Members of the Romanian Community are celebrating their first Christmas in their newly-built church in Co Dublin
The Betania Church - a Christian community of around 1,200 members - was established in Ireland over ten years ago and is open to all nationalities.They decided to rent a premises off a Nigerian church in Dublin 15, but as the congregation grew, they sought a new location.
In 2015, it purchased a piece of land from Fingal County Council and two years later planning permission was granted for construction. They raised the money by requesting funds called"giants" from Romanian people in Ireland, according to Pastor Avram Hadarau."The whole church came together, and every family or member said, I can give a thousand or I can give five thousand towards the project, and we basically put all the money together."
Up to 80 construction workers dedicated their time to the building, which rose rapidly on the hill in Tyrellstown, Co Dublin."They sacrificed a lot," Pastor Hadarau said. To mark the first Christmas in their new building, the Betania Church wants to let people know the doors are open to everyone, regardless of nationality.They work as Christian volunteers in China and India mainly, and find the Betania Church a welcoming sanctuary when they are home.
Larry said that as a Christian, the presence of the Lord is evident at the Betania Church because of the friendliness and goodness of the people behind it.Those activities now extend beyond the locality with the establishment of projects like Feed Dublin - which involves 20 younger members of the church bringing food parcels for homeless people into the city centre on Sundays.
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