People of God! Goody, Goody and Kaput are just a few of the phrases we heard this month while getting to know Raul our host and his awesome family!
This month our squad was ALL TOGETHER and involved in so many ministries in or near Dragonesti-Olt, Romania. Some of those ministries included street evangelism, passing out Bibles, administration, painting the church, clearing out a plot of land for a building, construction, widow’s ministry, and so much more.
Below are just a few ministries that I was a part of:
Craiova Crew:
Craiova is a city about an hour from where we are staying. They asked for a group of people to stay there every weekend while we are in Romania and so 8 of us volunteered without really knowing what to expect. We call ourselves the Craiova Crew. Our first weekend here started out with street evangelism. Our goal was to invite people to church through building relationships with them and sharing the gospel.
I was with Emmanuel at first and I got to meet two amazing people- Michael and Irena. They were both so sweet and knew God’s love! I got the chance to pray with both of them. Throughout my time spent with each of them, they ended up encouraging me!
With us coming back to Craiova every weekend while we were in Romania- this gave us time to meet some more people and also reconnect with some that we met the previous weekends.
Some other members of our “crew” met Corinna, Diana and Erica! We ended up all becoming friends and they took us to a beautiful park with lots of flowers for a picnic! They packed almost all the food and it was delicious! We got to spend lots of time with them!
Also, while we were in Craiova- we got to participate in the Gypsy ministry. We went there and played some games, sang some songs and Brie led them in a Bible Story!
This is Gabby. We were attached from the moment I got there. She loved to give hugs and kisses!
Trash Clean Up
One afternoon for ministry a group of us went to a nearby village of one of the missionaries and helped them clean up their area. Hunter and I went with Priscilla- our 12-year-old interpreter! She was impressive and full of so much energy! While we were out picking up trash- a man called to us and he kept saying Cola- so I was thinking he wanted us to buy him a drink- BUT he ended up buying us some peach juice! We got to share with him why we are in Romania and talk to him about Jesus and pray with him! He was so excited because he too is a believer.
Children’s ministry in the Park
I got to go with Tavi and Paul and invite kids to the park to play some games and hear a Bible story. While we were inviting people, we met Mariana and got to talk to her about Jesus and what we are doing. We then noticed that she has a large grape vine in her yard. She then brought us out some fresh squeezed grape juice! It was amazing!
After this time with her we went to the park to meet some of the kids we invited and got to play with a parachute and then play a game called Statues- So fun! After that our group acted out the story of Zacchaeus and taught about God’s love and forgiveness.
My Birthday
So being away during times that are special to you- you realize the reasons you really enjoy those celebrations in the first place. Sure, my birthday back home I get gifts, and a party and cake and ice cream. I like those things but really, it’s the people you are with. The people who take the time to make the day extra special. The people who remember what you like and go out of their way to make it happen. That’s what my family does back home and that’s exactly what happened here! I’m not gonna lie, I was a little sad building up to my birthday because I knew all the things I didn’t have but boy oh boy did my team come through! They know I’m not a fan of cake so they actually found an ice cream cake! Then we sat around and just hung out. They asked me 29 questions, actually a little more and we just took time to be together. Then on Friday when we left for Craiova, some of the girls that were with me found a place called the Games District where you can get dessert and rent games! We played Taboo- well we tried lol It was in Romanian, so we had to google translate all the words and that’s honestly what made it all the better! LOL
I’m just so thankful for these people I’m doing life with this year! People I couldn’t see myself without in years to come! People who are so full of God’s love that it does nothing but pour out. The only way we can LOVE THE WORLD and complete these ministries the way God wants us to is to be filled with His love and to see the world through His eyes!
THANKS for reading!
Charla
P.S. We just got to Sofia, Bulgaria. We will be here until Sunday for a Leadership Development Weekend led by our squad leaders and then we will head on to our ministry locations for MONTH 3! I can’t believe it. They said time would go by fast, but I can’t believe this is my last month in Europe!
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