On our last day of ministry here in Bulgaria, we got to visit a few Gypsy villages. I’ve had a special place in my heart for the Roma/Gypsy people since I was about 13 and first heard from others who did ministry with them. They are truly outcasts in European society. It broke my heart to see how misunderstood and mistreated they were at 13, and ten years later, my heart broke even more today as I got to visit them.
I woke up this morning in a sour mood. I was grumpy with my team, and I was not looking forward to a long van ride. I couldn’t see it at the time, but the enemy was trying to stop God’s work before it even started, and that continued as I had some disturbing dreams while I sleeping on the van ride. I woke up about two minutes before we pulled up to the first village. Fields of trash, horses, and dogs painted the landscape around a cluster of small 10×10 ft. shacks. “Welcome to the world,” I thought.
Pastor Roumen led us to the church they had built recently, and we walked inside, followed shortly by a few families with young kids. We prayed over the families, played worship songs, and gave more hugs. It was moving to see people with so few possessions be so faithful and joyful.
The kids were eager to give us hugs with pure joy on their faces. (I promise she was smiling the rest of the time.)
We laughed and made up lots of handshakes.
My favorite part was crawling around on all fours and howling like dogs. (Animal noises make up for a language barrier very nicely.)
The next village was slightly different. The shacks were smaller and more run down, there was no grass, and no smiles. “God please be with us. Please show up.” Pastor Roumen told us about the building they had purchased, just four brick walls with holes, no windows, and just enough roof to keep the rain and snow out (mostly). He told of his plans to turn it into a church and kitchen because the people here have no food, and no means to cook if they had any.
He told us this would be the first service ever held in the church, and I was excited and prayerful.
This tiny structure quickly filled up as we prayed, worshiped, and listened to the pastors speak. The church isn’t a building, the church is God’s people gathering and asking Him to join them. God certainly joined us.
As soon as we stepped outside, I joined a boy in a cool hat on top of a gravel pile.
A bit later he introduced me to his friends.
Without any words to communicate, we used smiles…
200 variations of the high five…
and handstand contests.
I was in my element, just being a child of my Father. I stepped back for a second and noticed an older woman standing to my left. She looked as if she would never smile again in her life. “Dobor dan,” I greeted her with a smile. It was as if I noticed an invisible woman. She approached me and pressed her hands together in a motion of prayer and looked at me pleadingly.
I was joined by my teammate Liz and I prayed hard for this woman. Afterwards, she smiled and the kids pulled me back over to them.
More kids gathered, more high five games and hand stands.
A few more kids came to me with their hands in the same symbol of prayer. I prayed hard again. At this point, I hadn’t noticed, but the rest of the world racers had gotten back on the van because it was time to leave for Sofia. I just kept being a child among the children.
The woman from earlier came walking back up to me arm in arm with a man with disabilities. She asked again for prayer, and pointed to the man’s eyes and said “No.” I placed my hands over his eyes and prayed for healing in Jesus’ name. I asked God to open this man’s eyes and heart. I asked that he be a sign and witness to this village of God’s power, love, and healing grace. As I prayed my heart out, it felt like something shook through this man’s body and he gasped.
I said amen and turned around to the kids tugging at me again. More hugs, more high fives, and more laughter as my team called me back to the van. I high fived a mob of kids and their fathers saying, “ciao, ciao, ciao!” I got on the van, and smiled to my new friends as we pulled away. Behind the group, I looked at the blind man and our eyes met. It seemed that the glassy, white glaze was gone from them as we headed down the road out of the village.
I love how God keeps working this way on my race and in my life. I may never know if that man could see now. I may never know if the woman or children’s hearts are changed as they continue to live in this village. Once again, I will not see the fruit of trusting in God. Once again, I am asked to be faithful. God brought these people to me, and I said “yes.”
I don’t need to see the future fruit of what God did today. I don’t need confirmation that He brought healing and joy and love to these people. I don’t need this because I already know He did it. God asks me to walk by faith and not by sight.
I know that God heals the blind. I know that God changes hearts and lives. I know that God restores hope to the hopeless. I know that I walked in faith today, and God showed up in that village. The presence of Holy Spirit flooded that place, and I know He is going to change it.
Please pray with me for my new friends, these villages, and the Gypsy people. They have a dire need for God’s love and ours. The hope of faith in Christ is all that they have to hold on to. It’s all that WE have to hold on to.
Have faith.
God will take care of the rest.
