hey friends! so I wrote this blog on 9/27 but it’s taken a while for me to get the pictures together and find the time & internet to post this so that’s why I’m posting it now! I hope y’all enjoy 🙂
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yesterday we got to go back to a Roma village since our ministry leader, daniel’s, car had gotten fixed! hooray! we weren’t going to be doing street evangelism (don’t get me wrong I loved evangelism but the roma ministry just has a special place in my heart :))! it was so amazing bc the kids recognized nathan & I and we were able to just play a bunch of games and all have fun together! when we were sharing a bible story w them they were super attentive & engaged.
before we left that day, a family had invited us into their home. we spent a while just kneeling on their floor, each praying for them.
today we went back to a Roma village we had been to a few times before. on our way there, daniel explained how we wouldn’t be doing kid’s ministry, but manual labor. uhhhh. yeah. I definitely wasn’t expecting that haha
so we got there and there was this biiiiiig pile of wood for us to chop up to be used as fire wood. I was told that I didn’t have to do this bc I’m a girl (I was a lil offended for a second but realized that meant I could hang out w the kiddos instead hehehe). so I ended up playing w the kids and helping move firewood piles from place to place. I had met some of them in ministry before & it was so heartwarming to see them recognize me and run up to give me a big hug!!
here’s some pictures of the guys cutting firewood:)
I thought it was funny how the guys in my group, nathan & jacob, were sweating buckets working hard & im in the shade carrying babies, dancing & singing, teaching the girls the pitch perfect cup song, learning roma from the kids while I try my best to teach them english, and of course taking lots and lots of pictures (I took some super cute selfies w some of the kids but im not aloud to post them for safety reasons ahh)
it was suuuuper awkward at 1st bc I was literally just sitting there by myself watching nathan & jacob slave away at splitting this big mound of wood. but once I started talking to the kids it was so so fun!! I think what made it so special & different from the kids ministry I’ve done in the past was that this wasn’t planned. like I wasn’t leading any scheduled games or activities or anything, we were just hanging out & having fun!!
after a long afternoon of the boys splitting wood & me carrying a bunch of kids, the roma family we were with cooked us dinner! they made us some ~fresh~ chicken soup with some of the best bread I’ve ever had. they also had a biiiiig plate of other meat that was so tasty (we asked daniel to translate what kind of meat it was but he couldn’t figure out what it was in english haha)
it was so amazing to do this house visit in the roma village. I loved being able to talk with the family, play w the kids, and join them for dinner after the men worked for them.
the family was always making sure that we were taken care of — we got lots of snacks and refreshments during the afternoon even before our big chicken soup dinner. these people were so hospitable and home-y, even though we barely knew each other! God’s love really shown through this family and I feel so blessed that I was able to be a part of this experience!
what i learned from all of this is just the value of spending time with other people. building relationships goes a long long way. the roma kids didn’t care if i had games planned or not, they just wanted to hang out. it was so interesting to me bc i feel like at home everyone always has to be entertained and doing something all the time, but it’s just as easy to find joy in the simple things!
here’s a few prayer requests i have that i would really appreciate if y’all would pray for:
– healing. a lot of people on the squad have been getting sick (good ole diarrhea & throw up)
– being present. i want to be able to focus on what’s happening now, not thinking about the future.
– wisdom. this is a biiiiig one for not only me, but the squad. we’ve all been praying for wisdom and discernment in making decisions.
thanks for reading & keeping me in your prayers! <3
God is good!
Maddie Chase
