Emanuel Hospice team at their opening ceremony with Gary Cox.
Before the 1989 revolution, when communism collapsed in Romania, I worked as a nurse at a haematology unit at the county clinical hospital. In spite of all our efforts to cure patients, many, especially young people were dying from leukaemia.
In 1990, I began studies at Emanuel Bible Institute, desirous to learn how to care for the souls of cancer patients with limited prognosis.
I knew from the first day that my calling from God was to start a hospice programme in Oradea. In 1995, my last year, I had the opportunity to share my vision with Gary Cox, the director of Eurovangelism (Transform Europe Network). Soon after, I received news that Eurovangelism was open to support me financially to start the hospice programme. But first I had to care for my father who died that year due to cancer.
We opened Emanuel Home Care Hospice in Oradea in 1996. God has been faithful since then, providing us with resources to care for thousands of cancer patients in our community. We are so grateful to God for TEN staff and supporters through all the years of investment and pray at this 60-year anniversary that God will bless all those who support us and other projects through which God’s kingdom is advanced in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
Currently, Emanuel Hospice employs twenty people: doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, physiotherapists and a chaplain. We care for 280 patients annually. God continues to call the next generation to this ministry. Cerasella, our social worker says “Beside my duties, I have the privilege to present the gospel to the patients. After six months of work here, I see a tremendous need for people to have peace with God, especially when they are close to leaving this earth.”
Nurse Monica Bejinariu with a hospice patient; Dan and Marinela Rotariu in front of the new hospice centre development; Dr. Beni Paul with a hospice patient on her baptism day.
By Marinela Rotariu, Founder and Executive Director at Emanuel Hospice, Romania
