone that is working in the field where you are interested in working and can give you a huge jump start.

I do not say this to discourage you from coming to Romania and serving the Lord here, or from contributing to one of many on-going works in Romania. The Lord loves the Romanian people and wants His house to one day be filled with Romanians as well as many others.

Even after all that I have been through - the hurts, disillusionment, disappointments - I still feel a sincere love for the people and for the country of Romania. I do regret so many mistakes that I have made through the years, but I also look forward to what the Lord will do in the future. I hope that this will be a blessing and a help to you. I wish I had known these things in 1995, before I began in Romania.

In His Service,

Johnny Huffman

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