Who knew that 45 people could live in the same building together and function so well. All 7 teams are staying at the same location this month, and our host has a beautiful ministry housing location that can fit everyone quite comfortably. Making dinner with 4 burners and 5 pots can be a little challenging. But thankfully, our team is already pretty skilled at sharing a shower with 11 other girls. The weather is also cooler in Romania, and it’s such a blessing to not be dripping sweat all the time.
Even though all the teams are staying together, we all have our own ministry that we go to each day. My team was assigned to work in a village called Mihalt with a pastor named Daniel. We are organizing an after school program where we teach about the Bible and play some games. From the moment we met Daniel, we could tell that he was such a man of peace that valued family and his community. Before we even went to the village, I was in love with all the kids just hearing about them.
Part of All Squad month includes a lot of teachings in the mornings and evenings that are so impactful, but makes our schedule a little tight. Then, because we are doing an after school program, we have to wait until the late afternoon before we can even go to ministry. On top of that, it takes 40 minutes for us to get to Mihalt which makes our actual ministry time even shorter. After talking with my leadership, I was afraid we were going to have to find a new ministry partner because it didn’t seem like a practical situation.
I was heartbroken. The kids at the program are just the sweetest and really seemed to be enjoying what we were teaching about the Bible. I was looking forward to building relationships and learning from and serving for the next couple of weeks. I wasn’t ready to let go yet. I spent an evening talking to Jesus about it and shedding a few several tears, and eventually felt Jesus telling me to give up what I wanted for what he had in store. So, I let go of what I wanted “my” ministry to look like for the month and told Jesus I would do whatever he needed me to do.
The next day I had to make one more phone call to figure out another detail. In less than a minute, everything had been sorted out so that we could continue doing ministry in Mihalt. The person I called seemed really confused why I was calling and why I was freaking out. The whole time, Jesus knew my desires and had a plan, but I had to let go of the idea that I was in control first. Gosh, our Father gives good gifts to his children.
At the end of it all, I just felt like writing a little poem – something I haven’t done in FOREVER – and I’ll share it with you just for fun:
I wanna bask in your presence
Spend all day with your voice
Sit in sweet bliss
Your will is my choice
When pride overtakes me
When satan tries to steal my mind
I give up my control to you
I leave my fleshly desires behind
Open hands of surrender
Tears of letting go
Father you know what’s best for me
You know where I should go
Every plant needs a different care plan
Every season bears different fruit
You can’t harvest when it’s time to sow
A blossom is not a root
So, I’m dropping my plans one by one
Like skipping stones into the lake
I loved those stones like treasure
But I’ll lose them for your sake
The you surprise me like a toaster
I put in bread expecting toast
But out pops chocolate cookies
That I plan to enjoy to the uttermost
