For our
final month in Eastern Europe, each team of G-Squad was given the chance to
“pioneer” ministry. I imagined my
teammates and I were blindfolded, each with a finger on a map of Eastern
Europe, asking God to have our fingers point to the same country. We’d buy the necessary [insert mode of
transport here] tickets and upon arrival, ministry would fall into our laps
like manna from the sky.
While I
wouldn’t discount that as being impossible (‘cause nothing’s impossible with
God), pioneer month – our first (and only) of our Race – isn’t quite that
romantic. We are given a few parameters:
1)
Stay
in Eastern Europe (Turkey was not included in the mix as a result)
2)
Establish
contact with missionaries/missions organization and/or church prior to entry
3)
Adhere
to budget as much as possible, particularly regarding travel costs.
4)
Know
where you’re going and what you’re doing by May 20.
The exercise
seemed simple enough. Eastern Europe is
only half a continent or so and the harvest is plentiful, the Bible says. We were given a head-start – a list of
ministries we could contact – and freedom to tap into our own personal
networks. Not all of Europe is on the
Euro, so as long as we end up in those non-Euro places, budget shouldn’t be
problematic.
Well, I
have people like Jake Rodriguez to thank for making logistical coordination
look easy, when, in fact, it not so.
We
emailed, sent Facebook messages, and Googled all kinds of stuff. Mostly, we waited to hear back and prayed a
bit, too. We waited the way Noah did after
the rain, itching for some dry ground where he could set his feet.
Our
deadline was drawing near and the opportunities that were presented thus far
weren’t fitting within the lines. Potential opportunities were just that – potential, not substantial. God didn’t write the country and ministry in
marquee-type lights for any of us.
But right
at the eleventh hour, the 18th to be exact, we were given two open
doors. Yesterday, even as we were
finalizing our decision, another door appeared. And the one chose fit the parameters in a way we didn’t expect. That doesn’t matter much, however, as there
are at least two teams going to Germany.
Oh,
right, where will the greatest team of the G-Squad be in June, you ask? [Drumroll] ROMANIA!
We will
be going west this time, in Timişoara, working with Dwight and Melissa
Poggemiller of Greater Europe Mission. Same country but new city and ministry partner. We’ll be working with disabled children in
the morning and with underprivileged children in the afternoon. Sometime in between those, we’ll help plant a
new church and do some manual labor.
Having
visited Constan
ţa for a day, Bucharest for ministry, Braşov for debrief, and
Timisoara for ministry, it looks like Lunchbox has got Romania on lock down.
So, yet
more expectations exploded yet again. Some of us are breaking into Western Europe and taking it back for the
Lord. For seven of us, our World Race
isn’t eleven countries in eleven months anymore – we’ll have to take a Sharpie
to our t-shirts (like so: 1110). How’s that for pioneering?!
