First, I am so sorry this post is so delayed! I am much better at posting on my Facebook page (Around The World, With Love: Danielle’s World Race) and Instagram (atw_withlove). For those of you following either one, you have seen that this month is definitely different than the last. We started with our first debrief in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, where the entire squad got together and our mentor and coaches flew in from the States. We had a few days of R&R, one-on-one meetings and full squad sessions to help us process our first month of ministry. I loved exploring the city and being reunited with the rest of my squadmates!
After debrief we made our way to Draganesti-Olt, in Southern Romania, where we would be staying for our ministry. It is All-Squad Month, which means I get to spend every day with all 54 of my wonderful squadmates! More on what that looks like in a minute… And then a few days later 46 of us boarded a bus and traveled 14 hours to Thessaloniki, Greece to do ministry for a week! This was the first time any World Race squad had step foot in that country, which was really cool to be a part of. We have been back in Draganesti for two weeks now, and we are knee deep in our ministry here.
Below is a little outline of our time in both Romania and Greece, so you can understand what we are up to!
ROMANIA:
City: Draganesti-Olt
Language: Romanian
Currency: Lei (about 4 lei to 1 USD)
Area: Draganesti-Olt is a gypsy settlement in Southern Romania, but it is very different from the gypsy settlement we lived in while in Macedonia. This entire area is very agricultural, so it is not uncommon to see cows walking around. And more horse and buggies! The people dress like what you imagine when someone says gypsy (women with big hoops, gold hairpieces, and flashy outfits). The children are very friendly and just love saying “Hello!” as you walk by. There is a split between rich and poor gypsies here, where the rich acquire their money from stealing everything they can. Some of the houses are very extravagant. They refuse to accept any help from the government, though, and instead follow their own “president” in the gypsy community.
Ministry: Our contact is Hope Church, a base in Draganesti that supports and mobilizes missionaries all over the Balkans. Our ministry changes every day here, which I really enjoy! Our mornings are always the same, we have an hour of Worship with the squad and then intercessory prayer for the missionaries and ministries supported by Hope Church. However, during pray time a few of my squamates and I actually go downstairs and teach English to adults hoping to be translators. I am so excited to be in a teaching position again! We have a break for lunch and rest, since the middle of the day is extremely hot, and then we go out from 4-8pm each evening. Our first week of ministry we picked up trash, passed out bibles in villages, organized a sports night with the local gypsy kids, and prayed for people on the street. For our last week here my team, Geronima, is working specifically with Pastor George in a nearby village. We are playing games with local kids, evangelizing, and even washing rugs in the river!
Accommodations: ALL-SQUAD MONTH! All 55 of us are staying on one property called the Mission House. Girls are inside, boys are outside in tents. Some girls have migrated outside to their tents or hammocks over the past week because the house can get WARM at night. We have four showers, three toilets, and one washing machine, and we are very thankful for all of those things! We have a nice patio out back to hang out, and a large kitchen with a big table to gather around. Each team was designated “cooking days” and let me say we have had some AWESOME meals! Everything from fried chicken with mashed potatoes to fajitas to chili to breakfast burritos and pancakes. We have some very talented cooks on our squad, and they have blessed us abundantly.
I have loved all-squad month so far. It feels like living in a college dorm again, where there is always someone to hang out with, always music playing somewhere, always some sort of sports game/frisbee session going on. I have grown closer with so many of my squadmates, and I cherish the time I have been able to spend with them. I pray the Lord blesses use with more all-squad months over the next 9 months!! Oh, and let me say, Worship time in a group of passionate, God-loving human beings like R-Squad is INCREDIBLE. Wow.
So that is a little insight into our time here in Romania! Now, as I mentioned some of our squad traveled to Greece for a week. Our contact, Raul of Hope Church, is really passionate about spreading the Gospel to all corners of the Balkans, and Greece has been on his heart. He gave us the opportunity to do ministry there, and 46 of us responded with a resounding “YES!” So now we have officially been to 12 countries in 11 months! Here is what our week looked like:
GREECE:
City: Thessaloniki
Language: Greek
Currency: Euro (approximately 1 to 1 USD, which becomes very confusing and disappointing when a coke is actually $4, not $1 US dollar!)
Area: Thessaloniki is a very historical and biblical city. St. Paul preached there almost 2,000 years ago (1&2 Thessalonians)! As I walked the streets I couldn’t help but be amazed that I was walking the same streets that he walked, looking at the same water he looked at as he ministered to the ancient people. Unfortunately now, though, the people of Thessaloniki no longer know the love of Christ, nor do they seek a relationship with the Lord, and you can sense that the people feel lost there. There are Orthodox churches everywhere, but the presence of God is not received there.
Ministry: Raul blessed us with two off-days in the beginning of the week, where we got to spend the day on the beach and swimming in the Aegean Sea. We then spent our last four days there doing ministry. Our squad was separated into a few groups, where we ministered to different people. One group did basketball ministry, where they build relationships with teenagers playing at the courts (my skills forbid me from participating in that ministry, sorry Grandpa Stueve). One group sang worship music outside White Tower and evangelized to people walking around. One group was our “Unsung Heroes” group, where they searched for future contacts in the area for both Hope Church and The World Race. They have some really cool stories! Finally, I was a part of the group that went to the playground each night and spoke to the teenagers there, as well as played with the kids. At first it was weird, being an American trying to approach a young child at the park (basically doing everything that is illegal back in the States) but soon we bonded over Frozen balls, face paint, and card games! The parents were very friendly and open to use playing with their children. We also did a few prayer walks as a squad, praying for the city as a whole and the people
In Greece, we were warned not to use the word “missionary” because it has a very negative connotation. They believe in Jesus, missionaries are for countries that don’t have churches or are Muslim. So instead our goal was to just build relationships and invite the people we meet to the local church on Sunday. And a few came! It is a slow process, but we as a squad believe that there will be a rejuvenation of Jesus in the hearts of the people, and the city will just explode with Christ’s Love.
Accommodations: Our squad was split between two spots downtown. A handful slept in the church with a small space upstairs, and the other 30 of us stayed in a large missionary apartment. The weirdest part was throughout the week we would go down to the market to get things to cook for lunch, or just walk to the church to meet other squamates, and I really felt like a local living in Greece! It’s amazing how different being a racer in a country is, compared to being a visitor. Even if you are just there for a week.
I really enjoyed my time in Greece, and I believe I will definitely be back there again! Please pray for the people, that they will open their hearts to the Gospel again and the country will be turned upside down by God.
So there is a long-winded update of our last month on the World Race! I cannot believe we are already 8 weeks into this crazy adventure! Wow. People said that it would fly by, but only now am I realizing how true that statement is. I mean, in exactly three days we are leaving for AFRICA!! I do not know what the wifi situation will be in Malawi but I promise to do a much better job of updating you a lot sooner in the month. As you can see though, it was very difficult to define the whole month and our ministry at an earlier point! I pray you all are doing well and enjoying your last few weeks of summer in America!
Again, for more frequent updates please like my Facebook Page, Around the World, With Love: Danielle’s World Race and follow my Instagram, @atw_withlove! I post a daily picture of what it looks like to be on the Race, the ministry, the living situations, and how the Lord is moving through me!
God Bless you all!
