Romanian Handicapped Ministries, Inc.
| History |
| 1997 |
In May of 1997, God began a fresh, new thing at St.
Gertrude's Lutheran Parish Church in Billdal, Sweden. There,
He planted the seeds of a vision in the heart and mind of
Cincinnati, Ohio, attorney, Jerry Skinner, who had come there
to teach a course on Renewing the Mind. Unexpectedly,
however, he experienced a mental and spiritual renewal of his
own! While there, he met Bogdan Timiras, who had fled
Romania with his family to settle in Kungsbacka, Sweden in
1983. In time, he became a teaching deacon at St. Gertrude's
Church in that city and desired to establish a mission outreach
from his church to his homeland.
The friendship developed during the conference, and Bogdan
described this mission to Jerry. He explained that for three
summers he had taken several teens in the class of
communicants to conduct a day camp for children and young
adults who coped with various physical and mental handicaps
in Constanta, Romania, where the old Communist belief system
that regarded impaired individuals as worthless human drains
on an economy of pauperism still survived. Even simple
outings were difficult for them due to the lack of elevators in
many of their dismally lit, high-rise tenements. When in public,
they risked ridicule, and sometimes even personal attack.
Many were left unattended for long hours each day while their
caretakers had to work and some were actually confined to
their apartments for months at a time.
Gertrude's Lutheran Parish Church in Billdal, Sweden. There,
He planted the seeds of a vision in the heart and mind of
Cincinnati, Ohio, attorney, Jerry Skinner, who had come there
to teach a course on Renewing the Mind. Unexpectedly,
however, he experienced a mental and spiritual renewal of his
own! While there, he met Bogdan Timiras, who had fled
Romania with his family to settle in Kungsbacka, Sweden in
1983. In time, he became a teaching deacon at St. Gertrude's
Church in that city and desired to establish a mission outreach
from his church to his homeland.
The friendship developed during the conference, and Bogdan
described this mission to Jerry. He explained that for three
summers he had taken several teens in the class of
communicants to conduct a day camp for children and young
adults who coped with various physical and mental handicaps
in Constanta, Romania, where the old Communist belief system
that regarded impaired individuals as worthless human drains
on an economy of pauperism still survived. Even simple
outings were difficult for them due to the lack of elevators in
many of their dismally lit, high-rise tenements. When in public,
they risked ridicule, and sometimes even personal attack.
Many were left unattended for long hours each day while their
caretakers had to work and some were actually confined to
their apartments for months at a time.
