It’s freezing here in Romania right now. The sky is grey and it’s raining. This is the same rain I have walked back and forth in to ministry everyday now. I come home late and tired. The spiritual oppression here is intense and the atmosphere is heavy. I know you are probably thinking that none of this sounds fun or appealing, and you’re right it isn’t. Yet this small town of Draganesti and the ministry at Hope Church has been by far my favorite yet.
Not one minute has gone by that I am not grateful for my time here. My days have been those where you are so present and focused intently on the moment that you don’t even stop to check your watch. And yet I am struggling to come up with the words to reveal the beauty of it to you. I think it comes down to the fact that no big and extraordinary event took place. Rather, it was a bunch of little moments that made my heart sing. This month I have been moved. I have witnessed true joy in the eyes poverty. I have watched strangers weep, as prayers were spoke over them. I have witnessed life. It really is as simple as that.
One particular day that stands out in my mind was during street evangelism in Craiova. I got out of the car with my backpack full of bibles and camera ready. I was excited as always but it didn’t really hit me at first the kind of impact that can be made when you walk around with the Good News literally on your back.
See when you hit the roads it’s easy to want to hold back and not approach people. And rightfully so because some people really don’t want to hear a single word you have to say, and they have no problem telling you. This day started like any other, but then my team happened upon a busy corner store and before I knew it we had drawn a small crowd. My pack was getting lighter as one woman came back for a few more bibles for family. One guy was skeptical until he heard the word “free” and gathered a couple for himself. Another elderly woman simply looked at my two teammates and I and wished us 100 more years of life with a tear-streamed face.
Now I had to stop and think about that. What a gift it would be to receive all that time. And for what, a Bible… just a book? But it is so much more then that, John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word is freedom and grace, it is love for some and redemption for others, and it is forgiveness, hope, salvation and more. In this world we just get so caught up in society and our own busy lives that we forget there is a whole population out here that is hungry for the truth. The world has become so comfortable and numb to humanity that we almost forget it exists sometimes.
I pray that whoever is reading this today finds that moment of clarity in the rain. And when you find that memory cherish and hold onto it, because that is life.
