Church honors man’s life A son’s death inspired a labor of love, faith.
By T.J. GREANEY of the Tribune’s staff
Published Saturday, September 13, 2008
It was during his first trip to Romania at age 15 that Scott Laws fell in love with the country. The trip came in 1992, just a couple of years after the Soviet Union fell, and people there were eager to learn about the wider world.
Photo courtesy of Sherryl Laws
Scott Laws, left, ministers as a 15-year-old to children during his first trip to Romania in 1992. Laws died of colon cancer last year.
For two weeks, Scott and his family taught Bible school and ministered to people on the street. The boy went to low-income apartment complexes and, after a crowd gathered, read from a picture book to tell the story of Jesus.
"We loved it. We called ourselves ‘Romaniacs,’ " said his mother, Sherryl Laws. "At that time, people were so excited to meet Americans."
Over the next 15 years Scott traveled to Romania eight times. He learned the language fluently, read the poetry for pleasure and held long conversations with locals about politics. As a high school sophomore, he found out that the University of Missouri was creating a study abroad program to Romania. He worked hard to graduate from Hickman High School one year early to take part.
"There was something about it. He just fit into the culture there," Sherryl Laws said. "He was sort of out of step here. He was sort of a geek, and the Romanian teenagers are a little more serious."
Last September, Scott Laws lost a 2½-year battle with colon cancer. Those who loved him said it seemed fitting that something should be done in his honor to aid the people of Romania.
At his funeral, the Laws family collected more than $30,000 for a building fund for a church in Craiova, a town in southern Romania. The church was then little more than four walls and a foundation and was built with the help of missionaries like the Laws family from American Evangelical Free Churches.
About a month after Scott’s death, the people of Craiova were able to put a roof, siding, and doors on their church.
But Sherryl Laws wasn’t satisfied. The church still lacked plumbing, electricity and proper windows. In June, to mark Scott’s birthday, Sherryl sent around an e-mail to her friends to see if she could collect more donations and pull together a team to travel to Romania and work on the building.
In response, more than 100 people donated more than $10,000. Sherryl was also able to organize a group of 11 volunteers from three different denominations, including a trained plumber and electrician, to travel to Romania and donate their work
Among the group that traveled to Craiova for 10 days in August was Larry Sabulsky of Columbia. A certified electrician, Sabulsky said he first promised 17 years ago to go "wire up the church" when missionaries built it. When Sherryl approached him about the trip in June, he had forgotten about the promise but was more than happy to follow through.
Sabulsky and his 13-year-old son Luke joined the team that worked from 7 a.m. until past 5 p.m. on the church site every day.
On the last Sunday of the trip, the Romanian congregation held a service in their new church. Sabulsky said many of the members had tears in their eyes looking up at the sheet rock ceiling, new lights, copper piping and thick, strong windows.
"It’s just a joy to see that church come along so far," Sabulsky said. "To think that one person," Scott Laws, "could have that much influence on something halfway around the world is incredible."
Sherryl Laws said the trip was the perfect way to do God’s work and honor her son one year after his death. She is planning an upcoming pot-luck "Taste of Romania" day at 6 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Evangelical Free Church on Silvey Street, where she’ll show photos and video from the trip. The event is open to the public.
But, she said, at the end of the trip as she boarded the plane in Romania and started the long journey home, she couldn’t help but feel sad. She wished Scott could have been there.
As she was buckling her seatbelt, a Romanian phrase popped into her head. Try as she might, she just couldn’t stop thinking about it.
"Te-Am Gasit" were the words, and she spoke them aloud. But to Sherryl, who knows almost none of the language, the words were meaningless.
When she returned home to Columbia, she couldn’t sleep. Finally, at 4 a.m. she got up, went to her computer, and began chatting with a friend named Oana, in Romania.
"What does the phrase mean?" Sherryl asked Oana.
Oana responded immediately, "It means, ‘I have found you,’ " she wrote.
And then it made sense.
"When she typed those words I was like, ‘Wow!’ " Laws recalled. "That was God’s way of saying, ‘I’m here. I’m with you.’ "
Reach T.J. Greaney at (573) 815-1719 or tjgreaney@tribmail.com.v
By T.J. GREANEY of the Tribune’s staff
Published Saturday, September 13, 2008
It was during his first trip to Romania at age 15 that Scott Laws fell in love with the country. The trip came in 1992, just a couple of years after the Soviet Union fell, and people there were eager to learn about the wider world.
Photo courtesy of Sherryl Laws
Scott Laws, left, ministers as a 15-year-old to children during his first trip to Romania in 1992. Laws died of colon cancer last year.
For two weeks, Scott and his family taught Bible school and ministered to people on the street. The boy went to low-income apartment complexes and, after a crowd gathered, read from a picture book to tell the story of Jesus.
"We loved it. We called ourselves ‘Romaniacs,’ " said his mother, Sherryl Laws. "At that time, people were so excited to meet Americans."
Over the next 15 years Scott traveled to Romania eight times. He learned the language fluently, read the poetry for pleasure and held long conversations with locals about politics. As a high school sophomore, he found out that the University of Missouri was creating a study abroad program to Romania. He worked hard to graduate from Hickman High School one year early to take part.
"There was something about it. He just fit into the culture there," Sherryl Laws said. "He was sort of out of step here. He was sort of a geek, and the Romanian teenagers are a little more serious."
Last September, Scott Laws lost a 2½-year battle with colon cancer. Those who loved him said it seemed fitting that something should be done in his honor to aid the people of Romania.
At his funeral, the Laws family collected more than $30,000 for a building fund for a church in Craiova, a town in southern Romania. The church was then little more than four walls and a foundation and was built with the help of missionaries like the Laws family from American Evangelical Free Churches.
About a month after Scott’s death, the people of Craiova were able to put a roof, siding, and doors on their church.
But Sherryl Laws wasn’t satisfied. The church still lacked plumbing, electricity and proper windows. In June, to mark Scott’s birthday, Sherryl sent around an e-mail to her friends to see if she could collect more donations and pull together a team to travel to Romania and work on the building.
In response, more than 100 people donated more than $10,000. Sherryl was also able to organize a group of 11 volunteers from three different denominations, including a trained plumber and electrician, to travel to Romania and donate their work
Among the group that traveled to Craiova for 10 days in August was Larry Sabulsky of Columbia. A certified electrician, Sabulsky said he first promised 17 years ago to go "wire up the church" when missionaries built it. When Sherryl approached him about the trip in June, he had forgotten about the promise but was more than happy to follow through.
Sabulsky and his 13-year-old son Luke joined the team that worked from 7 a.m. until past 5 p.m. on the church site every day.
On the last Sunday of the trip, the Romanian congregation held a service in their new church. Sabulsky said many of the members had tears in their eyes looking up at the sheet rock ceiling, new lights, copper piping and thick, strong windows.
"It’s just a joy to see that church come along so far," Sabulsky said. "To think that one person," Scott Laws, "could have that much influence on something halfway around the world is incredible."
Sherryl Laws said the trip was the perfect way to do God’s work and honor her son one year after his death. She is planning an upcoming pot-luck "Taste of Romania" day at 6 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Evangelical Free Church on Silvey Street, where she’ll show photos and video from the trip. The event is open to the public.
But, she said, at the end of the trip as she boarded the plane in Romania and started the long journey home, she couldn’t help but feel sad. She wished Scott could have been there.
As she was buckling her seatbelt, a Romanian phrase popped into her head. Try as she might, she just couldn’t stop thinking about it.
"Te-Am Gasit" were the words, and she spoke them aloud. But to Sherryl, who knows almost none of the language, the words were meaningless.
When she returned home to Columbia, she couldn’t sleep. Finally, at 4 a.m. she got up, went to her computer, and began chatting with a friend named Oana, in Romania.
"What does the phrase mean?" Sherryl asked Oana.
Oana responded immediately, "It means, ‘I have found you,’ " she wrote.
And then it made sense.
"When she typed those words I was like, ‘Wow!’ " Laws recalled. "That was God’s way of saying, ‘I’m here. I’m with you.’ "
Reach T.J. Greaney at (573) 815-1719 or tjgreaney@tribmail.com.v
