My team arrived in Romania just in time to help with the fall harvest. As we travelled through the countryside, we found ourselves harvesting grapes, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, corn, and all other sorts of vegetables. The region of Romania that we were in is commonly referred to as ‘the graveyard for missionaries’ and working in the fields was a great place to stand and pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send forth more laborers. My team was the ‘mobile team’ for the month and had the opportunity to travel around to several different villages and meet all kinds of different people. I couldn’t help but become aware of the power of our words when places were being introduced to me as ‘dead neighborhood, ‘dry’, ‘desert street’, and various other similar descriptions. The cry of my heart was ‘NO! SPEAK life!!’ Proverbs 18:21 tells us that ‘death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit’. The longer we continue to identify the places around us as dead, the longer they will stay that way. But, as I stood in the fields, praying for the land and the people, my eyes couldn’t help but see the plentiful harvest around me. As I was welcomed into people’s homes, I could see in their eyes and hear in their voices that they were ready for hope and life. Romania is not dead. Romania is not a graveyard.
In Romania, the harvest is indeed plentiful… and ready! My prayer for Romania is for more laborers with eyes to see the harvest.
He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry lands into watersprings. There He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place, and sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest. Psalm 107:35-36
