A young pastor was reading-a religious book on a train. The soldier next to him started a discussion and showed him a copy of an old Sabbath School lesson given by a friend in the army. The pastor spoke to him about NET '96 and to their amazement discovered the soldier was to finish his military service on the very opening day of NET '96! After attending ever)7 meeting he was baptized November 9, and his desire now is to become a literature evangelist.
A young Catholic woman was brutally beaten by her parents for attending the meetings. "They hit her and trampled on her with their feet, badly hurting her," the members said. Those members prayed and fasted for her and then sent a lay person to speak to the parents. God softened their hearts, permitting her to return. Now she is in the Church.
A mayor of a village asked an SDA pastor if he would show Finley's videos for the whole village. "I will give you free of charge the city hall for that; will you come?"
One couple had frequent quarrels because of the wife's SDA faith. She went to Spain for temporary employment and in her absence her husband was amazingly impressed to take the money she sent home and give it to her church for NET '96 equipment. Arriving home she was shocked. NET '96 began and her husband suddenly needed medical testing. His wife brought home the video tape every night. He watched them one by one, not missing any. Then the terrible news from the hospital: terminal liver cancer. Though he couldn't be with the church to see the meetings from the equipment he helped purchase, he felt that God spoke directly to him as he was alone in front of his TV screen. "This was just for me," he gratefully said. He was one of Romania's first baptisms during the crusade. He died one week after the meetings ended.
A new Adventist who had been Catholic went to a village without Adventist presence to invite people to come to NET '96. Because of this one man's invitation, the word spread, even to another Catholic village. The group that came to the meetings ended up being a total of 75 people, pressed into seven compact cars, some children riding in trunks.
A man's car ran out of fuel directly in front of a church, with many cars parked for the Net '96 meeting. He was confident that with so many cars he would find help. At that moment an Adventist member drove up, late for the meeting. The stranded man began to tell our member his predicament at which the Adventist said. "I'll gladly give you half a gallon, but I'm in a hurry to hear the meeting. Why not join me?" He was so impressed he continued to attend, and is now a baptized member of the church where he ran out of gas!
Nun Baptized: Tatsiana, a former Orthodox nun was baptized during NET '96. Several nuns across Romania made decisions for baptism, and priests are watching the videos in secret.
The Never Empty Gas Tank:
One member was very busy driving visitors to and from the meetings, and one day was completely penniless. He was asked again to drive some visitors home, and agreed. Going to the car, he found some money on the driver's seat. Enough to buy food for the family—or to fill the tank. He filled the tank. After that he drove the car for three weeks and to his amazement the fuel meter didn't move from the "full" position. He was convinced that the gauge was malfunctioning, so he went to the gas station to fill his tank again. The station attendant informed him, "You don't need any gas. Your tank is full!"
Orthodox Priest Points Out Sabbath: A man of the law, this policeman, Costantin Dutu was in a terrible car accident. After he regained consciousness in the hospital he realized that he had lost his right eye and the left one was seriously injured. He asked his wife to bring him an old Bible that had been given to him years before by an old Romanian Orthodox priest. He had never opened it. Fighting against discouragement, he saved his sight to read only what seemed most important some Bible texts marked by the priest. These underlined texts directed his attention to God's commandments. He was led to read different underlined texts that showed him the true Sabbath was Saturday rather than Sunday. He longed to question the priest, who had died long before, "If you knew that, why didn't you tell it to anybody?" During NET '96 God miraculously gave him power to overcome cigarettes and drinking. Before his baptism the last day of the series he testified, "Up to now I have been in the business of enforcing the law; now I am more interested in keeping God's law."
On the rooftop: Some members in Bucharest recount the historical windy day on May 2 when co-executive producer Warren Judd and some local members were the first to receive a test broadcast from America to Europe. "It was a big encouragement for us to continue to invest money in this expensive equipment," said Adrian Bocaneanu, Union President.
Offshoots reconnected: This dear family had been strong pillars in the Reform Movement, away from the Adventist church. But the harder they tried to please God the more discouraged they became. The grandmother (right) spent sleepless nights praying, "Lord, show me what is missing." Curiosity and heated debates in their church made them come to observe NET '96. They became convinced that the real church to fulfill the Gospel Commission was not theirs, full of internal conflicts, but the SDA church. The joy of this discovery was so overwhelming that they insisted on being baptized into the SDA church as soon as possible, and they are now among the happiest members.
7-Mile Walk: Merima (left), a backslidden Adventist, walked seven miles each night to the meetings, carrying her three-year-old child, Danko. During Finley's first altar call she came forward, sobbing. At that very minute her husband, Miodrag (right) was in a bar, but suddenly felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to leave his friends and go to the church. He did not miss any of the remaining meetings. They were baptized and now their dream is to both become literature evangelists.
- There have been 6,000 firm decisions for baptism, 2,300 already baptized as a result of NET '96 in Romania. The remainder are finishing baptismal classes.
- Three quarters of a million U.S. dollars were raised for equipment at a time when the average salary was 60- 80 U.S. dollars per month.
- Romanian membership is 70,000. Opening night attendance was 80,000.
- By May, 1997, practically all 1,000 churches in Romania will have run NET '96, those without equipment by utilizing the videos
