Am I even a Christian? That’s the question I almost found myself asking this month. Okay, I know that I’m a Christian and I am sure of the foundation I have in Christ but I suddenly began to realize how much I have been spoon fed religion my whole life. Raul, our contact and the pastor of Hope Church here in Draganesti, did not hesitate to dive into questioning our relationships with Christ. He immediately asked what our church background was, what our five year plan was, and what our role in God’s kingdom is. Even while answering, if you used any “christianese” terms, he wanted you to know why you were saying what you were saying and what you meant by each term. If there were any bus rides over 10 minutes, Raul was guaranteed to give you a challenge of bringing him to Christ as he pretended to be a founded atheist. With any answer you gave, he wanted you to back it up and defend it with scripture. It made me so anxious each time even though I was never called on. With all of this challenging of our faith, I began to realize how much of a crutch being raised in a Christian school and always surrounded by a Christian community was. A blessing, but also a crutch.
I grew up going to a private Christian school from kindergarten until I graduated high school. From there I went to college with an amazing group of Christian friends, joined a Christian sorority, and was plugged into a Bible study. Senior year of college I became a leader for FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and even helped lead people to Christ. Even though I’ve been involved in all of these “good” things, I have never been truly challenged or questioned, all of the answers have just been engraved in my mind. I realized I could not recite any scripture off the top of my head to back up any of my beliefs. Raul helped change my perspective of this. Each morning he would give us homework for the night to find in the Bible. He told us we could not use internet or even a concordance, but had to find the answers solely for ourselves without any commentaries or outside help. He would give us questions such as “What is the biblical definition of prophecy?”, “What is the definition for salvation and sin?”, “What does it mean to be a mature Christian?”, “How do you know that you have the Holy Spirit?”, and much more. I could give you an answer based off of my head knowledge and what I’ve grown up thinking, but to actually find the scripture blatantly stating each of these answers was so fulfilling. He taught us how to apply the scripture to everything in life. If there was any big question or conflict you have in your life, just find an example of the same situation in scripture. It’s that simple and opened my eyes so much to how I read scripture now.
Romania has been such a great country and it has been so wonderful working with Raul and all of his various ministries. We worked from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. almost every day and were involved with kid’s club, after school care, office and administrative work, street evangelism, eyeglass clinics, and village outreaches. It was by far one of the busiest months, but one where I learned the most. There is definitely a spiritual heaviness over the city of Draganesti, but it was so rewarding to see the light that Hope Church is shedding in this dark place. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2) I hope to carry what I’ve learned and seen from Raul through the rest of the race and my life.
I also challenge you to do the same. Question why you believe what you believe. Test and try your own relationship with Christ and even the beliefs of your churches, “because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:3). “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15)
I am now in Bucharest, Romania for a couple of days where we will have our first team changes. We will depart on the first and head for India, our first continent change! Please pray for team changes and our spirits going into India. I am excited for this new chapter in the race and can’t wait to get my first sarri!
