Hope Church has a vision to see souls saved. No matter the opposition, they stand firm and they don’t give up. They give all they can to their community for the sake of the Kingdom. It is inspiring.
Hope Church has fourteen different ministries that work together to further the Kingdom and show the love of Christ to the people of the community. We’ve worked with several of these this month and saw first hand the hard work that goes into this extraordinary work.
One ministry in particular is called the 9000 Souls Project. It aims to claim 9,000 souls for Christ within the Oltenia Region of Romania. (Or known to many missionaries as the “missionary graveyard”) It’s a lofty goal for a region that clearly has been hard to reach in the past. One approach to this ministry is to build relationships with children since they are the future of the country. If we raise up children to know, love, and be loved by Christ it will have a domino effect on the generations that follow.
In effort to bring 9000 Soul’s vision to reality we spent yesterday afternoon walking around the city passing out invitations for the kids to play sports with us. Later that day we met up at a stadium in the city, and it was, without doubt, my favorite day on the World Race.
In the middle of an abandoned stadium, surrounded by Romanian children, and comforted by a chilly breeze; it felt like Autumn in Tennessee. The only things missing were corn dogs and hot chocolates. We played several games with the kids including frisbee, volleyball and of course futbol – not to confused with football. We also sang songs to Jesus and talked about how much he loves us. It was incredible to watch the kids sing songs about how great our God is. Whether they believe those songs or not, there is a seed planted; and one day, hopefully, with the right amount of watering, that seed will produce a fruit.
Please pray with us that despite the gypsy culture and traditions of their parents, these beautiful children of the Most High King will know Him and through their salvation the love of Christ will spread like wildfire through the nation.
Also, keep Hope Church and the many ministries it carries in your prayers. It’s not an easy task to keep up with so much going on. It takes patience, hard work, willing people to work and necessary funds. Hope Church could use more of all of it. Pray that God will bless the efforts of this ministry and multiply them.
Photo cred: Erin Peters; erinpeters.theworldrace.org
