Mission Trip to Italy & Romania
July 20– August 10, 2010
Greetings to you and all yours in the most precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. By the grace of our Lord, the Lupancu family – Constantin and Brandusa Lupancu visited Italy and Romania.
First we were invited to Italy in the city of Ferenze at a church where a wedding ceremony was taking place for one of my family members, Corneliu Dumitrescu. The ceremony took place in the church and the reception took place in a beautiful restaurant surrounded by a vineyard during the entire afternoon. This was an event that brought together all the families from Romania and Italy. At the church, I had a message – I blessed the church and the new family with a message from the bible. Because our mission is involved in prison ministry, we tried to reach the prison from Rome and the guys that were involved in the prison ministry but the time was too short and the process of getting an approval was difficult and they could not honor our request in such a short time. Instead, we used the remaining time to visit and explore Rome, Tourino, Venice, Ferenze, and other historical sites.
Being in Rome, we remembered the Christians from the first century when they were persecuted in the Colosseum and Catacombs of Rome – this refreshed our memory with the Christians that gave their lives for Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Romanians from all over of Romania, due to the economic hardship, left the country and settled all over Italy and opened places to worship God. The local people (being devoted to God before), they showed us a cold heart and were not interested anymore in Godly things. We prayed that God would bring revival. I strongly believe that just as myself, being hungry for God, thousands of people are also hungry for more of God in their lives and we are crying for a genuine spiritual awakening over Italy and not only for Italy but all over – We need a fresh outpouring of the presence, power and glory of the Living God. I believe that there is a time of revival. God brought lots of Romanians over this land of Italy to spring up revival. However, we are yet to experience the full blast of the spirit as promised in the Scriptures. My prayer is that God will send a mighty revival over Italy. The Apostle Paul has done a great contribution to the book of Romans. Paul had been commissioned to open the eyes of the gentiles and turn them from the darkness to light.
From the power of Satan to God so that they might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus (Acts 26:18). Since no revival has occurred without increased intercession from the people through united prayer. Our hearts cry out so that Italy can have a time of revival as in the early days.
From there we flew to Romania; together with my wife and my mother-in-law, Felicia on the 28th of July. We arrived early in the morning to the city Bacau in Romania, where my brother Liviu picked us up and brought us to the city Radauti.
After a few hours of rest that evening, we went to the church in Sucevita where we were watching God moving in so many lives that night. We met that day a young brother, Catalin Sireagu from Cluj. He is a student in the field of chemistry and won the Europe Prize of Chemistry but most importantly he is a young man that believes strongly in God and God uses him powerfully with his testimony. There was a fresh anointing and God increased his flow with his presence. A lot of people were touched. The gift of prophecy was heard throughout the church at the same time, it is sad to see how many modern churches in the West have neglected and forgotten the essential role of the Holy Spirit. Yet, in the New Testament, we read about a church that was completely dependent upon the Power of the Holy Spirit and guidance was evident everywhere. The church of Jesus Christ was born in the Pentecostal Fire and the concept of a church without all the manifestations of the Holy Spirit would be considered and is a dead church. The power of the Holy Spirit in the early church was a part of the Christian experience for everyone that believed in Jesus Christ. It is for us now – to expect God to do the same – and He will move and fill us like in the church mentioned. God is using Catalin Sireagu and other youth that are dependent upon Him like the early believers to ignite the fire and the desire in many lives.
I was blessed to meet this brother and to have ministered together with him in other churches throughout Bucovina. We went to visit Dorohoi, a city that was affected severely by this years flood. The scene that confronted us was chaotic with flooded streets and homes. Citizens cleaned up their homes from mud and from their furniture and some of them sitting in a heap of mud of the home that was once was his house. One third of the entire city was flooded – something that was not only unexpected but also unprecedented. Most of the people did not have any more furniture or clothing – all their goods were full of mud. We had an opportunity to be a blessing for these people and show the world the love of Christ in purest form. We left an amount of money with the pastor Aurel Soltusu trusting him to distribute it to the families that have lost their home and others that have big needs. We also distributed some of the money directly to some families.
The believers came together as one ready to remove the mounds of mud from their neighbors’ homes and from houses that were left homeless and to feed the hundreds that were left without anything. Pastor Gradinaru’s home was flooded with over 7 feet of water barreling through the window taking with it everything that made their house a home, leaving nothing but bare walls in its wake.
Two years ago, our mission started a church building project in the northern part of Romania in a village called Mitoc Prut. By the grace of God we helped Pastor Viorel with money to finish this church and to have an inauguration soon. That was a very hot day but touched by the Love of Christ, we walked house to house to those that were sick and prayed for them and gave them words of encouragement and some money for medicine. On our way back, we stopped at the city of Botosani where we met our contacts, Petru Turcoman and Mircea Boldea and had dinner together with them.
After dinner we visited the orphanage in Botosani and helped them with a bit of money and shared testimonies of how God blessed the children raised in the orphanage throughout the past years. At night we ministered at the church in Bosanci where I met a brother named Irimia Croitoru who attended the army with me in the 1980s.
Another village that was very affected by a recent flood was Dornesti. The pastor from the area gave us a tour and we saw the many homes that were demolished and even the bridge that resisted through many floods was destroyed and required the army to build a floating bridge, which we used to cross to the other part of the village, and helped the other families that were affected.
Throughout this experience, I reacquainted myself with a lesson that although I knew in my heart to be true, had started to fade. If our hearts belong to anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ (and only Him), the pain of loss would be too much to bear. If Jesus is all we need, want, and desire – when things suddenly happen, Jesus remains every true, ever faithful, and a help that is ever present in a time of trouble.
Saturday, August 7th, together with my wife, I visited and ministered in the prison of Botosani. Hygienic goods were purchased and my wife packed 120 bags and distributed to the inmates. I ministered to them that Saturday morning from the word of God and I saw the hunger and the thirst after God in their hearts because they were so attentive. They did not move a muscle for an hour as they were paying attention. My wife was very surprised as she noticed that atmosphere, as it was her first time in prison ministry. An old friend, Severin, could not attend the meeting and so I visited his cell personally and encouraged him to be strong. We were able to visit the poor people of Campul Lung that requested our help many times.
One night, we had the opportunity to minister and to share God’s words in the church of Voitinel. And after the church service we had dinner and fellowship with the Hrisca family.
During this trip we incorporated our ministry in Romania under the name of “Nadejdea Binecuvantata†which is part of Blessed Hope International Mission, Inc. (BHIM). We expect by the grace of God to receive a land in Romania in Radauti for the future ministry development. My cousin Petrica Moloceniuc and the other team members are making necessary arrangements to acquire the land and start building schools and other facilities as God wills. Towards the end of our trip, we visited homes in a mountainous area called Falcau and families in need in Vicov.
Sunday, we ministered to a church in village Iazlovati where over twenty people got baptized in water. There was a big joy in that church and a lot of people attended. The church and streets were overcrowded. Towards the end of the mission trip, we visited my village Satu Mare with my uncle Filon Moloceniuc. We also visited the church of Dumbraveni – one of the largest and modern churches in Bucovina. We attended a wedding ceremony in Maranata Church of Radauti where my old friend Simion and Lidia Buzduga married their daughter.
We thank God for His grace that He gave to us in this trip and all that has been accomplished is for His Glory. In Phillipians 1:6, God assures us that he is continually at work in us, and will continue this work throughout our lives. Furthermore, we learn that God “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us†(Eph 3:20).
