“Therefore I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her vineyards and make make the valley of Anchor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as the time when she came out of the land Egypt.” -Hosea 3:14-15
Coming to Moldova I did not know what to expect, but I always go with the mentality “okay God, let’s do this!”
We arrived late at night and we met our contact Padre Dan and he brought us to the church and the mission house where we would be staying. In the middle of no where and about an hour and a half walk from civilization. We do have neighbors, but everyone does not speak a lick of English, so my team and I have a joyful time in just playing charades and trying to say what we need and understand what the people we are helping…
It is quite complicated to say the least.
This month it has been hard because on the Race we are use to helping with the church service and having fellowship with the people we are serving along side with. But here we attend the mass and there is a lot of standing, knealing, and standing and praying in Russian.
No one speaks English, except our translator and even he is still growing and understanding his English. It is hard because I love getting to know the people in the countries that we are working with, or even having some kind of common ground, but there is nothing.
So I asked God what is the point of this month? You call us to the nations, and you call us to the great commission, but what about here? How is the Great Commission worked through shucking corn and just being out here in the middle of no where.
During this time here it has been a lot of quiet time, though we have been spending time as a team going through Listening Prayer, the book of Hosea, and just playing games as a team. I really have fallen in love with this team because it truly is a Safe Haven. Even while we are doing stuff, I kept asking God what is the point of this month…
“I brought you into the wilderness!”
Okay I am reading Hosea with my team so “of course” you are saying that. And every single day that phrase has been said to me. So one day I just said I am getting tired of hearing that phrase, what in the world does it mean….
“You hear my voice, you know me! I am hear and in the wilderness let me speak to you more and more! Let me show you true healing…speak to me, I know what’s on your mind and heart. Why are you afraid to say them. I am comforting you! I am bringing you away from the things that you run to…home, internet, games, and even people of your squad. I know you! I know the hurt that you have kept inside so long. Beloved, you do not need to be strong for me, and you do not need to have it all together for me. In every season, I LOVE YOU!”
So the Lord has been doing exactly that. I looked up at the beautiful Moldova hills, and His beauty is there and it is true. Though in my mind I have it together, I am still as broken as the next person. Though I do have God, and I do love spending time with Him. Some days I will get bored and play my nitendo ds, but it stopped working as soon as we got here in Moldova. Then with no internet I can not just run to my friends back home, which is the tempting thing to do. I miss them, I miss them a lot, and I want to know how they are doing and to let them know I love them. Even the comfort of splurging on food that is just around the corner.
We are really in the middle of no where, and what a time since I have been reading the Torah and so much of God bringing His people through the wildreness to a promise. And I know He is doing just that….
He’s fulfilling a promise.
