Allow us to tell you about our partners in Northern Ireland… especially about the Free Presbyterian Churches and Serve Youth. The story of this friendship began in the early ’90s when Rev. Stanley Barnes visited Romania and established a valuable relationship with Pastor Eugen Groza [1954-2018], a founding member and president of Missio Link International (MLI). Rev. Barnes is the one who introduced us to the Northern Irish community, opening doors for a fruitful collaboration. Over the years, at his invitation and that of Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church, the girls from Deborah House have had the joy of visiting Northern Ireland on multiple occasions. The legacy of service left by Dr. Stanley and Ina Barnes is continued with dedication by their daughter, Heather Garrett, by Sharon Craig, and other partners in the area.
This friendship, along with Sharon, also brought Phil Hartin, the leader and founder of Serve Youth, to join us. In 2022, together with Serve Youth, we organized a camp at the Alpiniș Leadership Center specifically for our girls! Annually, since 2017, Serve Youth teams have been organizing camps and Vacation Bible Schools for both the children and youth in MLI’s programs and for children in rural areas near Timișoara.
We cannot talk about our partnership with Northern Ireland without mentioning Rev. David Park and his wife, Susan, from Hebron Free Presbyterian Church, Ballymoney, who have been serving in Romania with dedication for 17 years. Their shared desire is to see the girls from Deborah House overcome their past difficulties and succeed in life, happily recalling the success story of Mirela, who became a doctor (find out about Mirela’s story here). The mission of this church reaches vulnerable people, especially from Roma communities, in areas such as Aleșd, Moldova Nouă, and the Buzău Mountains.
In addition to sending teams and making visits, our Northern Irish partners are generously involved in supporting programs for children and youth from vulnerable communities. A special model of partnership is the Matching Grant between Missio International, Knoxville, USA, and Hillsborough FPC, UK. Annually, for over ten years, communities from different countries, and even continents, have joined their efforts to support children in the CAR-MLI (Children At Risk) programs.
All these carefully woven examples over the years bear witness to the impact a partnership between Christians can have when it’s based on testimony and action.
Rev. David Park & team
Serve Youth
