Greetings from Moldova! In just a couple days I will be boarding a plane for Dublin, Ireland for my final month on The World Race. In four weeks I will be on American soil, enjoying Panera Bread and finally getting to hug my Mom and Dad. In four weeks I will also have to depart from the 54 other people on my squad. They have become like family to me, especially my 6 lovely teammates. As you can imagine, I have mixed emotions of what awaits me on July 30th, when our squad flies into Boston and we all go our separate ways for the first time in 11 months. For now, I am choosing to be fully present in the moment I’m in right now. I desperately want to savor these last 4 weeks and PRESS IN to what God still has planned for my team, our squad, and myself. “It’s going to be wild. It’s going to be great. It’s going to be FULL of Him!”
This past month our team was sent to Ungheni, Moldova, a small city about an hour outside the capital of Chisinau. For our ministry, we served with the Vineyard Church, which has church plants all over the world, including one my hometown. We had the opportunity to visit the local hospital and pray with several patients. One of the most memorable moments is when I had the chance to pray over a middle-aged woman who was suffering from chronic lung problems. She told me she wanted to go home and be with her family. I could tell she was tired but as our conversation went on, her energy increased and she became more curious about me. She asked questions about The World Race and what I thought of Moldova. Her warm and inviting smile was comforting to me since I had received many blank stares from those who passed me by on the street. I asked if I could pray for her and she quickly replied with a yes. After I prayed, I told her that God lead me to her hospital room for a divine purpose. I told her how thankful I was for the opportunity to speak with her and pray for healing over her body. I believe God knew she was in need of encouragement and He was faithful to lead me to her.
The woman in the gray jacket is newly pregnant and was in the hospital for a routine check up. She appreciated our words of encouragement.
There was another woman in the same room who looked very ill and could barely speak. When my teammate Karen and I first entered the room and said hello to her, she showed very little emotion and simply touched our hands. After we were done praying with the other women in the room, we decided to go back and sit with her. She now had a slight smile on her face and I could sense she was eager for us to pray for her. The joy we experienced with the other patients was contagious and this woman was ready for a taste of it as well. After Karen prayed, we could tell a noticeable difference in her face. She was beaming! Even though she couldn’t speak, she continued to smile at us and then waved her hands in the air as if she was giving praise to God. I was amazed at how different her demeanor was. Instead of lying almost lifeless in her bed, she was now filled with joy and peace.
Later on in the day when I was sharing with my other teammates what happened at the hospital, I told them that if God sent me on the World Race to simply sit and pray with that group of women, this whole experience would be worth it. I believe God has called me to reach people in every country we’ve been to but if it were just for those precious moments, I would still consider every step of this journey as valuable and full of purpose.
My prayer in response to what took place at the hospital was, “Thank you God for choosing to send me to those who are sick and need a word of encouragement. Thank you for giving me the words to say. Thank you for providing the women with a renewed sense of hope. You are the fullness of joy and peace and I thank you for giving those sweet ladies a glimpse of it.”
