So leaving Romania was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be. As the bus pulled away from Viile Tecii I was never more sure that God had been at work in our being placed in that small village in northern Romania. I do not get attached quickly. It takes a long time for me to build trust with someone else and to really grow close to them, and I got the sense that Adi was the same way, but somehow, in only three weeks, I had gained a brother. I don’t know how, but somehow I just knew that I had made an impact in Adi’s life and he had made an impact in mine. As we drove south I realized that this is what it is all about. This is what Jesus did, he lived life with the downtrodden. I guess I felt a little guilty that we didn’t totally finish the bathroom before we left or that we hadn’t done some elaborate construction project for the village. But God was teaching me that what He wants from us isn’t projects or work (although those can be part of His plan), He just wants surrendered people to go and love His children. I went to a gypsy village and loved people for a month. That’s it. Sure, I poured concrete floors, started a bathroom, and did some other projects, but I know that the love that our team shared with the Lorand family will last longer than any of those “projects”.
After we left Viile Tecii we headed to Brasov where we met up with two other World Race squads that are currently on the field along with a bunch of WR alumni and staff for a five day worship conference called THE AWAKENING. It was a great time to re-charge and just sit in the presence of the Lord. There were worship sessions every night and teaching every morning. I really experienced a new level of freedom during this time. Freedom from a spirit of rejection and fear. Toward the end of the week, we were told that our next month of ministry (which was supposed to be in Egypt) would be somewhere in Eastern Europe and that we should pray and ask the Lord where He wanted us to go. We had been praying for this for a couple of weeks and sometime earlier one of my teammates, Anna, felt the Lord calling us to Montenegro. When we were given the options and Montenegro was one of them, we got excited, but we prayed late into the night asking the Lord if that was what He had for us. The next morning, we felt a real peace about it, so next we’ll be heading to Montenegro! It is a small Eastern European country that gained its independece from Serbia only about three years ago. It is mostly Muslim and Orthodox and in the entire country, there are only about 200 Christians and 3 churches. It will certainly be a challenge, but I am so excited!
Thanks for your prayers!
The team and the Lorand family!
