It was a cloudy day in Bankya, Bulgaria when I begrudgingly began to repack my backpack for debrief into the following month. My heart was torn to depart due to the love that had grown in my heart for the beautiful people I had met. It had very much become home to us there in that cute, small town. As much as I didn't want to leave, my excitement grew for the new journey to Romania.
We hopped on another bus, and 12 hours later we arrived in Brasov, Romania. This is probably one of the cutest towns I have ever been in! The streets were filled with little shops, cafes and people. I was in my happy place. There we spent the next few days having debrief. Basically, this is when our leaders and coaches come into town to check up on us, pour into us and iron out problems as needed. It is also a time for our whole squad to come together as one.
Over these few days, I had many one on one dates with some incredible people. Learning more about their stories, sharing my heart, praying for each other and enjoying the community that God has placed us in. We met with the leaders, received their advice and encouragement with open hearts. There was joy and there was laughter; there was discomfort and there was a push to go further. Learning to live together in true love and community is no task for the faint of heart or for the easily offended. It takes courage to make the choice to love those around you despite the vast differences they may have from you. It takes self control to go against the grain of gossip and actually approach the person themselves. It takes guts to address issues and humility to see the error in your ways. All across the board – living with people is hard work! But, this is the life God has called us ALL to, whether you are on the World Race or not. I am thankful for the lessons I learned over the past week and for the relationships that were strengthened.
After debrief we boarded a train to Bucharest and then another train to Draganesti-Olt. Here we spent two days in orientation with our squad contact, Raul. Today, we met our team contact, George – he is the pastor we will be working with as a team. We will have the opportunity to serve in many different capacities this month. For instance: helping widows with manual labor, street ministry, working in kids camp, assisting with administrative needs of the local church, building relationships in the town and much more. I cannot wait to see what God does here with our team.
I am ready to jump into month three full force! I am excited to see God take me to deeper levels with Him and for Him to take me into more intimate community with my team. This is the first month we are alone, just us 6 and I couldn't be happier to get to know them more. I am thankful for the five incredible people God has placed me with. I love and value each of them. The greatness in them pulls me to a higher standard of living and pushes me to never stop chasing after ALL He has in store for me.
Let's GO month three…bring it on!
