This month has been beautiful.
There have been a few key times since I’ve started the Race that my soul has felt exhilarated and in tune with who the Lord created me to be. Each of these times have been associated with time that I’ve spent with the elderly, surrounded by nature, with animals, and in relational evangelism…I love telling people about Jesus! And just getting to love on people – that’s my jam. Time spent in nature – that’s how I soak in God’s Love like a sponge. And forming relationships that just keep growing with each new country – such a gift!
Our second half of ministry this month has been taking place in Draganesti-Olt, Romania with Hope Church, run by pastor, missionary and ministry director Raul Costea. Ministry here has come in every form, shape and size you can think of, which I have LOVED – I’m the kinda girl that wants to try at least 1 of every kind of everything on the table – and this ministry table is FULL of tasty options! 🙂 It’s not always been easy and there have certainly been times of spiritual warfare and various types of oppression surrounding this month which we can’t ignore or avoid as a squad, whose very purpose is to carry the name and love of Jesus everywhere we go.
Some of the types of ministry we’ve been able to assist in this month are: meeting the practical needs of widows, relational evangelism, children’s ministry, trash cleanup throughout the area, eye glass ministry, manual labor, spending time with the elderly and with local missionaries, hosting a concert in a surrounding city to spread the Gospel, and even picking corn! 😀
Draganesti-Olt, Romania has certainly been a perfect answer to my prayers, “God, give me old people to minister to and to love on! Give me farms and animals and nature!”…
Meet sweet Sora (sister) Vica
…who just so happens to live in my backyard in a home called the Social House, one of the many ministries here run by Hope Church. Sora is a widow, who’s 3 children are no longer in the picture or of any help to her. She’s in a lot of chronic pain from peripheral neuropathy and arthritis, and she loves to hear the Bible read to her and to pray. I get the privilege of visiting her almost daily. Sometimes I take my guitar and play for her (though I think she likes the music from my phone more haha), sometimes I try to make her feel better by massaging her back, feet and hands, other times I just sit with her. The time I’ve gotten to spend with her has been such an incredible gift to me – I hope it’s been the same for her!
Evangelistic Ministry
My last 2 incredible answers to prayer came from an evangelistic ministry I got to partake in a few days back in a small village called Beciu (pronounced “betchu”). What they call “street evangelism” really just means going out and building relationships with people in the community, while sharing the love of Jesus with them through the Gospel. It’s more relational in nature than what I have typically experienced in America when I’ve gone out to share the Gospel there.
We spent at least 2 hours that day visiting with only 2 families. The first was with a precious elderly woman that I got to pour my heart out to.
I shared a small part of my story about how the Lord faithfully met me in a hard season of my life and revealed Himself to me as Healer and Restorer of the broken. It was such a sweet exchange and brought even more healing to my heart to share my story, through which I was able to introduce her to the God of healing. I could tell that she felt loved and pursued in getting to take it in and love me back in a way that can only come from the heart of a grandma. Our translator, Florin, is clearly so very passionate about the Gospel and has an incredible heart for people. By the end of our time talking with her, Florin shared that the woman believed in God, but she did not think she was able to be saved from her sins. She did not proclaim faith in Jesus that day, but I know that our time spent with her was not in vain, and I’m so grateful to have had that time with her.
The second family we got to minister to that day included one woman who already believed and had a Bible at home but had stopped reading it.
She said she was carrying a lot of shame and guilt because she thought it was a “big sin” if you start reading the Bible and don’t finish. We did our best to encourage her that God is still pursuing her and wants a relationship with her, not to condemn her but to show her His love. As we were talking to the first wave of family at that household, another few members arrived in a horse-drawn wagon filled with freshly picked grapes. They let us help them unload and gave us a tour of their farm – I felt so loved!!
Toward the end of our time there, one of the men in the family said that he would be interested in coming to church the next evening – and he did! On Sunday nights, Hope Church does something awesome in hosting table discussions for anyone to come and ask raw questions about the Bible and Christianity. Thankfully we had an interpreter, but nearly the entire time, we (as Racers) were given the floor to begin answering the questions that were asked, and the interpreter helped along the way as we needed. It definitely stirred up my faith and was such an atmosphere of freedom and no condemnation for anyone to come and bring their thoughts to the table. It’s evident that God is hard at work here and that souls are being won for Him in this area.
Local Missionaries
Finally, the time we’ve gotten to spend with local missionaries/families while we’ve been here has been such an incredible encouragement to our hearts. It’s clear that the Lord has called each one of them to labor in His harvest fields in this place. Something I’ve been super impressed by is the strong level of commitment and patient endurance that each of these faithful workers has for the Kingdom in how they carefully seek the Lord for His direction and will, how they give everything they have to follow in obedience, and how patiently they wait for Him to bring the results. The day I got to participate in street evangelism was the day I was introduced to Marian and his sweet family, the Stoica’s, shown below…
…2 of their children are not pictured here, and Sora Vica (mentioned above) was just visiting for the day when this pic was taken. Another ‘member’ of their family for this year is Larissa, a lovely German tutor who came from Germany to help the family’s oldest son learn her language. Time spent with her has been so life-giving!
Why would the Stoica’s want their son to learn German, you may ask? Andrea, Marian’s wife, is from Germany! She met her husband, Marian (who is from Dragonesti), when she answered the Lord’s call to come serve in Romania. When Andrea needed a Romanian tutor to learn the language, Raul (our ministry host) put the two of them together. After many months of prayer, they began their family here 🙂
If Romania crosses your mind, please pray for the Stoica’s and the other missionary families here, who need encouragement and for Lord to sustain them in their service to Him. They shine so brightly for Jesus – pray that nothing hinders His bright Presence and ministry through them.
Also, consider asking the Lord if Romania is a place He may be calling you to spread the Good News of His love. Hope Church hosts short-term and long-term missionaries and is always looking for people to partner with their rapidly growing ministry.
You can check out more about this ministry here: https://www.piei.org/romania/
Dumnezeu sa te binecuvanteze!
(“God bless you” in Romanian)
