BIG-Impact had its Founders and Associates’ General Assembly on October 25, 2012, in Sovata. As a founder, and currently serving in the executive board, Ovidiu Ghita shares with us the most significant aspects of this meeting.
The context of the event had prophetic sides, inspiring us to introspection, evaluation and planning. ”The Church With Global Impact”, the topic of the last course in the BIG5 series, happening at the same time and place, brought the same background question for all the participants to the general assembly: ”Have we made steps and have we gotten closer to this dream?” and ”What are the next steps, where are we going, what do we have to do for the future?”
Excited and happy about getting together, the BIG members first analyzed the present state of the foundation: the leadership, the networks, services, programs and partnerships. Each one of us could see God’s hand carrying us through all the waves of personal/family and financial difficulties, helping us focus on the main things that embody the vision, even though the number of those who started this organization has decreased during the years.
Looking at the future, we unanimously made decisions designed to focus and channel the available resources for being able, as an organization, to move in the same direction. We are aware of the present difficulties and the future challenges. We know that only as a team and together with valuable partners will we be able to move ahead. A growing movement of global impact churches – our vision – can become a reality. The grace and power of Jesus Christ, experienced until now, the dedicated and valuable people, the increased endurance through struggles, and the quality of the relationships among us, give us hope and peace about the future. It will not be easy, but we, here in BIG, love adventure!
Because this meeting represented the end of a ministry year, we asked some of the founders and associates to share with us what BIG Impact means to them.
Adrian Stanciu:
As part of this evangelical movement since its beginnings, I have experienced the joy and fulfillment of seeing how God has worked in Romania through the projects and people who have been touched by BIG-Impact. All of the meetings with those involved in BIG, the work meetings and the conferences or other projects were, for me, a time of spiritual refreshment, inspiration and encouragement, a time of counsel through sharing personal experiences and, especially, a time of prayer and intercession for one another. My joy is big because, over time, more people have joined the movement, young and enthusiastic people, with different skills, committed and full of passion for excellence in ministry. I see new generations of leaders joining God’s work in BIG, I see continuity in the process of discipleship and I see hope for a nation in deep need of God’s redeeming work. Every time I meet those in BIG, I realize that living among them has changed my life a lot, making me wiser, more passionate about serving, and closer to God. May God help us persevere in doing good.
Petrica Ursache:
BIG represents for me a family in which I grew and through which I experience quality relationships. It is a platform which helps me see things far away and which helps me get up, time and again. The joy of seeing each other and our work together always motivates me to come together with my brothers, so that we could plan how to go forward in fulfilling the vision God entrusted us with.
Teofil Cotrau:
Meeting with BIG meant for me a challenge to live the truth of the Gospel in a holistic way. Although my passion, ever since I came to the Lord was the studying and the living of the Scriptures, I realized a Christian has to be aware of what happens around him. The words of John R.W. Stott have helped me voice what I have felt in these first years of discipleship, namely that a Christian has to be a good interpreter of the Scriptures and, at the same time, of the culture. The power of the truth of the Gospel is seen in this meeting! The meetings I attended, especially the Curriculum Development Team meetings, have challenged me towards two revolutionary concepts: 1 – team work and team leading and 2 – the biblical management of conflicts. I think these two topics have had the biggest impact in my life during all these years! Another thing I have not experienced in any other evangelical context is the good interdenominational relational environment and the genuine feeling of being the family of God.
Laurentiu Funieru:
Attending the work meetings of BIG gave me the opportunity to learn through models/examples. The way the problems were raised, the interaction, the task assignment, all these have helped me a lot. In fact, many of the things learned were applied at home, in our leadership board meetings, or in our consultancy circle. Perhaps the most I learned about was the force of the team. Great things can be accomplished through a team. Most importantly or Of equal importance, I met valuable people with whom I can share the same values and whom I can contact in case of need (when I have a problem or I need an enlarged perspective).
Marius Mezin:
The work meetings in BIG are among the few environments I benefit from, in terms of the elements that are very much needed for my ministry as a leader of a church which intends to be in a continuous transformational process. First of all, I get the encouragement to continue to be committed to the calling I received from the Lord and to have integrity in constantly practicing the values that define an authentic Christian life. Then, I am challenged to constantly check the premises I started from and with which I work, and to identify where I am in the process of transformation, both at a personal and at a ministry level. I try to grasp as much as I can from the coherent and balanced system that I find in the work meetings in BIG. My inclusion in BIG was done following the decision of an individual to practice the BIG values in a genuine way and my interaction with him and those in BIG was, for many years, my only opportunity to be discipled. Many of the things God does in and through my life have, as basis, the constant and real investment done by those in BIG. Over the years, the people in BIG became not only my teachers and mentors, but also friends and partners, making the relationship with them not only one that is necessary, but, especially, one that I joyfully look forward to. I am challenged in a consistent way to model in others what I received in BIG with so much generosity from my friends.
Diana Bocsa:
BIG offered me an environment where I could interact with God’s people. During the last years I saw the need to learn from those with another perspective, life experience, or type of ministry than those I am involved in. Following these interactions, my image of God became increased in my heart, my serving was energized and my worship became more full of joy along with the Bride of Christ. In the work meetings in BIG I see my friends and brothers in Christ in their natural environment. I enjoy the richness of ideas, the intensity of the discussion, the challenge to humbleness, the dependence upon the Holy Spirit, the desire to better serve the church, the challenge to join God’s mission of redeeming and restoring the world for his glory! These work meetings are meetings of learning, motivation and worship before a God who unites different people, from different areas of the country, with a common passion: enlarging his Kingdom!