Month 2 and we are in Moldova! More specifically we are in Ocnita Moldova and this is the first month we as a team are separated from the squad. Finally a time where we can just be a group of 8 christians, a reckless group of individuals formed to spread the good news of redemption through the gospel! Our team Reckless Redemption!
After leaving Romania and being all together with 52 separate people, I personally was looking forward to just being with the team I was blessed with at training camp. A rambunctious group of extroverts and a pinch of introverts to make up a team built for loving people and loving them well. This is truly where God has wanted me. With my squad switch early this year, I can surely see that this is a divine appointment I am with these 7 strangers.
Now arriving in Ocnita on a sleeper train we were greeted by a tall bald Ukraine native man named Andrea Luca with his energetic son Maric. It was laughs all the way from the beginning. This is it, a calmness washed over my fears as I saw that my contact had a sense of humor. My heart will always have a spot for Andrea, this man can laugh with the rest of us and joke in his own sense of humor.
We tossed all of our packs into his van and the girls climbed in while us 3 boys walked to his house following his son. This was the first real shocker for me. I was thinking no one in the states would let their son just ride off with 3 guys that you just met that day. It just surprised me, but we laughed it off and went through a nice little walk through the smaller town of Ocnita and really got to see bits of Moldovan culture first hand.
As the month progressed our team grew so much deeper together. It was with laughs and hurt that brought us together. Unique Ministries, extreme relay races, daily lunches and dinners, watching sermons together, upset feelings, harsh words and actions, deepened testimonies, crying, serious talks, and so much happiness and love is what formed our family. God had His mighty hand in the shaping of our love through the entire month. I am more than thankful for the sisters and brothers I have on this team. I may not know every bit about them as persons but through His greater power I feel an absolute love towards them; its a real feeling. Not the sort of love that you fear fades, but genuine affection that will last through hardships and heartache because its been tested. God has softened my heart to 7 strangers that I now call family.
God has also strengthened a tenderness in my heart for His people. I connected with the children and leaders of our ministry stronger than I could have ever imagined. There were so many kids, so so many kids that we got to play with every single day it seemed. From leading them in MY GOD IS SO BIG action songs, to teaching them skits and lessons through silliness and true love. It was incredible to see that even through the language barrier we could still form an incredible relationship with these beautiful creations. Love truly knows no language it seems. I see it as a universal language that is spoken and heard by all ears, felt by many hearts, and yearned for by all who know it. “We love because He first loved us” 1 John 4:19
I am more than excited day by day what this race is bringing me, what God is teaching me through it. My prayer for you all this month is that you give Him permission to do what ever He wants in you so that He may do what He wills through you. You are such incredible vessels of His love and His glory, never forget this for it is through the precious name of Jesus Christ that you are made anew. Amen.
