I convinced myself that I was saved because my parents were saved. I went to church with them and I tried to be a good person.

I was 14 years old when an American Missionary, Carl Smith, preached in our church one Sunday evening. He talked about salvation and eternal life, more of the gospel that I heard many times before. But then he asked this question, “If you were to die tonight, where would you go?” I tried to reassure myself. “I’m a good person, I go to church, Sunday school, I help at church with the children”… but I had no peace from that question. That night I could not sleep because I wasn’t sure where I would go if I died. At some point in the night, I started crying and knelt by my bed. I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and be my Savior. The next morning I told my parents about my decision. They took me in their arms and wept with joy. From that moment on my life has belonged to Jesus, and I thank him for dying on the cross for my sins to make a place for me in heaven.

I knew God existed and therefore I believed in God, but I never understood that I was a sinner in need of a Savior until I was 13 years old. 

After I was saved, I saw God begin to work in the individual hearts of my family members. First my two younger sisters were saved, then my mom, and then my dad. By the time I was 15, God had completely transformed my life and my family!

After I was saved, I continued to be a helper in the children’s ministries and when I turned 18, I started teaching Sunday School on my own. I was 22 when I began leading the church’s youth group. After high school, I began attending Apollo, a Bible College chaptered through my home church. It was the same year that I started my law degree at a nearby university. It wasn’t long before my course load became so heavy that I decided to quit Bible College, in hopes of starting it up again the following semester. I knew God wanted me to finish Bible College, but I chose to finish Law first. Once I obtained my law degree, I was quickly given a job at a factory. In Romania, most businesses hire a lawyer to notarize and compile all their documents. I went back to Bible College and I was doing very well at work. I was making good money and I really enjoyed going to work in a suit and tie every day. To be hired as a lawyer in a law firm, I needed at least 4 to 5 years of working experience as a lawyer at the factory. But sadly, the factory closed down three years later without warning. Suddenly I was without a job and I did not have the adequate years of experience to be hired by a law firm.

My father also worked with me at the factory. With both of our incomes gone, our family had never faced a trial so hard. I exhausted ways to find a job in Romania. My father and I had to do a lot of odd jobs just to make ends meet. There were several times when we were left with only enough money to put gas in the car so we could at least drive to church on Sunday. Every time this happened, I saw over and over again how God provided for us. Sometimes, money just showed up at our doorstep and other times me or my Dad would receive a call of another odd job that would give us exactly what we needed.

This went on for about a year until my Uncle in Spain found a job for me as an electrician. I gladly moved to Spain to work and sent money to help my family in Romania until my father found a steady job at home. Once I was comfortable with my new life in Spain, I thought that I would never leave. In three short years, I had learned the language and spoke Spanish like a native, I was living on my own, I had a good job, and I was even able to help my family finically back in Romania when needed. Yet, I still had not finished my Bible degree and I was getting more and more messages from the teens in Romania asking me to come back as their youth leader. God used this to make me think more and more about home. I felt Him calling me back to Romania. In faith, I quit my job in Spain and moved back home with my parents in Romania. Back to being jobless and uncertain of the future, but I knew it was what God wanted me to do. I finally finished my Bible degree and God lead me to a seasonal job in Germany. This job allowed me to work three months out of the year in Germany and be home in Romania for the rest of the year volunteering in the church as the youth leader.