During training, we were told right away to let go of any expectations we had about the race, our teams, and our routes. Of course, I chose to ignoe this, especially the part about the routes. I had my heart set on doing ministry in Romania since I was a child. Four days before we were to leave for Romania, my team leader contatcted us to inform us that our ministry would be in Bulgaria instead of Romania. If there ever was a worst-case scenario for me, this was it. I considered dropping this opportunity because I have felt God calling me to work in ministry in Romania for a long time. I made the choice to give the ministry in Bulgaria a chance because as my teammate put it, th ministry we are doing seems to be tailored to my gifts and talents.
When we arrived for our 4 day Launch in Bucharest, Romania, we received another shocking surprise…team changes. I had grown to love my team over the past month. My team consisted of myself, Jil Jones, Hannah Dagenhart, Mallory Martin, Sarah Ruplinger, Steve Ticknor, and Frank Sawatsky. Although some teams had a lot more changes than ours, we still were not the smae team we were a month ago. One of our women, Mallory, had been moved to a different team and we gained a thrid man, Blake Lowry. I truly believe that this was God's plan all along that that this team that he has created for his glory will "RISE UP" (team name) and do awesome things in Jesus' name. So, to conclude my first blog from the field, welcome to the team, Blake, and let's go to Bulgaria!
