What does boldness and courage look like in your daily life? Are you living in a way that is focused on the ONE who created you or on your own selfish desires? Do you live life safely…I mean in a way where you know you’ll be “okay” because of your own doing…or are you stepping out in faith? in ways that ONLY the Father will be able to work? Just a few things that have been running around in my mind this year….I want my life to be desperately dependent upon my Heavenly Father showing up…which is risky…and scary…but as I’ve seen time and again this year…SO SO worth it
This month has been a very interesting ministry style. Usually my team rolls up
into a new country, new city, new contact and asks our contact- “so what’s the
plan?� This month we did just that, and our contact said “evangelism!� We were
like, yeah okay been there done that 3 months in Africa…while in Africa we attended
MANY church services as well as people’s homes where we were expected to have a
sermon in our back pocket ready to preach an hour sermon at any given moment.
We had to speak through a translator and it could get very interesting (trust
me). Well, this month in Romania the world evangelism has taken a whole new
meaning.
This month evangelism looks like waking up to pray and
worship as a team for an hour (we ask the Lord to reveal any visions or
direction that we need for the day’s upcoming divine appointments- then we
write them down if anything comes up), walking a mile to a nearby village,
standing by the side of the road until either a car or a bus picks us up on its
way into the city. We ride over the big “hill� into the city and get off
(hopefully at the right spot) and walk to meet pastor (usually at a small
park). Every day looks a bit different depending on the pastor’s program- most
days we walk into the center of town and head toward a university or stay in
the park to pray and approach anyone who we feel the Holy Spirit is leading us
to talk to.
If you’ve never just approached people on the street, let me
tell you it’s incredibly intimidating, we never know if they’ll speak English
or if they’ll even want to talk to us. All kinds of thoughts go through my head
from, “are they going to think I’m nuts?� to “I prayed that I’d see someone
healed this morning, is this the person? Will they actually get healed in front
of my eyes?� Ok so you get the picture.
This month we are praying, listening to the Lord’s guidance,
and then obeying by stepping out in faith…and can I tell you something
incredible? GOD’S BEEN SHOWING UP EVERY DAY!!!!!!
My team is consistently stepping out with courage and
speaking boldly about God’s love and how having a relationship with Jesus has
rocked their world for the better…and let me tell you its been amazing. We have
had people approach us, we have received FREE rides to town (our budget is very
tight this month so every extra cent is a HUGE deal), we’ve been having
incredible conversations about God with college students. I’m so proud of my
team for pressing in this month, even though they were unsure at first about
this kind of ministry, they’ve truly stepped up and been thrilled when they see
that the Lord is working through our weaknesses He’s consistently faithful and
strong.
The Word says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God
is with you wherever you go.� Joshua 1:9
This month is stretching my faith and my ability to trust
the Lord my “Abba/Daddy�, I am being given the opportunity daily to choose:
will I be courageous and step out in faith or will I stay quiet about the
truth? It’s been pretty incredible to see the conversations that have occurred
from approaching people and striking up a conversation. I’ve realized that this
is not just a month long experience I’m taking part in. I want my life to be
characterized by a deeper faith in God and courageous daily living. I do not
want to return home and forget that God is with me wherever I go and He wants
me to live out my faith daily. This may look like simply recognizing and
talking with the check-out lady at Walmart or it could mean going to the local
hospital and praying for people in the cancer ward. There is truly a world of
possibilities, so I know that no matter what my life looks like after The Race
(and at this moment I have NO idea) I want my life to be characterized by
living out what I believe, and that is that I serve a living and active God who
desires for me to love Him with EVERYTHING I am. I also believe I am called to
LOVE His people WELL by listening to His voice and obeying what He says.
I have a good friend on The Race who is an incredible
example of living courageously daily and loves people deeply, her name is
Carmen Oswalt and she challenges the heck out of me with the way she lives her
“normal� life. A few examples of things she regularly does: anonymously pays
for the person in line behind her at fast food drive thru’s or Starbucks, leaves
random verses and notes of encouragement in library books, buys a bag of candy
and writes a personal thank you note to EVERY flight crew of EVERY airplane she
ever travels on, calls the “How’s my Driving� number on semi-trucks when on
long trips and tells them what a great job the driver has been doing (one time
the driver got an award because of her call!)…these are just a few of the
“normal� things that Carmen does to show Christ’s love to His people and I’m so
inspired every time I hear her stories. I love having an opportunity to meet strangers
daily and share with them about how amazing Jesus is (even though it’s been
scary), it’s been SO worth it because God is using us to sow Kingdom seeds all
over this city.
PLEASE pray for our team and the pastor we’re working with
(Zsombor & family), pray that we have more divine appointments in the city
with people who need to hear about the love of Christ and are ready to enter
into a meaningful relationship with their Savior. Pray that the Lord will keep
providing for us financially for transportation and food (as He’s already been
doing). Pray that our team will remain healthy and strong as we travel
throughout the city daily. Pray that our team will remain unified in heart and
purpose. Pray that we remain focused on the present needs of this ministry and
not get distracted by homesickness or future plans for after The Race. Pray for
the next generation of Romania to know Christ as their true Lord and Savior who loves them and desires a personal relationship with them. TONIGHT we have a church service where my teammate Christopher Garcia and I will have the opportunity to preach, and Christopher will also be leading us in worship.
