The Dangers of Repenting in an Orthodox World By Jake Stimpson Missionary to Bucharest, Romania I havent blogged in forever.

Let me offer a lame excuse. Weve been so busy with regular meetings, unannounced events, language learning, and simple survival as a big family in an even bigger foreign city that by the time I sit down to write a blog post, a million other things seem way more important. It happens every time. Ive got tons to say, as always. I just havent made the time to sit down and say it. Today we visited Elim Pentecostal Church with our friend Andrei whos known as Kaze. Before he met Jesus, everyone called him Kamikaze because he was, well, a little bit crazed. Now that hes mellowed out, the shortened version has stuck with him. Ill have him tell his whole story on here sometime, but as we were talking and he was sharing some of his testimony, it reminded me of the dangers of repenting in an Orthdoxdominated society. In America, when someone becomes a Christian, weve got all sorts of terms we use. We say, I was bornagain, or I got saved, or I became a Christian, or I found Jesus, or I asked Jesus to come into my heart. Or, conjuring up disturbing images of Freddy Krueger and Jason, Ive been washed in the Blood. You can argue forever which one you like better, but each comes with an amount of baggage. Here, the loaded term is Repentant or Repenter. Pocait, in the Romanian language. Christians bear the name proudly because, yes, theyve repented of their sins and been forgiven by the blood of Jesus. NonChristians and Orthodox churchgoers cast it around as an insult, mocking the Christians for thinking they need to repent. Were Orthodox, Ive heard so many people say, We dont need to repent. We were born Christians. Trusting for their salvation in their Orthodox heritage (which is rich indeed) and in their infant baptism, they mock the very truth that could set them free. Im sure there are genuine Believers in the Orthodox church, but I have not yet met one, and from what Ive witnessed, I dont think the Orthodox church would suffer to share communion with a dreaded Pocait for very long. Ive heard stories that remind me of whats coming out of the Muslim world when someone turns to Jesus. Not every story is as sinister, but Ive heard of fathers beating their daughters for repenting of their sins, mothers driving their children out of the house, extended families holding secret meetings to pressure new converts to give up their hopes of repentance When a friend of mine repented, he was told by his mother, You are not my son. You are dead to me if you become a Pocait. Another was told that he was an embarrassment to his entire family, that his dead relatives were shamed because he had abandoned their faith. Another that she was wasting her life and would amount to nothing because she had chosen superstition and rebellion over conforming to the familys desires. When another friend of ours was first considering going to a Christian church, she asked her Orthodox priest for advice. Be careful, he told her. Theyll turn off the lights during the service and have wild orgies. This is one of the main rumors Ive heard spread about Pocait Believers, and not just from a couple of people. Whether theyre talking about Baptists, Pentecostals, or some other flavor of Christian, Orthodox churchgoers seem to genuinely believe we have mass orgies at every service. Now, I cant vouch for every church in Bucharest, but Ive visited quite a few, and though I may have missed something, I dont think Ive noticed any mass orgies going on. Heck, not even small ones.

And, for the record, we do not currently have and will not in the future be having any mass orgies at any churches were planting. But we are Pocaits.