If it is not already a surprise, I am the worst blogger ever! I simply just do not like to do it. For some reason, I feel partially scarred from the numerous papers and speeches I had to write and give. Therefore, blogging for me is essentially a lose-lose situation. But, here is to trying to get over my lapse in actually blogging and sharing with the world what my Race has been all about. So be prepared friends, family, and strangers, I am going to blog bomb the world race blog mosaic…potentially.
First Blog….Well, you guessed it, another month recap! This time it is about Romania.
Well, since I am so far behind I will give a long snapshot of what went on in Romania. When we left Lehze, Albania, we met up with our entire squad in a village that I totally forgot (again… so far behind). From there, it was supposed to be a simple 15 or so bus ride from Albania to Kosovo to Serbia to Romania. Well, funny story, or as I now call sudden changes, a PLOT TWIST in this epic story of life came flying towards us. As we were trying to cross the border from Kosovo into Serbia, we were denied entry based on the fact that we had an Albanian stamp in our passport. RANDOM RIGHT!!??!?!?! Nope. They have been in conflict for years and literally chant at football matches death for the other country. Harsh verbiage to say the least. Any who, we proceeded frolicking in the midst of another plot twist and did what every World Race team would do…pray! What else would we do, duh?! So after an encouraging word in nowhere land borderville Kosovo, we had to drive horizontal through the entire country and go through Macedonia and Bulgaria to reach Romania! And can I say 2 am bus stops in Bulgaria are bangin’. Such good burgers, ohh and the big bonus, bathrooms you have to pay for! Wonderful!!!!!! But in all reality that burger was pretty much everything. Ohh, and Macedonia is really pretty. That’s all the info on that country I can give. Don’t know too much more…ohh they have this one really interesting looking dog. Btw, I will get back to interesting looking hounds. Nevertheless, after an additional 9 or so hours, we arrived in Bucharest for debrief which is sort of a pow wow for the squad to get invested in and see where we are at on the Race. Bucharest was super great. Very nice, but I’m finding I’m not a total city boy. I get bored and exhausted easily from cities. Give me land and smaller towns and I thrive. Well, I had my first experience at a hostel in Bucharest… it’s called Cozzy! Is that alluring or what?! It was even topped off with free fans on every bed. Praises!!!! So debrief was cool and all but I was so ready to get to Dragonville to start ministry. Just for clarification, the town was actually called Draganesti-Olt, Romania. It was a partial gypsy community with other awesome people around. One thing that is very interesting about this city is that it could be the set of American Horror Story. Not in a bad way. It had the neatest, drab looking mansions and just a mystique about the whole town that was comfortably tingly and fun. Also, remember when I said to hold that thought about dogs, well, I am pleased to announce that Draganesti has the closest thing to a Dingo that I have ever seen. So perfect! Oh more subtle thing, horse and buggy is 100% a thing there. It was heaven for me as a horse lover! Ok, back to important details. Staying at the mission house for all squad month was great. I was thrilled to be sleeping in my tent. It is so much cooler than our previous setup in Albania!!! All the girls got a bed inside. Real nice hook up, except for the tiny fact that toilet paper of all wipes, crumble-age, and nastiness were to be thrown in a itty-bitty trash can in front of you. GLORIOUS! It was actually just fine, but it was one more thing that made me realize what I need to start being more thankful for. Ohh, hold up, one more thing just came to mind. Uhhh ventilation in the kitchen is sooo needed. I really cannot describe how intense cooking was. Talk about TV shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen.” Yeah right…we were cooking in what felt like Hell’s Kitchen. Nevertheless, the food was REALLLL good, so hooray!! Big thanks to the Penny Market (grocery store) for being the source of all food and fun in Draganesti. Literally! However, on one of our off days, while majority of the squad when to Brasov to see Dracula’s castle, Raul brought 9 of us to the Carpathian Mountains to his favorite spot in Romania. It was SO up my alley. They were mountains, rain, fog, mineral hot springs, waterfalls, great food, and an active monastery. Incredible experience. So while the Penny was fun in Draganesti, there were places to go in Romania that BLEW ME AWAY!
So let’s get to the deets about ministry! When we arrived in Draganesti, we forreal left a day later and went to Thessaloniki, Greece to pioneer a new country for the World Race, as well as, pioneer new ministry partners for our contact, Raul, in Greece. He has a huge heart for the Balkan region. Being in Greece for the first 2 days was mighty fun. We got to go to Khalkidhiki and some other beach and it was really beautiful. I truly am thankful for that experience. But, unfortunately, when it comes to Greece, mass vomiting and diarrhea are real things. Such beauty comes with some wretched consequences. So I was practically down and out trying to keep things sanitary for myself while others were doing ministry. I can say however, that I was able to connect with some Albanian’s living in Greece. Props to Rachel, our contact in Albania, for teaching me basic Albanian. So I was able to reach 2 young men with the Gospel. Needless to say I was pretty much pooey (pun intended) the whole week and felt worthless to the ministry. In my slothful state, somehow or another, it came to our contacts attention that I am a Biblical Studies graduate, and in prime World Race fashion, just guess what he said to me? He said Saturday at 8pm, “Justin, guess what, you’re preaching at the church tomorrow.” And I said laughingly, “Nope, you’re kidding yourself.” Raul, covertly starring through me, in a warm and kind manner, said, “I have faith in you. You’re my man. Have fun preaching in the Spirit tomorrow.” Shivers ensued and the urge to vom was uncontrollable. I have done sermons, but it takes me like 3 weeks to prepare!!!!!!! So, I prepared my sermon in 2 hours and practiced 30 minutes before church and, how would you know it, it went just fine. It was an experience I will keep with me forever. I preached to a crowd with over 8+ nationalities represented. Very cool experience God put me in. In totality, Greece technically began and ended on a “high” but that middle chunk was, well you know. As we left, I was able to drive in the car with our host, Raul, and his family. He saw I had a deep passion for Albania and the Balkan region and was really interested to see if my calling was of me or from God. Through prayer and petition for answers, we both came to the conclusion that Albania was a country the Lord divinely placed on my heart. Crazy that it came so early, but now the rest of the race is cake, in the sense that it is additional blessings to what the Lord has shown me.
Arriving back in Draganesti-Olt, Team Galene was first assigned to Alexe and his church. He had a sobering story of moving to a surrounding village that had no Christians. His father accepted Christ as they were building a church for the community. Then the day after his father accepted Christ, he fell from the second floor as he was building a floor and died, there in Alexe’s arms. Such a sobering story. Today, Alexe has a small church, but he is a lighthouse to his community. It was great to help him find new partners for his ministry. Furthermore, his ministry is impactful for me as it awakened my family to global missions. I have seen my parents ignited for Christ, missionaries, and people like never before. Praise is to God for Alexe’s testimony. For the second week, I worked with Tavi and Nicoleta. Seriously the best couple! They are missionaries to a village called Maruntei. This village forever has a place in my heart. We did outreaches to the community through playing football, singing, and sharing Bible stories. While the outreaches were a blast, we also helped Tavi and Nicoleta find partners and supporters for their ministry. We actually made an awesome video! I hope to post that! One of the things they do to help families in the community is the “adopt a family” project. They currently have 2 families. I was blown away, just like that Carrie Underwood song, except in the context of their living condition. It was such poverty that I have never witnessed. I walked away shocked, numb. And eventually in tears for how much I have and how little they had. No shoes, bathroom, roof, food! Tattered clothes are all they have and one family stores the baby’s milk in a well to prevent it from spoiling. I wish I could do it justice in words to stir your hearts but I simply cannot. In the end, we were able to bless one of the families with a semi-automatic washing machine so that the mother’s hands do not freeze to death in the bitter cold winter washing clothes. They have no heat, so this is the least we could do to support them in some practical way. Pray for these families!!
Without a doubt, Romania was a fantastic month of growth for me as a person and follower of Jesus. He has shown up so much and his presence became ever so real to me! It was hard to leave, but Malawi was next up! So look out for another blog after this one!!!
