Maybe I was just too excited about Romania and Greece to really experience sadness in parting from our Macedonia ministry. Or maybe I just wasn’t that sad. Maybe I’ll be sad later. I don’t feel bad about not feeling sad- life’s too short to get caught in a web of “shoulds” where we beat ourselves up because we think we should or should not feel certain things. I’m just going to let it ride—surely there will be plenty of other opportunities on the Race to feel sorrow. And at least ten more opportunities to feel sad when parting from a specific ministry or country.
I got a little taste of it in Greece though. Our normal teams were jumbled up, so me &6 other squadmates became a team for the week. We banded with Paul, a local pastor of a Nigerian evangelical church in Thessaloniki. Between street evangelism, helping him with some technological upgrades for his ministry, and prayer&worship, we probably helped him a lot. It wasn’t particularly taxing on us, energy wise. At one point, street evangelism shifted into a 2-hour conversation at a café with a local. It didn’t feel like doing ministry-it simply felt like hanging out with a new friend.
Before we left on Sunday, we participated in Paul’s church service. There’s no sweeter sound than people from all over the world worshiping the same Creator. They sing the same songs as us, even. The clothes they wore were different. The way they danced was different. But the Holy Spirit in them is the same as in me. And Paul was so grateful for the time we spent with him. It didn’t compute for us because we felt so much gratitude toward him for letting us be involved. Back and forth we went—“thank you” and then “no, thank YOU!” Neither party able to understand how much of an impact they had on the other.
And I felt an unfamiliar twinge of grief when we parted ways from Paul’s church. The Lord is doing such a beautiful work there- I felt like a kid in front of the toy store window, wanting to stay and watch the miniature train continue its journey. But someone is tugging my hand, saying “There’s still more places to go, come along this way…”
So we’re back in Romania, starting a new ministry tomorrow. And then off to Africa in just a couple weeks, where the wifi/blogging situation will be sketchy at best. I’m gently preparing you now for the withdrawals that will surely ensue 🙂
