During my month in Romania, the entire squad served in Draganesti-Olt. This city is in a region of Romania that is known as a graveyard to most Christian missions in the country. Most Christian missionaries who come into the area do not stay for long. It is a dark place with many strongholds for the enemy. The spiritual attacks are real. All month the squad had to constantly fight for love, joy, unity and even worship.
But there is HOPE. God has already won the battle. Victory belongs to HIM.
I had the privilege of seeing hope shine through two amazing individuals. My teammate Angela and I served with the Kid’s Clubs of Hope Church in Draganesti. Our ministry contact was the beautiful Veronica, a young woman who grew up in a local orphanage and after getting her education decided to come back to serve as a missionary with the local church. She became a friend almost instantly with her joy and laughter.
Veronica has been mentoring a young Roma girl, Ana for several years now. Ana began her personal relationship with Jesus about a year ago. Now at 14 it is clear that the Holy Spirit is at work in Ana’s life. Ana came and served alongside us every day we went to kid’s club. Even when it was so cold outside that no kids came, Ana still joined us for prayer walking around the area. I got to witness her study the book of John and ask questions even I had never thought of. She shared her desire to read more of God’s word and to understand more. What was most amazing about Ana was to hear how she gathered all the kids in her neighborhood to lead her own kid’s club on a Saturday morning.
Romania is dark, but there is a 14 year old girl opening up God’s word, wanting to know more and wanting to share it with the friends around her. That is a true picture of HOPE. I am so thankful for the opportunity to know and work alongside both Veronica and Ana during my month.
What was extra special about my month in Romania was having my parents come to spend 5 days with me for the parent vision trip or PVT. While it was strange to be meshing two worlds together, I am glad I had the opportunity to introduce my parents to my amazing G squad family while also introducing them to a little World Race culture and lifestyle. They experienced worship with the local church as well as our squad and also joined me for a couple different ministries. The first day Veronica joined us and we passed out New Testament bibles to houses in a nearby community. The second day we did house visits where we heard testimonies from local Christian families and got to share encouragement with some youth in the community. There was HOPE in seeing so many parents make the journey to Draganesti-Olt. There was HOPE in the openness and honesty that went on between parents and racers. There was HOPE in the amount of love, support and encouragement shared.
So even in the darkness, there is HOPE.
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For those who may not know, at the end of my month in Romania I was placed on a new team. I am now part of Team Tereo, led by the incredible Myles Willman and joined by Nate Deloof, Jonathan Sander, the sweet Dresdyn Johnson, and the loving Kelsie Biven. Co-ed has been an adjustment, but I am excited to be a part of this team and I look forward to growing and stretching through them. We are serving this month in a region of Moldova known as Transnistria. It is a region that considers themselves their own country, under Russian influence, even though it is not recognized by the rest of the world. Our main ministry is manual labor but there have also been opportunities to help with English club, youth group and worship with the local church. Please pray for our teams here this month!
