A beautiful sea of faces greeted us as we exited the bus. Piercing blue eyes, giant smiles, boisterous laughter and energetic hugs from the gypsy children made us all lose our hearts immediately. We came to the village to minister and yet again, God was using these people to minister to me. Our group did a drama, sang some fun kids songs and presented the gospel. At the end everyone was praying together to receive Christ. One girl with pigtails, who was no more than 5 or 6 years old, had her hands tightly clasped and raised in front of her. Other children were tightly intertwined with team members. On my lap was a 8 year old boy, Milton Yoshi. He had been my companion from the start. As we prayed, I began to cry. The love that God has for each of us overwhelmed me. God has been reminding me that I am dearly loved. Tenderly, sweetly, extravagantly loved. Looking at each child, man and woman, God was saying ” Dearly loved, dearly loved, dearly loved.” I wanted to shout it from the rooftops to each one of them, ” Do you know that you are dearly loved?” All I could pray was that each person there would know God’s love. His love changes everything. It means everything. It is everything.
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is Love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them.”
I John 4:16
God is love. It is as easy as that. God is the originator, creator, source of love. It is not a feeling that is fleeting or negotiable. He is love. He cannot change. He cannot waver. He cannot be what He is not. I have traveled the world searching how to serve God best. Looking for strategies to present the gospel and bring people to Christ. Striving to have the knowledge to be the most effective missionary possible. I discovered what I already knew but had taken for granted. God is love. I am dearly loved. Everyone I meet is dearly loved. There is whole world of dearly loved people. God is calling us to love. God is calling us to himself. Tears streaming down my face, I held Milton, tighter hoping that my arms would tell him he was dearly loved. Praying my eyes moist with genuine affection would communicate a piece of God’s heart. Waving goodbye from behind the bus windows, my heart was wrenched and rejoiced all at once. Leaving was awful but being dearly loved and loving dearly is truly a treasure I would give my life to pursue.
This album is from our first week of ministry in Targu Mures, Romania.
