Blessings from the Romania/Ukraine Summer Trip

This summer, we were once again blessed with the opportunity to partner with National Missionaries in Romania and Ukraine to share the Gospel and serve communities in need.

Part 1: Romania

Our first stop was Romania, where we had the privilege of hosting a kids camp at Partners In Evangelism Retreat Center in the Mountains. This was our first time using this location, and it proved to be an incredible blessing. Children from the surrounding area came to spend the week with our mission team from Missouri. During this time, they heard the Gospel daily, experienced the love of Christ, and built lasting connections with our team.

See the report from Sarah Stef

What an amazing summer we have had so far!  At the end of June three members of Faith Baptist Church in Washington, MO (Rose De Wever, myself, and Lexi Gallegos) went on a mission trip to Romania for 2 weeks.  Before the trip we were praying hard for God to provide the funds necessary to go, and thanks to a special Romania Fundraising Dinner on June 13th, we had a fully funded team!

On June 24th the team was sent off at the airport by loved ones and our Pastor.  Due to bad weather in Chicago, we had to change our outgoing flights at the last minute and left several hours earlier than expected to fly through Newark instead.  Thankfully, we arrived without any problems and waited a few hours for my dad Cornel to join us, since he flew on our original flight from Munich.  Cornel was with our team for the majority of the trip.

The first three days we spent with two PIEI nationals who serve the area around the city Campeni.  We spent one day with Florin Botar and another with Relu Rodean, visiting people who live in the mountains.  Some were unsaved people who the missionaries have been forming relationships with.  Others were Christians who have been unable to make it to church for some time due to health issues and their remote locations.  We sang songs, prayed, shared the gospel, and encouraged each of the people we visited.  Our team split up to attend both of their churches on Sunday morning.

Our main goal for Romania was to help with a brand new camp that PIEI has been preparing in the mountains.  We arrived Monday morning to see the work that has been put into the property.  The first day was a bit chaotic, as the kids trickled in at different times, frequent blackouts caused lunch to be two hours late, and the men spent all day erecting a large tent that would provide shade during outdoor activities!  However, by the end of the first day everyone had settled in and the 24 campers were divided into 3 groups by age.  Lexi helped out with the 7-10 year olds, Rosie taught the 11-12 year olds, and I (Sarah) taught the 13-15 year olds.

The theme of the camp was Be Strong and Courageous like Joshua, and every day we had a skit and Bible Lessons focusing on part of the book of Joshua.  We also did crafts such as friendship bracelets and painting rocks, and there were two young men (Chris and Tini) who did a fantastic job organizing games and leading worship.  Our cook Alisa and her helpers made delicious meals every day, Mike Dima was in charge of the facility, and PIEI missionary Daniel Petrut led the team, including two women (Viorica and Gabi) who were teachers/leaders that came with the children from the city of Victoria.  We are so grateful to everyone who made the camp possible, including our translators Chris, Abby, Marius, and Teodora.

During the week we faced some serious spiritual warfare.  God clearly had plans for the camp, because Satan was trying his hardest to make us fail.  We dealt with injuries, officials, and the entire camp had run out of running water by Wednesday!  We also had a virus running through the camp, and every member of our Faith team was sick by the end of the week.  However, God is good and helped us prevail despite all of our obstacles!  Daniel and all of the adults worked as a team to help each other and fill in wherever there was a need.  We were all unified by the same ultimate goal- to share the Gospel with every single child at camp.

Getting to spend time with the campers was such a joy and a blessing.  Lexi learned that she speaks "kid" in any language and had some wonderful times with many of the campers.  God gave Rosie a heart for a troublesome boy named Thomas, and by the end of the week he was asking her to pray for him.  In my group I had a young man of about 15 named Beni who became a Christian only a year ago.  He gave his testimony on the first night, and has clearly been set aside by God for a greater purpose.  He is already training with another Christian mission organization and has plans to disciple another young boy as part of his training.  All three of our team members connected with Beni, and we pray that God continues the wonderful work that he has begun in that young man's life.

There are more stories and examples from camp than we can list here.  I believe that each of us were just as affected by our experience as the kids were!  On the last night of camp, Rosie used the soccer ball of many colors to share the Gospel message, and then Daniel gave a call to respond.  Praise the Lord that eight of our campers raised their hands that night!  The nationals who work in those campers' hometowns will be following up with those children to make sure that they get connected to other Christians and have the opportunity to grow in their faith.

The team spent our last Sunday in Romania attending the church in Victoria, pastored by Timotei.  We then returned home to the U.S. on Monday, July 7th and are still recovering from getting sick at camp.  Thank you to all who prayed for our team while we were there!  Continue to pray for the children and the nationals in Romania.  You can follow what happens next with them by reading the monthly reports on piei.org/updates-from-missionaries.

In addition to the camp, we worked closely with National Missionaries to visit local communities, build relationships, and plant seeds of faith. Our prayer is that these seeds will grow, leading many to attend local churches and come to know Christ personally.

Another important outreach was the Eyeglass Ministry in rural villages. Through this ministry, we provided physical care by offering free eyeglasses to those in need—helping many to see more clearly both physically and spiritually. Each visit included prayer, sharing the Word of God, and showing care to each individual we met.

Part 2: Ukraine

The second leg of our journey took us to Ukraine with a team of seven people. We divided into two smaller teams to maximize our impact



Impact & Gratitude

Throughout the trip, we witnessed God moving in powerful ways. Over 70 individuals made the life-changing decision to follow Christ!

We are deeply thankful to the Lord for making this mission possible. It is only through His provision, guidance, and the willingness of His people to be obedient and submissive to His call that such work can be done. We praise Him for another fruitful summer of ministry and for every life touched by His love.

I love for you to join me in the NEXT year Short Term Mission Trip

With love a gratitude Cornel Stef Chair for Romania and Ukraine

Serving Others – Romania Trip Fall 2024

“Through love serve one another.”  Galatians 5:13

God has called us for a second trip to Romania this year.  I am happy to say that Gabi and I are able to travel and go together this time. 

She was not able to go with me in July due to complications following a very difficult hip replacement surgery, and was in physical therapy most of this summer, with a lot of problems unable to sleep in a regular bed.  She has improved although some issues remain, but with God, all things are possible!  We hope that this time the trip will not be as demanding and she would be able to teach and visit with women and families with less demand for walking.

We are going to be joined by Alex and Rodica Popa, both members of the PIEI Romania partnership committee, who will be involved in administration and overall helping the ministry’s communication, function, and all the necessary aspects of a well working ministry involving national missionaries and support received from the U.S.

The Men

The highlight of this season’s ministry is for the men!  We are honored to sponsor several Father-Son Conferences in October with Pastor, Author, Speaker and Educator, Norm Wakefield and Elijah Ministries. Since 1997, Norm and Spirit of Elijah Ministries has ministered in 22 countries around the globe, being utilized by our Lord, instructing on how to live to love and walk worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ! We are very excited that Norm has been called to Romania and pray our Lord’s blessing on these sessions. We are looking forward to being in Craiova (Southern region of Romania), Sibiu area (Cisnadie), and our own PIEI Center in Alba Iulia for 2-3 days of conferences all taking place in October.

Gabi and the Women

As the men will be meeting at these conferences, Gabi is planning to meet with women at the same time for a relaxing time of fellowship, encouragement and challenges from the Word of God, and hands-on projects.  There are two new locations where she has not been so that she will meet these women for the very first time.  It is always so exciting to expand our ministry and do outreach to more locations and reach out to more people.  It is fascinating to see how the Lord plans our steps, if you are but willing to follow Him!

I, Cornel, as usually, will be Jack-Of-All-Trades, doing whatever is needed for everyone, from driving all the way down to the border with Bulgaria where we will be spending some time with one of our national missionary Gavril Cuc and his wife Vera and their ministry there, to administration role and everything in between!

The Girls!

As we will be traveling South we will stop on the way in Arges to see the orphan girls at the Tigveni Institution.  They are always eager to see Gabi whom they call mommy and she is always ready to see them, as they communicate often via messenger.  They are so precious, and we hope to encourage them and love on them, as they have been depleted of parental love and family all their lives. 

Please pray for our safety in traveling and for wisdom as we have all these meetings and visits.  Our desire is to share the love of Christ and be an encouragement everywhere we go, so that we would make a difference in people’s lives, as well as be an encouragement to our national team there in Romania.

PIEI Ukraine Missionaries coming to Romania

Lastly, we are looking forward to having several of our national missionaries from Ukraine travel to Romania and coming to meet with us.  How exciting!  They have been through so much, and this might just be a little break that they need to take their mind off this awful war, such a nightmare that they live with every day.  This would be a definite highlight of our trip!  Praying for them and for their safety as they will cross the border twice as they come and return back to Ukraine!  Please continue to pray for all our PIEI Ukraine missionaries, their families, and the ministry in Ukraine.  Pray that this war with Russia will end soon.

Our departure date is Thursday September 26.  Tomorrow we are packing our bags.

Joyfully serving,

Cornel and Gabi Stef

Ukraine Summer 2024

Dear Friends,

I cannot express enough gratitude for everyone who has supported the ministry in Ukraine this summer. Thank you to those who donated as well as those who prayed for us. I have a special thanks for those who went on a short-term mission trip to join the nationals.

This summer Ukraine held its annual Summer Camp. Over 140 kids from ages 7 to 17 stayed at Camp Candela for a week. While there they were split into 3 groups, each studying God’s word together with their leaders, some of whom came from the US. The students played games, worshipped, and grew in their walks with God, and 35 of them made the decision to accept Christ into their hearts! Praise the Lord!

A few other team members visited some villages to provide eye exams and prescription glasses to those who needed it. This was an important opportunity to reach unchurched people. For example, in the village of Dinauti, 110 people came to be served by the eyeglass ministry, and all but 2 were non-Christians. It was therefore of the utmost importance to the team that their focus was to fill spiritual needs as well as physical ones. The team counseled people, listened to their stories, prayed with them, and shared the Gospel. Through that ministry about 15 people chose to follow Christ!

It has been my privilege to see God at work through the partnership between our nationals and the short-term mission teams that answer God’s call every year. I pray that anyone who hears that call will answer it and see how God will bless their response.

In Christ,

Cornel Stef

Perspective of a STMT member

Dear friends,

Whenever I bring a short-term mission team to Romania, I pray for two things to happen.

First, I pray that the team blesses our missionaries above and beyond what we could plan for. I hope that the team is able to encourage our nationals, building relationships and providing spiritual rejuvenation.

Second, I pray that the team is able to see God at work in their own lives throughout and after their trip. My goal is for team members to be transformed by their experiences and grow in their walk with the Lord.

Short-term missions with long-term impact— on BOTH sides.

Isaac Reeve is one such young man who has just returned from a one month trip to Romania. It was his first time there, but he is a member of Oak Ridge Community Church in St. Joseph, MI, which has partnered with PIEI for a long time. He has decided to share his experiences and perspective on his time in Romania below. I hope that his story encourages you to consider what God might do with you and for you if you choose to join a future trip…

In Christ,

Cornel Stef

Isaac Reeve’s Story

I spent almost a year preparing for my month-long mission trip to Romania. I wrote sermons, prepared my testimony, and joined video meetings with my team every month. Fundraising started late February, and my church was able to raise enough money for myself and another team member, Nancy Ruckstaetter. We joined the first of several teams to go to Romania this summer and arrived on July 2nd. The other members of our team were Cornel Stef, Helen Williams, and Melodee Battenschlag.

For the first few days, I was a part of Daniel Petrut’s VBS in the PIEI center in Alba Iulia. I tagged along with two of the VBS leaders, Adi and Cornel. Since the weather prevented us from going outside, they played various indoor games and activities. I was able to spend time with one of the kids who is very fluent in English. His name is Ben, but we called him Benni. 

I also spent some of that week at a camp in Salistea . The missionary Emmanuel Joldos was running the camp along with various other leaders. There were also two believers from Switzerland, David Meghet and Tabea Spurgen, who were there doing missions in Romania. Both can speak fluent Swiss, German, and Romanian. David was able to speak English very well and we worked with two interpreters, George and Elias.

While I was there I led the kids in stretches and saw how they participated in Bible verse memorization and discussions about Biblical topics. We even had a day trip to Jurassic World Transylvania! I joined Emmanuel Joldos, David Meghet, and George in playing soccer with some of the kids.

That night around the campfire I shared my testimony. The next day was the last day of the camp, so parents came and attended a ceremony for all the children. There were prizes and gifts for them to take home. They had a slideshow showing all the activities the children were involved in and we took a group photo before everyone left.

After the camp in Salistea, I returned for one last day at the VBS in Alba Iulia. Then Nancy and I were picked up by Cornel Fogorosiu. He brought us to his house in Sibiu where we met his wife Nuti (her real name is Anna) and then took us to see two cathedrals. One of the bell towers overlooked the whole city. Cornel Fogorosiu and I ascended all the way to the top and were rewarded with a fantastic view of the city!

Cornel Fogorosiu is the pastor of two village churches, one in the village of Nou with about 50 members and the other in Hasag, which only has about 10 right now. He invited me to preach at both churches on Sunday. In the morning we started with the larger church. Between the two church services Cornel Fogorosiu, Nuti, Nancy, and I visited four different families. The first family offered us lunch. In the second family the wife attends the church but her husband and son do not. The third family we visited was a sister from the church who is impoverished. She lives in a single room shack and has major health problems. The fourth family was an old married couple. The husband struggles with lung cancer. We prayed with them or for them all before we left each house.

After our time with the Fogorosiu family, Nancy and I were taken to Victoria. Nancy stayed there to do women’s ministry, but I crossed the Carpathian mountains with Pastor Timotei Stanea and a member of his church. We headed south to the town of Curtea de Arges where PIEI has a camp and the missionary Traian Chilau pastors several churches.

We met up with Pastor Timotei’s son Tim and a group of Germans. The Germans were sent by the Biblical Mission organization. They were a fun and hard-working youth group led by Abraham Neufeld. I helped some of them paint one of the churches. The next day we chopped some wood for the poor widows in an impoverished village in the countryside. We also had a chance to play a couple games of volleyball at the local high school. 

When we arrived at the camp in Arges, Cornel Stef joined us and brought some folks from his home church of Liberty Bible Church in Indiana. That team included Pastor Joe Kutolski, Dave and Carol Beckwith, and Mark Buffington. Dave and Carol stayed in Arges with Traian Chilau to work with orphan girls while the rest of us drove to Gabi Cuc’s home south of Craiova. Pastor Joe and Cornel Stef left Tim, Mark, and I with Gabi Cuc while they headed to Victoria.

Gabi Cuc pastors a church in the village of Caciulatesti. He also witnesses to the children in a juvenile detention center. His wife, Verra Cuc, supports him. We visited a few members from Gabi Cuc’s church, and on Sunday Mark and I both had the privilege of preaching at the church while Tim translated for us. That night we took a train back to the PIEI Center in Alba Iulia.

That week the center hosted a retreat for the missionaries and their wives. Mike Dima (the local PIEI administrator) and his wife Alice were pivotal in feeding the missionaries as well as ensuring everyone’s needs were met. Dave Beckwith (from Liberty Bible Church) gave lectures on anger management and his wife Carol planned activities for the missionaries’ wives to engage in. Pastor Joe lead a Bible study through the first few chapters in 1 Corinthians with a great deal of thoughtful discussion and engagement.

I helped two other young men from Liberty, Levi and Enoch, who helped entertain the missionaries’ children during the retreat. We play soccer with them and had a time of worship led by Enoch who can play the guitar. There was also short lesson for the kids.

The final day of the retreat we all headed to the new PIEI camp that is currently under construction in Necrilesti. The missionaries and many other brothers and sisters in Christ joined together in fellowship as we dedicated the camp. Pastor Timotei, Pastor Joe Kotulski, and Eugen Stef (the PIEI-Romania vice-president) all gave messages. Cornel Fogorosiu and Cornel Stef led us in worship.

After the retreat Tim and I headed to Victoria. Pastor Timotei went before us and brought two brothers from Alabama, Dave and Jerry. Dave is a retired minister and Jerry is a teacher in his church. Pastor Timotei took Dave and Jerry to visit the missionaries down south while Tim and I went on a hike with Costel and John, Pastor Timotei’s son-in-laws.

When Pastor Timotei came back with Dave and Jerry we visited Cornel Fogorosiu and Nuti again. This time we were able to learn about their ministry and pray with them. Later we also visited the missionaries Relu Rodean and Florin Botar along with their wives. We spent some time hearing about their ministries, praying with them, and giving encouragement.

Dave, Jerry and I preached at Pastor Timotei’s church in Victoria on two different Sundays. Tim acted as my translator, while Costel was Dave and Jerry’s translator. It was quite encouraging and edifying to be with them in worship.

Dave and Jerry left first, but I had one last adventure with Pastor Timotei and Tim. Chip Iacob, a brother from Romania who lives in the States, offered to give sweet corn to PIEI’s missionaries. We went near the area of Brashov to pick up about 700 ears of corn, then returned to Victoria to put them all in bags for the missionaries to use for their ministries.

After passing out the sweet corn, it was finally time to saying goodbye to Pastor Timotei, his wife, and Tim. Of all the teams, Cornel Stef and I were the first to arrive but the last to leave, and we travelled safely back to the States together.

It is clear God is working in Romania. The missionaries are dedicated to their work and are passionate about what they do. The love of God is evident in them. While I began as a stranger, all the missionaries and the brothers and sisters who worked alongside them treated me like family. The brothers and sisters in Romania embody John 13:35 and Galatians 3:28-29. We were all able to come together and worship our Lord God and Savior, Christ Jesus. 

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. -John 13:35

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. -Galatians 3:28-29


Isaac Reeve

click on the link below if you may be interested in going on a short-term mission trip.

Ministry Update

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings from Romania

I would like to start by telling you that we, the team that serves in Romania, have made it safe to our location at PIEI Center Alba Iulia.  We have already concluded a week of VBS under the leadership of our missionary Daniel Petrut. Today we are expecting another group from  my church, Liberty Bible Church, including pastor Joe. Their purpose for this trip is to support leaders in the local ministry and encourage them.

 I am so thankful for all your prayers and love, and also grateful for the loves of our brothers in Romania showed us when meeting with us. I believe in the power of the fervent prayer cause I have to testify that from luggages that have made it in time to reaching every flight in time, everything went well and I have seen God’s hand over us, protecting and caring for us. So, thank you and God bless each and everyone of you. We are so excited to see how God will work this time, how God is going to use everyone’s gift for the people we will interact with.  One of the tools God has provided for us in Reaching Romania for Christ, is the Necrilesti Camp, a camp located 45 minutes away from PIEI Center Alba Iulia. 

Liberty Bible Church Team

This camp has a cabin that required intervention to the basic structure and support pillars that were affected by mold. So, we started a rehabilitation work on the entire resistance structure of the building by decommissioning the legs affected by mold and replacing them with legs from a cement  structure. Developing and deepening into the rehabilitation works, we have realized that in order to bring the building to a good operational status, and also taking into account the geographical area, the construction manager advised us that a technical room is necessary to this location. The techinical room must include water heating pumps, cooling storage place for food, which will also serve the future 2 more cabins that we are thinking to build to support the  work of the camp as well as counseling or retreat for pastors and service teams and even more. The costs of all this reaches high to a sum of 150,000.00 USD.

The needs are so many, the costs are so high, but I believe that a soul that finds the Lord it’s worth every costs we can pay, considering that Christ gave His  life for us, the higher price someone could ever pay. Back over 40 years ago, coming to America, i have never thought of having a high standard of life, but rather I’ve always thought on how can I serve God back in the country I have come from - Matthew 16:24 - Then said Jesus unto His disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desire to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

On July 20th, i will lead a group of 5 people to Cernauti, Ukraine, where along with local leaders will be involved in a full time camp ministry. Our group will serve  leading bible study classes, having eye glass ministry and helping with other activities in the camp.

Please consider praying that God will provide us with great weather, protection as we serve in a country where war is going on, pray for the youth that attend the  camp that they may have an open heart to the word of the Gospel.

PRAYER REQUEST

*Pray for the safety of the teams coming and going

*Pray that the Necrilesti Camp becomes functional

*Pray for the missionaries as they serve faithfully for so many years

*Pray for more workers to join us in the great harvest

*Pray for the war to end in Ukraine, many lives are in danger

Cornel Stef Chair for Romania and Ukraine