Well ya’ll. It’s been real. It’s been fun. This past months ministry was incredible. We were blessed with the sweetest most loving family. They took us in from day one. We knew in the first week that goodbyes would be tough. And that was so true, but I know that God is going to continue to bless them and their ministry as we leave.
During this month we were given the opportunity to work along side Pastor Daniel at one (of the 4 churches he pastors) . We worked 5 days a week to run an afterschool program for the youth in the village of Mihalt. Click here for more information about Daniel.
My Typical Schedule:
7:30 am – Prayer, Read a chapter in Jeremiah (tough stuff), Eat cereal or Oatmeal
9 am – Worship as a squad
10 am – Pray as a squad for the hundreds of ministries here in Romania (Visit http://www.hoperomania.org to see how you can get involved)
11am – Free Time / Lunch (usually some kind of wrap)
1 pm – Planning for ministry
3 pm – Daniel Picks us up for ministry!
6 pm – Dinner (Every night 2 different teams are in charge of making dinner for the entire squad)
7 pm – Sometimes we were done after dinner, but sometimes at 7 we would have a teaching.
What did ministry look like?
Great question!! After the couple days of evangelism in Alba Iulia, we sang, gave testimonies, and prayed in a nursing home, in two different churches, and in church members homes. One day we even walked around the village putting Romanian Gospel tracks in mailslots. And we had a program after school almost everyday where kids from Daniels school (He does I.T. there and also drives the bus) came to the church. We usually start with a few Christian songs, a skit followed by questions and an explanation/teaching on the skit, an activity, games outside, and finally we end with a prayer. And this was all done with two of the older kids translating the entire time. And they did AMAZING. (Shout our to Teo and Dani!) We always had positive feedback and the kids really seemed to grasp everything and learn more. I believe most of them were already saved so we mainly worked on growing their relationships with God and their connection with the Pastor so he could continue to minister to them. All month Pastor was working on getting permission from the school for us to host a program there and it was finally approved on our last possible day for it. We planned an all Christian Program. Songs, testimonies, and even a skit. Going in we worried about reactions of teachers, but they ended up being very impressed with the program and so glad we came they gave us snacks afterwards. The kids were all so glad we came because we got to let them know that they were important and that God was always with them even through all of the struggles. During question time one girl even asked why we always smiled and we got to pour into the entire class about how even though hard things happen, we still have the love and hope of Jesus Christ. It was my favorite ministry moment. At the end of the day though we were met with a couple teary eyed girls who were so sad to see us go. That’s the point I knew that God was doing things here. So please pause for a second and pray that the hole we’re leaving be filled with more of God. I want these kids to remember what we stood for more than who we were.
And a lot of time was spent with Daniels family. They really opened up their lives and home to us. We got to see Daniels vision for the villages, we were fed multiple times at their home, showed around some beautiful places, and brought to farms of friends (milked a cow and held chickens). We joked, laughed, prayed, and cried together. I felt home when I was at them. I will for sure miss my Romanian Family. Please pray for their continual growth and unity and comfort.
Daniels biggest prayer is to be met with peace when we leave. In the past when missionary teams have left he was faced with a lot of pressure from the orthodox priests and teachers in the schools. Just pray that the Army of the Lord will be felt stronger than the enemy because we know it is stronger. Once again if you want to see more of Daniels ministry and want to know how you can be involved check out the links above.
AND FINAL NEWS: WE ARRIVED IN BULGARIA TODAY! (Our 3rd ministry country and 5th we’ve seen) We are currently staying at a hostel in Sofia for a couple days to get refocused and then we have an hour drive to our next ministry so please be praying for what is to come.
Everyday I look around at the mountains or at the architecture and just think to myself (and sometimes out loud) how amazing our God is and how blessed I am to be on this journey. I encourage you to soak in your environment.
