Well, I covered both Ukraine and Moldova, so I wanted to try to give a little bit of information on Romania, as so many of you guys are supporting me through prayer and support. Like I said with Moldova, it's harder for me to give an idea about two countries I haven't been to, but ever since we found out we'd be going to these two countries, I've been doing research and praying for them. So basically, here's what I've discovered about Romania, and what I feel God is speaking to me about our outreach in this nation!
Romania officially gained its independence in 1878. In 1944, Romania was overrun by the Soviets, and in 1947, a Communist "people's republic" was formed. Nicolae Ceausescu took power in 1965. His Securitate police state became more and more oppressive as time went on, and Ceausescu was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Communists continued to dominate the government until 1996, when they were finally removed from power. Romania joined NATO in 2004, and the European Union in 2007.
The official Romanian language is Romanian. I guess that's a little predictable. Romania has hot summers, and long cold winters. Their seasons are very distinct. It snows very often from December to mid-March, which will be a new experience for me! While Moldova sounds like it will be a slightly less intense winter than the Ukraine, the most common words that come up when I research Romania's winter climate are words like "harsh" and "punishing."
Today, Romania struggles with poverty. They are one of the poorest nations in all of Europe. The country recovered from a punishing 3 year recession in 2000, thanks to a large demand in European Union export markets. While at times the economy has shown signs of growth, it has never been lasting or stable. Romania signed a 24 month precautionary stand-by agreement with IMF/EC/World Bank worth 4.9 billion in March 2011. This was done to promote compliance with fiscal targets, progress on structural reforms, and financial sector stability. The government has announced they will not draw funds from the facility.
Again, this really is a pretty black and white issue. We can't say we're not called to help and come alongside the poor. We were commanded to. So it's a simple fact that God is working in this situation, and we're going to try to play a part in His plan. We would really appreciate your prayers!
I really wanted to focus this post on what the main issue in Romania is. Human trafficking is rampant in this Eastern European nation. It's a big issue in Ukraine and Moldova, but Romania is a main hub for trafficking.
I posted this in my thoughts about Moldova, but just to put it in perspective again, every country is put into "tiers" when it comes to human trafficking. Tier 1 are the countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA'S (Trafficking Victim's Protection Act) minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Tier 2 are the countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA'S minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and Tier 3 are the countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA'S minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.
Romania is considered a Tier 2 country. However, while the government is making strides to fix this issue, the issue has gotten so out of control that Romania is still a centerpiece in human trafficking.
Romania has become a major transit for the sale of people into the European Union. It is also a destination country for a small number of foreign trafficking victims, including sex trafficking victims from Bangladesh, Serbia, and Moldova. Places such as Afghanistan, Honduras, China, and the Congo will transport victims as young as 12 years old to Romania. While steps have been taken by the government, and official Romanian law prohibits the act of trafficking, one of the biggest issues is with the location of Romania. A crossroads between the East and the West, Romania is a source, transit, and destination country for the people trade. When Romania joined the European Union in 2007, this led to relaxed border regulation, and it became a huge attraction for international human traffickers.
Children are estimated to represent one third of human trafficking victims in Romania. Romanian children without proper identification documents are even more vulnerable to be victimized. Traffickers who exploit Romanians for trafficking are overwhelmingly Romanian themselves. They typically target victims from the same ethnic group, or at times from their own family. Often, victims will first be exploited in Romania, then shipped abroad for forced prostitution or labor. Reports have come out from the Romanian government of increased sophistication among Romanian criminal groups, transporting victims to different countries in Europe in order to test law enforcement weaknesses in each nation.
The Government of Romania does not fully comply with the minimum standards set by the TVPA for human trafficking. However, it is making efforts to do so, hence the tier 2 ranking. They have taken some steps to pursue human traffickers and have conducted creative anti-trafficking prevention efforts to sensitize the population to trafficking in persons. However, services available to trafficking victims are very weak. The government has provided no funding to anti-trafficking Non Government Organizations, putting civil society victim protection in danger. The care offered by the government has often been minimal, failing to meet the victims' needs and reduce their chances of being re-victimized.
Human trafficking is a pretty popular issue right now. There's a lot of attention being paid to it, and it goes on everywhere. Which is a really good thing, don't get me wrong. But the fact is, a lot of people are just into it because it's a "cool" thing to be interested in right now. Occasionally, people will get excited for a few days if somebody makes a cool video or comes up with a catchy slogan. And if you ask those people they'd probably say they were involved in this issue. But I think at times people don't care enough about the actual issue, as much as looking cool by saying that they're against human trafficking. Do we really know as much about this issue as we should? This isn't just an issue in Romania, it goes on everywhere, including right here in America. We should be doing our research on this issue because, the fact is, we have a responsibility to stand with these people.
Psalm 82:4: "Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." There's so many places where God speaks of rescuing oppressed people. These people are being attacked. This is a spiritual battle that we don't always feel like we need to fight. I'm not saying, we all need to go to all these places, or that we need to pledge support to every single organization that deals with this, but are we paying attention? Most importantly, are we praying for these people? Or here's the one question that I struggle with a lot:
Are we praying for the human traffickers?
They need prayer too. It's not easy and it feels weird at times. But Jesus loves every single one of them, and He died for them too. They need Jesus just like the rest of us do. We shouldn't just be praying for the victims to get out of this life, we should be praying for everyone involved with this issue (government, victims, traffickers) to be set free.
As you can see, all three countries that we'll be reaching out to have many of the same issues. They're all broken in their own ways, and they all need Jesus. This is why I'm going. These countries need God.
Again, I'm sure I'll have much more info on these nations once I'm actually there and seeing them for myself. Please pray for everything to go smoothly in this next week! You can contact me by phone at 813-449-0804, email at joshholmes19@gmail.com, or Facebook. If you would like to support me, check out my GoFundMePage at (http://www.gofundme.com/130ajw?pc=fb_cr). Also, go "Like" my Facebook page Josh's Discipleship Training School With YWAM Kyiv, Ukraine, at http://www.facebook.com/joshukrainedts.
I appreciate you guys!
No comments:
Post a Comment