We’re in Viile Tecii Romania. And it is GORGEOUS. Think of the beginning of the sound of music and then add little clusters of brightly colored houses and sweet little old ladies in long patterned skirts. After being in a city last month, being out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by all this beauty is glorious. Even if it means our bathroom is a sketchy outhouse that brings a few of my teammates nearly to tears every time they have to use it. We’re spread out between the homes of three families. Lili and Abi are taking great care of us- cooking all our delicious meals and then presenting us with giant slices of watermelon for dessert. They have four children- Adi, Andrea, Alex, and little Adi (still not sure how the two boys ended up with the same name). It’s so great to be with a family in a home.
Here’s Alex and I hanging out in the middle of the road after a lovely rain storm.
She’s fantastic.
So far our official ministry takes place in the evenings. We head out to a different gypsy village each day and “fix a program�. Roughly that looks like sharing our stories of why we’re here in front of the church/group, singing a few songs, bringing words of encouragement, telling those that don’t know him about Jesus, and praying for them/with them. We’ve shared our stories once, and as those of you that know me can probably guess, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to speak in front of people. I had to sit through nine other testimonies before it was my turn, and the whole time I was desperately trying to sort out what I was going to say. Walking up to the front, I still had no idea. Then out pours a story of how I’ve been “good� at everything my whole life. Good at school, good at sports, good at behaving, good at pleasing people. My world has revolved around earning the approval of others and not really feeling a need to rely on God. When every moment is spent fearing the opinions of others, life is kind of exhausting and stupid. I’ve never been satisfied even when I do get the approval I crave. And now God has pulled me out of the life I’m “good� at and put me in this world where I have to completely turn to him when I’m asked to do things I’m absolutely not good at. So I said all this through a translator to a small crowd of gypsy people. I think I’ve been coming to this conclusion for the last couple weeks, but having to put words to it and hear it spoken was kind of an AHA! moment.
I’m surrounded by people every single moment of the day. I can’t keep up these efforts of trying to please them constantly- I’m going to wear out. Also, why am I even doing it?! I’ve read the verse in Galatians a million times- “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.� I’m pretty positive that I came on the Race to be a servant of Christ, not to make a bunch of people all around the world like me. But still every day I fight against the urge to please and be liked. I can’t keep doing this. It’s time to go all in and risk being a weirdo. (cringe, I don’t want to be a weirdo!). Seriously though, I’m ready for more- more of the Lord and less of my crazy self-absorbed mentality. Whatever he wants to give me I’ll take it.
Me practicing my weirdness on top of a hill overlooking Viile Tecii. Ignore the weird and look how beautiful it is!
On another note, if you want a more comprehensive understanding of what the heck we’re doing in Romania, you can look at my teammates blogs (team L.Chaim) and also the blogs of team Love Sick . They’re with us this month in Romania.
Also apparently we’re in Transylvania right now… is this seriously my life?
love love love
