EGM Romania

“I shouldn’t have even been interviewed for the position, but God made it possible,” reflects Daniel Bruda, who today serves as national director for Every Generation Ministries in Romania. The Romanian EGM board had already decided to close the interviews when they were working through the process of hiring their first director but decided to make an exception so that Daniel could meet with them. 

Today, those board members are glad they made that exception. Energy, vision and determination have been hallmarks for Daniel’s ministry these last 10 years serving with EGM, and God has seen fit to bless Daniel’s efforts to build a team of respected volunteers, board members and staff members who bear the same marks. Under Daniel’s leadership, God has allowed this formidable team to build a strong ministry which today provides children’s ministry training resources for the nearly 8,000 evangelical churches in Romania. 

Under Daniel’s leadership, a Romanian team has created a beautiful 3 year children’s ministry curriculum on 3 different age levels. Romanians are known to be open to technological advances and web use is wide-spread, so the curriculum went online! That’s why today you can often see a Romanian children’s worker accessing the EGM-Romania website to refer to their lesson curriculum via a smart phone in the Sunday school classroom. Well-attended regional conferences regularly provide training for children’s workers and a big national conference is also being offered annually. Not only is the national conference completely funded by Romanians, it has been the birthplace for a missionary vision which today funds regular outreach to Romanian church leaders in Vienna, Austria and Chisnau, Moldova. 

Raised in the communist era by Christian parents, Daniel is no stranger to ministry trials and is not easily daunted, even in the somewhat challenging ministry environment of Romania. His focus just now is two-fold: to develop regional EGM leadership who will provide individualized coaching in children’s ministry and to develop the last bit of funding necessary so that the Romanian ministry will be 100% funded from inside Romania. 

By the way, there are two men with the last name of “Bruda” who serve with Every Generation Ministries and if that has confused you at times, you’re not alone! Daniel’s brother, Alex Bruda, serves as EGM’s Central Europe regional leader. Daniel lives in the city of Cluj with his wife, Nicoleta, and young daughter Cristiana. 

Joe Cox

Vice President of International Ministries 

When Every Generation Ministries began to investigate the possibilities of supporting the start of a national ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we knew it wouldn't be simple.

But, God deeply loves the children of DRCongo, He has seen fit to overcome these many challenges and has fueled His vision through a small group of dedicated children’s workers in the community of Goma in Eastern DRCongo. After receiving training from EGM, a small band of Christian leaders decided to share the vision for biblical, transformational ministry with children by training others in their community. They began training one church team after another as well as coaching Sunday school teachers using their own money to travel and conduct the training seminars.

In November 2012, the “M23” group of rebels moved to control Goma where heavy fighting ensued. The battles have driven countless thousands out of their homes and to various refugee camps. Those who stayed behind suffered hunger and disease as supply chains were broken and clean water was unavailable. The EGM team prayed and waited for news of the Goma team and from various scraps of news eventually pieced together that the team was safe.

Following is an excerpt from a recent communication from one of those leaders:

Just to tell you that we are very well. God keeps us against many bad things. As you know, we have a goal to prepare the next generation which will make difference in Congo and the world in general. That's why in spite of the war and traumatic things we cannot stop. We have to go ahead. Yesterday, we met with the children ministry's staff from chaplaincy of one of the Christian universities (ULPGL).  They need to be trained. They heard many churches talking about EGM training and the result that churches get after been trained in their children ministries. We need your prayers. May God inspire each trainer and protect learners.

What a privilege to pray for protection for this courageous team! Praise God that He is working and that miracles are happening in lives of Congolese children. Let’s allow their courage to of these faithful ones to encourage us as we support their work!

Joe Cox

To help support the work going on in DRCongo visit http://www.egmworld.org/donate

First Impressions

Alex Bruda made a great first impression on me, serving as my interpreter as I shared at an EGM-Romania children’s worker conference. Almost immediately after meeting him, I confided in a coworker, “He should be serving with Every Generation Ministries!” I’d had just a few conversations with him but already could see that his heart and vision were the same as ours: To see children transformed!  Subsequent meetings confirmed my initial reaction and I began to see all the gifts and abilities that could be of use in the ministry of EGM.  It wasn't long before we were talking seriously about EGM staff needs. 

Alex lives with his wife and two young boys in the Romanian capital city of Bucharest. They are the kind of super busy people who are known to be always ready for a new ministry challenge. With their vast ministry background, they are ready to help wherever, whether it is kid’s camp, a training seminar, a language lesson or some legal advice! They are very active in their own local church but also are eager to help other churches in their quest to do true biblical children’s ministry.

Today, Alex serves as EGM’s Central Europe Resource Team Director. In that role, he supports the EGM partnerships in the Central Region and God has used him greatly! When we added to the team in Central Europe, it made room for a new challenge of coordinating the field research work EGM is doing in the Middle East where we are exploring the possibilities of establishing a regional EGM ministry center. In addition to presenting children’s worker seminars in Jordan, Israel and Egypt, God has used Alex to establish an Arabic language children’s ministry resource website at www.egmarabic.org where isolated children’s workers can get the help and support they need.

I’m very glad that my first impressions have become lasting ones!

-Joe Cox