And just like that we’re on to the next location; Romania.
Part of the Balkans and Transylvania it’s famous for being the home country of Dracula’s castle so that’s pretty interesting! We’re not really staying at a hotel here in Transylvania but it feels a bit like it; we’re paired up with another world race team this month and all 12 of us are sleeping on the floor of our hosts church.
Our hosts, a married couple Christian and Cami are amazing! They started this church years ago and spent all their time trying to build up a church community.
Every week they would go out and throw block parties, concerts, giveaways, but after a while they had to re-evaluate what the people of this community needed and what God wanted them to do.
Despite all of the events they were putting on and all the people they were meeting, there was a lack of people actually making it into the church on Sundays.
And so came about a flip in their mission; instead of working to fill the church they focused on meeting people where they were at and meeting what needs they could there. They took the church to the people!
Their main focus now are the ghettos; they share their faith with the people there, love on the kiddos, provide material needs, and host events like the camp we got to be a part of this last weekend. We really admire the way they switched gears…it would have been so easy to get discouraged having an empty church every week and begin to give up but instead they pressed on and found a way to love those around them.
The only way this became possible is because they were obedient to Gods call to change things up!
We had only been here 2 days before we got our first experience with the churches ministry which led us to the camp…We bused to the ghetto and picked up about 20 kids aging from 8-17 for a camp up in the mountains, we had games, hikes, a few bible services, delicious grilled meals…oh, and more games! We had a blast getting to know the kids and our hosts better.
We’re realizing that relationships are a huge part in making a month memorable and impactful and this month is all about building relationships…we’re off to a great start!
-Megan and Ryan
(All photos by the ridiculously talented Tessie West)
