Today ministry looked a little different for me than my other average days in the office (which I absolutely love working in the office but I also love new experiences as well!). Today I traveled to Bulgaria to go Evangelize in a small Romanian village. To start up conversation we had small flyers about Christianity to pass out and leave in mailboxes. The village seemed pretty quiet and it was very chilly outside so a small part of me wasn’t too motivated but boy did God have a different plan for the day!
We split into two groups and started walking through the village. My group went house to house stuffing mailboxes and every so often talking with the people who lived there. We probably talked to four to six different people while walking around which isn’t a large amount of people, but every single time we talked to someone, they left with a smile on their faces. We never went in too deep with sharing the Gospel but just the small conversations we had of being interested in their lives and smiling left them with the love of Jesus.
You see evangelism isn’t all about bringing people to salvation in one conversation. Yes sometime it happens like that and Praise God for those times, but lots of the time it doesn’t go that way. Most of the time it happens over many small and big conversations with multiple different people. The first person plants a seed about the Gospel and then every other encounter keeps watering the seed. It keeps growing and growing until finally it clicks just right! And most importantly it clicks just right when God says it’s the right time not when you want it to happen. This is the case with most things, not just evangelism, which I’m learning more and more about.
While walking, I started to notice myself smiling for no specific reason as well. And as I think back to it, I believe it was because all of my surroundings. I was with one of my favorite Romanians that I’ve met translating for us. I got to spend time with two of my squad mates that I haven’t got to do ministry with before which was fun. The air was brisk but God was keeping me warm. There were beautiful houses and nature to admire the whole time. And one of my favorites, there were dogs everywhere! Some looked like big, scary guard dogs. Others were small and just wanted to play. Jesus was really blessing me with my surroundings the whole time which I am oh so thankful for.
After a few short hours, we met back up with our other half and were in search of an elderly man named Valentin. A month or so ago a different group of racers from my squad went to Bulgaria and met this man. He spoke Bulgarian, English, and Romanian so it was perfect! We found out he actually lives in the village we were walking around today, and we wanted to meet him as well. He wasn’t at his home so we went to check in the small square and found him there! He was so joyful and kind from the very second we met him.
After talking a little bit, he offered to treat us to a drink and lunch. The only option for food at the small restaurant was toasted cheese and meat bread. I told Valentin I was okay and didn’t need one since I can’t eat dairy, but he insisted on getting me something to eat. First he asked for it to be made without cheese but when they said that wasn’t possible, he asked me if I liked meat. I answered yes. Then he left the room. A short time later, he came back with a meat sandwich just for me! It was so heart warming that he went out of his way to bless me with a meal. While eating we chatted away and enjoyed each other’s company.
After lunch, we went outside and met one of Valentin’s friends who’s son and grandson were visiting from the States at the time. Yet again, these people were joyful and happy to talk to us for a little bit. After chatting for a little bit, we then went with Valentin to pick some walnuts for Ana, our host, in his garden. While picking walnuts, Valentin shared more about his family and his children in the States. Before leaving, we were able to pray for him and send a video to his daughters telling them about us and how thankful we were for their father today.
Our goal for today was to make it to two villages and pass out our flyer, but we didn’t and that’s okay. You know why that’s okay? Because we let our initial plan be interruptible by God’s plan. We stayed in the one village and continued to build a relationship with Valentin. We stayed and continued to water the seeds already planted in this village. Now we may not have seen the direct fruits of these seeds today, but I know God will send more people to water these seeds until all the sudden it clicks and blossoms. I thank God for all the ways He worked today, both the big and small ways.
P.S. Enjoy some pictures from today 🙂
Pictures of the beautiful views
Valentin is in the middle of all of us in this picture
Valentin’s friends and a cute puppy attacking me with a kiss in the middle of it all!
A series of events which led to a happy Paige!
Lots of Love!
Paige :):):)
