German PaXan Group Volunteers at Veritas

Originally published in the Veritas e-newsletter:

We are grateful to the five volunteers of the PaXan Group from Germany who carried out the major renovation of the Club Impreuna building and courtyard.

The PaXan Group volunteers not only renovated the space in an exceptional way, but they also brought with them a positive energy, building genuine bonds with our beneficiaries.

Along with the renovation, the group arranged activities where they actively engaged with the elderly and people with disabilities, through games, creative workshops, and simple conversations that brought smiles on everyone's faces.

We are grateful for the involvement of the PaXan volunteers and look forward to continuing to work with them in the future, knowing that their hard work and dedication have made a real difference in the lives of those who attend Club Together.

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Note: The name "paXan" is derived from pax (Latin for peace) and Pack's an! (German for "Go do it!" or "Get active!").

A paXan team of Nazarene young adults previously ministered in Sighisoara in 2014. Click here to read about that trip.

Nazarene Mission Team Serves in Romania

Reposted from eurasiareion.org.

In the summer of 2023 I had the privilege of escorting a group of people from the Philadelphia District Church of the Nazarene on a mission trip back to my home country. I grew up in Sighisoara, Romania. When I was a teen, I began attending services at Sighisoara Church of the Nazarene and very quickly I felt welcomed and a sense of belonging. It was fascinating to see groups of people traveling from the United States of America to my country to simply help fix the church building as well as playing, accepting, and showing Christ‘s love to the disadvantaged children of Romania.

As I was preparing to lead this mission trip, I couldn’t help but think of hundreds of people like pastors, laity, college students and missionaries that have sacrificed their time and money to partner with God in making a difference in the lives of people in Romania. I give God the glory for the opportunity to serve Him.

On July 26- August 3, 2023, sixteen people from four churches on the Philadelphia District joined as one team. Four of the team members were teenagers. Due to the pandemic, we were the first team that was able to go to Romania since 2019.

The team’s main location to serve was Tigmandru, Romania working alongside Rev. Magda Cini (lead-pastor), Rev. Roxana Cini (Children’s Pastor) and Rev. Nelutu Cini (Youth Pastor). The church began when Magda Cini felt God’s calling to pray for the people in the village. What started as a small prayer meeting at Magda’s mother’s home is now an organized church, full of ministries for all age groups.

The building for Tigmandru Church of the Nazarene began in 2004 with funds from Alabaster. The team’s main project was to help repair several essential projects in the building as well as hosting a four-day Vacation Bible School for the children in the community. The team had the opportunity to make new friends, to worship, pray, fellowship with church members and people in the community. Each night as we meet for our devotional team time, I could see how each team member was touched and moved by God though what they (had) experienced throughout the day.

God’s mission in Tigmandru existed long before the Philadelphia Team arrived. We learned that we needed to have a mindset of flexibility, servanthood, unity as team, and humility. The most important aspect of any mission trip is to show dignity to one another and most of all be incarnational. We are not the ones who are at work in missions, but God is, we come along side of our Lord and join Him in His mission.

– story and photos shared by Rev. Paula Elena Creely (Magda’s daughter, Nelutu’s sister, Roxana’s sister-in-law). Pastor at Brookside Community Church of the Nazarene in Macungie, Pennsylvania on Philadelphia District

Netherlands Mission Team Goes to Romania

A mission team from the Netherlands traveled to
Romania to support Nazarene churches there

By Jenny Ward
Eurasia Region Communications 

Reprinted from Where Worlds Meet, December 2014

The Church of the Nazarene in the Netherlands sent a Work & Witness team to Sighişoara, Romania, from 11 to 26 October. This team consisted of 19 people, ranging in age from 30 to 63, from eight different Nazarene churches throughout the Netherlands. Rolf Noordhof, who attends the Church of the Nazarene in Amersfoort, led the trip.

This was Noordhof’s fourth trip to Sighişoara, having led a youth organization to Romania 10 years ago. Upon meeting the Nazarene Church he then returned half a year later and then in 2007 he brought 44 computers to Sighişoara as the church continued to develop.

They traveled to Sighişoara with three main goals in mind. The first was to help rebuild the church so it can serve as a multifunctional location complete with a youth room and large kitchen to prepare meals for the elderly.

“Relu Cristurean, [the pastor of the Sighişoara church,] has big dreams about using the building for outreach so that the church can grow again…they want to renew youth in Sighişoara,” said Noordhof.

In the past the church was filled with over 20 youth members, but in Romania many young students leave to study elsewhere, sometimes even leaving the country. Relu and the pastoral team hope they can restore the building and create a place where the youth in Sighişoara will be able to spend time again.

The second goal was to visit the elderly several times a week. The elderly members of the mission team enjoyed meeting with the elderly of Sighişoara. “To talk, to pray, and to encourage them…that was a splendid time for them,” said Noordhof.

The third goal was to reach out to the children at the Church of the Nazarene in Tigmandru, a nearby village. There were about 30 to 40 children and Noordhof and his team visited them six times during their stay.

“We went for a short Bible story, to sing with them, play a little guitar, I brought my clarinet, and we shared small gifts with them.”

As the team worked together throughout the 15-day trip, they realized they were also forming a strong bond. “Although the team was very different in ages, in skills, everyone found a place and worked very well together,” said Noordhof. “Some team members said they’ve never felt so accepted and like they belonged to a group than this week. Now that’s remarkable.”

Roberta Bustin, a volunteer missionary in Romania, thanked Noordhoff and his team for their visit. They helped the Church of the Nazarene in Sighişoara feel connected to the international church and provided encouragement to the pastoral team as they continue to develop the church building.

"paXan" Team of German young adults performs "Week of the Knights" for children in Sighişoara, Romania

Written by Dorli Gschwandtner, Helping Hands
Reposted from the Eurasia Region's website

Sighişoara: a picturesque little town in the Romanian part of Transylvania, established in the twelfth century by German immigrants. Even today, many local children attend a German school. High above the river lies the "citadel", the town's historical centre and the ideal location for a real German "Ritterwoche" – a "Week of the Knights".

11 German young adults travelled to Romania from 24th August to 1st September as part of the "paXan" team 2013. paXan is an annual Work & Witness trip for young adults that served in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2010, in Berlin, Germany, in 2011, and in Dimbula, Sri Lanka, in 2012. It is usually made up of 10 to 20 young adults (18–30 years old) from Nazarene churches all over Germany.

The name "paXan" is derived from "pax" (Latin: peace) and "Pack's an!" (German for "Go do it!" or "Get active!"). So every afternoon the young people got very active at the local Nazarene church in Sighişoara. They did plastering and painting work on the church's exterior wall, painted the gate and cleaned out a lot of rubbish for more rooms to be renovated.

The local Nazarenes were very grateful for the good work of the team, which "made the church entrance look much more inviting", Roberta Bustin, a Nazarene volunteer living in Sighişoara, said.

But paXan teams are not just known for "getting active" and leaving behind shiny buildings and freshly painted walls. One of the young adults' primary goals is to build relationships, share peace and hope, spend time with the local people and show them that they are valued and loved.

This is also why programs for children and youth are always an important part of these trips.
During this paXan trip, the town's children assembled every morning on the square in front of "The House on the Rock", which houses an international café and several classrooms and serves as the administrative centre of the Veritas Foundation. Veritas is a Christian organization that offers services to the community, a variety of educational programs, and intercultural exchange.

Appropriate to the medieval setting in Sighişoara's citadel, the team had planned a "Ritterwoche" with the "armour of God" as the main theme. From 9am to 1pm every day the children enjoyed a VBS-type program with a variety of "knightly" activities highlighting the armour of God and the weapons of His spirit. Activities included drawing and themed crafts (such as tiny egg-spoon knights dressed in the armour of God), stories, skits, and lots of games and fun.

The children, but the parents too, were enthusiastic. "This is the first holiday program that my child begs to be allowed to go to every day!" one mother was happy to report.

But not just the children enjoyed the "Ritterwoche". "I really enjoyed all of it – but especially the kids' program", said David Paul, who was part of a paXan team for the first time this year. "Whatever you put into it, the kids return it to you many times over!"

The paXan team was also able to minister to children in the village of Ţigmandru and to teenagers in a Roma community just outside Sighişoara. Especially the Roma youth, who face great poverty and hopelessness, really enjoyed spending time with the German young adults.

"The German team was a tremendous blessing to all of us", said Bustin, who spent most of the week with the team. "They were able to minister to both middle class children, a group with great potential but a group which is often neglected in the Romanian culture, and very poor Roma children from a nearby village. This team was a great example of giving of themselves and their talents, of sharing, of enjoying each other, and of showing the love of Christ wherever they went."

The ministry trip was also a great experience for the young adults, with lots of new impressions and a lot of fun. Every day was started with a team devotional and in the evenings the team met for feedback sessions, to review the day, make plans for the following day and pray together.

"The week turned out totally different than I'd expected", said Christian Bangert, who has participated in three paXan teams so far. "But it was a tremendous time. Everybody really jelled as a team and together we were able to accomplish a lot of things."

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The following video (in German with Romanian subtitles) highlights the Proethnica Festival in Sighisoara. Christoph Nick of the paXan team was interviewed (time index 5:48) about the team's activities in Sighisoara.