When I describe Romania, I could tell you about the picturesque view over the town from sunset hill, how the house shakes when a semi-truck hurtles pass, the clatter of horse hooves pulling gypsy wagons rolling by the windows, the number of stray dogs living on the streets that howl at midnight like they’re cage fighting, what it’s like to cook for 50+ people using only four gas burners and a lukewarm fridge on a $5/person/day budget, or my head nearly banging against the top of the van each time we hit a new pothole traveling from village to village. But the best way I know to describe the core of this place is through the people of Draganesti-Olt. They’re the ones who make this place worthwhile.
- Raul and Ana Costea are the heartbeat behind Hope Church, our ministry contact for this month. I forgot religious persecution was real until he talked about the police and local Orthodox priests trying to run his family out of town when the Costeas first arrived because they felt threatened by the truth Raul spoke. Raul will be the first to greet you with “Howdy,” affirm if you did something “goody-goody,” or ask you to pray that a secretary will come to the church.
- When Ali and I first showed up with the squad at 5:00am on July 9th, we apologetically stepped into Maria’s Pepto-Bismol hot pink room looking for a bed to crash. She’s a sixty-something, white-haired Romanian woman who teaches technology in the area, but stayed up to teach us our first Romania words: “Hello” = “Buna,” “How are you?” = “Ce faci?” and “You’re welcome” = “Cu placere.” When a squadmate, Logan, pretended to punch me in the arm, Maria turned to look directly at him and shot Logan a mean stink-eye.
- Electricity’s out? Call Marcel. Only cold shower water? Call Marcel. Need to lug twenty water jugs from the market? Call Marcel. He’s the Mission House handyman, one of the best English speakers in the area, and loves a bad joke. His favorite? Getting two pieces of rope and asking if you’ll “hang out” with him.
- The man with the 1980s Mini Cooper-esque car but no driver’s license is Daniel Opris, an elder at Hope Church who is married to Lydia. He’s lived in Draganesti for ten years, oversees ministry at the nearby village of Coteana, and loves to talk about the storks with nests living at the top of the electricity poles.
- Great worship is the freedom to celebrate God, however that looks. Last Sunday night after church, Veronica (Raul and Ana’s eldest adopted daughter) sang in Romanian, while we sang the same song in English. What started as a small circle of five exploded into fifty-five singers, drummers, and dancers moving to whatever beat they felt stir their souls. That movement began with the woman who leads Kid’s Clubs, heads the gypsy ministry, and feeds their tiny kitten, Mitzi, from a baby bottle.
- Sammy (Samuel) and Johnny (Ionut) are fourteen and thirteen, respectively. They’ve translated for us, declared their love for Justin Bieber, shared Romanian pop music (Puya and Smiley ft. Alex Velea), showed us how to parkour in the living room, and made the most terrifying faces to make us laugh.
Me: Sammy, you’re such a joker.
Sammy: Oh, so I am a card.
M: … So if you’re a card, who are the other three jokers?
S: Jesus … the Holy Spirit … and God.
M: You’re telling me the four jokers are God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and
Sammy Costea?
S: Yes, very good! - The hot pink Pepto-Bismol room is Maria and Ellie’s room year-round, but they agreed to give up their beds for the month so we could stay comfortably (and it’s the best room in the house). This was two weeks after Ellie had moved into her room and painted!
- Every morning when we walk to the church and every evening when we come back, we can count on Florin (aka Tiger Man) to run full-speed toward us for a high-five or hug. He’s a little gypsy boy and almost always has on the same tiger shirt. He also has a bad habit of grinning toothily at us while he takes the World Race bracelets from our wrists.
- Beginner’s English class began with three girls: Ana, Bianca, and Claudia. The next day, there were three more: Mary, Michaela, Mirela. These sweet girls came every day with their Hannah Montana and Justin Bieber notebooks to learn my collection of odd English words, phrases, and songs sans translator. They captured my heart with their enthusiasm, but note to self: Google Translate doesn’t work with 10 to 12-year-olds who don’t know how to spell too well.
- Iuli is Hope Church’s six-year-old next-door neighbor with the most mischievous grin. I taught him how to walk up my legs and flip, and helped him jump high. When I was taking pictures of the girls in my English class, I handed him my camera and he ran ten feet away and took pictures of everyone’s knees.
- Every day she comes to the church for English class, and every day you can expect to be asked: “How are you?” by Elena. That’s close to the extent of her English, but the spirit never gets old as she responds with “good,” and expects you to ask again in Romanian with her two-top-teeth smile. She loves trying on sunglasses, dancing, and attempting to translate for our teams.
This month has been really easy and really difficult at the same time. Easy because we have perfectly comfortable accommodations, wi-fi, (mostly) hot showers, and a passionate ministry contact. Difficult in that all those comforts make it difficult to really dive into learning from our squad community and the larger local community of Romanians. We’ve held our expectations to the light for the first time, and seen through its shallowness as we’ve learned that ministry is not always exciting, manual, or life-giving. Instead, we have to find fulfillment in the bigger picture while gardening, picking up trash, handing out flyers, babysitting, or knocking on doors. By tuning in, I’ve realized that God is in the little things, and His light shines especially bright in His people.
My goal of this World Race? To better understand how much God loves me, so I can better love His people. So far, that love for His children and faithfulness to His Word has blown me away. Let’s keep this thing going!
Update: We’ve had our first route change! Instead of going to Ukraine for August, we’ll be heading to Moldova, the poorest country in Europe with the highest rate of women being sex-trafficked to other countries and organ trafficking. Please pray for my team, Reckless Redemption, as we step out by ourselves for the first time, and for God to prepare the way in the area we’re heading to.
