I’m finally here! My squad has made it safely to Romania! Because of hurricane Irma, we had some interesting travel changes and are trying to make it through some major jet lag 🙂 This month is all-squad-month so I am with all 34 members! We all live in a house together 10 minutes from the church. It has been just as wonderful as it is crazy!
We are in a city called Draganesti Olt located in southern Romania. This month our ministry host is named Raul. He works for Hope Church here in Draganesti. Raul is extremely friendly and has been very accommodating to our squad as we try to get into the swing of things. For our first day, Raul took us to a village 45 minutes outside Draganesti to hand out eyeglasses. We had stations that included welcoming, counseling/prayer, and free Bibles and literature. It was so beautiful to watch my team come together and do their job to the best of their ability despite the very confusing Romanian language. We were also able to meet and talk with the full time missionaries here. They are wonderful couples who have big hearts and visions for the people in the villages. This part of Romania is very poor and not very educated. Demographics show that there are only .02% Christians here, and its’s known as the missionary’s graveyard. Yet, this doesn’t stop the believers here from relying on God and trusting that he will be faithful. Please pray for these families’ faith and strength. Pray that the Lord will surround them with community and supporters who will invest in them and fight for them.
For my squad, pray that the language barrier won’t hinder the gospel. We know that God is bigger but not being able to communicate efficiently can get discouraging.
Romania is a beautiful country full of incredibly lost people. My prayer is that these people’s hearts will be softened and that their burdens and hardships take them to the cross. This place is very spiritually dark, yet hope is prevalent in the lives and hearts of the believers here. It’s inspiring, and I’m excited to see what the rest of my ministry will look like.
Thank you for all the prayers! God has been so so good.
