Alex
Rodica and Nelu are faithful members of the small baptist church in the village of Araneag, Western Romania. This village is a mere three miles from where Cornel Pelea, a Romanian Ministries trustee, lives.
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Nelu and Rodica have been blessed with two children. The older, Alex, now 21, has a form of cerebral palsy. While his mind is active, speech is a problem, and he is confined to a wheelchair.
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One of the ongoing contradictions of Romanian society concerns disabled people. While on the one hand Romanians take a genuine delight in hospitality, and could teach British people a lesson or five in this regard, they seem curiously lacking in compassion to the disabled in their midst.
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Alex spends most of his days at home, unvisited. He does, however, venture out on Sundays to church. A memory from several years was seeing him give expression to his genuine Christian faith, attempting to sing the songs in church with much joy.
Another memory from one visit was watching Nelu prepare Alex for bed before he himself rushed off for a factory night shift. Lifting his son’s 70+kg frame from the wheelchair onto the mattress was no mean feat, but all was performed with a tenderness that revealed a father’s loving heart.
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In April 2017, we noticed that Alex’s wheelchair seemed to languishing. Indeed it was, confirmed his parents, the wheels now being in such a state that pushing him had become very difficult.
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A commitment was made there and then to seek funds for a new wheelchair. This was included in our newsletter upon returning to the UK, a couple from South Wales responding promptly with a gift to cover the full amount. We continue our support of the family with a small gift on each of our visits.