Learning how to communicate with people in other countries is a process. The language barrier is a very real thing. Thankfully, we’ve been blessed by some really great translators that value relationships and conversations.
On September 29th, my team had the opportunity to evangelize with Hope Church’s 9,000 Souls ministry. We had done quite a bit of street evangelism in the past, but this time it was different.
Before we started, we prayed over the ministry and that we would be able to have intentional conversations with people. As we placed tracks in mailboxes, we prayed over each of the houses as well. We were so grateful to find that there were quite a few people sitting outside of their houses. We had the opportunity to ask them about what their faith looked like, what it meant to have a relationship with Jesus, and pray over them.
The majority of the Draganesti-Olt area is very Orthodox and they don’t believe in having a relationship with the Lord. Despite this difference in beliefs, almost everyone that we ran into was very receptive of what we had to say.
We were able to have a really great conversation with 2 ladies that were sitting on the side of the road. Through our translator, we asked them about their faith and what they needed prayer for. One of the ladies, named Maria, stated that she believed in God, but that she didn’t go to church often. When we asked her about her relationship with the Lord, she was very confused. She had never heard before that the Lord wants to know her and speak with her. When she heard what we had to say, she was so excited! She said that she wanted to experience what it was like to have a relationship with the Lord. We were able to pray over her and her friend, who was also named Maria.
We finished up our conversation with Maria and Maria and we proceeded to talk to other people that were outside of their houses. A few minutes after we left them, they came running up to us with one of their friends. They were both beaming and they were so excited to introduce this next lady to us.
We found out that this new lady was also named Maria (what the even heck). All 3 Marias were ecstatic and they asked us to pray over them again. Everyone was so excited and they thanked us over and over again.
Being able to minister to these sweet ladies was a huge blessing and it was hugely uplifting. Seeing their new excitement for the Lord made me even more excited to continue to serve Him.
Below is a picture of the first two Marias that we met!
