Catalin Chindea’s faith journey began in Romania. Born in Alba Iulia and raised there until he was 13, Catalin emigrated with his mother and sister to the United States in 1995, following in his father’s footsteps, who emigrated in 1990, and his brother’s (1994). These five years were synonymous with ongoing prayers for their family’s reunion. The entire process of coming to America had such an impact on his life that when Catalin graduated high school, he felt compelled to give back to his adoptive country which welcomed him with open arms. In 2002, Catalin joined the U.S. Air Force, spending six years in the military going to exotic places like Iraq and Kuwait. His belief that God was present with him at all times, and that He had a plan for him, helped Catalin overcome the physical difficulties, emotional challenges, and helped him return safe and sound to the U.S. Not long after his return, he felt called to go back, serving a nearly three-year contract in Iraq and another 2.5 years in Afghanistan as government contractor working for the U.S. military. When he returned to the U.S. in 2013, Catalin got married and initially settled in Texas with his wife. Only a short year later, they moved to Cleveland to be closer to their family and his Greek-Catholic community from St. Helena Church.
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, how your faith and your biography have intertwined?
A: Just like many others of the Romanian Catholic Diocese of Canton, I was born and raised in Romania. My father came to the United States in 1990. I came in 1995 with my mother and sister after five years of praying to God for a visa. In 2002, I joined the military and was deployed on a few missions overseas in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. When I left the military in 2008, I became a civilian contractor, and spent another five and a half years back in Iraq and Afghanistan, trying to help more people there. I guess I became more religious during the time I spent in Iraq because you get closer to God when you are closer to the devil. In those circumstances, you seek for help every minute of every day. When you don’t receive physical help, you turn to asking for spiritual help. So, when you’re faced with danger at time (any minute, any second) you find that God is your best friend. I returned to the U.S. at the beginning of 2013, and I’ve been back ever since, thanking God every day for bringing me back safe.
Q: Can you describe your experience moving from one world to another, from Romania to the U.S.? What did this change mean to you?
A: I think for me it was a confirmation that God exists. I know it sounds cliché, but to just be able to come to this country was a huge accomplishment. Being raised in a country where you’re told “no” all the time (no matter what you wanted to do) is very difficult. “You can’t do this, can’t do that” — a ton of red tape. Being lucky enough that my father had the chance to be in this country and come settle here was amazing. It was difficult to wait five years to come to America. First of all, it was hard to not have a father for all this time — only talking to him on the phone, or writing letters, or just thinking that I’m never going to be able to see him again. I’ll never be able to go to America, because people don’t just go to America, it’s very hard — especially during those times, after the fall of the Communism. So, we kept praying a lot, my mother and I went to church every Sunday, sometimes even Wednesdays. I was an altar boy as a kid and used to go to Bible studies on Saturday. You kind of put your faith in God that eventually things you want will happen to you. But in the back of my mind, I was always thinking that it’s not going to happen; it is too much to ask or maybe I don’t deserve this. Five years went by praying constantly, and finally it happened! We came to this country and during the first year it was surreal. It was unbelievable to go from a country where you were always told “no” to a country where everybody smiles at you and admires the fact that you even got there. It was a shock, a culture shock. But it was easier for me to integrate — granted, because I was young, and it’s much easier when you’re younger. I felt this country has a lot more to offer than the old country, so I became very patriotic. I love this country and this is the reason why I went in the military — I wanted to give back to this country. Of course, it has its flaws and it is not perfect, it is not utopia. But this country is my home for me, this is my heart. The whole idea of freedom of religion is also new. Sometimes in Romania I felt I had no choice but go to church, because everybody goes to church. But over here, there’s freedom of religion — people respect you whether you go to church or not. People respect you whether you’re spiritual or not, religious or not. I find myself to be more religious now than before because I was able to come here. That proves that God exists, and is listening. To us, He gave us what we asked for.
Q: And then you went through school, graduated high school, and you moved to the military after that?
A: I came here and finished grades 7-8, then went to high school and graduated. For a year, I was helping my dad with his company, and then I joined the military. This was right after 9/11, after what I call the “War on Christianity.” At least I felt that way. So, I joined the military a few months after 9/11 and spent a total of six years on active duty. After a couple of years of training, I was shipped overseas. I should say I volunteered. They ask who wants to go before they send you, and I wanted to go. To me it felt like it was a sacrifice to be in the military. To go overseas and be in the front line seemed even more of a sacrifice. I felt better about giving back to this country — giving back to God, giving back to everybody — by going there and experiencing it in person. So, in 2003, I went to Iraq.
Q: It sounds like you were on several missions, does that make you a missionary?
I’m not sure if I would call it that. My scope was there to help. If it was perceived like that or not is another story. When I volunteered, it was not because I wanted to go and shoot people or blow things up. I wanted to go there and help, I wanted to go and make a difference; I wanted to put myself in those people’s shoes and see what’s going on: Why aren’t we getting along? Why don’t they see what I see? I was hoping to explain to them why we’re there to help. I think we were somewhat successful. I think we made a difference, at least in the area where I was. There was a big difference between before we arrived and after we left. When I arrived, people were afraid to come in the streets, people were afraid to look at us. When I left, I saw kids dressed up to go to school and playing in the streets. Overall, they were healthier
and happier. I think my mission was complete; I successfully accomplished what I was there to do.
“it all started in Iraq when I realized that God has a bigger plan for me, and if you believe, eventually you will see His plan.”
Q: How was that experience like?
A: I thought initially that I was going to be just fine. In my head, Romania was always a very restricted country, a world where you couldn’t really be who you wanted to be. Therefore, I thought I was going to deal with Iraq a lot better than the rest of the soldiers, because I have been through some of the things that those people are going
through. Again, it was a cultural shock. Arriving there and seeing the gravity of the situation, the lifestyle of the people, was a huge shock — I did not expect it. A few days after I arrived, we had our first attack and I panicked. It was the first time in my life when I realized I was panicking. There’s somebody out there shooting at me, throwing a bomb at
me. There’s a bullet with my name on it, from a guy who doesn’t know who I am, doesn’t know anything about me, doesn’t know why I’m there, doesn’t know that I’m there to help and not to hurt. When you find yourself at a crossroads of such a panic, you either go crazy — which some people did — or you find that there is someone up there who helps you. There is a God. I think I became a lot more religious during those attacks.
A lot of times, I found myself in the bunker praying because there was not a lot of other things to do. I figured out after a while that I don’t think my mission is here to die. I don’t think God wants me to be there and simply disappear and end my life without any accomplishments. After a couple of attacks that I survived (I guess you would call them successful attacks), it became second nature to think that God wants me to stay alive, that God had bigger plans for me, not just this right here. I kept praying, I kept thanking God. My prayer to God transitioned from “Please help me stay alive, please don’t let me die” to “Thank you God for giving me life; thank you God for giving me another day.” So, it became [a transition] from praying for life to thanking God for life. I’ve been back from Afghanistan for five years now, and not a day has gone by without thanking God for bringing me back alive and in one piece. I pray in the morning when I wake up. Every time I go to the car I make the sign of the cross and thank God for keeping me safe and for a safe drive. I thank God for the food He gives me, because I’ve seen people who had no food, no water, and I know that I’ve been given a lot more than others. So, it all started in Iraq when I realized that God has a bigger plan for me, and if you believe, eventually you will see His plan. Everything has a scope. It’s not coincidental.
There is no way this can be coincidental. When you see the convoy in front of you blow up, people dying in front of you, people dying behind you, and nothing happens to you, you realize it can’t be a simple coincidence. Why did I survive? Why did the other people die and I didn’t? Maybe they were less religious, or didn’t pray enough, that’s a possibility. But I think that God has a different plan for each person. For me, the plan was to come home safe and hopefully accomplish something. War definitely brings you closer to God if you believe in Him. And I guess if you don’t, you just go crazy, which a lot of people did.
Q: Was your mission in Afghanistan different or did it bring something else into the picture?
A: The mission to Afghanistan was also volunteer. That was my civilian contract job. I volunteered to go there right after I left the military, perhaps because I missed it. Some people say, when you’ve been in a danger zone, and you escape with your life, you have in the back of your mind that you always want to go back. Perhaps that’s what it was. I joined the civilian force, I went to Iraq for two and a half years after which I went to Afghanistan for two and a half years. In Afghanistan, I was able to deal more with people first hand. I hired a lot of the locals, befriended a lot of them, listened to their stories, and listened how to how they were mistreated by the Taliban or the Shias. Everyone was just going through the country and killing people. They have their own God, but to me it’s still our God, it’s the same God, but they call him Allah. They pray to Allah a lot. You get to understand their religion a lot more when you sit down and talk to them, which is what I did in Afghanistan. I ate with them; I slept among them; we had the same living conditions for a long time. I spent two and a half years there with the locals, so you get to understand their religion and lifestyle a lot better than most people back home who only from Google or listen to the news.
Q: Moving back home, again from one world to another, and living a “normal” life, did this change anything in the grand scheme of things?
A: Spiritually speaking, no. The faith that I had over there is the same that I have back here. I still believe everything happens for a reason; I still believe God is watching over us. The only difference is talking to people and trying to make them understand that the world they see right now is not the whole world. To me, being out there, I thought that was the sad reality of the world. It might be great here in America, it might be great in some other countries, but I think there are so many countries out there where it’s not great. People don’t have the freedom, the opportunities, and everything that we have here. So, trying to talk to people and make them understand is hard, because it is difficult to explain to people the feelings that you have while you are in those situations. I can explain to you how the people are, what they eat, and how they dress, but I can’t explain the feeling that you have when you are there among them. I can’t even explain the feeling you have when you help somebody, when you give somebody the equivalent of a whole month’s salary for just one day of work. They know that for a month they are happy, they have food, and their family is taken care of. That feeling you can’t explain. You get goosebumps just thinking about it, but you can’t explain it. It’s hard to relate to people what my experience was like over there. All I can do is say that I’ve been through a lot; I’ve tried to help people; there are people out there who need our help. We should not judge people — just because you’re a Muslim or a Christian you’re not automatically a bad guy. We are all humans, we all have a belief in a higher being. Spending so much time overseas and coming back home to freedom, the first thing I noticed was colors. It sounds ridiculous but everything over there is gray, everything has a beige/gray color to it. Then you come back home and everything is colorful; you have blue, red, and green (the green in the trees!) — it makes you appreciate life even more. To me, it was kind of a spiritual experience to come back and re-experience everything, re-enjoying life, just life, period. I thank God that I came back and I came back healthy, and I think I can appreciate life more now than I did before.
“Now, when I go to church, I find myself in a place of peace and thankfulness”
Q: And then you went back again.
A: The last two sessions, over a five-year period, were back to back — two and a half in Iraq, two and a half in Afghanistan, with a small vacation of two weeks every six months. The first trip was eye-opening in 2004, when I had a gun in my hand. The last two trips, instead of a gun, I had a wrench. I had to go there to fix things. It was a different experience. But overall, you feel the same thing. You feel like you’ve learned something, you’ve acquired something, and when you come home you love life even more. You enjoy life, you love the people and your family even more. You go to church happier. When I go to church now, I’m happier than I used to be when I was younger. Back then, I used to go to church because I had to. My mother used to say, “Put your nice clothes on now, because we go to church.” And I would reply, “But Mommmmm!”, and eventually I would get to church. It’s different now. It’s different because now I know I go to church to thank God for something that He has given me, as opposed to asking God to give me something. Don’t get me wrong, I still do, we all ask for all kinds of stuff from God — God please help me with this or that. And then you make different deals with God, “If you help me with this, I’ll be more religious, I’ll go to church more often.” Everybody does that. But now, for me, it’s different. Now, when I go to church, I find myself in a place of peace and thankfulness — definitely different than when I was forced to go.
I think I understand religion a little more, too. To me, religion has a very important role in society. I know a lot of people in America don’t agree with this statement. But I think religion gives you a healthier lifestyle. People who are religious are much more likely to live longer, to donate, and to give their time to other people who are less fortunate. So, I think religion plays a huge role in the wellbeing of people and society.
Q: How is life now for you?
A: (smiling) It’s hectic! In 2012, I was married to my wife, who is from Romania. We started a good life in Texas, but we had to move to Ohio since my parents asked for help. So, we came to help. We came here initially for two years, and we’ve been here for five now. We bought our house here, we have our family here, we have a decent lifestyle. Spiritually speaking, I’m happy. I’m thankful for everything that I have, for everyone around me, for all the opportunities that God has given me. I thank God every single day. Every time I get in the car, every time I eat, every time I wake up, every time I go to sleep — I’m always thanking God. The only way to thank God is when you have a lot more than you probably ask for. Overall, I’m a happy person.
Interview and photographs by Raul Botha