Romania

After 42 years of Communist rule, the people of Romania overthrew dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. There was tremendous hope for the future after a courageous and costly revolution. As Luke Society director Dr. Augustin Batis tells it, people were hugging in the streets.

"We were shouting, 'We're free! We're free!' But we learned that to be free doesn't mean you'll have everything you want. Instead of being better off, many people are worse off. People are very disappointed. They've lost their hope."

The first elections were marred by violence, and the economy quickly crumbled in the early 1990s with inflation making basic goods unaffordable to the average family. The cost of bread nearly doubled overnight with no corresponding increase in wages. The optimism that once permeated the country has completely disappeared in the last decade.

Augustin and the Luke Society in Romania are trying to restore a greater hope to the people of Pitesti, a city of 300,000 with less than 1,000 evangelical Christians. Last November, he completed construction on the Dr. Luca Medical Center, a 15,000-square-foot multi-specialty clinic that has brought significant health care improvements to the city and shown the love of God to a despairing community.

Having grown up under an atheist government, Augustin was haunted by questions of the purpose and existence of man. He read philosophy and asked many questions, but never found satisfactory answers. Even in the midst of a happy marriage, he still felt emptiness in his soul. He asked for a Bible from his village priest, but didn't understand much of what he read.

Shortly after the Revolution, an American evangelist invited Augustin and his wife, Mihaela, to a crusade in their town. Not wanting to offend the man, who had donated some medicine to the clinic where he worked, Augustin went. That night both of their lives were changed forever as they committed themselves to Christ.

"What we heard and what we understood there," he said, "was just fantastic. We learned about God. We learned about Jesus. We learned that we live because of Him. We live to know him. We live to worship. We live to work for Him. We live because He's given us life. Through Jesus we can reestablish our relationship with God, and our sins will be forgotten forever, and we'll have eternal life."

Almost immediately, God gave them a vision for serving the poor of Romania through their medical skills. They began attending a church that shared their vision, and the couple opened a clinic, Elim Central Medical, in an annex of the church building. Word of the quality medical care available there spread, and the clinic quickly outgrew its space. During one seven month period, Augustin and seven other part-time physicians, saw 13,000 patients. When the pastor's vision for the clinic came into conflict with Augustin and Mihaela's, they felt led to begin a separate work. Seeing the potential impact of a more comprehensive medical ministry, they began drafting plans for the Dr. Luca Medical Center.

The clinic's services include pediatrics, internal medicine, cardiology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, gynecology, neurology, general surgery and dentistry. More than 1,500 patients visit the center each month, and Augustin hopes that by 2003, it will reach its capacity of 100,000 patients per year.

With state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities, the clinic is not only an example of medical competence, but also a demonstration of the value of ethical dealings.

When Romania was opened up to the West a decade ago, the extent of its problems was shocking. Ceausescu wanted to double the size of its work force and required that every family have at least five children, whether they could support them or not. He went so far as to examine women every few months and tax those who were not pregnant. Children with the slightest medical problems were sent to orphanages where they languished with little care. The country's medical system was likewise ignored, particularly in the last two decades of Ceausescu's regime. Nursing schools were closed and the few medical schools were antiquated and underfunded. Doctors earned very small salaries, which they often supplemented by under-the-table bribes for better care. Much of this legacy of corruption remains in Romania's medical community.

But at the Dr. Luca Medical Clinic, all patients are treated equally, and physicians are paid fairly. Augustin sees his fellow health care professionals as a key to winning the city for Christ.

Soon after the clinic opened, he organized and hosted a Christian Medical & Dental Society conference with the help of Partnership Management Team member Dr. Steven Sartori and other American physicians. The conference brought together physicians in Pitesti, introduced them to the new facility, provided medical training and shared with them the message of the gospel.

One physician, Dr. Dan Burcur committed his life to Christ after the conference and immediately rearranged his workload so that he might be able to attend church the next morning.

Another conference in May brought together 60 psychologists, psychiatrists and sociologists to learn about the concept of personal development. The city's mayor addressed the group, and the conference was covered on local TV and radio.

Augustin's goal is that every patient who comes through the clinic will see the gospel being lived out through the staff. He said that many have already noticed a difference in the clinic.

"We respect them," he said. "They're not only patients; we try to make them our friends. They come to us and ask us, 'Why do you act like this?' And we can tell them that it's because of Jesus."

He has developed good relationships with the few pastors in Pitesti, referring patients to them when there is need.

The Dr. Luca Medical Center is anything but typical for the Luke Society, either in its scope or its purpose. It is much larger and more capital-intensive than any other Luke Society ministry, and it was built to serve as a beachhead into a part of the world that has been especially difficult to reach with the Gospel. For these reasons, a unique means to fund the clinic was sought. A small group of investors who have supported the Luke Society for many years agreed to generously accept most of the financial risk. Eventual profits from the clinic will be used to help fund other Luke Society ministries throughout Eastern Europe and help establish satellite clinics in rural Romania. How soon this will happen remains to be seen, and we covet your prayers in this matter.

"There are places in Romania where there are no doctors," Augustin said. "There are places in Romania where there are no facilities where you can get medical care."

The obstacles to the ministry have been enormous -- shifting government regulations, a new national insurance policy that favors government hospitals, and inspectors who dragged their feet when they saw they would not receive bribes. But layer by layer, Augustin has cut through the red tape and for a year has been providing quality care to thousands of patients. He has watched God overcome problem after problem to keep hope alive in Romania.

"This is a very difficult mission field -- maybe one of the most difficult that we're working in," said Luke Society executive director Dr. Wrede Vogel. "But we feel called to this field."

Augustin agrees.

"Working and living in a former Communist country," said Augustin, "there is a lot of fear still in our lives; there is a lot of confusion; there is a lot of hate. Praise God, we now have a wonderful clinic through the Luke Society. We have a wonderful place where we can serve our people and, through our medical activity, bring hope and life to our people."