Welcome to all squad month #2! So for the month of February, my team has been living with the rest of the entire squad. All 41 of us under one roof, eating at one table, cooking in one kitchen. It feels cramped. It feels overwhelming. And I’m going to miss it so much when everyone moves and leaves and next month begins.
My squad’s first all-squad was month 2, in Ongole, India. And India was a blast. Ministry was overwhelming, living conditions were simple, and the heat was unbareable. But I loved it. People came together in amazing ways and got to experience India up close and 1 on 1. And I felt like February was a repeat offender.
Right now I’m typing this up in a hostel in Brasov, Romania. We just started day 1 of debrief and I’m excited for the next 4 days here before we move forward to Moldova. This month, our squad was working with Hope Church, a good sized ministry in Draganesti, a small Romanian town with not a lot to do but lots and lots of ministry opportunities. We had teams work with missionaries in house visits, widow ministry, evangelism, after school children’s programs, and so much more. I was in the office, helping Hope Church finalize and publish their website. HopeRomania.org. Check it out! So while I didn’t feel very satisfied at the end of every work day (it felt almost exactly like my old job) I knew that Hope Church and RESO ministries was getting a lot of much needed help from my squad.
In Romania, the traditional church greeting is “Pache”, which means ‘peace’. We say it whenever entering church, while greeting those during the service, and even way you say goodbye to leave. In the average church day, you receive quite the number of peace blessings! Which got me thinking.
Sometimes on the race, peace is hard to come by. Because there’s a difference between “going with the flow” or “taking it easy” and “having peace”. Going with the flow is what you do on a daily basis. Team stuff going down? Just go with flow and take it easy. Waiting for hours on travel days? Just go with the flow. Living with 40+ people in a small European house? Just go along to get along. But peace. Peace is God given. Peace is trusting that whatever The Lord wants to bring out of a situation, he’ll bring it. Peace is knowing that whatever issue you or the team or the squad is facing, taking it to The Lord is the first priority, and after that there’s no point in worrying. He’s got it. Peace is being completely sure that everything will work out. Peace is giving grace, over and over and over and over again. Peace is like “go with the flow” on Jesus-steroids. And sometimes, peace is hard to come by.
But Romania is slowly teaching me that peace is hard to come by, but The Lord will give it. It’s something you ask for everyday, and then you start practicing. Living with people and working with a ministry that isn’t fulfilling all while it’s 30 degrees outside sometimes makes it hard to be at peace. Not to mention the whole “unknown future + three months left + possible team changes” and who knows what else. But The Lord will provide. Slowly but surely. And I think I can say I’m at some sort of peace with everything right now. I can’t control the future. The Lord has my team in the palm of his hand. There’s a reason for everything. Thanks, God.
