This month we were in Rassvet, Moldova doing children's ministry with the little kiddos there. Although I don't feel like this month was the best that it possibly could be in many ways- I've been learning from God about how to focus on the life in a place and not the death. I could make lists and lists of things that went wrong here and how we weren't used to our fullest potential. God had a different idea, though. He brought life into the situation even though I didn't see it at the time.
See, we didn't have the awesome stories that other teams have had this month. We didn't see anyone saved. We didn't spend our off days doing something crazy like bungee jumping. We didn't even have great food. But what we did have was a lot of time. At first the huge amount of down time that we had each day was overwhelming, but towards the end of the month God really showed me what he was wanting to happen all along. Our team grew in ways with that down time that I don't think we would have if we were busy all hours of the day. We started to get to know each other in different ways and finding out what living in community is all about. I know that doesn't sound like much- but to a guy who has been shoved into a house with one other guy and 5 girls, its huge. God has really been showing me how to love people, especially Christians, where they are right now here today. It's been a strange month, but I know that our team has come out of it stronger and more on fire to do ministry and life in Ireland. (I sure hope that Ireland is going to be amazing. At least its going to be better than Moldova haha it has to be!)
Ok, so here is as much of the plan for the next month as I know—
We are leaving Moldova today at 8pm on a sleeper train to Keiv, Ukraine. We will be having a debrief in Ukraine until the 4th of September when we will be flying to Ireland! Our time in Ukraine will be for encouragement, worship, prayer, and just taking a break together. Our ministry in Ireland will take place in a city named Coleraine. Coleraine is in Northern Ireland which is not the same country as Ireland.. well they use the British Pound instead of the Euro at least. We don't know how we will specifically used in Ireland for ministry just yet, but when I find out I'll be sure to update y'all!
Thank you all for praying for me so much on this trip. I can't explain how encouraging the emails have been! It's amazing for me to know that God has put all of y'all in my life to encourage me in specific ways. I'm currently at $8,487.99 on my fund raising! Thank you everyone who has been giving and praying through that with me! I have the whole month of September to raise another $1,500 to get to the $11,000 deadline for October 1st! If you want to give to me financially you can just click on the link on the left side of the page! And if you want to give to me emotionally or have anything that you want to encourage me with- Send me an email at [email protected]!!!
Thanks for reading, gotta pack up my backpack right now… anyone want to do that for me?
