Vol. 12, No. 3, 1995

Articles on Cults and New Religions

Upon locating some Romanian Christians, Craig made them aware of the ministry of Watchman Fellowship. Immediately, the Romanians had him speaking almost every night in their churches in the surrounding area. The Romanians had already become painfully aware of the flood of cults and new religions that had been coming into their country. They realized that their level of discernment was abysmally low, having been isolated and insulated from the outside world for an entire generation.

Religious liberties had been largely suppressed by the Communists, and the evangelical church had to mainly meet underground. Romania was the last country to overthrow its Communist rulers. In December 1989, the Communist dictator, Ceausescu, and his wife were deposed and executed by a revolution which was largely initiated by the church in Romania through prayerful protests.

Nonetheless, with their new found religious freedom there was still a price to pay. False religions and cults were also allowed to practice in their country. The Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, who were already there, began to surface and became more aggressive. Although the number of Jehovah's Witness baptisms has declined from 4,449 in 1991 to 2,566 in 1994, with an average of 3,329 per year, their actual activity has actually increased (Watchtower Annual Reports).

The number of publishers (those going out in door-to-door service) has had an average increase of 13.5% per year. The ratio of JW publishers to the population has lowered from 1 per 1,070 Romanians in 1991, to 1 per 734 in 1994. Bible studies have significantly increased from 6,287 in 1991 to 15,146 in 1994. Also significant is the increase in those attending the annual Memorial Meal (the Watchtower's communion). The increase went from 51,520 in 1991, to 84,369 in 1994. So, even though the figures show 31,685 publishers in 1994, the actual number of people who would identify with Jehovah's Witnesses is 84,369. And this is just one of the active cults in Romania. The Mormons, the Baha'is, Transcendental Meditation, Yoga, and many of the new age/occultic groups are also beginning to have an influence on this spiritually starved nation.

Some long-time Watchman Expositor readers may remember that Watchman began to travel to Romania on a regular basis to conduct educational seminars and evangelism training seminars in churches throughout Romania. Watchman established a close working relationship with the Evangelical Alliance of Romania, the associational body of the 3 major evangelical denominations there ¾ the Baptist, the Brethren, and the Pentecostals. This led to a major national cult conference, sponsored by the Evangelical Alliance. Watchman sent 8 of its staff and held seminars in 4 of the major cities in Romania. Watchman also was able to have a number of teaching materials, tracts, and a 100-page booklet translated and distributed on a limited basis throughout the country.

Due to the relatively low cost of living in Romania, Craig realized that it would be a much wiser use of time and resources to enlist several Romanian leaders frfrom the various denominations to be trained, do more translation, raise their support in America and then return to establish permanent, hands-on work in their own country.

So began the next stage of growth in Watchman Fellowship and its ministry to the cults. After much prayer, God, in His timing, began to put together a team of Romanians to be trained in the United States.

In March and April of 1995, the Birmingham staff received four Romanians into their homes and homes of supporters, and began the training and translation process. Ieremiah (Jeremiah) & Lida Rusu from Ploesti/Bucharest will be our Romanian Directors. Ieremiah was a national Director for Christian radio, the Director of Community Bible Studies, and a Seminary Professor. Lida is a trainer in Evangelism Explosion and also involved in leadership with Community Bible Studies. Ioan Filip is a teacher at a Bible College in Timisoara, and Tatiana Pantaziu is an English Bible Correspondence Course Director/Translator operating out of Brasov. Tatiana is planning to be married in September of this year.

While in Birmingham, the Romanian team attended Watchman's Cult Awareness Institute as well as the Advanced Courses in Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the New Age Movement. They were also trained in effective ways of sharing and in the theology of the specific groups which have a significant presence in Romania.

A number of scholarly and popular materials were translated and Watchman, through its supporters, was able to provide a number of much needed theological and cult apologetics reference books and materials.

Thanks to the help of some Christian doctors and dentists, the Romanians received some much needed care at dramatically reduced costs. While in Birmingham, God providentially arranged meetings with Jehovah's Witnesses and several other cult counseling situations.

Working with the Evangelical Alliance in Romania, Watchman's team will be involved with speaking in churches, conducting area-wide seminars, following up on over 1,000,000 people already on mailing lists, distributing materials, training and engaging in personal evangelism, and distributing audio & video teaching tapes.

Probably the most significant impact will be Ieremiah's and Ioan's ability to train church leaders and pastors in the Bible College and Seminary.

This is a wonderful opportunity and very cost effective as well. The Romanian economy is such that the value of the dollar is very high. As a result, we are able to fund three Watchman team families at a fraction of the cost of American missionaries. And there is the added benefit that they obviously already speak the language and understand the culture.

Watchman is thankful to all of those who have already committed to the salary needs of the Romanian team. This has now been met. To make the three offices fully operational and most effective, however, Watchman needs Christians to help one time with equipment needs. The Romanian offices need a good copy machine, a laser printer, two 386 or 486 IBM compatible computers, a multi-system video recorder-player, and supplies. We have already had a fax machine donated recently! If the Lord moves you to help, please send a donation marked "Romania."

Religious freedom is a precious liberty. Of course, the downside is that spurious, exploitive, and destructive religions and world views also can operate within that freedom. However, free speech, education, debate, and exposure of fraud and manipulation serves as a check and balance against deceptive false views.

Christians believe that only in the true Jesus and His true gospel - not the counterfeits or substitutes - is there life, now and forever. The consequences are so dire that love motivates us to warn against competing world-views. It is important, though, that we speak the truth in love.

The Romanian team is exceptionally mature and sensitive to all of these issues and their commitment and piety are above reproach. Pray for this work as Watchman seeks to respond proactively in defense of the faith (Jude 3).