I am no longer in Romania. Wow what a hard goodbye. It’s definitely in my top 3 favorite months. Anyway fun fact about my team is that we were alone every month we were together, Zambia, India & Nepal, except for Romania.
I was still the team leader and was excited to see what it looked like to be with another team again, it had felt like ages. Let me tell ya our teams had a lot of fun together. A lot of our days included thrift shopping and nights included karaoke.
So anyways we get to our new city, Pitesti and I immediately felt peace there. I feel like my heart always returns back to African culture where we got so very used to warm and welcoming people. Well Eastern Europe is a lot different from that culture. Sadly because of communism they were deeply affected and condemned. But with that said I had so many incredible encounters with locals especially our host family.
Right away at a grocery store this man helped me find a water that wasn’t sparking because no English & gross..Elderly women on the bus we would take to go downtown & for ministry would make eye contact with me and smile. One time a lady waved goodbye to me, we didn’t say a word to each other but yet it felt like we said so much to each other.
Y’all I cannot begin to brag on my host family enough. He asked us which month we were in and then his response was “oh boy that’s means you’re tired.” He made our schedule a little less busy/ full. Which in reality was so true and needed especially coming from Nepal when ministry days sometimes lasted 10+ hours. Their ministry is absolutely incredible. Our host started the ministry when he was in his early 20s and has developed relationships with the homeless population and children living in the ghetto for many many years. Their church, which was our home for the month, showed hundreds and hundreds of pictures of themat various camps and events they have had.
The way him and his wife interacted with the people they were serving was nothing short of Jesus’ love. With the homeless they provided them with a hot meal, a chance to wash their clothes, and a shower. We got to play ping pong, chat and fellowship together. That even included a mini message and one of us sharing a part of our story or bible story with them.
With the children in the ghetto we played a lot of sports with them including foot tennis. Which I enjoyed playing but mostly watching because some of the older guys were a little too good for me.
I had the opportunity to share my testimony in a trailer with middle school aged girls. The girls and I got to just sit and talk about God and life. One time one of the girls drew henna on my hand and it made my heart happy and made me think of my time in India. Wow so good.
Our host also just did an incredible job at inviting us into their home and getting to know all his kids and their stories. Y’all if you ever want to hear the craziest story of freedom from evil and gods perfect timing, hit me up.
I asked our host mom if she wanted to go shopping with me on our off day and let me tell ya it might have been one of my best decisions ever. We had the best time ever drinking coffee, eating home made crepes and mushroom soup. It was her and her teenage daughter and her BFF. I had flashbacks to going shopping with a mom and BFF back in the day, ya that’s you Pam. Then to finish off the day we each got an incredible tea pot to ourselves in this cute tea shop.
I never felt more at home while being on the world race than I did this month. I could tell you countless stories from this month seriously.
To top it all off I got to see my mom for the first time in eight months. I saw my mom truly dive into discomfort and new things with so much beauty. She handed out fliers and bibles to strangers with a smile on her face. She shared her testimony in front of a church congregation and prayed over a recent widow within the church. She talked to women with me about their faith and was so open to sharing her story and life with everyone around her. Mom, thank you for always reminding me to be myself, to be bold and to always talk to everyone because you never know how much it could mean to someone. We ate good food, went thrift shoppin and it just felt so right.
Romania I miss you already too much!!
With that being said this month I got a new team and a new challenge. We don’t have a host this month and will be seeking out our own ministry. We will be going to Burgas, Bulgaria, which is on the coast of the Black Sea. Be praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit and that He would to incredible things through us this month.
