This year Diaconia celebrates its tenth anniversary, as a living example of what happens when godly people with a godly vision using God’s resources join their efforts in order to impact the community.

It was around 1995 when Keith Davis, the Executive Director of IAP, a Christian organization from Spokane, WA talked with Pastor Joseph Stefanuti of the Braila Baptist Church, about his vision for a complex work aiming to touch the local community. One of the main components of this vision was a medical clinic, as a living example of sharing God’s love through a caring attitude in a high professional environment, operating under the values of Christian Ethics, unlike the existing medical system, too often still tributary to communist behavior, practices and values.

IAP caught the vision and as Keith Davis stated in a later interview, the clinic came miraculously to life. For instance the building from the Rosiori Street was purchased with funds donated by a single man after a simple phone conversation! A one time check of $35,000! After that medical equipment and furniture have been donated and shipped to Braila.

A solid team of Romanians was established under the management of Dora Ciuca. Walking by faith dr.Doina Dorobantu, her assistant Marcela Beciu, the biochemist dr.Elena Stefanache, the lab people: dr.Mardare Aurora and her assistant Tabita Ghiurea agreed to come together in order to start this work. A six week training opportunity in some US clinics became available for Dora and dr.Elena. Except for dr.Elena Stefanache who went to be with the Lord, everyone else still serves Him at Diaconia.

On October 15, 1997 the Medical Clinic was inaugurated. It was quite a small start but looking back over these ten years the results are overwhelming. Thousands of patients that received the best quality medical service in town, hundreds and hundreds of volunteers from the US who provided free medical and dental care, free medicine and free Christian literature, everything in order to share the love and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was possible only through the initial faithful investment done by IAP’s people.

A crucial milestone in the life of Diaconia was the visit of a group of dentists from Dallas, Texas, back in June 1998. Under the enthusiastic leadership of two man of God dr.Kevin Seidler and Richard Payne, they saw the potential this clinic had, and they expanded the vision to a level nobody considered it before. Starting a local medical ministry in Dallas called Serving Him, they aimed to organize and send every year large teams of dentists in order to perform a high impact work. Because the building of the clinic seemed to be too small for these projects they didn’t hesitate to launch the idea to build a new and modern clinic, able to offer a wider area of services, including dental work, in order to expand the benefits for the local community.

Soon after that, in 2000 the new clinic’s foundation was laid. Hard work has been done over these years but it seems that the results deserved every penny. At this time the building is in the final phase and it promises a very good future.

In the meantime the clinic continued its great work in the town, developing its area of service. Other valuable people were added to the staff like dr.Dorobantu Nicolae, dr.Marta Tudor or Nurse Ana Smirnov. The administrative support of Daniel and Liliana Cojocaru has been very important, the constant help and partnership of Petrică Drăguşanu and Cristi Chivu from RAM, the large number of volunteers from The Holy Trinity Batist Church and of course the inspiring vision of Pastor Joseph Stefanuti… are only some secrets behind the success of this work.

Last but not at least, the impact of the clinic could not be imagined without the faithful visits of many teams of doctors and dentists from all across the US, mobilized mostly by Serving Him’s tireless people, who came to serve unconditionally people from Braila. Some of the visitors were involved in conferences with Romanian doctors or were invited to perform surgeries in the local hospitals. Others were involved in various activities, campaigns and conferences, inside the clinic, as well as outside it, doing street clinics in partnership with the City representatives, checking the health condition of thousands and thousands people, providing all kinds of tests, offering high quality medical and dental care, and giving with responsibility free medicines, using every opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Definitely we can state that the most valuable asset of the clinic consists in its people: staff, volunteers and partners. For all of them we praise God! Having laid this foundation, with a solid and modern infrastructure, we believe that with God’s help the Diaconia Medical Clinic will continue to expand its work toward the benefit of our neighbors, as a wonderful way to show Christ’s love and share His Gospel.