So we have made it to the last leg of our journey. We find ourselves in one of the most war torn patches of land on earth. More wars have been fought in this general area than anywhere else and signs of that still exist. We flew from Istanbul, Turkey over the Black Sea into Bucharest, Romania. Upon arriving at the airport I came to find out they had lost my bag along with six other teammates. At this point in the journey it comes as no surprise but still doesn’t make for a good day. 

Romania is south of Ukraine and east of Hungary. Romania supported Germany during WW II and then became a communist state under Soviet domination. In 1974 Romania broke away to become ruled by a dictatorship until 1989 when violent popular unrest resulted in a democratic constitution. We traveled about seven hours west to a small town called Viile Tecii. During the travels we wound through beautiful forest and rock outcroppings that reminded me of the States. The village we are staying in is made up mostly of gypsies. I have never really understood where the gypsy people group come from or what race they comprised. I did a little research and found that originally gypsies migrated from the Indian subcontinent; they tend to have dark hair and skin and travel based on seasonal work. They have now spread around most of the earth and are dislike similar to the Israelites of the Old Testament. 

The gypsies that live in this town were born in Romania but frowned upon by the surrounding citizens. Unlike other gypsies, these in this community have homes and participate in the local economy. A man by the name of John Fracker started ministry here in 2001 and eventually married a local gypsy woman. John has become a prominent fixture in this community and is constantly hosting American missionaries. Some locals have tried to petition and block more missionaries from coming to this community but currently there are 105 Racers from three different squads. My experience in the last couple days is these people are hungry for the Gospel. The community is very conservative in both dress and behavior so we have had to mind the cultural differences but so far I think we have had a great impact on this town.

As for Team Koinonia we are staying with a Christian gypsy family. They have opened up their house to us and some of us are camping. We are living beside them and are helping with all the daily chores and cooking. Our ministry this month is to this family and then to the surrounding families in the community made up of both believers and non-believers. We are here for just over two weeks before we head to the World Race conference where all past World Racers are invited to reunite.