Not everyday is going to be a day full of sunshine, flowers, and incredible mems. But my favorite day on the race had all three.
End of our first full week we combined some of our adventure days to take a big adventure. Some of the squad went to Greece, and the rest of us went to Brasov to see Dracula’s castle. Now, I’ve already been to the castle so I wasn’t dead set on going, but I wanted to see the town and just hang out there while my squad mates went to the castle.
The night before we left for Brasov, one of my coaches, Kris, sent a message to a couple of missionaries that run an organization called Firm Foundations Romania (FFR). They invited me (my whole team really. But they were already committed to the castle) to come do a day of ministry with them and see what they do. I was thrilled!
My team headed off to the castle and I headed across town to serve with FFR. As I walked through this adorable town I inadvertently envisioned myself making this walk to work every morning, meeting friends on the weekends to hang out, shopping at the grocery stores I was passing, and just living life here in this adorable little Romanian town.
I arrived at the hospital to meet the FFR ladies and immediately knew these were ladies after my own heart. Not afraid to speak their mind, kind and loving to all the interact with, embracing change, fighting for justice, and chasing after God with everything in them. My kind of people!
That morning they took me out to the Roma village they work in. FFR has an after school program and village outreach that they organize. This allows them to not just be outsiders looking in at the village, but truly people that are part of the village and can empathize with what is happening in the lives of the people. They know names, they are circumstances, and they are fighting the root causes of poverty and pain rather than attacking the symptoms. It’s incredible.
As we drove around the village and I got to hear more of their stories my heart was beating out of my chest with sheer joy and admiration. This!! This is exactly the organization I’ve been searching for. They love the Roma people as much as I do but are willing to be in this for the long haul and truly fight poverty and injustice at its very core and root-lack of education.
I was floating on cloud 9. But my day got even better. When we got back in the car and headed back to Brasov, Steffi looked at me in the rear view mirror and asked “do you want to do a shift at the hospital this afternoon?” Let me explain what that means.
A huge part of the FFR ministry is working with babies in the hospital. Babies that don’t have parents, or don’t have parents that are able to stay with them in the hospital. Volunteers from FFR go in for 3 hr shifts and help care for sick babies. Holding them, feeding them, changing them, playing with them, and just loving them.
I was like “SIGN ME UP!!”
I’ve never thrived more. I snuggled babies for 3 hrs and felt alive and needed. And. Like I’d found my niche in the world.
As I walked back across town that afternoon to my hostel to meet up with my squad I was beaming. My face hurt from smiling so big. My heart was so full!
I’ve never had a day that brought me so much fulfillment. It sounds like a simple day. Just a normal day of ministry. But, if you’ve ever had the opportunity to do EXACTLY what you were created to do, you’ll understand the feeling. I talked about my day for hours! And my squad listened to me, laughed with me, and cried tears of joy over me finding my place.
My favorite day on the race combined my two favorite people groups-Roma people and babies. Really, what more could a girl ask for?
