My
teammate, Logan, has challenged us to be doing the things that we don’t want to
do. And thus far it’s turned out to be quite exciting and rewarding.
Time rolled
around here in Viile Tecii for some house visits with Abi, out contact. However
only 4 people from our group of 13 could go. But of the 13 of us, no one felt
led nor had a desire to go. I said, “I don’t want to go, therefore I will go.�
In my heart I really didn’t feel led & I felt no desire to go…but that’s
why I’m here…so I said I would. 3 others also agreed. So off Abi, Matt, Cierra,
Brittany, and I went. Let me also say, I have NEVER done house visits…wait
that’s not true. I have done house visits; I’m just not COMFORTABLE doing them
because I have no idea what I am doing. But in that moment, what I felt didn’t
matter because off we went down the road heading straight OUTSIDE my own
comfort zone.
Among the 7
houses we stopped at, three stood out the most.
First we
went to Anka’s house…a farm!!! Everyone in Viile Tecii
lives on a farm, but still it was exciting! We talked to her, using Abi as our
translator. She doesn’t come to Abi’s church because she has to stay home and
take care of the farm. Though it’s a valid excuse, its still an excuse. She
showed us all around her farm…the pigs that they treat like dogs. There had to
have been at least 20 of them. Cute but wet and gross. My favorite part was the
pregnant cow. J She was suppose to give birth while we were in the village, but
as of yet she still hasn’t. But I did get to feel the calf kick inside the
cow…weirdly cool. Well, God is about more than just coming to church. And we
learned that as we went to the following houses and tried to talk to them about
Jesus…outside the walls of a church…and inside our hearts in a relationship.
The second
house visit that really stood out was Maria’s house. Just the sweetest, cutest,
oldest lady I had met in the village. She captivated my heart. J Sharing the gospel is good…its why I left my world and came
over here. But visiting 72 year old Maria reminded me of how God tells us to “visit the orphans & widows in
their affliction…� (James 1:27) No Maria didn’t
get saved that day. But I honestly think visiting her made her week. She told
us how lonely she was…and it was evident.
Two
teammates and I got the opportunity to go back and visit with her some more
through the week…just a short walk down the street. And she thoroughly enjoyed
it. She showed us around her 3 room house and since we didn’t have any translator
we laughed a lot at each other. It was fun & sweet. Each time she was near
tears as we left. She was just a precious lil lady.
Maria and i
When we
left Maria’s house, we were beckoned over to Elizabeth’s house. She was a
nutcase! We were sitting over in Maria’s yard & she kept calling us over to
her house. But believe me, we couldn’t have missed her house if we had tried…it
was purple and pink! Sweeeeet! We visited with
her and Abi translated a lot for us. She had acquired some years & many
heart attacks. But she too was precious.
We also
went back to visit her throughout the week. And I think I laughed pretty much
the entire time…as did Elizabeth. How do I thoroughly explain our visits with
her? Really you had to be there, but I will try to describe it. So you walk
through the pink gate to her covered porch, where Elizabeth bids us come &
sit. The four of us sit speaking our own languages thinking that each other
will eventually understand…which never happened. Each visit was action packed
& you just never knew what Miss Elizabeth would have you do next. Our first
visit without Abi translating, Elizabeth welcomed us and then motioned us to
gather the plums out of her tree. So we shook the branches & plums poured
down like the coming rain in the distance. Then Elizabeth beckoned a neighbor
to come and climb up in the plum tree for us to REALLY get some plums.
At this point it’s thoroughly raining, yet Elizabeth really wanted those plums. So neighbor man shook out
the plums, which proceeded to pelt us as they descended from above. Which made
Elizabeth uproariously laugh. Which made us all laugh as we asked what in the world was
going on. It was something out of a fairytale. I mean how often do you get to
harvest & eat plums in a gypsy/Romanian village with an older lady who
doesn’t speak English?? Priceless.
The next
visit Elizabeth “allowed� us to garden in her backyard…much like she had
“allowed� us to harvest her plums. She led us around the back, passed the pigs,
to a field that had recently had the grass cut down. She grabbed a hoe and we
followed. Next thing you know this older lady is hitting the ground as if her
life depended on it…and out popped some potatoes. We quickly took over because
the last thing we needed was Elizabeth falling over or something crazy. She
supplied us with more hoes…and we proceeded to dig potatoes for quite awhile.
Normally I would feel taken advantage of, but I was just so excited about
digging potatoes…which I had never done before. It was delightful!
Its
challenging for me to try and imagine my time in Viile Tecii without going on
those initial house visits. Really it changed my ministry view of the place.
Stepping outside of my comfort zone not only affected me, but the people in the
village…which is part of why I’m here.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Step out of your comfort zones.
Do the things you don’t really want to do.
Because it will be wroth it in the end!
