There Is Hope Foundation is dedicated to sharing truth with the people of Romania in the area of Transylvania. We seek to do that through the establishment of relationships with churches, schools, hospitals, doctors, city officials, national and international organizations, orphanages, fine arts, and many other areas.  The Romanian people and government are striving to establish a new democracy and a free market economy and are asking for our help.  Our first trip was in 1991, shortly after the Revolution of December 1989 and our mission remains the same. 

Mission teams are made up of lay people and pastors who love the Lord Jesus and seek to make Him known.  Our group members focus on building relationships and making a difference.  We work with:  

We feel blessed to know the Romanian people.  They are warm, loving, genuine and hospitable, eager to learn and establish a true, productive democracy.  The churches are examples of the ‘persecuted church’ of the New Testament and we have much to learn from them.   No one returns from a Mission Trip to Romania the same as when they left.

Thomas W. Beal
President, There Is Hope Foundation  

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THE HISTORY OF ‘THERE IS HOPE FOUNDATION, INC.’  

People have often asked how we became interested and dedicated to ministry in Romania.  While this is not a complete history, perhaps it will help you understand what has led us to establish There Is Hope Foundation and what we feel is God’s call upon our lives to serve Him in Romania.  No one stands in greater awe and in a more humble acceptance of God’s leading than we do.  Anything that has been or ever will be accomplished is through the abounding Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  All the Honor and Glory belongs to Him.  We also believe that anything accomplished is in direct answer to the prayers of the faithful, persecuted saints of Romania.  For 45 years, they prayed that God would free them from godless Communism and make Himself known to their nation.  We can never fully understand their sufferings, but we feel so privileged to call them our brothers and sisters in Christ.  

In 1991, we were members of First Baptist in Spartanburg, SC.   Our Pastor, Alastair Walker, went with a group into Romania in the fall of 1990, just 7 months after the revolution of December, 1989.    Upon returning, he immediately contacted us and invited us to go back with him in the Spring of 1991.  He planned to conduct crusades in the Transylvania area and asked that we do the music for those crusades.  Arlene had already been deeply burdened and praying about going for several months, though she said nothing to Tom, feeling it was an impossibility.  We felt his asking us to go was a direct answer to Arlene’s prayers.  We prepared as best we could by reading everything we could get our hands on and meeting with Rodica, a Romanian woman in Spartanburg. We made a feeble effort to learn some songs in Romanian – not realizing the Romanians would be teaching us about singing to the Lord.

 

Our first trip was in May of 1991.  We flew to Vienna and took a long bus ride into Romania with a group from Columbia, Spartanburg and Greenville.  We were primarily there for the dedication of the First Baptist Church of  Cluj on May 12th, 1991.  During the week we visited other churches in the area, held meetings in former Communist halls and street meetings in Cluj.   We  met many dear people and among them was Peter Farc, one of the pastors of First Baptist Cluj.  Like most of the other pastors, he was an engineer by trade and part-time pastor as he had to support his family.

   

We had lived in Germany for several years and loved every part of Europe. We had even seen much of Eastern Europe under Communism but had never been to Romania before this.  We honestly believed it would be a ‘one time deal’.  There is no way to describe how God worked on us during that first trip.  It totally revolutionized our lives, our way of thinking, our priorities, and our walk with the Lord.  God so moved in our lives that within six weeks after returning to the States, Tom headed back to Romania.  Six months later, we made our second trip together.  We returned several times with groups from Spartanburg until we moved to Atlanta in 1992.  Each time we made more and deeper friendships with the people of Cluj.  By this time our church in SC had adopted First Baptist Cluj as a sister church.

 

When we made the move to Atlanta, one of our main concerns was that we were leaving our links with Romania behind in SC.  We prayed much about what God would have us do in Atlanta and how He would lead us back to Romania.  Our dear friend Sam Davis had been the Youth Pastor in Spartanburg for many years and was now Youth Pastor at First Baptist Church, Atlanta.  After speaking with Sam and his wife Jimmie, the mission staff and Dr. Charles Stanley were eager to support us as we formed new groups to take with us.  We were able to take many young people on several trips from Atlanta.

About this time, Peter Farc was called to Pastor the First Baptist Church of Bistrita, leaving Cluj.  He asked us to come and help minister there.  Bistrita was two hours farther north and largely untouched by groups from the West at that time.  In the fall of 1993 we took a group from Atlanta and made our first trip exclusively to Bistrita.  It was immediately home to us.  There was no doubt that God had brought us together.  Peter and Magda Farc became dear friends as well as co-workers.  It was at this time that Tom and Peter met in his office at the church and Peter shared his vision with Tom.  He knew that God had brought him to Bistrita for a specific purpose and had laid on his heart the expansion of First Baptist Church into the surrounding communities where there were no evangelical churches.   He marked out a map for Tom – still one of our most precious possessions.  Like spokes on a wheel, he drew lines to 12 villages surrounding Bistrita. This was his Judea.  His prayer was to establish a church in each of those 12 villages.  Some were already underway, with elders from First Baptist Bistrita taking the responsibility as part-time pastors.  In light of the economics, dirt roads, lack of transportation, lack of workers, government restrictions and a myriad of problems, it was a huge vision but one that was shared by his elders.  We began to pray and each time we returned, God enabled us to bring funds with us to purchase houses for renovation, purchase land or begin construction.  The village of Teaca was in itself a miracle.  God moved the mayor’s heart to release the land in the center of town for purchase.  We broke ground for the new church in the spring of 1996 – this was mission church number 7.

 

In the summer of 1996, Peter preached at the afternoon service at the mission church in Nasaud, one of the first village churches.  He and several elders in another car were driving back to Bistrita for the evening service.  He waved as he passed them on the  road and immediately drove into the path of an oncoming train.   After the impact, Peter was rushed to the hospital in Cluj (two hours away).  Though he had few visible signs of injury, his spinal cord had been severed and he was paralyzed from the neck down.  We immediately received a call, asking Americans to pray.  During the week that Peter lived, the elders came many times to pray for him.  As he prayed during their last time together, he asked the Lord for forgiveness that he had not accomplished more.  Establishing twelve mission churches in three years was not enough to him.  A week after the accident, the Lord took Peter home.  Tom flew immediately to Romania to speak at the funeral and represent all the Americans who had been so touched by Peter’s life and vision.  We were heartbroken and filled with many questions – even wondering if there was a need for us to return to Bistrita with Peter gone.  The Church had just come out of 45 years of oppression and persecution.  It had been bulldozed and demolished twice by the Communists in the 1980’s.  For the first time they had a Pastor, a building and hope for the future of seeing their church grow.  They had just months before stepped out in faith and called a young man (28 years old) to be the Youth Pastor.  He was just out of seminary. His name was John Ardelean.

 

We were heartbroken over Peter’s death and the probable death of his vision for Bistrita Nasaud.  While Tom was attending the funeral, God gave a verse to Arlene back in Georgia.  She marked the passage in her Bible  8/96, Peter Farc,   Psalm 138:8  says “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me…”.  Believing, although we did not understand, God had completed the work of Peter’s life and accomplished His purpose.  Peter’s love for the Lord and love for the lost will forever be a part of anything that is accomplished for the Kingdom in Bistrita.   The Elders of First Baptist Bistrita not only continued Peter’s dream but expanded it until in 2007, there are 39 mission churches in the Bistrita/Nasaud area.

 

After five years in Atlanta, it became clear that Tom was again in need of a job change and we began to seek the Lord’s leading.  By this time, John Ardelean, the young Youth Pastor had been named Pastor in Bistrita.  As we returned each year, it was evident that he and the elders were claiming Peter’s vision and determined to press on and we wanted to be a part but had no idea where we might end up.  As we prayed for a job, we also prayed that God would allow us to continue going to Romania and even expand our ministry there.  We dreamed of a sister church for our beloved First Baptist Bistrita and even for a sister city for the City of Bistrita.  Tom interviewed for a new company beginning in Columbus, Georgia.   It seemed totally out of the question -  he had spent 30 years in the international chemical business.  This was a start-up telecommunications business…telephones, no less!   After meeting with the owners several times, we felt led to move to Columbus.  Tom (who cannot program the VCR) began Enterprise Communications out of the trunk of his car, knowing absolutely nothing about cell phones and no one in Columbus.

 

We moved to Columbus, Georgia in the Spring of 1997.  God clearly lead us to become members of Edgewood Baptist Church.  We had no idea if they would be interested in Romania – we just knew God was leading us to be a part of this fellowship.  Within weeks, Leif Hetland arrived from Norway to be the Missions Pastor.  His church in Norway had already been working in the Cluj/Dej/ Bistrita area and we knew many of the same people.  God moved us to Columbus GA and Leif from Norway – in the same month!   Through the wonderful leadership and love of our Pastors, David Howle and Andy Merritt and our great congregation, we again took groups to Romania and Edgewood Baptist Church immediately became the sister-church to Bistrita First Baptist!   “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me...”Ps.138:8

 

We had been praying for many years that God would open the door for Bistrita to find a Sister-City in the U.S.  We had seen what Columbia, S.C. had done for Cluj in their Sister City relationship and could see such potential for Bistrita.  One of the first people we met in Columbus was Jack Rodgers, a member of City Council, Mayor Pro-tem and a member at Edgewood.  Jack went with us to Romania in 1998 and immediately became wholly committed to the people of Bistrita and the possibility of a Sister City.  He came home and met with our City Council and never gave up the idea or the plan for Bistrita and Columbus to unite.  God truly placed Jack in a unique place of commitment and service with a heart to go with it.   After approval from the International Sister Cities Commission in Indiana, we officially became Sister Cities in 2002.

    

In the summer of 2001, at a ‘chance ‘ meeting at a restaurant in Rockford, Illinois, Arlene had our first contact with Jim Rosene of “Kids Around the World” an organization which builds beautiful playgrounds in third world countries and equips children’s workers in the churches. Upon sharing information, we learned that they were hoping someday to build a playground in Romania, but as Jim said, “We don’t know anyone there!”  Needless to say, we assured him that we did.   Through the efforts of Rotary Clubs and business leaders in Columbus, we raised the necessary $86,000 in just a few months.  Plans were underway for us build a playground for the children of Bistrita as a gift from their new Sister City.  The playground was dedicated on May 9th at a big celebration held in the City Park of Bistrita.  Columbus and Bistrita Mayors and officials from both cities were present for the dedication and we received National Press coverage.   Twenty Four children’s workers completed the course offered by KATW and their task is to continue to use their training and the materials in the years ahead.

 

We expected to be in Columbus, Georgia for many years, but in 2006, Tom’s business was sold and he was able to retire.  Wanting to be nearer our children in Florida, we moved to Melbourne Beach, FL in September of 2006.  We do not know where God will lead us from here and what is planned for the future but our prayer is that the ministry will continue to grow and continue touching lives in Romania.  We will continue taking short term mission trips as long as the Lord allows.  Each year as we cross the border leaving Romania, we pray for ‘just one more opportunity”.

 

The 39 churches continue to grow, some still meeting in renovated houses or community buildings but many also have beautiful new church buildings and full-time Pastors.   The Pastors and Elders at First Baptist continue to live out the vision of Peter Farc and beyond.  We know there are now many people dedicated to working with both the city and churches of Bistrita.  One of their City Council members told us, “If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach him HOW to fish, he can feed himself.  We Romanians need YOU to teach us HOW to fish.”  What a great opportunity to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ along with freedom and democracy! Without a doubt, God has orchestrated and answered prayer above and beyond all we could ever ask or think…..or even dream.  It has been absolutely amazing to see how He has manipulated events, people, businesses, politics and even airline schedules.  We will forever praise Him for allowing us to see His hand at work.

For Romania,