IFES Interaction

What is the present state of the work?

The national IFES movement in Romania, Organizația Studenților Creștini Evanghelici din România (OSCER), was recognized by the government in 1999. But OSCER has a longer history of students sharing the gospel with their friends, even during communism.

With the invasion of western culture we found new ways to reach students. In 1997 students in Timisoara organized OSCER’s first ski camp. Nowadays several groups run camps and many students come to practise their skiing and study the Bible. Many are not believers. OSCER has five national staffworkers and 15 people working on a local level. There are 13 groups with 300 students involved. And God is at work! In 2001 a student from Cluj came to a regional camp. There was no Christian group at his university, but he returned with a vision for evangelism and discipleship. Today 70 students meet regularly in Cluj and reach out to their friends with the love of Christ. Romania also has foreign workers, who help strengthen the work and reach out to both national and international students.