Total travel time to Romania (from Bulgaria): 12 hours
Language: Romanian
Currency: Lei (pronounced lay) ($1= 3.33 lei)
Time difference: 8 hours faster than CST
1. My team was Unsung Heroes this month. We started in Brasov, then continued to Soard, Sighisoara, Cluj-Napoca, and finished in Bucharest.
2. We slept in 6 different beds.
3. For five days, I ate nothing but bananas, peanut butter, and bread. When I got crazy, I switched it up and had peanut butter, bread, and bananas.
4. I changed my FIRST diaper while we were in Brasov.
5. I was lucky enough to be able to celebrate my birthday with the entire squad during debrief. It was by far the best birthday I’ve ever experienced.
6. I was introduced to pigeon punting. The objective is similar to punting a football, but with a pigeon instead. I was never successful, but I’m not giving up just yet.
7. During our week in Soard, we were blessed to be able to stay with a family of six in a Gypsy village. They were the most incredible, hospitable family that I’ve ever come in contact with. From day one, we felt like a part of their family. During our stay there, we helped build a house for a widow of 6 kids. At nights, two groups of kids would come to the church- children and teenagers. We shared our testimonies, played games, and watched movies. We had no running water or indoor plumbing. To take a shower, we had to walk up the street to visit a family member’s house. It was probably my favorite week on the race thus far.
8. After careful selection of what was a necessity and what needed to go, my backpack (Hank) lost a few pounds. I can also safely say that after packing my bag 6-7 times this month, I’m a professional.
9. It was so cool to see God move this month. My team and I had a “plan” of what cities would be the best and where we felt lead to go. There were times during the month when we had no contacts in a specific city until the day before we left. Our current ministry contact would know someone in the city we were going who needed help and so on. It’s funny how God has the little details worked out already.
10. Team changes happened at the end of this month. It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to Team Go’el, and I will definitely miss them. However, I am super stoked about what God has in store for the months to come.
11. My word for this month was obedience. God was consistently teaching me to be obedient to Him, no matter the cost. It was amazing to watch Him give me courage and boldness when I needed it to do the things He asked me to do.
