A little about the villages of Scheia and Romania

Romania and Seed of Hope Ministries

Romania's rich cultural traditions have been nourished by many sources, some of which predate the Roman occupation. The traditional folk arts, including dance, wood carving, ceramics, weaving and embroidery of costumes and household decorations, and fascinating folk music, still flourish in many parts of the country. Despite strong Austrian, German, and especially French influence, many of Romania's great artists, such as the painter Nicolae Grigorescu, the poet Mihai Eminescu, the composer George Enescu, and the sculptor Constantin Brāncus,i, drew their inspiration from Romanian folk traditions.

The country's many Orthodox monasteries, as well as the Transylvanian Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church, some of which date back to the 13th century, are repositories of artistic treasures. The famous painted monasteries of Bukovina make an important contribution to European architecture.

Poetry and the theater play an important role in contemporary Romanian life. Classic Romanian plays, such as those of Ion Luca Caragiale, as well as works by modern or avant-garde Romanian and international playwrights, find sophisticated and enthusiastic audiences in the many theaters of the capital and of the smaller cities.

Villages of Scheia, Seed of Hope Ministries and Iacob's Farm

The village of Scheia is situated 30 miles South West of Iasi city. Iasi is the second largest city in Romania. The village of Scheia is formed from other little satellite villages located along and around the main central village with roads datin back more than 600 years. The entire population is around 3600 people from where more than 50% are children and young adults. The topography of Scheia village is hilly rather than flat plains. Altitudes around 250-390 meters high. About 4000 hectors (8000 acres) are for agriculture and pasture land.

Scheia area is a very picturesque landscape but with an agriculture that is rather weakly exploited and underdeveloped. The main occupation of the population is agriculture and animal husbandry. After 50 years of communism that had promoted a cooperatist program in agriculture, communism rather enslaved and depleted the population. The current population and current agriculture are not enough to sustain the population. Currently every family has ownership of approximately 0.3-1 hector of ground that they work in private with agricultural machinery dating back to the 1940s and 50s. Agricuture is in the "Cinderella" stages in the Romanian economy right now because of limited financial resources and high interest rates. Agriculture and animal husbandry are the only activities considered as the future of this village.

The population is rather very poor compared to the average life style. Mostly because of the corruption within the last 20 years along with the 50 years of communism. The village has been deprived of their valuable assets and natural resources like 3 stone quarries and funds that have been used up by previous government administrations.

The water supply in the village is good but most of it infiltrates the soil rather than bec0me surface water. Surrounding landscape is very hilly and provides great potential for fruit trees and vines.

The Poiana Schei area has a great tourism potential with the possibility of development in time once the infrastructure has been implemented. Romania is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Until corruption is removed from Romania infrastructure, water systems, sewage systems, electricity and telecommunications will hold this beautiful country back. SOHM, through proper education hopes to help the people of the village understand the potential and begin to build a better Romania.

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Iacob's Family Mission - Community Health Evangelism - Scheia village Iasi Romania

The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia were for centuries under the suzerainty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, they secured their autonomy in 1856, they united in 1859 under the name of Romania. The country gained full independence in 1878. It joined the Allied powers in World War I and acquired new territories following the conflict. In 1940, it allied with the Axis power and participated in the 1941 German invasion of the USSR. Three years later overrun by the Soviets, Romania signed an armistice. The post-war Soviet occupation led to the formation of a Communist "people's republic" in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who took power in 1965, and his Securitate police state became increasingly oppressive and draconian through the 1980s. The economy grew considerably during the first part along with the severity of persecution of Christians. By the early 1980's the country slid into a huge recession, the situation declined more and more and Ceausescu was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former Communists dominated the government until 1996 when they were swept from power by a fractious coalition of centrist parties. Romania has since been open to a Democratic form of government, but has lagged behind other countries in the region. Living standards continued to fall while corruption increased.

• The area of Romania is slightly smaller than Oregon.
• The climate is temperate, cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with showers and frequent thunderstorms.
• The Plain of Moldavia is separated from Central Transylvanian Basin on the west by the Carpathian Mountains.
• Population in July 2004 was 22, 355,551 people.
• Religions: Eastern Orthodox 87%, Protestants 6,8%, Catholic 5,6%, other (mostly Muslim) 0,4%, unaffiliated 0,2%.
• Languages: Romanian (official), Hungarian, German.
• Capital: Bucharest.
• Time zone: 7 hours ahead of East Standard Time.
• Currency: Romania Lei.

Romanians are some of the friendliest and most hospitable people in the world. However Romania is still a struggling nation trying to pull out of the grasp of communism. Most people still live in communist housing because they can't afford to rebuild. Those people are survivors of hard times but they don't have a lot of hope in their religion. Their Roman Orthodox roots teach them more religion than a personal relationship with God. Most Romanians believe that Christ died on the cross for their sins, yet they do not understand how He lives or that He wants more than religious services from them.

Iacob Titi spent his professional activity in a factory that produced machinery for road construction, rail-way equipment and hydrographic improvements. He worked as a highly-skilled worker being the head of a working team for 27 years. Starting with 1980 the living conditions in the country began to deteriorate, that is, small wages, complete lack of food in the market-places, interdiction of the free expression, diminution of traveling freedom, all these led to the decrease of the living standard.

The whole activity of the social body was controlled by the political secret police (securitatea = the security ), which was coordinated by KGB and by our " GREAT EASTERN NEIGHBORS "-the Soviet Union. The Romanian Communist State carried on a double dealing policy: one thing was said, quite another thing was done. All people were at the communist state's mercy.

In 1987 the situation became dramatic: lack of orders in the factory, lack of electric energy; he and the workers were obliged to work during the night in a straight shift of 12 hours, from 6 o'clock in the evening till 6 o'clock in the morning, in order to make economy for the house-hold consumption. Sometimes they were obliged to work on Sundays to get the full salary. On the 16th of February 1987 about 3800 workers of the factory ceased any activity and gathered in front of the enterprise head-quarters. Then, they showed managers the very difficult problems with which they were confronted: low temperatures in the factory halls, lack of orders, unpaid wages and finally, the return to the normal working program. In the meantime the party bosses of the district were called to take part in talks as well as security officers; these told them to resume the activity, because all problems would be solved. After two days of talks, some of the raised problems were solved.

Our father and one of his colleagues were supported by all workers in the factory, because they were the leaders of the above-described movement. After this event there were attempts to arrest him on grounds that he was a sectarian, but there were also people in the managing board who opposed to such a decision.

Concomitantly with these pressures the secret police began to pursue him intercepting his phone calls and letters. The situation come back as it was previously and became more and more difficult; already in Eastern Europe, things began to move; the leadership of the Soviet Union, through Michael Gorbachev, came with that famous program described as "GLASNOST" and "PERESTROIKA". There were signs that the situation would change as when Senior Bush and Gorbachev met in Malta.

In the autumn of 1989, together with a group of friends, he decided to stand for their values. With that end in view they organized ourselves in a pyramid system: each member of the organization had to know three persons of confidence, and in their turn, each of them, other three persons, as that to be difficult their identification by the political secret police. On the 14th of December 1989, at 16 o'clock they planned to meet in the center of the city; however security was informed about their action; somebody of the group had betrayed them. They were encircled after they met, by a fire brigade with its engines, by secret police troops, militiamen and trucks full of soldiers. One by one, all of them were arrested, taken to the security headquarters and submitted to investigations. Our father was arrested on the 19th and because he was "known" by the police, he "enjoyed" a special treatment: he was abused and beaten all over his body with sticks and rubber cudgels and between cudgeling they furiously asked him to denounce the people with which he was in contact and his faith in God. But God gave him endurance and peace and helped him to go through this less incident in his life. After 3 days they released him, he was so beaten he could not talk for several days. Soon other cities and towns rose against Ceausescu's regime and eliminated it on the 25th.

And now after 18 years, since those tragic events, the situation in the country becomes worse every day, because at the "steering wheel" there are not competent people. Many of these "new leaders" come from the old communist structures and do not want to give up their privileges. The former political secret police structures are not disclosed as in Germany or in Poland. Many of Ceausescu's courtiers are M.P.s. There remains much to be done but we hope that God will turn His face to Romania and will help us to pass through these hard times as in our past, too. Our duty, as God's children is to pray even more and to make every effort to enlarge His kingdom. In order to achieve this we need to replace the mentality to fear God and not concentrate on alcohol, leading to poverty and violence.

In 1998 we started to build our own farm in Scheia area. The problems we had encouraged us to make a farm to support ourselves and to help other people. The vision of our family is to sustain a pilot center in order to promote agricultural values with a model farm where people can learn how to live after God's way and learn in the same time how to work. We want to give to our community a new vision. Our family wants, to be able to continue the projects that we have started as a result of the needs in the area .The Scheia area is a poor one, exploited, and agriculture that is not sustained by the government. Scheia is a beautiful area situated at 38 km (22miles) outside the Iasi city. This rural town has 3800 people. Not many jobs are available and parents struggle to provide food, good health and education for their children. They own some land (an average person will own about 1.5 ha of land) but most of them don't have tractors to work their land and many times they use horses or work it by hand. If they can find work, they get paid 12$ per day. Bad habits like alcohol, smoking, and wrong attitudes drive people into an "ongoing" stage of poverty too. In order to have success in taking the people out of their poverty we need to spend time with them and for them. That's why our projects are so important, we see children that are having their heart open to learn and study so that things will change in the future for them.

The words that our family has as a fundament are: "If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up." (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10, 12). The vision of our family is that of a community strengthened by the families. This means, first of all, working together, in the spirit of a healthy way of thinking, and making God's will. The plan of this project is to emphasize the advantages of the families and the children join in different activities at our Bible study group aiming to see a Christian bond that keeps us united together as a community. We desire to see a change in the families from the community and we share what help us to stay together. We teach the some values that we have applied for our own. Here are some of the things that will help us work and help each other:

1. Dedication to each other. If the family is united and dedicated, this will have as a result a feeling of safety into the community.
2. Communication. In order to be truly united, we think that the time we spend together, talking to each other and listening to each other will contribute to establishing closer relationships between us. The result of this communication process, as well as spending time together, is that it will help us identify the problems, and find solutions, as we plan to discuss them openly, even if this means creating a council.
3. Spending time together leads to the creation of a bond of joy. Time is the ingredient that's missing, but it can be planned. That's why, spending quality time in the farm means discussing about the farm as a whole, discussions in the spare time of the family, praying and many, many other things.
4. Appreciation for the others. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs." (Ephesians 4:29). Appreciation is the center of our aim, because we know if we want someone to do with all his heart and with goodness, we have to encourage him. 5.Crisis solving. A strong family has the ability to solve its difficult problems in a particular and creative way. When a crisis situation appears, the members of our community, instead of attacking each other, they stick together and help each other, seeking help from Jesus, and seeing the positive aspects of the situation. Discussing the problems, praying together when they see a problem, all these things help creating a strong bond and unity from all points of view.

Basic Objectives:

1. exploitation of the land, considering the environment, the preservation of the natural environment and of the natural resources, of the soils and of the genetic diversity ;
2. improving the quality and the quantity level of the agricultural production;
3. improving the professional training of the community members;
4. ensuring the children a decent living and future, in order to be able to learn, to prepare, to have a vision and to do something in our country, so that this urge for leaving Romania disappears ; the goal is to motivate children to serve God here in Romania, preventing them from becoming burdens for other countries;
5. ensuring the development of the community with agricultural production as a fundament, production that is obtained by protecting the nature God gave us;
6. working together (helping each other) will lead to obtaining profit that will lead to growth for families within Scheia community. By introducing these common desires, the animal and vegetable production of the area will be modernized - a logical and compulsory component in the context of the systematic and integralistic approach of the agricultural production, seen as a whole. This project first of all helps at creating a healthy philosophy of life.

In a country that lived for decades under the curtain of communism, many Romanians live in an environment where faith is seen as empty, cold, and pointless. Street children and orphans grow up without values and purpose, and they often wander homeless and revert to crime as a way of life. Out goal is to share with as many people as possible about a personal relationship with Christ and what that means for us in this life. We are committed to children and believe in the importance of introducing them to Christ at an early age, we believe that this is the best way to give them lasting hope. We care for kids, we love kids, and just want them to enjoy being kids.

As Christians, we have been commissioned by God to show compassion to those in need, stand up against injustice, and plead the case of the innocent. Whether it's through prayer, financial giving, or actively serving, we can all get involved. We have the heart, the passion, the drive, but often lack the resources to accomplish our goal.

By touching the children's lives we will impact their family, the community, and the Romanian educational system in our area. We will like in the future to continue to be place where kids can come and spend a quality time reading and studying and doing their homework with our help because most of them are coming from families with parents lacking education that can not help them. This can break the cycle of poverty in this poor village of Romania. We want to be able to provide basic needs and a place where they can find spiritual as well as physical hospitality, a place where they can pour out their problems or concerns.

Titi Iacob's family decided to move in the country side in 1998. At the time we approached a large number of people in order to identify their needs. We started with small projects that had a positive impact in people's and children lives(shoeboxes for Christmas, shoes for children and garden seeds).In the same time we provide Christian literature, Bibles and also involvement into local church. Our cause in Romania is: community aid, health education and evangelism. Our ministry tools are service projects, and personal evangelism seminars.

In a country that lived for decades under the curtain of Communism, many Romanians live in an environment where faith is seen as empty, cold, and pointless. The poor children from Scheia area grow up with an environment where poverty is a way of living not an exception. We meet this need by facilitating 28-30 children and teaching them a biblical way of life. You'll be supporting children that are coming from very poor families that learn how to interact with in the local society and produce growth. Knowing the fact that about 70 % are not from Christian homes and everything they accumulate will be taken home and the impact will be a very positive one. So far the "Childhood's Joy" group that is attending to our Bible Study every Saturday is growing and we pray that the impact in their families will start a change in their families too.

We run the "Shoe project" also that was started by our family having the strong desire to see the very needy children having the possibility to go to school. Almost 60 pairs of shoes are designated to fulfill a major goal - enable the children to go to school and to church. This project takes place in April every spring. The project is important to the future of the children as these gifts improve their life and enable them to be part of the social activity in the community.

The "Christmas Shoe Boxes" project is designated to bring another possibility to get in contact with the children and their parents. The shoeboxes contains: towel, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, sweets, toys and the most important a New Testament along with a personal invitation to the local church. These community/Bible projects that our family do are all part of a program we call Community -Health -Evangelism.

We strongly believe that the Lord has set us there to raise the standard so that many people bring glory to Him. We also believe that interacting with the people from the community we identify their needs, problems and in the same time spread with power his word so that as many people would make a change in their families and even more in their personal lives. A very high percentage of families do not know the basic sanitation rules and the education is a low level. Interacting with the people we were able to help restore some of their houses, we support them in building their own septic tanks for protecting the table water and also be providers with water for the community need.

God has given us the ability to build relationships among them so that we can share His word in a manner that it will have an impact in their lives. We have times with area families in our home and do seminars with them teaching both the word and agriculture knowledge. We also working with 4 churches that we visit and encourage the lay preachers there. Also as part of the Christian literature distributions we are encouraging the people to attend one of these churches.

Please pray for our family as we serve the Lord here in Scheia- Iasi, Romania. May the Glory be only His and may many people find the Lord. In all may His will be done.