The period of 2009-2019
Something mighty is happening in Victory Outreach Romania, so fast that we almost can’t keep up! In September 2009 Pastor Lucas and Lisa Rahanar started a Victory Outreach church and Home in Bucharest, the capitol of Romania.
Pastor Lucas & Lisa Rahanar, Pastors Victory Outreach Bucharest.
It’s a beautiful, old historic city, once called the “Paris of the East”. Also it is a fast growing city with more than 2,5 million citizens, but with a tremendous need. Many families live in extreme poverty and thousands of addict’s young people live on the street, in deserted houses and in tunnels/ sewers during the winter. Often very young children. Many children have burn scars, because fire bombs are thrown into the sewers where the children are sleeping.
In 1967 when Ceauşescu came, the army even went into the sewers with flame throwers to ‘clean them up’. Many children suddenly disappeared, and this still takes place. Pastor Jerry & Xannelou Mendeszoon (Victory Outreach Rotterdam) visited Bucharest in July 2009 en visited the street children. Workers from ‘City of Hope’, a foundation with children’s homes, brought them to a building. Lisa: “Here we found starving and desperate heroin addicts. They were fascinated to here the story of Pastor Jerry & Xannelou and they accepted their offer of help and also the possibility to see their lives change. Victory Outreach Bucharest is now located in the Çasa Cerelui’, translated: House in the sky, across from Central Station ‘Gara de Nord’ in the heart of Bucharest. Lucas and Lisa: “The house that they now occupy is plenty big enough for their weekly activities, even though seems very small when packed twice a week with over 70 homeless, street children & drug-addicts. The work that they are doing here in Bucharest will change the course of history for entire Romania.”
From the beginning… Lucas & Lisa Rahanar got married in 2008 and together they have 8 children and 7 grandchildren. It was their dream to work with the street children in Romania, as all of their own children are now adults. It wasn’t easy for them, but children are proud of us and love to visit us in Romania.
Since 2006 we had often visited Bucharest as we saw the great need of addicted street children and our hearts were broken for them.
Lucas came into Victory Outreach in Holland himself as a drug-addict many years before and was delivered and set free by the hand of God. Moved by what God had done in his life, he has always had a great passion and burden for evangelism and a heart to reach out to the drug-addict. In the past 10 years he has gained much experience by being able to work in 4 different Victory Outreach Rehab Homes in the Netherlands. Lisa is a trained nurse and worked for many years in Care Homes also had gained much experience to be able to effectively work on the streets of Bucharest. For many years prior to being sent out she had a great burden for the people of Bucharest, Romania and visited the country many times already hearing the call of God to live and work in this country.
In 2007 they worked daily for almost 10 months in ‘the Hope
Rescue Center’ in Bucharest. Here they got to know many people and build different contacts. After this they returned to Holland, but felt such a burden on their hearts for the street children, that eventually in 2009 they were launched out by Victory Outreach Rotterdam to start a Victory Outreach church & Home in Bucharest. Since September 2009 we have been living in the heart of Bucharest, 5 minutes from Central Station ‘Gara de Nord’.
It is a neighborhood full of brothels, drug houses and extreme poverty. Here we were able to open our house and start a rehab home. At the moment we have 2 full-time workers and 3 ex-street boys living in the house. There are also different volunteers that come and help with the various daily activities.
Twice a week around 50 people come in (of which 10% young children), who live on the street or in sheds, garages or basements without light or water. They can shower and if possible we give them clean clothes, shampoo, shaving materials, pampers etc. Often they have wounds that need to be cleaned and bandaged, where they have injured themselves and often self-afflicted cuts. They can play games, table football, drawing, crafts, etc. After which they receive a warm meal and an encouraging word from the Bible. There is also time and space for counseling.
Besides this we reach out to our neighbors, on a Saturday afternoon by having a Kidz Club (also in the summer we host a Kids Kamp in the mountain, which includes 40 children from orphanages) together with other organizations.
On Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening we have church gatherings where everyone is welcome and often young people from the street join us. Here we meet the spiritual needs and is a place of healing and refreshment for many.
In all we have never been more grateful and felt useful in doing the work of the Lord. It gives such joy to see the smiles on the faces of these young people after a time of rest and peace in our centre. Of course we still need much help through workers, materials and finances, but daily believe God for his providence! If you feel to help us in any way, please contact us. There is a great need to invest in the lives of young people who are living without hope or a future. We know and believe a better future is possible for them!
(Text: Lisa van Pagee).