Romania was our first All-Squad month. This means that all 29 of us (Squad Leaders included) lived in one house and did ministry together all month! It was interesting, to say the least. We faced many challenges, like a small number of bathrooms and showers, one oven, and lots of germs. Yet, it was a month that was full of growth and seeing God move.
We were partnered with Hope Church Romania in Draganesti-Olt, Romania. Draganesti-Olt is a small town in the Southern part of Romania. The area is full of people who believe in the Orthodox Church, or Roma Gypsies, or witchcraft. The area that we were in is also called the Graveyard for Missionaries and Pastors. We knew that what we would be doing would be out of the ordinary for the area, and would be trying. For us to be successful at any of our ministries, God had to show up. And He did.
The month started with a short trip to Ploychrono, Greece because when your ministry host gives you the option, you take it!
Morgan and I (and apparently Josh) were excited to bask in God wonderful creation, and to be on the beach!
My time in Greece I was reading Acts, which meant I was able to be physically in the area that Paul was when he was preaching the Gospel!
There were many opportunities to cliff jump… I may have screamed the entire way down, but it was incredible!
There was lots of great food at the beach club that we were next door to, so why wouldn’t I take the opportunity to eat Greek yogurt with fruit on a beach in Greece?
I got to spend lots of time with Morgan, and it was even more special because it was her 22nd birthday!
Greece was definitely a highlight for I Squad!
Once we returned to Romania, the ministry group I was with for the day was given the task of clearing the lot next door to the church in preparation for demolition of the current building on the lot (a new building will be built on the lot in the future for many of the church’s ministries).
That also meant I got to play with a super cute puppy!
As a squad, we helped pick up trash in some of the town parks.
A few of us went to a neighboring village to evangelize and help with the children’s ministry.
Random, but I got to hold a pigeon!
One of the other ministries that Hope Church has is called Widow Ministry. In Romania, houses are heated with wood stoves. Many of the widows in the area are unable to gather wood for the winter, so we spent the day delivering wood to them.
We were able to deliver 6 tons of wood to 3 different widows. This however, won’t be enough to last through the winter, so please pray that the Lord provides funds and efforts to supply them with more wood.
While delivering wood, we were able to connect with the widows and pray for them and their families. God is definitely at work in this ministry and I pray that the people invloved will continue to be lights to the widows.
We got to be a part of what Hope Church calls the “New Testament Project.” Simply put, it is Hope Church’s goal to supply every home in the area with a copy of the Bible. So, we passed out Bibles in a village about 45 minutes away.
Over the course of the month, we, as a squad, were able to pass out lots of Bibles. Each one had an invitation to an event where the Gospel would be shared. If you want to hear more about that event, read Josh’s blog Hearing the Holy Spirit’s Voice.
Passing out Bibles gave us a great opportunity to minister to the people in the area. This led to some pretty cool conversations and lots of prayers.
This was my low for the month by far. The day we passed out Bibles, the group I was with was invited into the home of a family to talk more about why we were there. It was a great conversation! However, we were offered water to drink, and I didn’t want to offend the family, so I drank it. All of it. Bad idea on my part.
I ended up having a bacterial infection, which lead to me going to the hospital to get fluids, antibiotics, and a steroid. Hospitals in small towns in Romania are very different than in the US. I saw a lot of things that I wasn’t expecting to see. I could do nothing but pray, so that is what I did for about 3 hours. P.S. I started feeling better the next day, and once I finished my medicine, I felt back to normal!
I had to lay low for a little while, so I got to enjoy a performance by these lovely people about the transfiguration of Jesus and Jesus’s baptism. It was fantastic and the beards definitely made the performance!
The performance was for all of these children! We were also able to play games, sing songs, and pass out candy too!
This is one of the funny things about the mission house we were staying at. The oven only worked if you held the button in the entire time, or else the gas would go out. So, I held the button for the time it took to cook 7 pizzas. It was pretty comical!
This was a Sunday. How do I know that you ask? A good group of the girls are wearing dresses. AKA we ran out of clothes and it was laundry day!
This was probably my favorite ministry of the month. We were working on the foundation for a new church in the neighboring town. Dirt would be delivered, and we would shovel it into two wheelbarrows, push it up a pretty steep ramp, dump it into the foundation, and then spread it out. I loved it so much, because it was the closest to construction that I got!
We moved A LOT of dirt in the first day and thought we would be done moving dirt, but that was not the case. Also, this site became known as “The Dirt Pile” because it just kept growing.
The only word I learned in Romanian was “gogosi.” It means donuts! So DOD had to celebrate with donuts just like we did in Ukraine!
A group of I Squad would go to the closest city, Craiova, each weekend to build relationships with some people there. The intent is to plant a new church in Craiova sometime soon. Towards the end of the month, we held a concert for all the people they had met. We got to get “dressed up” and just continue to build relationships with the people!
We also got to play board games… they had my favorite!
We were able to bless Hope Church, by painting their sanctuary. It was a lot of work and rather messy, but I think we are pretty great painters!
Peanut butter is a delicacy on the Race. Anything that can be made with it, is incredible. Since Kayla is from Ohio, we made Buckeyes for a party that we were hosting for the missionaries that are in Draganesti!
No party is complete without mood lighting. On the Race, that happens to look like headlamps strung on a string attached to the ceiling!
Back to the Dirt Pile! I acquired many blisters from this lovely wheelbarrow!
On the third day of the Dirt Pile, we arrived at this mound of dirt. We thought that was all. We thought wrong. About halfway through this dirt pile, a dump truck shows up with TWICE the amount of dirt as we started with. It was a lot of dirt that needed to be moved.
The Buckeyes were such a hit, we made them again (aka we made the peanut butter part and just ate that) when all the guys went to Craiova for a guys weekend. The girls were able to hang out, watch movies, and have a dance party. But more importantly, we got to have another shower since none of the guys were there!
We took the time that the guys were gone, and actually fix our hair. For Megan, that meant curling it!
Since the guys were gone, we got to have a Beauty for Ashes retreat. It is an awesome organization under Adventures in Missions. If you are curious about what Beauty for Ashes is, visit Adventures in Mission to find out more!
Once the guys came home, it was close to the time that we needed to start packing up for Bulgaria. As we were packing up one night, Laney saw a mouse run under Kayla and I’s bunkbed.
We spent the next few hours catching the mice (yes, there were multiple, but only one was actually caught)! Kayla eventually found out what they were after: the chocolate that she had been keeping under her pillow in her bed!
Our last day, we were able to pray for the students of Hope Church’s E2E program. Equipped to Equip is a program that teaches individuals how to minister to unreached areas where there are no evangelical churches. Most of the students in the program had helped us out throughout the month with different ministries.
And that was our month! Super busy with lots of different ministry opportunities. Hope Church is doing incredible things for the Kingdom. If you want to see what they are up to, visit their website to learn more!
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