August 29, 2007

Ioana is a first-year student at Eastern European Bible College in Romania where AGWM personnel, Ian and Sheila Hall are teaching and ministering. Until she was 15 years old, Ioana went to the Pentecostal church with her mother, but she did not have a personal relationship with God. She said she was seeking happiness in all the things that her friends did; drinking, smoking, and going to the disco, but she still was unhappy. She blamed God for that and so decided to turn her back on Him.

The day she made that decision, an unknown man came to her on the street and spoke to her about God's love. Ioana states, "I don't remember what he said but I found myself giving my life to Jesus. I was so happy and I had such a peace in my heart."

The decision to attend EEBC was not an easy one. She was a third year student at the University, studying history and geography. Her parents didn't want her, a girl, to attend a Bible College. They think that it is only a place for boys. They did not understand how a Bible School could help Ioana. But her desire to attend EEBC was so powerful that she couldn't resist it. Her parents said they would not support her financially to study in the school as it was a waste of time studying at a Bible College. Ioana knows that God is in control and He will speak to her parents in His time.

Ioana feels that EEBC is the proper place for her to grow spiritually and to gain knowledge so she will be able to go and share the Good News of the Gospel as God directs. "I know that serving God means sacrifice and I have to be ready to pay the price of His calling."