About Us

“CRU Romania,” or as it is referred to in Romania “Alege Viața”is a part of Campus Crusade International.  It officially began in 1992, after years of underground activities during communism. Immediately after the revolution it was a great time to talk about God!  Everyone was curious.  Everyone wanted to hear about God.  With a focus on university students, the topic of Jesus was raised again and again at a large dorm complex in Bucuresti. Students responded.  Bible studies started.  Lives were changed.  Students started to talk about their faith.  A movement began.  

Not long after this what was happened started to spread, first to the Agricultural University, then to the Construction University.  Before long a group of pioneers headed off to Cluj to begin the work there.  A national movement was born.  

At the same time that God work doing something special among students a new initiative started.  Virgil Anderson arrived in Romania with a grand dream.  He created the JESUS PROJECT which took the message of Christ’s love into all 40 countries of Romania.  In the early years the JESUS Film was shown every night dozens of times in villages and small towns.  People responded.  In fact by the year 1999 over 400 churches had been started with this strategy.

The work of the JESUS PROJECT pivoted in 1999.  Most of the activity had focused on rural areas of the country.  The JESUS PROJECT needed to develop new competences necessary to bring the message of Christ into the urban areas.  In a highly experimental effort, new advertising strategies were created and the “Biltz” was created.  The staff of the JESUS PROJECT converged for an intensive effort in a major cities.  God blessed. In a single city, JESUS Film was shown up to 40 times each evening, resulting everyone in town talking about Jesus. 

While the backbone of the work has always focused on university students and serving the church in its evangelistic goals, other efforts sprang to life.  A professional football player joined the team to connect with athletes.  Special events and trainings were created for families.  Work with high school students started.  Biblical training programs were launched to serve new churches and new church leaders.

It has been one blessed whirlwind of activity that can only be attributed to the grace of God and to the courageous partnerships that were developed with churches across the nation.  The dream of seeing the message of Christ flood the country has been realized…and it must be realized again and again.  There are still so many people who haven’t understand what Christ has done for them and what Jesus asks.  

The whirlwind continues to blow, to move and expand.  As of 2018 there are 85 full-time Romanians driving these efforts across the country.  Thousands of volunteers are walking by faith to make Christ known.  New initiatives are spawned constantly.  “Alege Viața” looks like a living, moving, growing movement. If you are reading this, it is our hope that you might be able to come and visit and participate with us as we serve the Lord.  Join us in prayer.  Join us with new initiatives.  There is room for you here.