Lucian Mustata: The Romanian evangelist reaching thousands for Christ

Abandoned as a baby and raised in an orphanage, Lucian Mustata is now a successful entrepreneur and founder of Eastern Europe’s largest Christian music festival. Lucian is carrying a vision to see 1 million lives transformed. Tony Cummings met him

Ever since evangelist D. L. Moody realised that the music of Ira Sankey was a key element in building a congregation’s response to the Holy Spirit, music has played a key role in mass evangelism. Down through the decades musical styles have continually changed (Dr Billy Graham moving from George Beverly Shea to dcTalk) but music continues to be the spiritual elixir encouraging believers to worship and non-believers to repentance. And now a major Christian festival, Heartbeats, is drawing huge crowds to hear many of the world best known Christian bands and speakers. But contrary to what you may have assumed, Heartbeats isn’t held in the US or UK. It’s Romanian.  

Romania largely escapes the attentive glare of TV’s world news cameras. But having emerged from the iron grip of communism and joined the EU, Romania is now a thriving economic powerhouse.

The religious history of Romania was blighted by communism’s oppression and often brutal opposition and since then has not been helped by intransigent sections of the Greek Orthodox Church which treat evangelicals with great scepticism. Despite this, evangelical churches are springing up all over Romania and Operation World has reported thousands of newly planted churches claiming Romania should be considered “one of the most spiritually receptive nations in Europe.”

Proving this assessment to be true is the 34 year-old businessman Lucian who four years ago started the Heartbeats Festival and has seen it grow to become the biggest Christian event in Eastern Europe.

First off, tell me about your early life. I understand you had a very bad start.

My mother was mentally handicapped and she was raped. She didn’t want the family to know and she threw her baby - me - on the trash. A doctor discovered me and I ended up in an orphanage. It was extremely hard, not to have the love of a father or a mother… I lost my trust in myself. I think why am I living this life? Why do people have sandwiches in break at school, nobody offered me one? Why am I experiencing this poverty? I was working from 14 years-old and I do a lot of jobs. And I know when I am 18 years old I am going to be kicked out onto the streets and I better be prepared for that.

How did you become a Christian?

It was Christmas and…