Thursday, November 27, 2025
Monday, November 17, 2025
30th District Assembly Highlights
On Saturday, November 15, the 30th District Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene was held in Sighișoara. The activities of the day were spread out over 4 sessions.
1. The first session opened with worship, followed by reports from district officers and committees. District Superintendent Jonathan Phillips shared 8 milestones from the past year that have contributed to a healthier district, including new missionaries, new district leaders, new resources, and new initiatives, before identifying intentional discipleship as our emphasis for the coming year.
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
‘There Is MORE’: Eurasia Nazarenes Gather in Albania for Regional Conference
Originally published at www.eurasiaregion.org/erc2025
Nearly 800 Nazarenes from across the Eurasia Region gathered in Tirana, Albania, November 4–8, for the first Eurasia Regional Conference since 2019. Under the theme ‘There Is MORE,’ pastors, leaders, missionaries, church members and their families came together for a time of inspirational worship, preaching, teaching, interactive fellowship, collaborative learning, and multicultural celebration of what God is doing across the region.
Participants represented a wide range of contexts, languages, and cultures, reflecting the diversity of the Church of the Nazarene throughout Eurasia.The conference focused on six key Gaps, areas in which the Church seeks to grow in faithfulness and ministry effectiveness. These included: Engaging the Next Generation, Developing Leaders of Christian Character: Integrity and Anti-Corruption, Doing Church and Discipleship in a Digital Age, People on the Move: Caring for Immigrants and Refugees, Caring for Creation and the Vulnerable, and Responding to Secularism.
Plenary session speakers addressing these Gap topics included General Superintendents Filimão Chambo and Carla Sunberg; Global Missions Director Jim Ritchie; Eurasia Regional Director Mark Louw; Principal of Nazarene Theological College Deirdre Brower; Central Europe Field Strategy Coordinator Cezi Glendenning, and Eurasia Regional Discipleship Coordinator Chad Gibbons. Insights from several of these sessions are available now on the Everyday Eurasia Podcast.
Attendees also participated in collaborative breakout sessions designed to foster open discussion, cross-cultural collaboration, and the development of practical strategies for ministry in their local contexts.
A special Theology Day event on November 4 served as a stepping stone into the Gap discussions. Papers on each topic were presented, followed by panel conversations encouraging thoughtful engagement with the issues facing the church today.
Other highlights of the week include the ordination of one elder, prayers for those on the region unable to attend, the sharing of the Lord’s Supper, and celebrating the creativity, cultures, and community on the region through events hosted by Nazarene Youth International. These included Albania Night, the Eurasia World Market, a quiz night, and a talent show, all emphasizing the creativity, culture, and community of the Eurasia Region.
Following the conference, some participants remained in Tirana for Mission Experience Albania, a hands-on opportunity to serve alongside local pastors and church members through acts of service, compassion, and love in the community.
For many, the conference was a deeply spiritual time of renewal, reflection, and connection. The transforming work of the Holy Spirit was not only preached, but experienced. “It was a time of renewal and confirmation of the call of God, and to see old friends,” said Jennifer Lima, a participant from Portugal.
Regional Director, Dr. Mark Louw reflected, “It has surpassed our wildest expectations and our desire to experience the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit was realized. It was awesome worship, awesome fellowship, and awesome fun!”
He also concluded the conference by challenging participants to carry the momentum, learning, and inspiration from the gathering back to their local churches and ministries across the region.
Monday, October 13, 2025
Serving with Compassion in Romania: Andre and Brenda Berkhout
Originally published at eurasiaregion.org
Andre and Brenda Berkhout are currently serving as Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) coordinators in Romania. In this role, they are supporting local churches and organizations across the Romania District in their efforts to develop sustainable, compassionate ministries in their communities. The Berkhouts’ work involves everything from building partnerships to strengthening ministry efforts to facilitating communication between the regional NCM office and local ministries – all while integrating to the Romanian culture by learning the language and deepening their understanding of culture and history.
In Sighișoara, they are working closely with the Veritas Foundation, a NCM partner organization and Child Development Center with social services for children, teenagers, special needs adults, and the elderly. Alongside Veritas director Petra Popa, they’re addressing practical challenges like outdated systems, training for staff, and funding needs. Andre is using his background in music to help with Bible lessons for children, while Brenda is using her background as a mental healthcare professional to develop training materials and exploring how Veritas and the local Church of the Nazarene can work more closely together in mission.
In Bucharest, the Berkhouts are assisting the Open Door Foundation. This NCM partner organization ministers to survivors of human trafficking and is closely connected to the Blessing Church of the Nazarene. Andre and Brenda are focusing on updating the organization’s website, looking for new fundraising opportunities, and developing a newsletter to keep supporters updated.
“Since arriving in Romania just a few months ago, Andre and Brenda are been filling several gaps in the area of NCM. Their unique skill set is exactly what we need right now,” noted Romania District Superintendent Jonathan Phillips.
In addition to their work with NCM partner organizations, the Berkhouts have been involved in the local Nazarene congregations in both Sighișoara and Bucharest.
Andre is stepping into preaching opportunities in both congregations and has joined the team of musicians leading worship in Sighișoara. As NCM coordinators, they have been working on community assessments and interviews to get a clearer picture of the realities people are facing, and where the church can respond in meaningful, sustainable ways.
Brenda has also begun coaching several people who need help, offering her time freely to help them grow into the person God created them to be.
Together, Andre and Brenda have become aware of many young women on the streets of Romania who are caught in difficult and vulnerable circumstances. With support from their church in the Netherlands, they have started reaching out personally by giving small care bags that include a Romanian Bible, a snack, a soft toy, toiletries, and a flyer with helpful information for those seeking a new start. Through this simple act of kindness, they want these young women to know that they are seen, valued, and deeply loved by God.
“Giving is not about the gift, but about the love of Christ that lies behind it.” the Berkhouts commented.
Join us in prayer for Andre and Brenda as they continue learning, listening, and serving in Romania. Pray for wisdom and discernment as they navigate complex needs and long-term ministry hopes.
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Romania - Local Church Sustainability Project
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| 5 Romanians were ordained at the 2022 District Assembly |
The support begins by helping churches cover essential costs such as utilities and pastoral salary while they build their own resources. Over time, project funding decreases as local income grows—empowering churches to take greater responsibility year by year. In addition, project funds provide critical coverage for health insurance, income tax, and pension contributions, which otherwise place a heavy burden on pastors and their families.
Quarterly reporting ensures accountability and steady progress toward sustainability. By the end of the five-year period, each church will be equipped either to fully support a pastor or to establish a planned, part-time bi-vocational ministry model. Both outcomes strengthen the church’s stability and ability to minister effectively in its community.
Your gift invests in a thoughtful, practical strategy that provides immediate security for pastors and paves the way for healthy, self-sustaining churches in Romania for years to come.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Beauty From Brokenness: New Beginnings for Survivors
Originally published in NCM Magazine 2025 Issue 1
Photos provided by Open Door Romania
At the Open Door Foundation in Romania, survivors of human trafficking find more than shelter — they find community, healing, and the space to dream again.
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST DREAM?
When survivors of human trafficking are welcomed into the shelter of the Open Door Foundation in Bucharest, Romania, the staff often ask, “What is your greatest dream?”
The women who enter Open Door are greeted by the aroma of delicious homemade meals and the assurance of a safe place to sleep. The hospitality of current residents, the laughter of young children playing, and the care of an incredible team of social workers, guards, lawyers, and psychologists who comprise the ministry’s staff inspire hope in the women. When team members hear each survivor's dreams, they earnestly look for answers God provides to fulfill these dreams. One answer is a promise to each survivor that Open Door will do two things: throw them a graduation party when they complete their schooling and buy their wedding dress if they decide to get married in the future.
Since 2012, the Open Door Foundation has worked with survivors of human trafficking in Romania by providing the one and only emergency shelter in the country, in addition to long-term care and transitional programming for men, women, and children. Residents of the shelter are provided with holistic services that are contextualized to help them recover and heal from being trafficked.Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that enables perpetrators to profit from the control and exploitation of others, and it is often perpetuated through emotional, physical, and psychological manipulation. Currently, an estimated 50 million men, women, and children are trafficked around the world. Many of the survivors at Open Door were trafficked and enslaved through faked relationships (often called the “lover boy” scheme, where traffickers gain trust through a false romantic pretense) or by threats of violence to family members. Such tactics make modern-day slavery harder to identify since individuals are enslaved through fear and manipulation rather than with chains.
The Open Door Foundation began serving human trafficking survivors because of this specific reality of modern-day slavery. Without an emergency shelter in Romania, law enforcement officials lacked a safe place to house women and children who were attempting to escape trafficking, which significantly increased the chances of being trafficked again. By providing a safe and stable home, Open Door has helped reduce the instances of being trafficked again, as well as increasing the number of criminal convictions of traffickers with Open Door’s incredible team of lawyers.
As a part of the ministry’s 18-month residential program, women are provided with therapy, medical care, legal assistance, and support in learning how to engage in everyday life activities such as parenting, conflict resolution, cooking, and laundry. They are also provided with a weekly allowance to support their growth in independence and the time and space to heal before finding a job. Additionally, each woman is supported in pursuing her “greatest dreams” through enrollment in programs such as flight attendant school, public speaking, hair styling, photography, and the culinary arts.
Monica Boseff, executive director of the Open Door Foundation, describes the ministry as an embodiment of the Japanese art of kintsugi, where liquid gold is used to repair broken pottery. Just as the gold brings beauty from the brokenness of the teapot or cup in kintsugi, God has been at work bringing beauty from brokenness in each of the over 1,240 women, men, and children that have been served by Open Door since 2012.
“At the end of the program,” said Monica, “we want each survivor to walk out that front door knowing who she is in Christ, how beautiful she is, and with her dignity and independence restored. We want survivors to remember that they are loved for who they are.”
A beautiful example of the life change that happens at Open Door is exemplified in how new survivors are welcomed into the shelter. Along with a welcome pack of essential toiletries and clothes, a new resident is welcomed with a gift of three items from every other resident—a gift for the body, one for the mind, and one for the soul. The goal? To empower each woman in her independence and generosity as she selects three of her own belongings with which to bless the new resident.
Susan* was a recipient of this hospitality when she entered the emergency shelter, and she initially found it difficult to accept such radical generosity from the staff and residents. She experienced this generosity further when, at Christmas, she was gifted a beautiful new set of pajamas. Susan quickly fell in love with this Christmas gift, so much so that she barely wore this treasured gift in order to keep it in pristine condition. Because of her meticulous care for her pajamas, Susan surprised everyone a few months later when she gifted them as part of her welcome gift to a new survivor entering Open Door. When asked why she would give away one of her most treasured belongings, Susan explained to the others, “Do you remember how I was when I got here? I had nothing, and you all gave me so much. I want to do the same.”
Inside their shelter sits a basket filled with river stones. Each features a message written by a resident or staff member to represent an answered prayer or miracle. Open Door is a ministry built firmly on a foundation of prayer. God has proven his faithfulness through the life transformation of individual survivors and in the amazing ways he has tangibly answered prayers at the ministry throughout the years. One of those answered prayers has a well-known name: IKEA.
When Ukraine was invaded by Russia in 2022, Open Door immediately responded by helping house 66 at-risk refugees from Ukraine in a local Nazarene church in Bucharest. The women in the ministry’s residential shelter offered up their own beds to help the Ukrainians fleeing war. God showed up unexpectedly when the leadership team at IKEA offered to support their refugee response.
“From napkins to the beds,” remembered Monica, “IKEA provided everything we needed to house these refugees, including a washer, dryer, and refrigerator.”
Answered prayers also include the 19 babies born to mothers in Open Door’s programming and the numerous salvations and baptisms they have witnessed as survivors . . .“embrace God and God’s love so fiercely,” said Monica. “Those who have been rescued from the pit of hell by God’s grace and mercy know how to shout at their baptisms, ‘I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.’”
SURVIVORS RECEIVING NEW LIFE IN CHRISTNew babies are born outside the cycle of human trafficking.
Refugees find a safe community of support in a foreign country.
This is the “kintsugi” work of God’s kingdom, as beauty is forged out of brokenness, and the Holy Spirit breathes new life and healing into the women, men, and children who participate in Open Door’s residential and non-residential programming every day.
A farm would allow their future residents to grow and raise their own food while also providing sustainability for the compassionate ministry. Other hopes and dreams for the ministry include solar panels to decrease utility costs for their residential and transitional housing and partnerships with new Nazarene Missions Teams in the coming years. Each of these would help solidify the future of their ministry and the survivors they serve.
They are focused on the future as Open Door guides individuals, families, and communities beyond their past toward a new and beautiful future.
“From the moment they enter Open Door, we tell each person that the days of calling yourself a victim are over,” Monica said. “Here, you are a survivor. And you are tomorrow’s fighter.”
GET INVOLVED
Interested in learning more and partnering with anti-human trafficking efforts?
- Journey with your church small group through this new Bible study on Human Trafficking from The Foundry Publishing: https://www.thefoundrypublishing.com/human-trafficking-9780834143203.html
- Memorize and share the National Human Trafficking Hotline phone number in your country.
- Learn more about human trafficking at: ncm.org/antitrafficking
- Become a monthly donor of Open Door Foundation or support their efforts in purchasing solar panels or new playground equipment for the children at the residential shelter: ncm.org/opendoor
Monday, April 21, 2025
Updated Resource Available
A Living Faith is envisioned to provide church members and candidates for church membership with an accessible overview of the church. It is a compilation and slight adaptation of the sections from the Manual that focus on the denominational history, what Nazarenes believe, and how we live out our faith (hence the title). It includes a brief outline of church government and well as the requirements for church membership while omitting the detailed sections from the Manual on administrative policies and church government structures. In addition to excerpts from the Manual, included in A Living Faith are also the denomination's Core Values, the Eurasia Regional Priorities, and a description of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania.
A Living Faith will soon be available for download at the Wesleyan-Holiness Digital Library.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
The Church of the Nazarene in Romania
A Brief History
Following the fall of communism in Romania in December 1989, members of the Church of the Nazarene in many parts of the world were prayerfully looking for opportunities to respond to the needs of Romanian Christians who had faced persecution just a few years earlier. In the autumn of 1991, leaders of the Romanian Evangelical Alliance participated in a Nazarene Compassionate Ministries conference in Germany. They were impressed with how the Church of the Nazarene balances the holiness message and compassionate ministries. As a result of this meeting, the Evangelical Alliance invited the Church of the Nazarene to join them in carrying out new initiatives in Romania.
In 1992, Nazarene missionaries Jon and Margaret Scott arrived to begin the work of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania. In that same year, the Evangelical Christian Organization for Aid and Development “Nazarineanul” (abbreviated as OCEAD Nazarineanul) was established with the help of the Evangelical Alliance. Throughout the 1990s, hundreds of Nazarenes – missionaries, volunteers, mission teams, and groups of university students – came to Romania to work alongside members from many Evangelical churches in Romania in a wide variety of ministries. In Bucharest, compassionate ministries focused on the isolated elderly at the geriatric hospital and the abandoned children in the orphanages. Nazarenes from the USA, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands began to send shipments of material aid that were distributed to individuals and institutions in different parts of the country still recovering from communism.Alongside compassionate ministries, OCEAD Nazarineanul offered regular educational courses in theology, computers, and business through partnerships with universities in the USA, Germany, and Romania. These compassionate and educational ministries, alongside evangelistic and church-planting efforts, gave the Nazarene team many opportunities to share the Gospel in practical ways. This resulted in new believers being discipled, growing in their faith, and being equipped for ministry. The first Nazarene congregation in Romania was established in Bucharest in 1993 with Jon Scott as pastor.
Nazarene missionaries in Bucharest faced a challenge shared with missionaries from other denominations – providing quality English-language education for their own children. In 1993, Margaret Scott joined with other missionary families to establish a homeschooling co-op. What began in a single classroom hosted in the Nazarene ministry center has since grown into Bucharest Christian Academy, an accredited international Christian school in Bucharest for children in preschool through grade 12.
Beginning in January 1992, Eastern Nazarene College (ENC), located near Boston USA, sent several short-term groups of students to Romania. In the fall of 1993, the college established a program under the direction of Professor Dorothy Tarrant that gave students the opportunity to study in Romania for an entire semester while also volunteering in the compassionate ministries in Bucharest. In the summer of 1995, ENC’s program moved to Sighisoara where the Church of the Nazarene was preparing to launch a new ministry.
In Sighisoara, ENC students began compassionate ministries focused on poor street children, abandoned children at the orphanage, and the isolated elderly. The actions of the ENC students and the collaboration with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries led to the establishment of the Veritas Sighisoara Foundation in 2001, with Dorothy Tarrant as its first director. Professional Romanian staff – Christians from Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches – continued the work begun by ENC students. In the following years, Veritas began offering accredited social services for children, teenagers, special needs adults, and the elderly, along with a campaign against domestic violence. Additionally, through its educational services, community activities, and café in the historic citadel, Veritas expanded its presence and influence in the town as an ecumenical Christian organization. Since 2006, Veritas has been recognized as a Nazarene Child Development Center and maintains a partnership with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries.
As Veritas was forming, so was the Sighisoara Church of the Nazarene. The American students met each week for a Bible study that they invited their Romanian friends to attend. Young people were attracted to the church through the various youth activities like coffee house and ecology club. In time, the parents of several teenagers also began to attend the church services. Many of the elderly ministered to by the weekday Elderly Club also joined the church. Soon, an inter-generational congregation was being formed. Nazarene missionary Roberta Bustin served as pastor until Relu Cristurean became the church’s first Romanian pastor in 2012.
In the spring of 2002, a new Nazarene ministry began in Tigmandru, a village near Sighisoara with a mixed Romanian, Hungarian, and Roma population, many of whom were living in poverty. Roberta Bustin worked closely with Magda Cini, a member of the Sighisoara church who was originally from Tigmandru. In addition to establishing a local congregation, they sought to improve the quality of life in the village by intentionally ministering to the whole person. A child development center was established to care for the holistic needs of children. The church has offered instruction to the adults in the village on topics including literacy, health, nutrition, parenting, and other practical skills. The desire to provide vocational training in sewing and carpentry workshops resulted in the establishment of Ateliere Nazarineanului (Nazarene Workshops) in 2012. In 2013, Magda Cini officially became the church’s pastor.
In the fall of 2002, a group of Romanian church members from the Bucharest Central Church of the Nazarene planted a new church in a different section of the capital city. From the very beginning, the Blessing Church of the Nazarene has been led by Romanians. Cristian Boseff has pastored the church since 2005. After a few years, the remaining members of the Central Church joined the Blessing Church to form a single reunited church in Bucharest, spanning multiple generations. Over the years, the Blessing Church has prioritized worship, prayer, and Bible study while continuing to emphasize compassionate ministries in an urban context.
In 2013, under the leadership of Monica Boseff, a member of the Blessing Church of the Nazarene in Bucharest, the Open Door Foundation opened a ministry for survivors of human trafficking that includes a residential shelter, counseling, and judicial assistance. From the beginning, the Blessing Church has provided the spiritual component of the holistic care for these survivors. Church members intentionally integrate the survivors into the life of the church by developing caring relationships and inviting them to begin new lives in Christ. Open Door Foundation maintains a partnership with the Church of the Nazarene in Romania as well as with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries international.
On several occasions over the years, Nazarenes have led adult Bible studies, children’s and youth activities, compassionate ministries and other initiatives in several towns and villages in different parts of the country. Our long-term goal is to plant new churches that will holistically impact their communities.
In 2022, after completing the necessary studies and other requirements, the largest group of Romanian ministers was ordained, marking significant progress in the development of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania from missionary leadership to Romanian leadership.
The Church of the Nazarene in Romania Today
Today, there are active congregations of the Church of the Nazarene in Bucharest, Sighisoara, and Tigmandru that make up the Romania District. In addition to the activities of these local churches, Nazarene activity in Romania also includes translating and publishing literature as well as partnering with European Nazarene College to offer theological education courses in the Romanian language. A key component of our work remains offering compassionate ministries, which includes long-term programs such as Child Development Centers, short-term emergency initiatives such as responding to the 2022 Ukrainian refugee crisis, and ongoing partnerships with the Veritas Sighișoara and Open Door Foundations.
The Church of the Nazarene occupies a unique place among the churches in Romania. Although we are not one of this nation’s predominant historic churches, we share much in common with our Christian brothers and sisters from these traditions – the ancient Christian creeds and councils with the Orthodox Church, a common history of Western Christianity with Catholic and Protestant churches, and the marks of the Protestant Reformation with the Reformed and Lutheran churches. Additionally, we share many practices and beliefs with other Evangelical and Neo-Protestant churches, such as our forms of worship, an emphasis on evangelism and discipleship, and a saving, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Along with the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, we emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Due to this shared foundation of the Christian faith that we hold in common, we value establishing partnerships with Christians from various churches.With these shared traits identified, it is also important to note how we are distinct from the established churches in Romania and how our theological heritage has shaped our identity as a denomination. The Church of the Nazarene is part of the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. John Wesley was a priest in the Anglican Church who lived in the 18th century. He followed Arminian theology, taught holiness (Christian perfection), and emphasized compassion to the poor. From a theological perspective, we are closest to the churches and organizations of the Wesleyan tradition, such as the United Methodist Church and the Salvation Army. We also share key aspects of our theology with the Orthodox Church that they do not hold in common with Protestant churches from Reformed or Calvinistic theological traditions.
The Church of the Nazarene in Romania is closely interconnected with the international Church of the Nazarene. We share doctrines, form of government, and leadership with Nazarenes around the world. The Romania District of the Church of the Nazarene is part of the Central Europe Field in the Eurasia Region.
About the name “Nazarene”
Nazareth was the small town in Galilee where Jesus lived. When Philip was first told about Jesus, he asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46) Jesus and the early Christians were often associated with Nazareth as a mark of derision. Pilate ordered that a sign for Jesus' cross should say "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" (John 19:19). In Acts 24:5, the apostle Paul was accused of being “a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” Given this, our denominational leaders decided to choose this name to identify themselves with ministering to the marginalized. Therefore, we are called to follow the example of Jesus the Nazarene in serving the poor and marginalized of the world.
In order to avoid any confusion, it is important to note that the Church of the Nazarene and OCEAD Nazareneanul are not related to the Nazarene Religious Association, founded in 1990, based in Arad, Romania (with roots that go back to an Anabaptist movement founded in Switzerland by Samuel Fröhlich and promoted in Hungary and Transylvania by Lajos Hencsey in the 19th century), nor to the Nazirite oath described in the Old Testament.The Impact of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania
After more than 30 years, it is hard to calculate the impact of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania. Through the ministry of the local churches, whole families – often spanning multiple generations – have been transformed. Children have been instructed through kids’ clubs and Sunday schools. Teenagers have discovered their identity in Christ in youth groups and summer camps. Adults have been prepared for Christian ministry. Through compassionate ministries, Nazarenes have brought the love of Christ to abandoned children in the orphanages and to the elderly in the geriatric hospital. Clubs for the Elderly and Special Needs adults have provided a renewed sense of value and dignity as beloved people created in God’s image. Marginalized children have received hot meals at a Child Development Center, women and children have found shelter from domestic violence and human trafficking, Ukrainians were offered refuge in Romania as they fled the war in their country, and unskilled laborers have learned job skills. Christians from other churches – Evangelical and Orthodox alike – have grown deeper in their faith as a result of the ministry and devotion to biblical study of Nazarenes. Through educational courses in English, computers, business, and theology, Nazarenes have equipped Romanians for their future, many of whom are now living and serving in different countries around the world. Students from countries around the world have received a primary and secondary Christian education at a school begun by a Nazarene missionary. The lives of American college students who came to study and serve in Romania were often transformed by their experiences in ways that shaped their career choices.
The Church of the Nazarene in Romania may be small in size, but God has used us for advancing His Kingdom in countless ways. We look forward to continuing this legacy into the future.Friday, February 28, 2025
New Year Brings Big Changes to the House on the Rock
On December 20, the doors of the coffee shop at the House on the Rock were closed for the last time, signaling that a major transition was coming for the entire building.
Since its opening in 2001, the House on the Rock has served as the Education Center for Veritas and the Romanian Studies Program. Veritas founder Dorothy Tarrant recognized that the 17th century building’s location on the historic square of the Sighisoara citadel would give Veritas unique opportunities for ministry.
The International Café opened in 2002 with the purpose of generating income to support Veritas programs. Following the pandemic, however, the café has struggled to make a profit. After much discussion over the past couple years and carefully considering various options, the Veritas Board of Directors made the difficult decision at its November 2024 meeting to close the café and rent out the entire building. The rental income will support the Veritas social programs with greater consistency than the profits from the café were ever able to do.
We are grateful to Adela Hermann, who has managed the renamed House on the Rock Café since 2022. Adela joined the Veritas team in 2011 to work with Romanian Studies Program students. She later became the Coordinator of Educational Services and led youth educational programs such as English camp, It Takes Courage, and Ceai & Chat. As café manager, Adela provided job opportunities for several young people who she trained to work in the café. Her interaction with clients and staff alike demonstrated her Christian faith and values. We wish Adela God’s blessing as she begins life’s next chapter.
The board decided to rent the entire House on the Rock building to Mark and Raluca Tudose, who will creatively use the space for promoting traditional Romanian handcrafts. Mark (“the Spoonman”) opened his first gift shop in the basement of House on the Rock in 2012 and is looking forward to carrying on the values that have guided the use of the House on the Rock building over the years.
Veritas is a NCM-partner organization, a Nazarene Child Development Center, and a participant in the NCM Child Sponsorship program. For more information, visit www.veritas.ro/en.
NCM Child Development Conference
Andrea Domahidi had the distinct privilege of representing Veritas at the Holistic Child Development Conference, an event that was meticulously organized by Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) in Sri Lanka. This conference was held July 15-20 at the picturesque Suriya Resort, located in Waikkal, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
During this experience-packed week, Andrea engaged in a variety of hands-on sessions and interactive activities that provided a deep insight into the many aspects of child development. These sessions not only focused on the developmental needs of children, but also emphasized the important role of Christian ministers in serving their communities and promoting growth in a spiritual context.
The experience was made even more unique by the diverse group of participants. Andrea was among 24 people from 13 countries, different cultures, and perspectives from three continents. This international gathering facilitated meaningful discussions and exchange of ideas, allowing Andrea to expand her understanding of holistic child development within a global framework. Overall, it was a transformative experience that strengthened her commitment to the mission of Veritas and to the well-being of children worldwide.
Originally published in the 2024 Veritas Retrospective & Winter 2025 Veritas View newsletter.
Veritas is a NCM-partner organization, a Nazarene Child Development Center, and a participant in the NCM Child Sponsorship program. For more information, visit www.veritas.ro/en.
Friday, January 31, 2025
Meet the Berkhouts
Brenda has a master degree in mental healthcare and has worked at several mental health institutions, in the women's shelter in Amsterdam of the Salvation Army and an outpatient clinic of GGZ de Hoop (addiction treatment) in Amersfoort. She has also had various training as a counsellor/coach.
Andre has a long experience in ICT as a functional application manager. In addition, Andre did a bachelor’s degree education, first for a year of theology and then switched to do three years of missionary work at the Evangelical College.
In their marriage, they have always been ready to support others and share their lives. When the children were small, they were foster parents and took care of foster children alongside their own children. Together, they have been active in marriage ministry in their church for a long time and have assisted several couples as volunteers.
They have always had a heart for missions but due to various circumstances it was not yet the right time. When the children were grown up, they started talking to Overseas Mission Fellowship in 2018. After a long process and Covid, they left for Thailand in early 2023 to serve for a year in northeast Thailand, the Isaan. Meanwhile, they had started the trajectory with Global Mission Nazarene with the intention of being sent out after the OMF deployment.
In Thailand, they worked with students (teaching English, Bible studies and coaching) and visited the community with the Thai pastor and his wife. These were mainly the poor, sick and elderly in the neighbourhoods. They also started a kids' club with the neighbourhood children. They saw much blessing from this work.
After a year, they returned to the Netherlands and put the continuation of their mission completely in God's hands. For Andre and Brenda, this period was good preparation for the next step. Andre and Brenda trusted that however things will proceed, God knows best what is appropriate.
Reposted from https://give.nazarene.org/category/region/eurasia/abberkhout.
