Danut is responsible for the administration in the church of Draganesti Olt. He and Florina Cazan have also started a new work in the village of Coteana. The location is a hard field because of the witchcraft and strong Orthodox opposition.
Testimony of Conversion
My name is Daniel Opris. I am forty years old and I have been working as a missionary in Draganesti-Oltenia for about four years.
Since I was a little boy my mother took me to the Baptist church in Alba Iulia where I sang in the church’s choir. During those years, I heard a lot of preaching about salvation and God’s plan. I participated regularly at the church’s meetings because I had to be there to play the mandolin. In spite of all these things, I was living in the sins of a child and of a teenager, speaking dirty, not obeying my parents, and many others things.
When I was eighteen years old, and before I went into the army, I read a book that mentioned some of the sins that I was regularly committing. It made me very ashamed. I remember that in that very moment I asked forgiveness from God. I knew from preaching and from what I had read in the Bible about the Lord’s sacrifice and that I could be forgiven. After a few weeks I asked to be baptized, and so, I testified about my faith in front of the church.
In the army I was mocked because I was a believer, but I did not fall back. However, on the day that I was released, I went with the other soldiers to drink and smoke. I even started to hate my Baptist brothers and I rarely went to church. This sinful state that I was in lasted eight months until my father died because of alcohol. As I saw him lying there, I said to myself that I must stop drinking so that I do not die like him. At that moment, it came into my mind to repent.
I would have liked to repent. I wanted to be released from the bad habit of drinking because I did not like the kind of life I was living. I really wanted to repent, but I thought that God did not want to forgive me. Finally, God sent a brother who read to me some verses that affirmed that God would receive me if I really wanted to be forgiven. That day, God forgave me and from that moment I never doubted it again. God changed my life. After about seven years, Pastor Raul Costea called me to join his church planting team and I accepted it as the Lord’s will. It was what I truly wanted; I wanted to do something for Him
My gift is serving and this is where I find satisfaction. I sometimes preach on Sunday mornings, and on Friday evenings I teach in the small group. I am also involved in the ministry with the children. I really like to help the orphans. Right now I have an orphan in my care; a little boy who received the Lord three months ago.
