Lungu Lavinia, born July 19th 1988 in Timişoara, Romania

My name is Lavinia and I’m 22 years old. I live in Timisoara and I’m attending West University of Economics in the third year.
I was raised in an orthodox family, and my parents met God approximately 4 years ago through some personal experiments and decided to get baptized at Maranata Church in Timisoara.
My mother started to ask me to come with her to church, but I wasn’t’t very excited because of the life I was living.
When I entered highschool, as a teenager, I had to make friends and build relationships with my new colleagues, so I started to smoke to be accepted in the group, and probably to look cooler to those around me. I liked to be in the centre of attention. I started experimenting all kinds of „new things”, like clubs in Timisoara, unslept nights, lies after lies and unnatending school.
I started to approach another lifestyle, looking for independence, freedom, love and attention without giving any importance to my parents or to what they had to say. At a certain point it was enough for me to come home to change my clothes and to ask my parents for money, and then I was starting again, meeting them again only the next day.
I was going to parties every weekend and I started to know all kinds of people, enter all kings of entourages, people that influenced me in a negative way, but all these things were giving me that short term fulfillment which I wanted so much.
I started to love money more and more and because I didn’t want to depend on my parents, when I went to college, I started working. After I switched a few jobs ( secretary and saleswoman ) I started working as a waitress in a cafe in town. Being there, I started to be ready to do anything to satisfy my financial needs.
I gave much attention to how I was looking, what tags I had on my clothes, their price had to be high, expensive perfumes and because it mattered to me, the people I had next to me were appreciating me for all I had, everything that met the eye, and they were never interested in what was on the inside.
My life came down to partying, money, fun, shopping at the mall and many vices.
At some point, in the summer of 2009, I found myself alone, with deep feelings for a man that wasn’t’t in my life anymore, a whole bunch of arrears at my college, an almost broken relationship with my parents, being disappointed of everything around me, empty, devastated and without a reason.
I realized that the only solution to my problems was God. I decided to talk with my mother, to tell her all my problems and we both went to one of the pastors from Maranata church for a special prayer.
After that prayer I felt much better, but I didn’t have what it takes to give up everything I was, so I continued to live just like before, only that I started going to church more often.
One Sunday morning, I remember that there was an announcement in the church: they needed volunteers to organize a movie night in the yard. Because I wanted to do something good on this, I registered as a volunteer. There I met Doru and Ronela Herdean, the ones that were organizing that movie night.
Before entering the yard, there was a great fight inside of me, I simply couldn’t’t enter the gate, something inside of me told me not to enter and my mind was stormed with reasons to go back home, then I remembered I promised to stay, because those people needed my help, and finally I got over those thoughts while I was talking to my mother on the phone, who encouraged me to stay.
Me and Ronela exchanged phone numbers and we continued to meet at a group meeting at their home. Continuing to go to those meetings with her, without realizing, I came to a prayer night. I didn’t know what I was doing there, because I didn’t know how to pray, I had a God of holidays, a God that I remembered of only when I needed him to help me with something.
We started to say our reasons to pray and then we started praying one by one.
It was my turn ( I was the last ) and I started talking to God, telling him my pains and how I feel ( after a few seconds Ronela came next to me and put her hand on my back, right behind my heart, and I started feeling a strong warmth, like it was burning my heart ). I was crying and then I confessed that I needed Him and I want not to upset Him anymore, and not to make him cry for my mistake again, I wanted Him to show me the way. I didn’t know exactly what was happening to me, actually, I just gave my life to Jesus for ever!
In that moment, God transformed me completely: the way I was thinking, feeling, acting, it was totally changed. I felt at ease, I left all my burdens that I carried for 21 years at the cross. I was the happiest person, because I found Love, peace, happiness fulfillment that I was looking for. It’s so hard to put in words what I felt then… It was by far the most beautiful moment of my life so far.
I went home late, I don’t know what time was it, but I had to go to work the next day. I didn’t get much sleep because of so much happiness, and at 8AM when I entered the cafe, everything was strange, it was not my place there. I told my colleague that I became a Christian, that I fixed my relationship with God and that I surrender to everything that I make money through; I resigned, and she told me that I have gone mad. All my friends reacted the same, they couldn’t understand what happened to me, they couldn’t understand what wonderful deed God has done in my life.
I was sad because they couldn’t be happy with me. Actually, they were mocking me, but God strengthened me. He blessed me with real friends, many brothers and sisters, a numerous family, the family of the Lord Jesus!
I was baptized on December 13th 2009 and it was a unique moment in my life: I got married to Jesus! I am and I feel the happiest person!

If you are looking for love, happiness or fulfillment, I want to tell you that only in God you can truly find it… anything else it’s for a short term and it leaves you empty. Don’t postpone the moment of you meeting with Jesus, because on this earth we are wanderers, and we don’t know when our journey will end! Don’t miss eternal life for meaningless things! Look for Him! Amen.

Lungu Lavinia, 09.06.2010