God is at work around the world, changing people’s lives. It’s our privilege to help disciple people by showing their stories. After all, discipleship means showing what it looks like to follow Christ, and we show that in every story.

Last fall, I went to Romania to gather one of these stories for the March issue of Cru Storylines. Along the way, I found a second story that I want to share with you.

Gina Teodorescu serves with Cru in Romania. Now a widow in her early 60s, Gina and her former husband Ionel, came to Christ during the Romanian Revolution that overturned Communism.

The two met as students at Romania’s top engineering school. After graduating, they worked at the largest state-run manufacturing plant in the country. Ionel became the plant manager. During times of crisis, his government expected him to organize factory workers into a battalion that would defend the country and its rulers.

In 1989, Romanians overthrew dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who had ordered the army to shoot at innocent civilians. Ionel ignored the order to bring factory workers as a battalion to the capital.

During those tense days, Gina and Ionel, both atheists who had been reading the Bible, asked God to protect them and their children. The revolution ended 3 days later, and they remained safe. They surrendered their lives to Christ.

Soon after, a factory worker left for six months to show the JESUS film in across the country. When he returned, Gina and Ionel helped him show the film locally. Two years later, they left their jobs and joined the staff of Cru.

Over the years, Ionel and Gina helped many people in Romania meet Jesus. One day, they spoke to Gypsy Christians in Craiova. Ionel declined their offer to become their pastor, but promised to return. Two weeks later, he died of cancer.

After taking three months off, Gina traveled back to  Craiova and met with the Gypsies. This took courage. She’d grown up scared of Gypsies due to an event early in her life. Society’s prejudice against Gypsies only strengthened her fear. (You can read more about this in Storylines in March.)

Yet to honor Ionel’s promise and to serve God, she went. She began coaching Daniel and Zana, a married couple who have now planted 11 churches in 6 years.

I wrote about Daniel and Zana for Storylines, but Gina’s story was every bit as interesting as theirs. Her faith inspired me. By telling Daniel and Zana’s story, and showing how Gina mentored them, we can encourage others to trust God with their lives.

And while you wait for the rest of what I wrote from Romania, you can read the story Mark wrote about God changing lives through SpeakOut camps in Slovakia: https://www.cru.org/storylines/2019/january/slovak-students-speak-out.

Thank you for your generous gifts to Cru on our behalf. We’re so grateful for your friendship and your kindness.