Cue the song,”It’s a small world after all”, the one that gets stuck in everyone’s head and reminds them of the Disney World Ride on the boat! But really, this is a story all about how I realized just how small the world really is.
We arrived in RoMaNiA a week ago, after a long 9 hour bus ride from Serbia. Once we arrived, we all went to the grocery store to get some food for the next day, then we all headed back to “read the back of our eyelids” as my dad would say (that means we we went to sleep for those of you that have never heard my dad’s crazy sayings).
The following morning we woke up and did everyone’s favorite thing… ORIENTATION/INTRODUCTIONS! YAY!! We went around the room, told Raul (our host), our name, where we are from, our spiritual gifts, our 5 year plan, and if we would like to be international missionaries, long term.
When it was my turn, I told him my name, my age, and that I didn’t really know what I was eating for dinner that night, much less what I would be doing in 5 years, which most of my squad mates got a good laugh out of. I then told him I was from South Carolina. Which is where I got the first glimpse of the small world we live in. Raul responded with “Columbia/Sumter area?”, I’m pretty sure I had a deer in the headlights look, because many people in the US don’t really know where Sumter is, much less someone in Romania. I finally found my words and had a huge smile and told him, I was from Sumter and that is where I had lived my whole life (other than college).
He then told me that he does mission work with First Baptist Church in Sumter, South Carolina. I am still shocked, a week later, that of all the places and of all the churches, he does mission work with one in my small hometown. I come to a different country and of all the people that could host our squad, God allowed me to be with someone that knows people I know. God is so cool! BUTTTT, it doesn’t end there.
The other night, I got a facebook message from a good family friend who lives in Charleston, South Carolina, asking if I was in Romania working at Raul’s church. Shocked again, I responded and told her that he was our host. We are not working with his church, but that we are working with other people around the community from the same international missionary group that he is in. She responded and told me that her church sends a group of people here every year, and that they helped buy the new building and that he goes and speaks to them when he is in the US. Even better, lo and behold, that building that they helped buy, is the building that our 40 person squad is staying at for the month. So shoutout to Deer Park Baptist Church, for helping buy this building so that people like us can have a place to shower and sleep, as well as for people around the community to come and have fellowship in a safe place!
The world might seem very big, but at the end of the day, it’s a small world after all. We are all serving the same God, and he is doing glorious things all around us.
Prayer Request:
- Many lost people around this area of Alba Iulia, pray they find God soon.
- Our evangelist team, as they go out every day to share the Gospel with the people around.
- The youth that our team will be working with this month at a church in a nearby Village.
- Our team, of course.
- Me-I have been attacked by a cold these past few days // a stuffy nose is no fun!
- Romania (in general).
- My family
- My squad mates that have not reached their fundraising deadline, we have one coming up at the end of September. God will provide, but prayers never hurt either!
Thank you to all my supporters and subscribers, your love and support has been a constant throughout this past year as I have fundraised, prepared, and gone out to do God’s will! I am so thankful and the encouragement has been so powerful!
