About us

3 Fold Missions, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was born over more than a decade of “short-term mission trips” taken to the beautiful, former communist country of Romania.  All of our experiences have taken place in the city of Sibiu and the surrounding villages located in the heart of Transylvania, home to Vlad the Impaler whose myth we know today as Dracula.  Though we never ran into any vampires or werewolves (that we know of), we did experience the tangible darkness of poverty and absence of hope for a promising future that many families and children have in a culture still recovering from the mental slavery of communism.  The Transylvania region, as many others across Romania, is also home to the Roma, more widely known as “Gypsies”, arguably one of the most disliked, disrespected and victimized people groups in the world; one that was murdered alongside the Jews in WWII by the Third Reich.  

How in the world did these boys from Tennessee and Georgia find themselves in Romania anyway? Actually, it’s kind of simple.  Back in October 2010, I (Anthony) along with my wife and a team of 10 others from City Church of Chattanooga made the long trip across the ocean to help support one of our own who had recently moved there as a missionary, with his Romanian born wife, Michael and Mihaela Gravitt.  At the time before they started their church in Sibiu a few years later, the Gravitts were helping support a pastor, Sorin Boica, whose calling were the people, many but not all were Roma, who were impoverished and uneducated and lacked any real opportunity or even inspiration to break the poverty cycle they found themselves in.  Sorin was an amazing man, who poured out the love of Jesus to everyone he met.  Between pastoring a church in the village of Hosman, Pastor Sorin ministered to the people in Hosman and neighboring villages by meeting their physical needs as best he could.  His calling was to show that these people had value by frequently bringing or making meals at the church as well as supplying clothes and shoes for the families who didn’t have.  He often sacrificed his family time to take care of other families in need.  While Sorin was meeting physical needs this often enabled him to look after their spiritual needs as well.  

During the dreary October days in 2010 we got to see this in action and participate firsthand, which is how we met our friends Nicu and Laura and their four kids Madalina, Florine, Nicoshor, and Carmen.  We made a special bond with them that week which brought a team of 10 men back to Hosman the following June to build them a small, modest house.   Although it wasn’t much bigger than the room they were renting, they now owned something and eliminated them paying inflated rent for a 12 x 12 room in a dilapidated building.  They even had room on their land to raise a garden and eventually build a small barn for their horse which was used to provide a small income. It was an exhausting week of work from sunup to dark and was the first taste of Romania for several of the men, including Patrick.  “More than a house…” was our theme for the trip and it took a few more trips to figure out what the “more” was.    

In 2017 Patrick couldn’t ignore the Holy Spirit’s calling to return, so we did with five other guys, in spite of a less than willing response from Anthony.  And without an itinerary or project or targets or goals, which might have made it the best thing we had done so far.  Instead of working our tails off doing this or that, we had time to really meet and talk with families in different villages that Sorin and his fellow pastors were ministering in Nocrich, Fofeldea and Tchindeal.  One of the highlights of this trip was meeting a couple who had recently moved there from Arkansas who was also following God’s calling to show his love in Romania, David and Kelly Krause and their youngest son Gabe.  It’s always amazing to see how God uses people and how he calls us to expand his kingdom.  If you’re wondering why God isn’t moving that’s a good sign to get off the couch and go join Him, because he’s always working.  

That trip in 2017 is actually where the 3Fold idea was born, we just didn’t quite follow through fully on our end and lost momentum.   We were super excited about the opportunities that we felt needed supporting and soon after returning to the US, we set up a nonprofit.  But then life happened -  full time jobs, full time dads and husbands and we never got it off the ground, though certainly not from the lack of good intentions.   Then 2020 hit and everything changed.  Our dear friend Sorin almost died from Covid.  The after school program that he had started in Hosman and was having significant positive impacts on the kids, the one that we were so excited about supporting after the 2017 trip was cancelled due to new governmental rules.  We allowed the shame and guilt of not following through rule the days that followed and grew disconnected from all things Romania, for awhile.   

Fast forward to 2023.  Patrick says, “I’m going to Romania and taking Emery (Patrick’s daughter) with me.”  “Hmmm”, I said half in unbelief and half in jealousy that he had the courage to face the shame head on.  Several months later, October 2023, we both boarded planes, destination Sibiu, with our oldest daughters in tow, this time to return with a new fire, and a refreshed vision of how we might help break the poverty cycle for many impoverished families in this part of Romania we’ve grown to love. Yes, God is still moving, now only if we’d just move with Him.  

Anthony Hensley & Patrick Ellis

• Co-founders, 3 Fold Missions Inc