In Romania we served at a ministry called Living Hope. We did a variety of things. We served in the homeless ministry, visited Razboeni and Coremi neighborhoods to spend time with the children, and invest in the community. One of the things that I do at the end of every month is processing. In order to do that I make a list of all the things from the month that I learned, added to my life, abandoned, my struggles, memorable moments, and the things I am grateful for. Here are some of the highlights from my month in Romania.
Memorable Moments
TL Appreciation Day- As I have mentioned in previous blogs I served as the team leader for Schondraggey Connection. My amazing teammates honored me during a day they called TL appreciation day. They treated me to breakfast, we hammocked in the park, I got my favorite snacks, and they all made me cards and treated me to dinner. It was hands down one of the best days on the race. I felt so honored, loved, and appreciated. I had the BEST TEAM EVER!!
Sharing my testimony- During the race there are so many opportunities to share your testimony in formal settings like churches, meetings, and other things. Prior to Romania I have only shared my testimony in a public setting once. That was during month 3 in El Salvador. In Romania I had the opportunity to share my testimony during the devotional part of homeless ministry at the church. I was quite intimidated to share my testimony at first. I thought to myself these people have been through so much how could my extremely privileged life by comparison be at all relatable. Despite my feelings of apprehension I shared my story anyway. It ended up being so powerful. So many of the women could relate to the process of my divorce and learning to find my identity in God and not in a man. It was a very powerful experience and it taught me to trust where God has me even if it doesn’t make sense to me in my natural mind.
Additions
Watercolors- One of the things that I picked up in Romania was watercolors. I have been carrying a coloring book for the entire race because I kept telling myself one day I will use this to relax with. Well I was in month 8 and I had only use half of one page. I had a lot of sentimental attachment to the coloring book because one of my best friends gave it to me before I left for the race. (Shout out to Kika Morgan I know you’re reading this blog) But one thing that I have learned on the race is abandonment. If something isn’t bringing value to our life no matter how sentimental you feel about it it has to go. So in order to get the watercolors I had to drop my coloring book. But in the same way that when we drop extra baggage and make room for the things God has for us dropping my coloring book and picking up watercolors has been epic. I discovered a talent for creation that I didn’t even know I had. I have been able to spend so much time resting so well and meditating on God through art.
New understanding of righteousness- One of the things I have been doing on the race is watching an online bible class by Pastor Marcus Tankard. He recently started a series on righteousness. I learned SO MUCH about righteousness and how I had the wrong understanding of it for so many years. The main thing I learned was righteousness is not sanctification. Righteousness is not doing good things and righteousness is NOT striving or working to become more like Christ. Righteousness is justification which is reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 & Romans 5:1)Righteousness is something that you are made into by God at the time of salvation and any other attempt to earn or gain righteousness is self righteousness which God despises (Luke 18:9-14). He made the statement that righteousness is not a verb it is a state of being. MIND BLOWN!
RVT
One of the things that happened in month 8 was PVT. PVT is a parent vision trip. During that week racers have their parents come out on the field and spend a week with them doing ministry and other things. For those who didn’t have parents come our squad mentor made up the acronym RVT. RVT is a racer vision trip. Duirng RVT all of the racers who didn’t have parents come out came to one ministry location and did ministry together even though we were from a mix of different teams.
Madie- One of the best parts of RVT was the fact that our squad mentor came from Georgia (the state in America…not the country) all the way to Romania to spend the week with us. So even if our parents couldn’t or didn’t come we still had someone come out to see us and spend time serving with us. Madie brings this infectious energy with her everywhere she goes. Having her there lifted everyone’s spirits. We were able to have great conversations, watch movies, each French toast, and pour into the community around us. Madie is amazing and I am so grateful that she came out to spend the week with us.
Camp- One of the things we got to do for ministry during the RVT week was to go to camp with the kids from Razboeni. We all piled onto a bus and traveled up into the mountains to a beautiful cabin. We had worship with the kids, we played games, we went on a nature walk, and more. We were only at camp for 2 days but during those day we got to know those kids so much more than we could when we previously visited their neighborhoods. We were able to have meaningful conversations about life and hardships and grow so much closer together.
My word for last month was refresh and that is exactly what last month was. I was able to put up my tent and have some alone time. I was able to have space to myself for my quiet times and to think, reflect, pray, and worship. Romania was our last country in Eastern Europe. Now we are off to Eastern Africa!
