BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Adrian Musteata rubbed his hands together to warm them enough to take notes in class. Each school day started by reciting poems and praising the man everyone was forced to call “Beloved Dictator.” It was true that Nicolae Ceauşescu was the dictator who ruled Romania with an iron fist, and struck terror into the people of his country. He starved them. He murdered them. Beloved? Never. Adrian enjoyed learning, but it was difficult to concentrate against the biting cold and the gnawing hunger. It would do no good to go home. The government controlled the heat there too. Even if they had money, there was no food on the shelves to buy. Nicolae Ceauşescu shipped food to Russia while his people starved. Adrian was only 8 years old when, like other children, he was received into the Communist Party. Even at that tender age, he hated Communism; not that he or anyone else dared to disagree. Disagreement was considered an act of aggression. One could be shot, or sent to a re-education camp in Siberia. Adrian had been sad for as long as he could remember, but not because of his home life. His family was a lifeline of love and light while living under a dark cloud of constant danger. For instance, there were six people in his family, which by law was illegal. If couples had too many children, the government could send the parents to re-education camps and the children to Communist schools. Communism decreed that God didn’t exist. Both Adrian’s father and grandfather were ministers. That alone brought more persecution, even if the government also controlled churches. Owning a Bible was against the law, so his family kept the one they had hidden. Theirs was a society based on such great fear, Adrian dared not ask the questions that plagued him most—questions like, had he descended from a fish, or had it been a monkey? And, if God did exist, why did He allow such bad things to happen? God Reaches Out “I was born and raised in Brașov, Romania,” Adrian explains. “For years, our family of six lived in a two-bedroom apartment on the 10th floor of a building whose elevator didn’t work. We moved to a larger space when I was around 10. “English classes were offered at school, and I signed up. The instructor said that the whole class would pass the course. Anyone who wanted to could leave and still get the credit. Everyone left except me. I enjoyed learning the language, although I didn’t know how I would use it. We’d been taught that America was the enemy of freedom and prosperity. All Americans were spies. We could be arrested for speaking to one. “When I was 12, the military turned against Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife. They were arrested and killed by firing squad on Dec. 25, 1989. The government collapsed, the educational system collapsed and many schools closed. No one knew what would happen next. “A couple of years later, when I was 14, I saw a group of strangers on the street trying to talk to people. They spoke English. I asked where they were from, and most of them said they were from America. Others in the group were from England and Australia. I was nervous talking to them, but I wanted to know why they’d come. “‘What are you doing here?’ I asked. The strangers then told me they were missionaries. I didn’t know what that was except that it had something to do with religion, so then I asked why they had come. I will never forget their answer. “‘We came to Romania to tell you that God loves you,’ they said. “God loves me? I was very curious. “It turned out that the group was called Youth With A Mission (YWAM), and came from a place called Texas. They asked me to translate for them, and I agreed. One of them handed me a magazine called "Believer’s Voice of Victory," and said, ‘Adrian, I want you to read this magazine. You can subscribe to it, too. It’s free.’” * * * * * continues on p 18 * * * * * * BVOV : 17

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