“You will be evangelizing all over the streets of Draganesti this month,” this is what Raul (our contact) said to us the first day we got to Draganesti-Olt. All I could think was – “What does that look like?” All I could feel was a mixture of fear and excitement at the thought of “peopling” 24/7.
An introverts worst nightmare, haha.
Anyways, Raul explained what our days would look like and what their vision was for us this month via a scheduled orientation at the church. This is the first month I’ve had that has an actual schedule to it! It’s a little weird to have, since the past 3 months haven’t had much of a schedule, but I welcomed it without hesitation!
So here’s a rundown of what a day in Romania looks like for me:
I usually wake-up around 7:45 AM, make breakfast and do some quiet-time before our ministry starts.
At 9:45 we leave the mission house (where we are living) in order to arrive at Hope church by 10:00. We walk everywhere…it’s one of the most popular forms of transportation here.
From 10:00 – 10:30, I lead worship with another squadmate, Darren, for our teams. (My team is living with another team from our squad this month. So far it’s been awesome!)
At 10:30ish, we begin our time of prayer for local, regional, and international issues connected to the church and Romania. This lasts ’til noon.
We then walk back to the mission house for a quick lunch and then return to the church by 1:30.
From 1:30-5:00 we walk the streets of Draganesti to evangelize! We hand out books about Jesus and talk with basically everyone we run into about God. We have 6 translators that help us communicate…otherwise it would be a ridiculous game of charades. Our translators are one of the hugest blessings we have! They range from 16 years old to mid-50’s.
Two of my teammates, Lara and Rachael, teach English to our translators in the mornings from 9:00 – 10:30. They are doing an awesome job so far and the translators love them!
My team is spread out for the afternoons. Jeannetta and Kristin work with Ana (Raul’s wife) every afternoon. Their focus is geared towards women’s ministry: street evangelism, house visits, women’s bible study, teaching Ana’s youngest son math and English, and doing some website development for Ana’s women’s group.
Emily, Lara, Rachael and I work with Alex, Saurin, Sammy, George, and Dennis (our translators) each afternoon. We walk the streets with them, sharing the Gospel with the people and inviting them to Hope Church as well as bible study groups.
The first day we went out on the streets I was so nervous because this was literally the first time I’d ever done it. I had no idea what to expect! It ended up being incredibly fun though! The people are generally very friendly and curious about us…it’s definitely an easy conversation starter. It never fails – they always ask us where we are from and why we are here, haha. Then they ask us if we are married. They don’t usually like our answer though. At my age, it’s very common to be married and possibly have kids already. Then they attempt to set us up with one of their sons and it’s as awkward as ever. But this is the kind of conversation that helps lead us into talking about Christ’s love for all of us…it’s a perfect segue. Only God does cool stuff like that!
Our days usually come to an end around 6:00 and dinner follows soon thereafter. The rest of the evening involves catching up with each other, talking about how our days were, doing team feedback, and possibly a movie together. Then we do some partner yoga! If you don’t know what partner yoga is, just look it up on YouTube and you’ll understand how hilarious and fun it is!!! So far we aren’t very good at it, but we’re getting there, rofl. There have been many pauses for laughter and tons of crashes to the floor from it. (Don’t worry, we have padding for safety;)). Who says working out can’t be fun?!
This is our schedule from Tuesday to Friday each week. Saturday and Sunday, my team travels to another village to do ministry for the weekend. Mondays are our day off.
So far this month has been incredible! I love our contact family, the translators and ministry focus for this month! Praise God for a good ending to our time in Europe. This ministry keeps us busy and on our toes, but it’s SO good. I feel so blessed to be here this month. God is totally using us to help further His Kingdom here. The streets are His oyster…He is constantly refining his people into beautiful pearls here. My team gets to be apart of that work!
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” – Matthew 13:45-46
This is what I feel the city of Draganesti is like. The people are hungry and searching for something of eternal value. God is doing some big things in the hearts of his lost children. They are hungry for more than the world can give them.
