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Pastor Benjamin Faragau. |
As part of our anniversary celebrations, ‘Breakthrough’ is planning to interview four men with whom SGA has had a long and fruitful relationship. For this edition we spoke to Pastor Benjamin Faragau and asked him a number of questions.
Pastor Faragau, can you please tell us something about your family, home and background?
I grew up in a Christian home where I was raised by my mother, as my father died when I was nine. I married my wife Eleonora when I was 28 and the Lord has blessed us with two boys (Benjamin and Philip) and a girl (Andrea). They are all married and we are all serving the Lord which is my greatest joy.
How were you converted and called into the ministry?
Even though I grew up in the church, I did not receive the Lord until I was 21 years old. After that I struggled for five years to find my place in the church and to understand what God was calling me to do.
In what particular ministries have you been involved in?
I started a singing ministry with my two sisters. Then for years I led the choir of our church. However during this time I realised that God was calling me to study and teach His word. In those years there were missionaries visiting our country (which included visitors from SGA) and God made His calling very clear through the ministry of these men.
For ten years I led the Bible study groups in our church, then for another ten years I preached every week. In 1990 I was called to lead the Bible study department in the Baptist Union throughout Romania. This new role meant preparing the Bible study material for over 1500 hundred churches in the country. When I began this ministry there were no Bible commentaries and so I started to write them. Looking back through the years the Lord has given me many opportunities to serve him. I have written 28 Bible commentaries, travelled extensively in Romania and abroad to teach, and preached all these years regularly in the church where I am ministering in.
What role has SGA played in the past and what role do you see it playing in the future?
A great one. I met them in the early 70’s and I can say that God has used this relationship to equip me for the ministry and support me in what I am doing today. Through the years, they assisted me through their prayer, practical support, teaching of the word and their partnership in different projects. For 20 years during the communist period, SGA missionaries were willing to spend the summers in the Romanian woods in order to secretly teach us the word of God.
Furthermore, SGA has made a great contribution to the books that have been published. Throughout the years they have supported, encouraged and financed some of the commentaries that have been published. Without their help I could not have done it all. So I praise the Lord for our partnership in this work.
What blessings have you experienced and what challenges are you facing?
The great blessing is to know and to be known by God Himself, and then to know so many of His great people, those from SGA included. It is also a great blessing to have my entire family loving and serving the Lord.
The greatest challenge in my ministry is the fading of my sight. In 2006 I was diagnosed with macular degeneration, which the doctors say will lead to blindness. Therefore I am in a great hurry to finish writing, publishing and reprinting the books of the first 7 years of our Bible study program, because I want them to be available to the next generation of believers. I do not know if God will allow me to finish this project, but He is sovereign and I am in His good and mighty hands.
How can we pray for you?
Prayer has been the greatest gift I have received from the Lord through the SGA missionaries and volunteers. So please continue to remember me and uphold me before our good and gracious Lord.
The Commentary written by Ben Faragau on 1 Corinthians
published with the help of SGA.
