Month after month, there are certain aspects of The World Race one can count on to inevitably stay the same. At some point during any given month, there will most definitely come a time when you are unprepared for the ministry you are asked to do. Undoubtedly, there will be more than one moment when time seems to stand still and you find yourself awestricken by your current circumstances, asking anyone within ear’s reach, “Is this my life?” In true Race fashion, each month will bring about its share of uncomfortable and challenging, whether that is in the physical or spiritual sense, or both. And without fail, from month to month you will identify incredibly pointed lessons that the Lord is teaching you – I can sincerely label every month with a different one. For sure, some things are constant. It doesn’t necessarily matter what country you’re in, what team you’re working with, if you’re using squatty-potties and sleeping on the floor, if you’re in the lap of luxury, if you get your picture holding an adorable child, what your ministry focus is or how much is in the budget. God shows up in all circumstances. The one aspect I have found that can and always does make an huge difference – your ministry host.
In ten months, I often think I’ve hit the mother load on the variation of missionaries I’ve had the opportunity to work with. Some have been high-speed-only and literally kept my team hopping with one honk of their horn, while others have been relatively absent and left us to figure out our own plan for ministry. All of them pray, but some could medal in it if it were an Olympic event, whereas others –like me – are more “do now, pray later.” A few of them have invited us into their homes and their families, basically temporarily adopting a gaggle of new children for a few weeks, when sometimes it’s operated more like a business relationship. Either way, we all work for the same guy. With the plethora of spiritual partners my two teams have known, I honestly had no idea what to expect coming into Moldova.
Our contact, Pastor Tudor, standing before his congregation.
All I knew was his name was Fiodor. In distinct Ashlee-fashion, I did my best with “sounding it out” and rolled on, confidently working through a few choppy phone conversations – his English and my Russian make communication interesting – before he picked us up at the bus station in Ungheni. Cliché as it sounds, I knew within about 30 seconds of shaking his hand that Just Love is in for an incredible month. Tudor (his preferred Moldovian version of the Russian name Fiodor) offered a boyish grin and put extra effort into his English conversation as he managed to jam seven still-hefty (but getting lighter!) packs into his van and drove us a few kilometers to the nearby church he pastors. Within an hour, we found ourselves sitting down to coffee.
We had dinner with Tudor and his wife, Violetta, and Alex and his wife, Veronica, on our first night in Ungheni. Our Kingdom family grows!
Tudor has never hosted a World Race team, so we set in explaining all about our program, our visions and our hopes for the time will we spend working with his church this month. Then, via the church’s youth pastor and our amazing translator, Alex, Tudor dropped a bomb.
“There is a pregnant man in Ungheni,” he spoke, matter-of-factly.
While I am consistently trying to perfect my ability to not bear my emotions via facial expression, Karen readily assured me that in that moment, I failed miserably. If my face read a transcript of my mind, it definitely screamed, “How quickly can I get my team out of here?! This guy is nuts!”
Luckily, Tudor and Alex clearly got their desired response from me, and quickly they began to explain. Tudor assured me, “I am the man. I am pregnant with a vision for what God wants to do here.”
Man of God
I wiped the sweat from my brow and leaned in to listen closer. This is the good stuff! Tudor believes in partnership of all the local churches in Ungheni for the common goal of reaching people for Christ. He seeks to accomplish this through a vast array of means – house and hospital visits, Praise and Worship sessions specifically for cancer patients, cleaning community parks, pointed evangelism in the local shopping center, etc. He is so on fire for spreading the Gospel, but more so, he simply wants to demonstrate the love of Christ via any means possible. And in less than 24 hours of being tied to this ministry, I already feel like I know God’s love in a completely new way. There is something so special about someone who is willing to literally do anything within his means to reach people for the Kingdom.
“Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.” -Proverbs 3:27
Lord, bring on a month full of opportunities to serve you. Challenge me. Grow me. Push the boundaries of my mind and my faith, even if you have to use a pregnant man to do so!
Tudor invited me to speak to his congregation this morning. Alex was a phenomenal translator as I talked about how we should all be Passionate about serving God.
Be Blessed,
Ashlee
