This month my new team is working with a ministry in Bucharest, Romania called Casa Shalom. Casa Shalom is a ministry, run by an American woman named Becky, that used to be an orphanage. Now their goal is to minister to the gypsy people in the Bucharest area.

Romania is a country that is known for Dracula and gypsies. I have yet to see Dracula nor his castle, but I have seen many gypsies.  Almost everyday my Team and Team Last Place travel with Becky to different gypsy villages to make relationships with the families there. The gypsy people are probably the most beautiful people in the world. Yet, sometimes their actions don’t convey the same beauty as their outer appearance.

The third village we went to our goal was to distribute bags of clothes to the people of the area. Some of the children hardly had clothes on. When we got there we sang worship songs with the people. Most children I have met on the world race know at least one worship song. LOVE IT!  The people then asked us to pray for them and their illnesses. After that they all started fighting toward the back of the van where the clothes were. Becky asked them to back away form the van and threatened to leave, but the people still fought to be the first to get the clothes. So Becky made the executive decision to leave the village. We all loaded up in two vans. Away we drove with the clothes in tow. While driving we noticed their were children running behind the vans. One child managed to hop on a van and open the van door to grab a bag. Talk about talent. In the end, Becky made him return it. It is always an interesting experience with the gypsies, but they have big heart and beautiful smiles. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the month has in store.