Hey guys! So sorry it’s taken awhile to update you on what’s going on in my life, but here it is at last. I am in Romania!! It’s been a little over a week now and so far I’ve been loving it. I love the ministry contacts here and just the whole environment and feel of Eastern Europe has been great to experience. I love the history here and hearing more about the culture and the different groups of people and the spiritual environment of the country. For a little while now, I’ve felt God placing on my heart Eastern Europe and so far I can definitely see myself coming back (maybe not specifically to Romania, but somewhere in this part of the world). I’ll probably develop that more in a future blog. Anyways I just want to give you a recap of the last week or so and what my team has been doing this month.
We got into Romania on the night of the 2nd after almost 2 whole days of air travel. It actually went by a lot quicker than I was first thinking it was going to be. And if any of you are traveling to Europe in the future, I would definitely recommend Turkish Airlines as it was unlike any flight I’ve ever been on before. Each seat had it’s own personal TV screen where you could watch whatever movies you wanted to or listen to music or play games or watch TV shows or even get updates as to where the plane was currently at. I tried to not sleep the entire flight just so I could make the most of the entertainment (I ended up sleeping for a couple hours, but I felt I got good use out of it). And the food was great! Each flight has its own personal chef and the staff never go to sleep so they are always available to serve. It was just an awesome flight! But enough about that…on to Romania.
This month my team is in Dragonesti-Olt, which is in the southern part of Romania, close to the Bulgarian border. It’s a pretty small town, but we do a lot of work in the surrounding towns as well so we’ve gotten to see a lot of the area. Our ministry contacts are amazing! So far, none of the contacts we’ve had on the Race have been a disappointment (as I’ve heard that some can be) and these ones are no exception! There are a lot of different contacts here in the Dragonesti-Olt area, but they are all headed by a pastor named Raul. He is such an amazing man of God and has a beautiful heart for the people in his ministry scope. He is also gifted in discernment unlike anyone that I’ve met before (I’ll share stories later). In addition to him, we’ve also been working with about 8-10 other individuals/families that are part of the ministry team here in the southern Oltania area. It’s just a beautiful family here and a fun-loving, goofy, energetic community, which has enhanced life in Romania.
My team is with two other teams this month, which has been great as well! So far we’ve only been living with one of the teams because the other team was staying with a family about 15 minutes away, but they are returning to the mission house that we are staying at in a couple days so then we will all be together. I’m really excited for this because it’s always cool to get to know other people on your squad and teams can learn so much from observing how other teams function and operate. The mission house we’ve been staying at has been great as well. It has a heater (which has been clutch since it’s been pretty cold here so far), bathrooms, showers, warm beds, couches, washing machine, a kitchen, and the best internet we’ve had outside the States. Definitely the nicest conditions that my team has been in so far and probably for the rest of the Race as well.
Ministry has looked different for each person this month. Because of the many different ministry contacts that we are working with in this area, we often split up and do our own thing. Some of us have helped people in their gardens. Some have helped do kids ministry. Some helped plan and attended a girls’ sleepover. Some organized a picnic for a youth ministry event. Some are doing administration stuff and helping Raul with composing emails in English or proof-reading different documents that they had written in English. Some have taught English. One girl is even teaching Chinese for a couple hours each day. And everyone, for the most part, does something different each day unless you have a specific job that requires your attention each day.
For me, ministry has looked like this. In the mornings, I help Samy (Raul’s son) with math as he is preparing for his exams in June that he must take in order to move on to high school. At first I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure if we were going to connect at all and sometimes I’m not the most patient person when it comes to teaching someone. But Samy and I have connected really well and it’s been such a joy meeting up with him each day and developing our relationship more and more. And it’s also been an awesome way to get to know Raul’s family more as his wife, Anna, helps translate for me and I see the other kids walking around the house. They are all such amazing people and I’m so blessed to have this opportunity to get to know them better. Anna and I have great conversations each day and she has taught me a lot about Romania and the people here…and she’s also an amazing cook! Definitely another perk of the job!
In addition to tutoring, I’ve also been working a lot with a man named Alecs who is a part of the church here. We’ve gone on house visits, walked around neighborhoods handing out CD’s of testimonials, and had conversations with gypsy families. It’s been so great hanging out with him and developing a close friendship with him. Not only do we do ministry together, but I’ve also played soccer with him, watched some Champions League soccer games with him, and conversed with him a lot during our teams’ off day in Alba Iulia. I’m excited to see our friendship continue to grow the rest of this month.
Overall, Romania has been awesome!! I loved South America and enjoyed everything about it, but being here has just been extra special. It’s been cool getting to know Romania more and learn about the gypsy community and the orthodox religion and the corruption that plagues this country like every other country we’ve been to. As I said earlier, I feel like the Lord has placed this area on my heart so I’m excited to see what the rest of this month and our month in Ukraine has to hold! Thanks for all your prayers and support. I love you all!
