Frigid winds and the pitter patter of rain is the salutations Eastern Europe had to offer 74 eager twenty somethings as we entered month three of our journey. Rolling green hills, warm scarves, a tall white chocolate mocha from Starbucks greeted me as we stepped off the bus onto the great land of Dublin, Ireland. After just getting used to falling asleep in your own pool of sweat in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Irish fall temperatures were quite a shock to our warm-weathered accustomed bodies.
We pitched our multi-colored tents along the green campsite in Clondalkin, Ireland, where we met 250 other world racers currently on the field for the “Awakening” conference. The next four days were filled with soul-stompin’ worship, prophetic teachings on the power of our generation, and a few trips to downtown Dublin (dare I say a nutella milkshake was involved?). It was such an empowering conference encouraging us to live as if furthering the Kingdom actually mattered in our lives; in every act, deed, and thought. Couple that with worship so intense that I actually had sore calf muscles from jumping, and you have quite a powerful conference.
After the conference and debrief wrapped up, my team got its next assignment. With my toes tapping and my mind racing, my team leader finally revealed to us that our next month was going to be spent in Timisoara, Romania. We would be staying at an American missionary’s house and working with their contacts through Greater Europe Mission. My mind started spinning as I thought of the potential to light this city on fire through our prayers, service, and relationships created. I started to get really excited. 🙂
We spent the next two days traveling by plane, train, and automobile (literally) to Timisoara. With newly purchased scarf, knit cap, and warm boots, I rubbed my sleepy eyes awake as our train screeched to a stop at our final destination. Fifty-pound pack on, I gathered my miscellaneous books and things and stepped out into the cold Romanian air. The atmosphere of this country seeped into my clothes like a cold rain; one drop lustful, one drop forgotten, one drop post-communism, and several heavy spirits of tradition and legalism poured into my spirit and we meandered through the train station looking for our contact. I knew immediately that this country was going to be different than any other we had served.
We were greeted with a warm smile and a hello from our new contact, Dwight Poggemiller (who I happen to have several connections with from back at home. Small world?) after only a few minutes of looking. We loaded up all of our gear into his van and he drove us to his quaint Romanian house, surrounded with grape vines ripe for the picking and a large apple tree.
We settled in for the night after a quick tour and history lesson of Timisoara conducted by Dwight; Romanian historian extraordinaire. The long travel day ended with my teammates and I nestled in to a comfy pull-out couch dreaming of grape vineyards and apple trees. Its going to be a great month.
