I can tell you that this trip has opened my eyes to the world. I can tell you that I have met a lot of interesting and amazing people in this journey so far.
There is Becky, from Casa Shalom in Bucharest, who wanted to be a missionary in Eastern Europe before it was open for her to come here and then came as soon as she was able and has been here ever since. She used to run a children’s home, but the government laws have changed and she can no longer keep running the children’s home and so she is slowly saying goodbye to all of the children…some have been reuniting with their families that abandoned them so there has been reconciliation, some going into new homes, some still living at Casa Shalom. The changes in the law don’t stop Becky from doing something. She continues to support 100 different children to be able to live at home with their parents in order to prevent them from being abandoned due to lack of finances.
At Casa Shalom, we basically mowed the lawn, painted, fixed bikes, tractors, golf carts, washed chairs, sorted through thousands of boxes of donated clothing, unloaded a 40′ container of donated items, and then helped put on a big yard sale/festival to raise money for their ministry. We visited a few villages, a girls home for those who are mentally challenged and also got to fix up and paint a home & yard for an underprivileged family. I want to give & love like Becky does.
We also got to meet Pavel & his mother. Pavel is a 15 year old who had bone cancer when he was younger. They removed the cancer and did a bone graft in his leg…but recently the cancer came back. The doctors wanted to amputate his leg and he was adamant that the Lord would heal him and so they waited. The urgency of the situation was expressed to him by his doctors and so his faith increased. We prayed with Pavel & his mother a few different nights and after Pavel went to the hospital for the results to see if the cancer was gone….they found out it was not and that his leg would need to be amputated and even then they might not be able to remove all of the cancer. I admit I was kind of disappointed to hear that news, but continued to pray for healing. A few days later we found out nonchalantly that Pavel had another test and they found NO cancer!! NONE! He still has an infection in his leg and will need the old bone graft removed…but he is continuing believing that he will be fully healed!
Can you believe it? We asked the Lord for something big…HUGE even…and He did it and then it almost felt as if it was no big deal?! I have seen sooooooo much hurt and poverty and sickness and death in my life and I’ve seen unanswered prayers and I’ve felt some situations almost hopeless….but guess what?!? God is a God who heals. I can’t explain why or how or when…but He DOES it. What happened when I heard about Pavel’s healing is that my faith increased. It lets me know that when I experience sickness or seemingly hopeless situations next time…I want faith like Pavel.
Sometimes a life of faith is unexplainable, but that’s why it’s called faith, isn’t it? Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Heb.11:1). So hope big, and put your faith in the Lord, for He is always good. He is always faithful.
Now my act of faith gets tested already. I am still in need of $1,700 USD for this trip. I am actually behind on the payment schedule and therefore there is a bit of emergency to the situation….but as I said…faith like Pavel…this means that I will trust and put my hope and faith in the Lord for this.
Also, I made this video waaaaay back in Uganga and Sara thinks I should post it…so here goes. :0) hehehe
