I live in the “big” town of Draganesti, here in Romania. Smaller towns surround it on all sides separated by rice and corn fields. Each morning we wake up and go to the church around 10 AM to receive our assignment for the day. Saturday was a little bit of an unusual day, we were given assignments the day before and in the morning a group left at 8:45, and one group was picked up at 10. Kaitlyn, one of my teammates, and I walked to the church at 10 to help with a children’s ministry. It was a lot of fun, we had no idea what anyone was saying to us, but the children were adorable and we had a sack race!! (I just spoke to the kids in Indonesian and pretended they could understand me because I wasn’t speaking English.)
Then one of the missionaries here, Marian, came to get us to help with a teen ministry in a neighboring town. We were initially thinking, oh yes, we will ride there, do the ministry, and drive back. Marian’s wife, however, was using the car for the day, so we had to walk to the village. During the walk I was able to pick Marian’s brain and heart about the surrounding communities, his family of unbelievers, what the Orthodox church of Romania is about and everything in between. Let me tell you what, this man’s heart is on fire for the Lord, he truly desires for the people here to know God’s love.
An hour and 10 minutes walk later; we arrive to the town of Pestra. Well, kind of…we arrive at the water hole to meet the only two children that have decided to meet up with us for the day. Then, instead of everyone else driving to meet us to do the children’s ministry in the town like Kaitlyn and I thought was going to happen, Marian informs us that we will now walk back to Draganesti to meet up with everyone else. Wait…WHAT????
We proceed to walk one hour and 10 minutes back to a park where we meet two of our teammates, Marian’s wife, and her sister. We play games with the children, share a testimony, eat snacks and have an all around good time with the kids.
So total for the day I walked 2 hours and 20 minutes…consistently. It would have been so easy to complain the whole time and whine about having to walk so far without warning, about my nose turning red from the sun, etc. But God spoke to my heart in that moment. We spent 2.5 hours walking to reach out to two souls….just two! How much does He love His children, how hard did He pursue me?? These two children are precious in His eyes and if it were up to Him, He’d walk a million miles to bring them into His Kingdom.
I could do nothing but delight in the hour walk back, knowing that God was breaking my heart for His people. That He had placed me with a man whose heart is so broken for this nation and these children that to walk two hours was a simple task that didn’t need warning. Praise the Lord for people that are better than I, that can teach me humility and love.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.” – Jeremiah 31:3
