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| n A young boy at School Number 5 reads aloud from the New Testament |
Schools are today still identified by an official number, allocated during the communist years, but a growing number of them are adopting other names – those of writers, historical figures and, in some cases, saints. In fact, the schools are showing many signs of the revival of the Christian faith in Romania.
Obstacles
Yet there are obstacles in the way of this developing faith, legacies of the communist past: a lack of Bibles and Christian literature for children and a shortage of teachers trained in religious instruction.
That is why the Interconfessional Bible Society of Romania (IBSR), supported with funds from Opportunity 21 (O-21), is working to make God’s Word available in schools. At Easter, the Society began O-21 pilot projects in five schools in Bucharest, distributing Children’s Bibles, copies of the Shorter Bible and New Testaments for use in religious instruction classes.
The plan is to provide Scriptures for 13,850 schools after monitoring
the results of the pilot projects.
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“Religion
classes teach me something amazing about myself and God that I
cannot explain in words.”
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In School Number 98, a set of O-21-funded Bibles is handed out to a class of well-behaved sixth graders who have just watched a video about English Easter traditions. They have been discussing how Christian traditions vary in different countries, and have now been asked by their teacher to take turns to read Bible passages out loud in Romanian, French and English to compare them.
“Every country has traditions that give them a national identity,” the teacher explained to the children when they had finished their reading. “Christian traditions and values have shaped the Romanian identity and that is why it is so important to study and understand the Word of God.
“When we study the different ways in which Christian countries worship God, we also tend to discover what we have in common – the fact that all people share God’s love unconditionally and that we are all gathered around the Word of God.”
For all people
The lesson hit home with the children, who explained afterwards how
they valued their religion classes.
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| n A Bible lesson at Kindergarten Number 250 |
“In this lesson I learnt that it doesn’t really matter what nationality you belong to because Jesus gave his life for all people in the world,” said Adrian. “Every person who believes will be saved. Faith in Christ gives us wisdom to choose between good and bad and to make us better citizens.”
His classmate, Covaci Adriana, added, “Religion classes teach me something amazing about myself and God that I cannot explain in words.”
“Knowing God makes me more understanding towards others,”
said Popa Alexandra Cristina. “These classes teach us to be humble…and
remind us that being rich and beautiful is not important. I believe
we have a future in this country if we remember to follow God’s
rules and commandments.”
The teachers and children of School Number 5 also responded warmly to the Bible Society’s project.
New generation
Deacon Valentin Badescu from the cultural sector of the Orthodox Archbishopric of Bucharest, and Father Gheorghe Dogaru, Counsellor on Religious Education at the Ministry of Education, have been helping schools with their religion classes. Both firmly believe in the importance of teaching the new generation the values found in God’s Word.
‘Value vacuum’
“Since the fall of communism many Romanians have suffered a ‘value vacuum’,” explained Deacon Badescu. “We need to reinstate the values of God in our society and a good way of doing this is through teaching children about God’s Word. The biblical message often reaches non-believing families through their children who attend religious instruction classes.
“Christ was in our hearts during the communist years but many were afraid to show it because people suffered for their faith. In the euphoria of the first days after the revolution, many families who had been secretly Christian were surprised to discover their neighbours were also Christian: there were Christian families everywhere! God’s love was alive and well throughout those difficult years.”
How to pray
Other families, however, were not able to keep their Christian traditions
alive and a whole generation grew up not knowing the Bible or how to
pray. In Kindergarten Number 17, which is also participating in the
O-21 pilot project, many of the children starting school do not
know how to pray because their parents were never taught. In this kindergarten,
however, every lesson begins with a prayer, and many children now are
teaching their parents how to pray.
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“Christ
was in our hearts during the communist years but many were afraid
to show it because people suffered for their faith.”
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A class of six-year-olds who are being taught using Bible Society Scriptures is asked by their religious instruction teacher what the Cross symbolises. Immediately a forest of small hands springs up and little Monica Dulgheru offers an answer: “When Jesus died on the Cross it became a symbol of the victory of life over death.”
“What does that mean?” her teacher asks. “It means
that we should not be afraid,” she solemnly replies.
Teachers, too, are a focus of the O-21 project because it is vital that they properly use the Scriptures provided to introduce children to the Word of God.
“The first step of the project is to provide the Bibles,” explained Emilia Badescu, O-21 Program Manager with the IBSR. “The economic situation here is critical and the schools simply cannot afford Scriptures, and in many cases the children’s parents do not have Bibles either. With this project, we are providing many kindergartens, schools and orphanages with Bibles and other Scripture material that they would ordinarily struggle to get.
Vital step
“But the second, and equally vital step, is the follow-up work.
We are going to hire two theology students to visit the kindergartens
and orphanages to teach the children as well as give guidance to teachers
in the use of the materials we have provided. Furthermore, we will encourage
the students to suggest improvements to our materials.”
Kindergarten Number 250, St Stelian’s, began teaching Christianity in 1990, immediately after the revolution. All the teachers are Christian and the school, which is also benefiting from O-21 Scriptures, has an excellent reputation among Christians and non-Christians for its high moral and educational standards.
Pioneers
“In a way, we are pioneers of the Lord,” said the Principal,
Eugenia Borangic, proudly. “Immediately after the revolution we
took steps to introduce our children to the Word of God. During the
communist years it was totally forbidden to teach the Bible but when
freedom came we were given permission to do so. We were assisted by
our local priest and theology students, who held services here and started
Christian activities.
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“When
Jesus died on the cross it became a symbol of the victory of life
over death.”
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“The parents are happy with our Christian commitment and in fact some chose this kindergarten for that reason.”
At St Stelian’s the children are polite and well-behaved and there is an absence of the chaos and noise that usually characterises kindergartens. When asked why this is, the Principal smiles broadly and explains:
“Because this is a Christian kindergarten! By teaching the children about Jesus and that he stands for love and kindness, we make them less selfish and more considerate.” (SR 27/4 - 11.01) [PHOTOS]