Sunday, September 22, 2013, was a day of joy, both for the brethren and sisters that work in the Eden Clinic, as well as for the believers belonging to the Odai local group in the district of Prahova, Romania.

Sister Florica from Odai learned about our faith from a neighbor of hers, a member of our church. She attended our meetings in that place and decided to make a covenant with the Lord through baptism (despite the opposition of her family). May the Lord bless her choice and give her strength to be an example in the family, in the church, and in society.

Sister Constanta Herea learned the truth in the Eden Clinic and in the following testimony you will have the opportunity to read her experience. We are very glad for the decision she has made, and we ask the Lord to continue guiding her feet in the right way.

I had heard of the Eden Clinic from a friend whose daughter had had serious health problems. No doctor had expected the daughter to live much longer until finally her father appealed to the Eden Clinic. (The girl is now a student.)

Beginning in the year 2000, I was the coordinator of the European “ERASMUS-SOCRATES” exchange program for university teachers and students of the Technical Construction Engineering Department at the University of Bucharest—where I was in charge of Ph.D. theses for the faculty of the department for Technological Tools. My Ph.D. thesis was in Ecology, given at various universities of Portugal and France.

In 2008, there came to Romania a university professor from Portugal who had been diagnosed with leukemia. While she was here, together we decided to visit the Eden Clinic and talk to Dr. Doru Laza, since Dr. Laza is fluent in Portuguese. That was in the month of May, and the lady decided to come for treatments in October of that year.

The next year, in 2009, she returned for treatments, and since I was her roommate in order to translate for her during the entire treatment session, I also received treatments. With this opportunity I attended the morning and evening worship programs (at 8:30–9:00 a.m. and p.m).

That was when I began to become acquainted with the Bible. As a result, I started to ask questions and to read the scriptures for myself. Before, I had been a nonpracticing Orthodox who went to church only on Easter, Christmas, weddings, and baptisms—and that was all.

I returned to the Eden Clinic an average of 3 times each year. I came with another university teacher twice, with my mother three times, with my mother-in-law twice, with my cousin once, with a friend, and so on—all in all, more than 10 times. And hearing about the General Conference spiritual meetings to be held in Sibiu with the theme of “He Is Coming,” I attended those meetings, knowing that, at the end of the conference, there would be a baptism where many people would be baptized. Full of enthusiasm, I expressed my desire to be baptized in Porumbacu.

To my surprise, I was apparently refused! I was told that I was not yet prepared.

True, there were still many things to be changed in my life. There needed to be evidence of a converted life. During the following months, learning more closely the way of living that people have when they serve the Lord wholeheartedly, I began to understand the truth more deeply. I undertook changes in my dress and I quit dyeing my hair. . . .

Although the refusal of my baptism in 2011 was like “a cold shower” for me, I understood that the standards are“high” for those who want to join the SDARM. This was contradicting my colleagues' idea that “Adventists had brainwashed me,” that they “wanted to draw me into their church as a valuable member since I was a university teacher.” The refusal was a very strong argument to prove to them that they had been mistaken. I, on the other hand, consider that I have been very loved by God in coming to Breaza, to the Eden Clinic, without having any particular disease, and that I got to learn the word of God and His will.

For two years I continued my baptism preparation. I feared only one thing: That the end is near and I would not have enough time to get baptized so that I can be saved. The promise of Jesus, “I am coming soon,” and the signs showing us that we live in the time of the end were troubling me, but, to my gladness, after 2 years of waiting after I had first expressed my desire to be baptized, on September 22, my dream finally became a reality!

I am so glad that I made this decision, and I pray that God may be close to me, that He may grant me strength to walk in the narrow way, having Jesus Christ as my example in my daily life.