Romania

Missionaries: Adrian and Lavinia Dreana
Location: Oradea, Romania

Our support for this Romanian couple began with helping finance the completion of their college education. They then married in September 2000 and moved from their hometown, Oradea, to Targu Jiu, in the southern part of Romania. Their call from God to this community included serving the poorest of the poor along with the business community. We took on their full support and commitment to help them develop what became known as The Living Hope Center. Through this ministry, they offer the living hope of the living Lord Jesus Christ.

These social services bridge to relationships that lead to opportunities to share the Gospel. Just as important, through PLCC’s commitment and by sending short-term adventure teams to encourage them in their various ministries and projects, we are building relationships between the Romanian community and our community in Sammamish .

Adrian is a natural evangelist and church planter and has a very charismatic personality that God uses to draw people to the Gospel. When they first arrived in this region, many times they would be pushed out of town and even had stones thrown at them. They were not wanted because they were “evangelicals” and the people feared them. But with love, patience, and persistence, they have won the love of the people, and it is to the point where ‘everyone’ wants to be part of the Living Hope Center which is now known throughout the region!

Adrian and Lavinia have 3 daughters: Becky, Seia, and Lala.

History of our Partnership

Romania Timeline with Adrian and Lavi Dreana

Our partnership began in 1998 “accidentally” as Adrian Dreana was hired as our translator for a team we took from PLCC to put on a VBS program for three Gypsy villages. Adrian was still a student at the Emmanuel Bible College in Oradea, Romania, and soon to graduate and marry Lavinia Balota. They felt called by God to move to the south of Romania to begin a ministry at the Living Home Center in the most economically depressed area of all the country. These people had depended on the coal mines for their livelihood, only to find the mines all closed after the revolution.

The Living Hope Center began as a ministry to meet the needs of the poorest of the poor in Targu Jiu, Romania. It functioned for three years in a rented house which was renovated and held several ministries. They began tutoring children after school with the thought that Romania could only be changed “one child at a time.”

April 2001, Pine Lake Covenant Church sent a 40’ X 40’ container packed full of clothes, medical supplies, furniture, kitchen supplies, toys, etc. This enabled Adrian and Lavinia Dreana to begin a medical office equipped with a refurbished ultrasound machine donated by Siemens Medical in Issaquah, WA with the help of Leslie Hope.

By 2003 they were forced to leave the Living Hope Center house and move to another costly rented home. They began looking for a place to purchase to get out of the constant hassles of the rental agreement. In October 2004, PLCC was able to raise $52,500 to purchase an older former landlord’s home that had been sitting empty for many years. It had a large backyard and was located in a good area of town. It was in desperate need of renovation and again PLCC and another group of people co-funded the renovations for $11,522 and they moved into a truly adequate center for ministry.

In 2005, PLCC brought a team to create a truly wonderful back yard with a miniature golf course (unique to Romania) and a large play structure with swings, slides, monkey bars, etc. But the job was not completed until a team came in 2006 to create a ‘park like’ backyard with expert landscaping. This effort was led by Tina and Jay Nyce of Nyce Landscaping in Sammamish, WA which has become the most used facility in Targu Jiu!

PLCC has participated in many of the youth camps by providing teams and finances, as well as prayer. These camps have been fruitful both in winning many youth to the person of Christ, as well as in developing leadership in those who have grown into Christian maturity. These camps were the stimulus in the beginning of a church in a nearby village, Balesti, and PLCC had the privilege of helping fund the building of the structure, as well as in summer of 2008 PLCC created a large play structure on the church property as a community outreach. There is no place for children to play in this community, and this is a large draw to families, where they will come to know the love of Christ.

The Living Hope Center began a maternity clothes dress-making project to create jobs for women and ultimately bring in income to the center. PLCC first began investing and supporting this project with home sewing machines, fabric, and patterns, enabling them to purchase commercial equipment and now they have built up quite a business. There is still a need for further investment in this project to enable them to really succeed.

The medical office received donations of a mammogram machine and new processor. In 2008, a team from PLCC went over to highlight to the women of Romania the need to have mammograms as a first line of defense against the number one cause of death for Romanian women, breast cancer. We put on a conference for women to highlight the symptoms and causes of cancer. It was well attended, and the women have finally begun to talk with each other about this very deadly disease and what they can do.

The construction work for the new Living Hope Center began on March 2, 2009, and Mercy Walk and PLCC were happy to help Adi & Lavi accomplish one of the greatest dreams of their mission work in the South of Romania. Mercy Walk sent $28,000 for the restoration of the building. Additional money was sent by PLCC to help support the effort.

SUMMER 2012  Susan Lee led the team that introduced MOPS to Romania. The team was Susan, Sharon Anderson, Chris Weiseth, and Marci Bartholomae. They held a two-day retreat at Riversound. They met with the leadership team for the new MOPS group and trained them. They held a demo MOPS meeting. They also did general leadership training. Sharon led an evening prayer session where several women accepted Christ. 

OCTOBER 2014  Susan Lee led a MOPS centric trip, but also women’s leadership in general trip. The team consisted of Susan Lee, Josee Clermont, Melissa Peterson, and Linda Mori. They held a two-day conference in the Apuseni mountains at Riversound Retreat Center, outside of the village of Pietroasa. Susan spoke in the church at Pietroasa during Sunday service (unheard of – this is a church where the women and men sit separately. Never before had a woman spoken during the service.) They attended a baptism and celebrated with the family afterwards.

2017  Living Hope Center (which PLCC & Mercy Walk sent money to help build) sold because the Romanian government was raising taxes, and they could not afford the increases. Thankfully the work initiated by Adi & Lavi will be continued by the new owners.

JUNE 2017  Priscilla and Susan Lee went to Oradea. They held two events, a one-day women’s leadership gathering in Oradea at the Continental Forum Hotel and then a weekend women’s leadership retreat in the mountains. It was MOPS-centric, but not specifically MOPS. It was more about building up and empowering women leaders in general. Then we travelled to Targu Jiu and met with a few leaders from the church in Balesti. We also met with a former member of the Balesti church and talked to her and a few other women about starting a MOPS group in her new church.

2018  PLCC sent a team which participated in a greenhouse build in Oradea. Greenhouses were $5,250 each. The team also visited two Gypsy villages and participated in the Mobile Medical Unit which provides health care. Also in 2018, The Dreana’s home was damaged due to an express road that caused the demolishing of their neighbor’s house, which was wall-to-wall with the Dreana’s and PLCC sent $4,050 to assist with repairs.

APRIL 2019  Priscilla, Larry, Mark Meredith, David Lee, and Samantha Lee went to Romania. The team participated in building a greenhouse in the village of Marca (1 hour from Oradea). PLCC provided funding for two greenhouses for a total of $9,800. They visited a few high schools in Oradea. Samantha taught Improv to an English class and led them in improv games. David led a forum for a robotics club. They also held a clinic with the medical team. The Greenhouse Project is pivotal in providing food for needy families and offering education for their children. There are over 600 people directly impacted by this project!

FALL 2019  Adi visited Sammamish. PLCC sponsored a Romanian Concert with guest performer, Paula Seling. Adi spoke at church during the Sunday service.

JUNE 2020  PLCC sent money to help fund the building of the Oradea Community Center. Mercy Walk assisted with the funding of the building as well. This is going to be home for the new church Adi & Lavi planted called Inspiratio Community Church, a community of grace and a place where people experience the Heart of God as a FATHER! The Center will also host the first Young Life Group in the entire area and will also be an educational and restoration place for the Ukrainian children and women (through MOPS) who live now in our city!

DECEMBER 2020  PLCC Christmas offering was for a new Med On Time van. $28,325 was collected and sent. This was enough to purchase the van and medical supplies. The van is a tremendous resource as it was used (and still is) for 10 trips into Ukraine to deliver different supplies to the Ukrainian refugees. It was also used (and still is) for hundreds of trips with the medical teams in remote villages with no access to specialized medical services. A place of HOPE for broken lives restored by GRACE!

NOVEMBER 2021  Adi visited Sammamish and preached at PLCC. He requested an increase in salary. The MLT decided to increase Adi’s salary to $12,000. This was approved by the Leadership Team.

MARCH 2022  We sent $23,000 to support Adi & Lavi’s ministry with helping war refugees from Ukraine. Adi was making trips to the Ukraine to provide supplies and food. They were also housing, feeding, & paying for medical assistance for refugees who were traveling through and/or settling in Oradea. Over 10,000 refugees were helped in many different ways!

SEPTEMBER 2023  Adi, Lavi & Seia came to Sammamish on their way to take Seia to BIOLA University in southern California. Adi spoke at church about the work they have been doing in Oradea. All three met with different small groups and church members during the week to eat, celebrate, and share what is currently going on in their community. Several mission team members were able to connect with him and hear his stories about what God has been doing in Romania.