Literally. I climbed to the top of a mountain and had one of the best experiences of my life.
Month 2. It’s crazy to think that this thing is actually happening. There is no longer waiting for it to happen, the first month is over and I only have 9 and 1/2 more to go. But something that often comes with month 2 is unique to all of the other months. Month 2 is all squad month for us. All 44 members of X Squad live under the same roof in Romania. For the introverts this is a stretch, for the extroverts this is amazing.
The morning after arriving I ended up looking out over the Romanian hills and landscapes out one of the many windows. Without saying much one of my best friends on the squad, Isaiah, came and joined me. Almost instantaneously we saw a peak off in the distance. Without much conversing we knew that we would end up hiking that at some point throughout this month.
A couple days later we got the chance to finally experience it. We let others in on the idea, and there was a group that wanted to join. We took a cab to the base of the mountain and we were dropped off in the middle of a rough dirt road. We had little idea of how to actually get there, but we kept on going anyways.
As we followed the dirt road all the way up the mountain spirits were high, smiles were on our faces, and good conversations were to be had. This continued all throughout the day, and I honestly couldn’t contain my excitement. I squealed and jumped up and down just as a kid does on Christmas morning. I knew that this view would be worth it, but in my spirit I felt something more. I felt this would be a mountain top experience for more reason than one.
Once we reached this point we only had the final descent to go. At a 75 degree incline with all loose dirt we finally reached the top almost 20 minutes later. We turned around and beauty overtook our eyes. We could see cities and villages scattered all over the Romanian landscape and all I wanted to do was worship. So thats what we did.
God used that moment. He brought me to the top of the mountain to show how much he loves the people of Romania, how much he loves us, and how all creation shouts His name. He placed us there to pray for the people. With much control and oppression from the orthodox church, Jesus has little to no actual place in people’s hearts here.
The Holy Spirit met us here. The Holy Spirit broke my heart for the hearts of the Romanian people. The Holy Spirit used this “adventure day” of mine to speak life and truth over this beautiful country. He changed my heart.
I believe God will do big things in this country, and this day confirmed that belief for me.
As it was time to go, questioning came about. We just climbed up a 75 degree incline that was all loose dirt… How the heck would we get down that without breaking our butt bones? God definitely used his sense of humor with us as we slid down the mountain. One foot out front, one foot underneath our butts and we just went for it. Dust storm behind us, dirt in our chacos, and smiles on our faces we finally got to a point of being able to walk controllably again.
This day was more than I could have asked for. If you know much about me two of my favorite things are hiking and spending time with people, and today was a perfect in both of those senses.
Join with me in praying for Romania. These people are so hungry for the gospel and we are seeing so much fruit here!
Thank you for all support given so far! I feel all of the prayers being sent my way and I could not be more thankful for them! Financially, I am seriously so stinking close to being fully funded. Help keep me on this epic journey around the world, telling people about Jesus and creating memories that will last a lifetime! Only $1,135 left to go!
Thank you!
