Content Top

Our Story

Marla and Catalin.jpgIn 1997, I (Marla) moved from my hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana, to Dallas, Texas, to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. I first met Catalin Alupoaicei in Targu Mures, Romania, in the summer of 1998. That year, I had the privilege of traveling to Romania with a group from Dallas Bible Church to serve as part of an orphan ministry facilitated by Buckner Orphan Care International. Catalin arrived by train the day before our team left to return to the States, so I didn’t have much time to get to know him, but I felt an immediate connection with him and knew that I wanted to find out more about this tall, dark and handsome young man who had devoted so much of his life to ministering to orphans.

In the summer of 1999, I had the opportunity to return to Romania. This time, Catalin served as the assistant to the director of Buckner’s orphan care ministries in Romania. He also provided the primary translation services for all of the visiting teams and the children. What an enormous responsibility!

Over the next two weeks I had the opportunity to see Catalin put his God-given gifts and abilities into action. I appreciated his overflowing love for the Lord and the tender care that he provided for the orphans—laughing with them, explaining the Bible to them, playing basketball and other sports with them, reassuring them when they were upset, reading them stories—and performing hilarious skits that included him singing Backstreet Boys songs. Catalin displayed remarkable diligence and stamina, working extremely long days translating for hundreds of team members and children. Several times, he lost his voice completely due to the demands of his job, yet his passion and positive attitude never wavered.

When I returned home in 1999, I remember telling my mother about Catalin. Two somewhat surprising biblical passages came to my mind when I thought about Catalin. The first is 1 Samuel 9:3, “He [was] a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.” Spiritually and in so many other ways, as well, I felt that Catalin stood head and shoulders above the crowd. He distinguished himself as a young man of courage, godliness and responsibility.

The other verse that the Lord brought to my mind was John 1:47: “Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.’” I loved how pure-hearted Catalin was and what a kind, discerning spirit God had given him. I knew I wanted to marry him! But I also knew that I would leave any relationship possibility in the hands of the Lord. So, like Mary, the mother of Jesus, I kept all these things and pondered them in my heart.

We actually lost touch for a couple of years until, in April 2001, I received an e-mail from Catalin. The first Internet café had just been installed in his hometown of Falticeni. We began to correspond. I told Catalin of my dream to return to the orphanage in Targu Mures to distribute donations from my parents’ church in Terre Haute, Indiana. He offered to help me and serve as my translator. A couple from the church bought me a plane ticket to travel to Romania in November 2001. Several obstacles, including travel difficulty after 9-11, personnel changes within Buckner and inclement weather, kept us from being able to visit the orphanage at that time, so we distributed the donations to orphans and needy children at the school where Catalin’s mother works as a nurse.

On that trip, another surprise awaited—Catalin asked me to marry him, and I said yes! We began the process of gathering our paperwork for the immigration interview at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest. I returned to Romania in March of 2002 for our civil wedding ceremony. On April 12, 2002, Catalin arrived in the States. On June 1, 2002, we held a church wedding ceremony at First Baptist Church of North Terre Haute, Indiana. We currently reside in Frisco, Texas.

Bad Behavior has blocked 143 access attempts in the last 7 days.