Achim Barbos is the founder of Romanian Orphans in Need. Born and raised in Romania under Communist rule, he came from humble beginnings and lived in a one bedroom farmhouse. His family often faced hardships because they were against the repressive Communist regime. Achim attended standard school for eight years and took two years of technical school to become a mechanic.He learned firsthand that people who did not follow the Communist Party were often denied higher education. He also attended school for truck driving and heavy equipment operator.

Achim attended the Greek Orthodox Church, but after his marriage he was saved and baptized in the Pentecostal Church. Under Communist rule there were many restrictions on true believers in every aspect of their livesi including educational opportunities, job availability and advancement, and better military assignments. Even the duration of censored worship services was strictly monitored. Christians were often fined and jailed for offenses like holding prayer meetings outside the church. During Achim's time of service in the Romanian Army, he was beaten and imprisoned for six months because of his faith and anti-communist views.

Achim and his wife had five children. Because he saw no future in Communist Romania for his family, he decided in 1981 to cross the border by foot into Yugoslavia,walking through Yugoslavia on foot towards the Austrian border, he was arrested in the city of Maribor and put in jail. After twelve days of incarceration he was released and crossed on foot into Austria with the hope of one day reaching America. After working six months in an Austrian immigration camp and sending money to his wife and children, a church in California sponsored Achim and brought him to America. The dream had come true. However, left behind were his wife and five children. After reaching California, Achim learned that his family was being continually harassed by the Communist Securitate (Secret Police), who would not allow his family to join him. He had been branded a traitor by authorities.

Meeting other Romanians in a similar plight there in California in 1982, Achim set off for Washington with these men to protest against Communist rule in Romania. He and his fellow countrymen went on a hunger strike for five days in front of the Romanian Embassy, the White House and Congress. They were finally helped by California Senator Lantos and Congressman Donnie Myer. President Reagan sent a letter to the Romanian government on their behalf and on behalf of human rights in their country. This event gained national news coverage.

After a period of time, all the families of Achim's friends came to the U.S., but his family did not. His wife had been intimidated and frightened by Communist authorities into giving up her passport to America. Enraged by the government's ploy to exact revenge on him through his family, Achim became a political activist against the Romanian government. He began speaking out weekly through the voice of Radio Free Europe against the appalling abuses of human rights in his country. This fight against the Communist government of Romania lasted from 1982 until 1989 when the Revolution started and the president was executed.

After the Revolution, Achim was able to return to Romania to visit with his family. It had been almost ten years since be had seen his children. One of his friends there called others to welcome him back home, and when this friend talked to someone about the gathering, he was killed. Achim thought back to 1981 when he had fled Romania on foot. An older couple, who had then sheltered him before crossing the border, had been interrogated and beaten to death. In the process of fulfilling Achim's desire for freedom in America, three people lost their lives because of Communist brutality.

Within a few years, Achim was finally able to get his children to the United States where they all found good jobs. Achim went to school to become a scuba and medic first aid instructor, and also has a private pilot's license. He is a faithful member of the Bible Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, and is a member of the Civil Air Patrol and the Marine Rescue Squadron there.

Now we come to another tragedy and a turning point in Achim's life, which God would eventually use to give him a vision of his life's purpose. In January, 1999 his beloved twenty-five year old son Joseph was killed in an industrial accident. Only three months later, Achim went for an ill-fated flight above the city of Savannah with a friend. On the return approach to the airfield while attempting a landing, this friend passed out and fell over the controls with a heart attack. Despite every effort to land the plane safely, Achim crashed into a clump of trees at the end of the runway and the airplane exploded, bursting into flame.

Trapped in the plane with his legs pinned under the caved-in dashboard, he realized the pilot door was jammed and melting in the fierce heat and also that his friend was blocking his exit through the passenger door. Achim knew this situation was beyond human control and that he was going to die. In agony of soul, he prayed to God to give him one more chance in life.

The Lord worked a miracle that day. Achim somehow found himself out of the burning plane down on his knees and elbows, crawling free on the airfield but engulfed by fire. He suffered second and third degree burns over 47% of his body, and would later develop a severe lung infection. Here we will let Achim tell the rest of the story in his own words.

Someone tackled me to the ground to put out the flames, and he burned his hands while doing so. At this point my clothes had burned off me and only flesh was left. I was airlifted to the burn center in Augusta and hospitalized for 35 days. The doctors said my chances of survival were slim because of the lung infection. By the grace of God I did survive and was released from the hospital. When I told my story to different people, Christians and non-Christians, everyone told me the same thing God has a purpose for my life and that's why He saved me.

For three years I kept asking God to show me my purpose. Finally, I made a trip to Romania and my family asked me what I was going to do with some property that I had there. I told my sister to build a hotel. I gave her design instructions without knowing the purpose.

When I went to the city I saw orphans begging for food with little clothing and in misery. Young girls were having babies in the hospital and abandoning them for lack of support. I saw at an intersection a child around 5-6 years old begging for food. He had massive scars above his waist where he had been burned. I knew what he had been through to stay alive. Because of his physical appearance he was shunned by everyone but he still fought for his survival hoping for a brighter future.

I went to the city market and I saw many elderly people without shoes and proper clothing for the weather conditions. They were sickly with little or no food and not much hope for better conditions. That's when God showed me my purpose - to use my prosperity and the hotel that is under construction as a distribution center for the orphans and the needy and as a headquarters for the missions in Romania. Upon arrival back in the United States, my life changed forever.

I will use all of my resources to speak for the people in Romania that cannot speak for themselves and create a source of hope and a better future for them. With God's help and the help of God's loving people we can achieve this vision of relief, mercy and hope for people who do not have any.

"For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." Romans 14:11-12