‘It was the best decision we ever made to move here’ – Diana Niezgoda

Liz went to Diana's house in Thorley at the end of July, during the school summer holidays to discuss her life story.

Hi Diana, Can you start by telling us about where you were born, your childhood and early life?

I was born in Romania and grew up with my parents and older sister. As the school in the city was better than in the countryside we lived all week in Motru and at weekends we stayed at our Grandma’s house in the countryside and helped her look after the animals and with her gardening etc. I had a lovely childhood but I did have lots of work to do during the day. I also enjoyed spending time with my cousins and local children.

What jobs have you had since leaving school?

I had a job in a sports shop selling clothes and equipment while at University. Then I worked at a warehouse where we made labels from scratch. My main job now is cleaning as the hours are flexible, but I love to do more creative things.

Tell us how you met and married Andrei and moved to England?

I met him in my first year at University, where I studied Public Administration. There was an event I went to where a band was playing and I liked the music so much that I looked up the band online and noticed Andrei was on there as a drummer, though he hadn't been there on that night. I noticed that he liked motorcyles too and so I wrote to him as we had this in common. We met up and started going out. Then Andrei decided he wanted and needed to move to England; so he left Romania for a year and we only met up once or twice during that time but we missed each other. Andrei came back to Romania to propose to me and we both came to the UK. We got married at a registry office in Seville in 2016 legally, but the church wedding in Romania was in May 2017.

Unfortunately just before the Romania wedding Andrei lost his job and had an accident on his motorbike breaking his tibia in his leg. We flew to the wedding and Andrei was on crutches.

When did you have your daughter Taria and how did you come to live in Bishop’s Stortford?

Taria was born in December 2018 while we were renting a house in Basildon and 6 months later the landlady wanted to live back in her house as she had been living in a caravan so we needed to move out. 15 bsbc.life We have very close friends in Bishop's Stortford who persuaded us to come here instead, and the wife was also pregnant with her daughter who is 2 weeks younger than Taria. It was the best decision we ever made to move here.

What's been one of your biggest challenges since living in Bishop's Stortford?

Before moving here it was very difficult to find a decent place to live as there were so many unsuitable places. There were 8 families fighting for the home we now live in. I wrote a nice letter with a photo of us to give to the landlords and gave it via the rental agency. Years later we found out from the landlady that writing to them had caused her to choose us. We feel this is our home.

When and how did you become a Christian?

Andrei and I were having a hard period in our marriage and it was hard living together. We visited Andrei's cousins who are Pentecostal Christians and they took us to their church in Wembley where we went occasionally as it was too far for us to go weekly. We also went to an orthodox church in Cambridge and to a little Baptist Church in Swanley. It was all confusing to me. I was trying to figure everything out. There was feelings of guilt and confusion. We had a bad experience at the orthodox church so we decided to look for a Baptist Church in Bishop's Stortford. Andrei searched online and found the Church on the website and it was only a few minutes in the car so we went that Sunday and liked it and have been here since.

How long have you been at BSBC and when did you get baptised?

By the time this My Story is printed we will have been here 14 months. I got baptised this year on Easter Sunday 20th April, where I shared my testimony and was baptised by Revs John Walford and Gustavo Gubiani.

What are your hobbies and favourite things that you enjoy and future plans?

I really enjoy going to the allotment and gardening. I enjoy doing Pyrography and hope to sell my pieces on Etsy. I have started to do digital art on Canva and hope to sell that too. I really enjoy making handmade gifts.