Andreas and Ligia van der Elst, along with their two children Levi and Colien Ana, live in Sacalaz, near Timisoara, Romania.
Andreas is Dutch and was born and raised in The Hague in a Christian family. When he was 13 Andreas made his commitment to Christ and was baptised. After high school Andreas knew he was called to Romania and at 19 he travelled to Romania to study at Bible college there. During his time at Bible college be came into contact with International Teams and since that time has been serving in partnership with iTeams NL.
Ligia is Romanian and grew up in a traditional Christian family in a Slovakian village, Nadlac, in Romania. During her study in the city of Arad she came into a personal relationship with Jesus and commited her life to following him. Ligia is a qualified pre-school and kindergarten teacher. During her last year at college Ligia met Andreas at a children's camp. She knew that through everything God had brought them together.
They live and work in the city of Sacalaz, not far from Timisoara in the Banat region, the most westerly region of Romania.
Work
Andreas and Ligia work together in the local church community in Sacalaz. They do children's work here (Friday Bible Club divided into 3 groups). They also work with youth and Andreas guides young people who need more attention. Every summer they work for children's and youth camps. Besides evangelization, there is also a lot of time for relaxation, sport and play. In order to be closer to the church, the children and the youth of the church, their workplace is now also their place of residence.
Travel
Alongside his other responsibilities every year Andreas travels with his father on mission's trips both in Romania and elsewhere including Moldova and Macedonia. During these trips Andreas acts as translator and sometimes takes other young people along to experience mission. In Macedonia they do street evangelisation in several towns and villages together with young people from their church.
Newsletter
Their newsletter can be requested here.
Home church
Their local church in Romania is in Sacalaz, a village about 10kkm from Timisoara.
André’s sending church in the Netherlands is the ‘Pinkstergemeente Morgenstond Cypres’ in The Hague.
Support
If you want to support André and Ligia financially, you can donate to the bank account:
NL97 RABO 0150 1276 34 in the name of ITeams with the note: KN-SC Elst
BIC RABO: RABONL2U