July 11th 1:00am (Central): Finished packing my bags and completed all the little tasks I needed to do before leaving the country for 11 months
3:00am: woke up from a 2 hour nap to get ready to leave for the airport
3:30am: left my home in Delavan (1 hour drive)
5:50am: flew from Milwaukee to Detroit (40 min flight)
11:05am (1 hr ahead): flew from Detroit to NYC (2 hour flight)
5:45pm (1 hr ahead): flew from NYC to Dublin (6 hour flight)
6:15am (6 hrs ahead): flew from Dublin to Bucharest (3 hour flight)
11:40am (8 hrs ahead): take bus from airport, then walk several blocks with our packs to our hostel
Traveling went smoothly, praise God! But boy did it take a lot out of me. It's 8:30pm in Romania right now and I'm exhausted. The realization of the World Race finally being here sinks in in waves. Walking through the terminal of my connecting flight, I considered for a second turning back and getting on a plane back to Milwaukee instead of catching my flight to NYC. Seeing everyone at JFK airport was such a joy though; it just felt right. I came close to tears flying over the Atlantic when I realized for a moment that I wasn't going back home for 11 months. Arriving in Romania was exciting, but it still feels temporary, kind of like a vacation.
The Romanian language is beautiful, I love listening to it on the streets…I just wish I could understand it. I'm struggling a bit with being the annoying American who does not understand one word of Romanian. Bucharest is an interesting city, a mix of beautiful old architecture, modern stores and streets, and grafitti. The people I have met are so kind! One stranger helped me put my backpack on (I still haven't mastered hoisting it up on my own with it packed so full!). At the same time, people bump into you if you are in their way. I've only been here a few hours and haven't had much time to absorb the culture here, but I am excited to do so! This is a wonderful place.
This afternoon, it was announced that since 3 people have left our Race, the teams would be switched up. At first I had a hard time with this, but I knew that God was sovereign over the entire process and that I needed to be flexible and willing to accept His will. Mallory is no longer on our team. She has great strengths in planning and focus that I thought would really balance our team out, plus she is just a fantastic woman who loves the Lord and seeks after Him, so I am saddened that she will no longer be on our team. However, Blake is now on our team! I'm so excited he is joining us. Blake is one of the sweetest men I know. I know he'll bring A LOT to our team and will fill a necessary role. God has been faithful in placing us in the groupings that will help us to grow with each other and will allow us to minister most effectively.
This evening we worshipped in the park. A few random people joined us, which was really neat, that God would use something that was encouraging to us, to touch others without us even trying. Evidence that it is not by our own power! During worship, I asked for God to give me a new heart, one that is completely and soley devoted to Him, asking that He would rain down His Spirit so that I may pour into others. A lot of questions have been running through my head. Why am I on the World Race? How could God use me? I have no experience in evangelism and I'm pretty shy…what does He want me here for? Am I ready for this? I don't have the answers to these questions, but I am trusting God with confidence that He has a plan and a purpose for me on this Race. It's still scary, but I'm here and I think that's a good start.
This next week we have Launch, which I was told is like Training Camp Part 2. There is internet access in the hostel (yay!), but we were challenged to give up all electronics until Friday, so that we can focus on the present, building our community here. Saturday, my team will take a train to Bulgaria to work with K Mission as our first ministry placement! There, we'll travel to minister to various gypsy communities, run music and art workshops for a youth group, visit a home of severely disabled kids, share our testimonies at a church service, and a few other things that are still in the works!
My next post will probably be in a couple weeks when I'll share some stories about K Mission! In the meantime, please be praying for radical heart transformation. This is the first and crucial step in order for us to share Christ's love with the nations. Thank you everyone for all of your prayers, support, and encouragement! I look forward to hearing from you 🙂
