Red Dacia Voyage

It was noon on Saturday when I got to his home in Agighiol after travelling by bus the 17 km from Tulcea.
Before leaving we loaded up his car trailer - the one in which we carried the goats last time (see Goat Aid) - with second hand clothes and shoes that were left over from a previous foreign aid delivery.
I still had no idea where we were going and so naturally, just before hitting the road, I asked him.
He said 'we are going to Afghanistan!!!'
Indeed, when we stepped into Rahmanu village, I realized it was not very far from truth. It 's a place I had never been to and although it's in our county, in many ways it's a different world.

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Rahmanu is 100 km from Agighiol, a forgotten land in every sense - by people, but not by God, who sends His messengers time and again.

You know, one hundred kilometres here is like one thousand in England! When we arrived at about eight o'clock on Saturday evening, brother Anane had to repair the rear signalling lights of the trailer. They had broke after exhausting hours driving on the incredibly harsh road.

The land is dry and not good for agriculture, due to the lack of water. There are no woods or lakes around and no industry either. With the collapse of communism, the only source of work - the state owned farm - faded away. Left without any jobs, most of the people I met were like half withered plants.
Here to this hopeless land in 1996 came Pastor Anane and Brother Arion, guided by the Holy Spirit to bring the Good News. Through them the Lord planted a church which now counts over 30 members (plus five others to be baptized soon).

Rahmanu10a The man in charge of running the church there is Remus. Actually the church is in his house. Just like in Acts 1:13 - except it's not an upper room but a ground room, and there are more than the eleven disciples regularly praying together.

Remus has five small children. Two of them you can see them giving us an angelical look in front of their church house.
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During the divine service I spoke, but when brother Anane began to speak his face changed and... I felt strongly, as never before, the presence of the Lord's Spirit. The most edifying spiritual songs I ever heard were those in this church.

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After the evening service we stayed overnight with Remus. The next morning we had another service during which he gave the Lord's Supper.

Afterwards we brought inside the sacks full of second hand clothes and everyone took as much as he could.

Remus received a goat last year on the same terms as our recent 'Goat Aid' expedition. This year the goat had a baby which was given to someone else in the church. It now provides them with milk.
Of course another goat would make a great difference to the everyday life of this family of seven persons.

Pastor Anane lives in the village of Agighiol with his wife and son, supporting his family by working a small plot of arable land as well as bee-keeping. As the regional pastor for Tulcea county he is the one who ordained pastor Cristi of the Emanuel church in Tulcea (to which I belong).

His missionary work throughout Tulcea County actually began many decades ago under the communist regime. Under severe repression he combined his calling with his official occupation as an electrician. In fact, his old red Dacia has been serving the Lord for over 25 years, and it is still doing just that!
When we travelled around recently on our goat delivering mission I was amazed to see that he knew just about everybody we met through the villages! They were his spiritual children and he loved and cared for them just like a loving father.
Brother Anane reminds me of saint Paul every time I see him: He lives more for others than for himself. When he speaks from the pulpit, I know it is the Holy Spirit talking through him. He is one of few men I know who has really suffered for Jesus (in the past, under communism).

Miti.

We left this worlds-end place with promises that we will not forget them and will be back. Then we set off for our next port of call - Ciucurova. But before getting to this village I witnessed a biblical scene...
in a village called Topolog we stopped to see two brothers that brother Anane baptized some time ago. (From time to time he comes here to bring spiritual and material food to these hungry souls). The family come from a very poor background, the old man cannot walk and his wife is sick, too. They are the only Pentecostals in the village and are subject to constant persecution.
They live in a house owed by their children and grand children. Because there is no more room for their sick old parents they put them outside in the entry door to the house. ( what will they do in the winter time?)

For more than one hour he sat carefully listening to them. I was humbled by his ability to listen to other people's worries. He listened and spoke to people that very few would stop to speak to.

Poor but not defeated - The family at Topolog.

Before leaving Topolog we had to repair a puncture. The old Dacia might give signs of tiredness, but not brother Anane!

Our next stop was the church in Ciucurova. Here again we had a divine service. I spoke and brother Anane gave the Lord's Supper. This church has about 15 members, but very animated by the Holy Spirit. The atmosphere in the church was highly spiritual and I felt extraordinary. Here, as everywhere, Pastor Anane seems to know everyone and is able to come alongside them in their personal problems.
The local church leader told us a story... He recently found a bag that had fallen from a car, full of papers and a lot of money and a credit card inside. To cut the story short, he managed to find the owner - a young student girl - and gave her back the bag on behalf of the Lord. The girl gave the church about 10 pounds. They added another two pounds and bought a goat for a very poor couple in the church. We got back to Agighiol at about five Sunday afternoon.