*My first blog from Romania! it explains what the first bit of my time with the World Race has looked like and what we’ve been doing so far.*
On Tuesday night, I arrived in Romania with my squad. We had some unforeseen events happen during our travel day which made it take a bit longer than expected (be on the lookout for an explanation blog). When we got to our house, we pretty much went straight to bed because of how tired we were after a 24-hour+ travel day.
The next day we walked to our ministry meeting point for the first time which was an exciting time getting to meet our ministry hosts and get to know each other. My squad had ministry orientation the whole day, which sounds boring, but was actually a lot of fun because our hosts & ministry partners are great! Their sense of humor keeps me laughing each and every day!
Thursday was started off by morning devotions before we walked to our meeting point. Our first ministry experience took place that evening as we went broke into smaller groups, some staying with our host and the others going out into Roma villages with ministry partners. I was apart of the group that went into Roma villages and I was blessed by it. The people in these villages have little, but they are filled with such joy. Ministry in the village has been such a beautiful reminder that joy is found in the Lord, not in material things.
Friday was the hardest day of the week for me and a few people from my squad. My group was doing evangelism in the park for ministry. If you know me, then you know that I am not one to spark conversation with people on the street. The hours of ministry that day were kind of frustrating and made me nervous for the next three months because evangelism will be my main ministry. However, after talking with my friend, Sumer, I have a bit of a plan for how I’m going to do evangelism and meet people before inviting them to our Sunday gathering. I’m excited to hop back into ministry on Thursday and take it on in a new way.
Saturday I had the opportunity to go back out into the Roma villages which made me excited. The one thing these people carry with them always is overflowing joy. The laughter of the kids fills the air as we spin them round and round or play a game of duck, duck, goose.
On Sunday, my squad went to the worship & listen to a message at the church our host has planted and we are continuing to build up. It was interesting to participate in a different countries church service & see the similarities and differences between a common USA church service. Afterwards we went back home to get ready for Greece, our first adventure day.
Adventure days are where we can go out and explore the town we are in or other nearby places. These are completely paid for by personal money and not apart of the fundraising budget. Our host, Raul, said we could combine our first adventure day with some future ones to be able to go on the trip to Greece. After church we left and started the 12-hour road trip to Greece. It was tiring, but we made it safely and were able to see Bulgaria on the way through. Yesterday was our first full day & Sumer and I spent it exploring one of the fingers of Greece with our host and a group of about 12. Today is our last full day here, so Sumer & I plan on exploring the town we are staying in. Tomorrow we will make the drive back to Craiova to jump back into our routine. When we get back, our squad mentor will be there! She will be with the squad for the next month.
Since I don’t have WiFi often, I plan to write blogs at night and upload them on off days when I am able to go get WiFi. This is also when I will be responding to messages and emails from you guys! I plan to be active on Instagram, Facebook, and Facebook Messenger when I have the chance. Be on the lookout for fundraisers that will help cover the rest of the $6,600 that I need to be fully funded by January. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to update you soon!
