If I could sum up our first week in Europe in a few words they would be: reverse culture shock.
After living in some of the poorest places in Asia and Africa for the past six months, entering Romania was like stepping into an alternate universe.
The quaint beauty of Brasov seems meant to grace post cards. The historic stone buildings, ancient cathedrals and tulip gardens look like so many pages of a calendar.
This is where we spent our month eight debrief together as a squad. It was refreshing, restoring and humbling to meet together and hear what God has been doing in everyone’s lives these past few months. Since debreif, my team has been able to spend an extra five days here before heading to our ultimate destination in Draganesti Olt.
During this time, ministry is whatever we make of it. We meet together each morning to pray into the day, then hit the streets and see where the Lord leads.
While Romania is like a breath of fresh air in many respects, there is a lot of prejudice within the hearts of the people toward the homeless, child beggars and Gypsy community as a whole. It is a deep seeded hatred that is at times hard to swallow.
Our first day out, Amber and I noticed a man sitting near the fountain in the town square. He was sitting alone on a bench with a huge smile on his face playing the air piano to some nearby music.
We both noticed him immediately and our hearts melted. Taking a seat beside him, we began playing along – Amber the drums and I the guitar. He beamed at us, speaking rapidly in Roma, and we nodded in agreement to whatever he was trying to tell us.
Once he realized we spoke only English, he tried his best to throw in words we could understand whenever possible. We deciphered that his name is George, that he was named so after his father, George Bush, he is an expert in karate and magic tricks and is somewhat of a musical savant. After spending some time getting acquainted, Amber asked if he would like to join us for lunch. He emphatically agreed.
The walk from that fountain to the nearby McDonalds was one of the longest walks of my life. Not because George has a limp that slows him down, but because of the looks of disgust and hatred we received from the local people for befriending this man. The police stopped George twice on that short walk to berate him for following us and we had to literally put our bodies between him and the officers to make them understand that we had invited him to lunch and he wasn’t bothering us. Even the workers in the McDonalds appeared close to asking us to leave when we sat down with our new friend.
As we held hands and thanked God for our food, George bowed his head and asked us to pray for his mind. He said that he has no family and is very poor because his mind keeps him from being able to work. We prayed earnestly for George in the middle of that crowded McDonalds and have done so every day since.
George is not a drug addict. He is not a drunk. He carries around a bottle of soap and tooth brush as his only possessions to keep himself presentable. He is simply a man whom society has deemed unloveable – a lost cause.
Amber and I have spent every day with George since we met him and they have been some of the most enjoyable days I’ve had on the Race. I’ve stopped noticing the looks and whispers and no longer care if someone thinks less of me for being with him. Before we part each day, we make sure that the last thing we tell George is that he is loved.
I know that God is trying to teach me something through this relationship – probably trying to teach me a lot of things – but I think it’s going to take me some time to process before I understand fully.
Maybe it will serve as a reminder to always extend love – especially to those who might seem unloveable. Maybe it’s the fact that, to the world, I should seem as crazy as George. Maybe it’s simply to open my eyes to the hurt and need that is always around me. Perhaps it’s all of these things.
But for now I’m going to show the kindness and acceptance of the Father to this lost and weary son and hope that, when we are no longer here, he’ll continue to carry that truth with him in his heart.
