NCM Child Sponsorship Begins in Tigmandru Church

On Easter Sunday morning, the Church of the Nazarene in the village of Tigmandru, Romania, was filled with the sound of children singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” This is a song that many of us grew up singing. While we may share this in common with the Tigmandru children, chances are that in many other areas, our childhoods were quite different from theirs.

Childhood in Tigmandru
Many children in Tigmandru are growing up in homes where their parents lack steady employment. In many cases, the parents never finished high school and lack professional training. This means the only way they can provide for their families is to take whatever seasonal agricultural jobs they can find – like spending long hours planting or harvesting crops or collecting walnuts in the forests. Often one or both parents will leave Tigmandru for months at a time to work in Western European countries, saving up money to support their families. This means leaving children at home with extended family members while they are away.

Many children in Tigmandru grow up in families started when their parents, as teenagers, dropped out of school. Because they had children of their own when they were so young, these parents often lack the life skills to raise their children in the healthiest ways. Consequently, many children don’t receive hot healthy meals at home.

It is easy for children and teenagers in Tigmandru to fall behind in school and drop out. Teenagers (and older children) miss school when they go to work with their parents in the fields, thus increasing the family’s income for the day. If parents are illiterate or working abroad, there is often no one to help children with their homework. If a child misses school for an extended period of time, it is nearly impossible to catch up on missed assignments. Children are passed from grade to grade, even if they haven’t acquired the necessary skills, until they reach high school, when many continue to drop out to start families of their own.

Nazarene Ministry in Tigmandru

Since 2002, Nazarenes have been ministering to children in Tigmandru. There are currently about 70 kids who attend the church's children's program on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. There, they hear Bible stories, learn songs, make crafts, play games, and receive a nutritious meal. Additionally, there are about a dozen teenagers who participate in the church’s youth group.

This spring, the Church of the Nazarene in Tigmandru became a partner in the Nazarene Child Sponsorship program.

The expansion of the church’s children’s program into a Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Child Development Center fits in with the church’s overall mission to minister to the community of Tigmandru in holistic ways. In addition to the traditional church activities like Sunday worship service, youth group, and children’s ministry, the church has several practical ministries. Women learn to sew in the church’s sewing workshop – helping them support their families with the proceeds. Likewise, men learn carpentry skills in the wood shop and earn an income to support their families. The church has an aquaponics system, a large garden, and several greenhouses where food is grown – some to be sold to support the church, the rest to feed the children. The pastor of the church (a mother of 5) meets regularly with young mothers and teaches them important parenting skills.

The funding received from sponsors will allow the church to expand its ministries to children and youth in new ways – including providing additional hot meals, school supplies, after-school tutoring, and training in practical life skills for preteens and teens (including skills in the gardens, sewing workshop, and wood shop).

How You Can Help

There are still over 20 children from Tigmandru available for sponsorship.

To sponsor a child from Romania:

1. Go to cs.ncm.org
2. Scroll down to “Find a Child to Sponsor.” In “Location,” find “Romania” (which is listed under the Eurasia region). Then click the “Search Now” button. All available Romanian children will then be displayed. (Note: Some children attend the “Tigmandru CDC-Romania program” and others attend the “Veritas CDC-Romania program” in Sighisoara. The child’s description will indicate which program he or she attends.) 
3. Select a child to sponsor and then follow the directions on the website.

If you prefer, you can also call the NCM office at 1-800-310-6362.

Sponsors commit to giving $30/month which will be used to support the church’s ministry to disadvantaged children and youth by providing hot meals, after-school tutoring, Bible lessons, access to school supplies, and much more. An important part of the Nazarene Child Sponsorship program is that you can write to your child, and will receive correspondence from your sponsored child 4 times a year.

Jesus loves me! this I know, For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong; They are weak, but He is strong.

Jesus loves me! this I know, As He loved so long ago.
Taking children on His knee, Saying, "Let them come to Me."

Jesus loves me! He who died Heaven's gates to open wide.
He will wash away my sin, Let His little child come in.

Jesus loves me still today, Walking with me on the way.
He's prepared a home for me, And someday His face I'll see.

Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so!

Find us on Facebook

You may already know that the right sidebar on this website includes links to several ministries connected with the Church of the Nazarene in Romania.

What you might not know is that several of these ministries also have pages on Facebook that you can like. Check them out below:

Biserica Nazarineanului Binecuvantarea - Bucuresti
The Blessing Church of the Nazarene in Bucharest

Biserica Nazarineanului Sighisoara
The Church of the Nazarene in Sighișoara

Biserica Nazarineanului din Tigmandru, Romania
The Church of the Nazarene in Țigmandru

Tâmplăria Țigmandru
The carpentry shop in Țigmandru

Central Europe Field
The Central Europe Field of the Church of the Nazarene, which includes Romania

Eurasia Region
The Eurasia Region of the Church of the Nazarene, which includes the Central Europe Field

Veritas Sighisoara
NCM Partner organization in Sighișoara

Open Door (also in Romanian as Ușa Deschisă)
Shelter for Human Trafficking Survivors in Bucharest

'Global Classroom' links Arkansas and Romanian high school students

Dr. Roberta Bustin

Republished from Engage Magazine
By Richard Gammill

A brainstorming session between two Nazarene friends resulted in a ground-breaking, globe-spanning experiment. It united two groups of students from Batesville, Arkansas, and Sighisoara, Romania, to solve community needs. The project has provided an opening for a Nazarene Romanian pastor to mentor youth in the Sighisoara high school.

The story unfolded when Dr. Roberta Bustin asked her friend, “What can we do to reach out to the youth in my city? After almost 20 years of ministry, we still have not found the answer.”

Roberta is a volunteer with Nazarene Mission Corps., the mission-sending arm of the denomination that matches willing volunteer missionaries with ministry opportunities around the world. Before going to Romania in 1997, Roberta taught chemistry at Lyon College in Batesville. For nearly 20 years, she has had a “boatload” of mission assignments: teaching, preaching, church planting, and more.

Her friend, Jeanne Roepcke, is a teacher at Batesville High School.

“I have an idea,” Jeanne told Roberta. “It is something that has never been done before, but I think we can make it work.”

Jeanne is the facilitator for the EAST program in her high school. EAST is the acronym for “Environmental and Spatial Technology.” It began in 1996 and has expanded to nearly 250 schools across Arkansas and four other U.S. states. A unique model in modern education, it is a project-based, service-learning program. The classes use high-end technology obtained from the most progressive fields in the world. Jeanne is leading seven of these classes in her high school.

“EAST is designed to enable my students to tackle a new problem, take a team approach and come up with their own solutions,” Jeanne said. “We will take the program to Sighisoara and see what develops.”

Jeanne’s school and the Batesville community enthusiastically adopted her proposal. The first step was to establish and equip a laboratory for the high school in Sighisoara. A $5,000 grant preceded financial and material donations from the business community. People donated thousands of dollars worth of supplies, including three laptop computers, a 3-D printer, and a projector.

Back in Sighisoara, Roberta advertised the venture as an opportunity for students to further their knowledge and use of English. School authorities approved the concept and 10 students signed up. The facilitator would be Relu Cristurean, local Nazarene pastor.

Visiting Sighisoara in September 2015

In September 2015, Jeanne went to Sighisoara with two Batesville students and two technicians to open the laboratory. In the first year, instructors focused on teaching the students to use the software, develop three-dimensional animation, use Adobe Photoshop software, create three-dimensioned objects, and more. Ten Romanian students come to the Nazarene church at least twice weekly and meet with the Arkansas students by way of Skype, working around the eight-time-zone separation.

"This may not sound so different from some American classrooms, said Amanda, a Batesville student. “Yet, it highlights the way in which EAST can meet educational needs anywhere and prove transformative, regardless of borders or cultures.”

Her classmate Emma added, "Our Romanian classmates are very smart kids, really nice kids, too, and you can tell they really want to learn."

Pastor Relu is there to work with them.

“Participating in the EAST program is something new for me,” he said. “I get to build relationships with these 10 students. This is a good experience. The students are very bright and eager to learn. We talk about many things and I tell them about Romanian history and geography. I also have opportunity to talk about what it means to be a Christian. One student asked me for a Bible.”

Students in Sighisoara

The Romanian population is more than 70 percent Eastern Orthodox and, thus, virtually everyone identifies culturally as Christian. Pastor Relu says, “I tell them having religion won’t help you. You must have a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

A couple of last year’s students have graduated. One of them wants to return and help Pastor Relu teach the new term. Through the classroom partnership that Roberta and Jeanne established, this young pastor with three children has found a way to build relationships with the youth of his community.

This year the EAST program will expand to the nearby Romanian village of Tigmandru, a poor village that provides its children with limited education. As the EAST students wrestled with the extreme needs in the village, they focused on a single priority. Food becomes scarce during the bitterly cold winters, shutting down even the indoor greenhouses. Weeks of discussions between Batesville and Sighisoara students led to an innovative project.

Students in Batesville Arkansas Skype with Romanians

The Batesville students designed small, three-level hydroponics growing units to be installed in private homes, using available materials such as soda bottles. With the 3-D printer, they designed nozzles, valves and other components. The classes in both Sighisoara and Tigmandru plan to employ the same technology in the coming academic year.

The Batesville community has gathered and shipped the materials needed for the in-home “farms,” including vegetable seeds, pumps, tubing, zip ties. The Romanian communities are gathering soda bottles and other available materials.

This is the first international project done by an EAST class. It is providing more recognition in the two Romanian communities for the Church of the Nazarene. And the residents appreciate Pastor Relu for his significant involvement in working with the students who are learning teamwork and technology as they meet community needs.

Nazarene Manual Printed in Romanian

The 2013-2017 edition of the Church of the Nazarene's Manual has just been printed in Romanian. This is the first complete Romanian translation of the denomination's official sourcebook. 

The Manual includes the history, doctrine, rituals, and church government of the denomination. As such, it is an important to have translated into the languages where the Church of the Nazarene is active so the church can develop in healthy ways consistent with the rest of the denomination. The Manual is updated every four years by the denomination's General Assembly, consisting of delegates from districts around the world.

The electronic version is available online at the Wesleyan Holiness Digital Library. (Click here to view.) 

June Missionary Prayer Focus

Prepared for NMI's Prayer Mobilization Line

Jonathan Phillips is a missionary serving in Romania. Join him in praying for these requests:

• Earlier this year a woodshop opened in the village of Tigmandru. Pray that this and other small business initiatives the church in Tigmandru is hoping to start in the near future will not only provide much-needed jobs but will also minister in holistic ways to the community. (You can read more about the wood shop in Engage magazine.
• Please pray for the Romanian students taking theological education classes through European Nazarene College. Many of them must balance their studies with job, ministry, and family responsibilities.
• Please pray for my upcoming U.S. home assignment in the fall – for safe travels, that I would be able to raise necessary support funds, and that I would effectively communicate what God is doing in Romania
• Please pray for the refugee crisis which continues to affect European countries. Pray for Nazarenes and other Christians who are showing the love of Christ to those who have fled their homes due to war and are now separated from loved ones.

Dorothy Tarrant Begins Work With Refugees

Originally published in Veritas View newsletter, Spring 2016

Dorothy Tarrant, founder of Veritas and President of the Veritas Board of Directors, left Romania on April 30 to begin serving as the Nazarene coordinator for refugee response in northern Greece. Dorothy’s lifetime experiences in Romania will help her lead the development of this work and oversee groups of volunteers and organize their work during these next months. The length of time for her work will be determined by governmental decisions which will impact the future for the refugees. Please be in prayer for Dorothy as she begins this work, for all those who will volunteer, and for the refugees themselves as they see the love of God in the volunteers who relate to them.

Retired Teachers Offer Three Months of Service

Originally published in Veritas View newsletter, Spring 2016

Ron and Jacque Maurer came to Sighisoara for the first time in May, 2015. They wanted to observe Veritas programs to see if it would be possible for Trevecca University (Nashville, TN) students to study in a crosscutural setting as part of the Romanian Studies Program. Ron was teaching social work at Trevecca at the time, and has since retired. So instead of sending students, Ron and Jacque felt God’s call to come to Sighisoara themselves for a three-month term – from March to May, 2016.

Ron and Jacque’s experiences in education and living and working in other countries made them a perfect fit for the needs of Veritas at this time. They served in Japan as missionaries with the Church of God, Anderson, Ind. for almost 10 years and also worked on short-term missions assignments in Trinidad and Tobago and in Kisumu, Kenya. 

Jacque brought her 40 years of teaching experience to the kids’ clubs at Veritas. She provided teacher training, taught lessons, and interacted with the children. With new leaders in the Kids’ Club program whose social work experience was with individual children, rather than educational activities for children in groups, Jacque’s insights and expertise were very welcome. 

Ron’s experiences as a social worker, teacher and a pastor were put to good use in Sighisoara. He assisted with the Veritas Disabilities’ Club and taught a class called Pastoral Care and Counseling, which met for five weeks for four hours each week. Veritas staff were able to participate in this class as part of their continuing education. About half of the 26 students were enrolled in coursework through EuNC (European Nazarene College) and took the course to fulfill requirements toward being licensed by the Nazarene Church. Several other local students work for another social work agency in Sighisoara. Being able to combine theological training with practical counseling techniques benefitted all groups of students. 

During their time in Sighisoara Ron and Jacque enjoyed “being a small part of a great community outreach serving an underserved population in Romania”. Of course they also enjoyed visiting some of the ancient castles and fortified churches in Romania, making friends and building relationships with people from Veritas and the local churches, and participating in Monday night dinners with missionaries and volunteers from different countries. 

Ron and Jacque say, “We would definitely encourage other retirees to come and experience Sighisoara, Romania! Bring your work and life experiences and see what God can do with them. The blessings are many!”