I absolutely cannot believe we've been in Romania for two weeks already! This country couldn't possibly be any more different than India, and at first I was a little shocked, but God's grace was definitely over my adjusting and transitioning so it wasn't too difficult. The name "Romerica" is very accurate and it's really comforting after 6 months of countries completely opposite of home to be somewhere that is so similar.
We spent the first 5 days after landing in Europe having squad debrief in a city called Brasov, home of the Black Church and Europe's most narrow street. After having traveled for almost a week, this was a very needed, very appreciated few days for rest and rejuvenation while getting to catch up with friends we hadn't been with during the month. Our team's debrief was incredibly encouraging as we updated the squad leaders and coaches on how Holy F.I.R.E is doing and heard back from them that we are definitely on the right track and on the brink of something really great as Kingdom workers. I'm so excited they saw this for us and I can't wait to see what will come in the next months!
For the last 10 days we've been in a small, country town called Sistarovat serving at a Christian camp by doing manual labor with teams Hidden Refuge and Alabastor. I stated in my blogs about Swazi that, although I do enjoy hard work and getting dirty, manual labor is not my fist choice of ministry because I'd much rather do relational type things like home visits, prayer, or taking care of kids. Well, that still stand true. So far we've done an array of projects, including clearing flower beds, sweeping LOTS of sidewalk space, planting flower bulbs, chopping wood, and digging holes and planting 30 fruit trees for the beginning of an orchard. I've really liked all the projects we've done, and seeing immediate results of work is very satisfying, but I do miss the meetings with the locals we've had in all of the previous months.
But, one thing I've loved about this month is just seeing God's sovereignty in our situation; I've realized that the Lord has placed us in this ministry for a very specific reason. The work we do is physically draining, but He's given us an assignment that is less spiritually draining at a time when many people are exhausted, maybe discouraged, running on E and need to be seriously refilled before being able to pour back out into the nations. Coincidence? I think not. Especially since several of our work days have been hindered by the weather, first rain early this week then snow yesterday, which has allowed us to have longer worship sessions in the mornings, more Q.T. with J.C. during the days, and countless conversations with each other. I've realized that for this month, the Lord has ordained us to be each others' main ministry. He's given us the opportunity to rest, re-focus, pour into each other, spend more time with Him, and prepare for the last 4 months of our Race. That's not to say that we are looking past Romania or seeing it just as a month to get us ready for the coming days, but it is to say that my God is an all-knowing and sovereign God and He knew exactly what our group needed this month to be.
Please pray for us over the next two-ish weeks we spend here. Pray that we would be effective both while working and during our free time, that as a group and as individuals we would receive the refilling in the Spirit that is needed, and that even though our outside interactions are minimal, we could somehow be used to further God's Kingdom here in Sistarovat.
