Month two of our journey was spent in Draganesti-Olt, Romania. It was “All-Squad Month”, meaning all 38 of the people on my squad were together, working with the same ministry.
All-Squad Month also meant that all of us lived together, under one roof. We ate every meal together and woke up and went to sleep together.
There was no privacy. Frankly, the only place to find privacy was outside, in the backyard, with the dogs.
There were two toilets and two showers for 28 girls to share and one shower and one toilet for 10 guys. The shower water was often freezing cold and when it was bearable, the temperature uncontrollably fluctuated every 10 seconds from blazing hot, to freezing cold. A consistent shower was not a luxury, but having running water and a physical shower definitely were!
It was so cold and the air was filled with so much moisture, that it would take our clothes 4 or 5 days to dry after washing them. By this time, they were usually still a tad damp and smelled of mildew. One time I made the mistake of washing all of my pants (all 4 pairs) at the same time; not sure what I was thinking.
In the night you could hear all the vicious fights amongst the stray dogs. And in the mornings, you might get woken up by the sound of clanking horse shoes, as the horse-drawn carriages made their way down one of the few paved streets in town.
I found All-Squad Month to be fun. If you were feeling social, you had 37 people to hang out with! And if you wanted to have some alone time, you simply went and laid in your bed with headphones in or read a book. One time I came across two guys on my squad who wanted to have a private convo and bro-time. In order to do this, they sat on the floor against the wall next to the kitchen and hid behind wet clothes hanging from the maze of several clothes lines. It was funny to walk by and see this. All you could see was a wall of wet clothing and then 4 displaced feet poking out the bottom.
While living in Draganesti-Olt, we worked with Hope Church. This is a great church that is comprised of many awesome people who tirelessly give their time, resources and prayers to see their community and surrounding villages come to know true hope.
Five days a week my whole squad spend 1-2 hours in worship and prayer in the sanctuary at the church. We prayed for: Pastor Raul and his family; the many missionaries who work for this church; for revival, truth and hope for Draganesti-Olt; for provision for the many social projects they have going on; for future partners and more workers; and we prayed for the many churches, organizations and individuals who continue to give towards this endeavor- that they would be blessed for being a blessing.
My team of six mainly worked with two missionaries of the church, named Alecs and Veronica (pictured below). We came along side them and helped them in any way we could. Day-to-day that looked different. Our main tasks were: house visits to peoples homes in the surrounding villages, playing soccer and/or ping-pong with the youth, teaching english, attending their kids clubs and youth groups and spending time in intercession.
Our team after praying over Draganesti on the hill that over-looks the city.
(Alecs is on the far left; Veronica is front and center.)
This was the first time I had seen living conditions that were drastically different from those in America. I was able to see them with my own eyes, not through pictures, an article or through the news. And not only was I able to see them, I was able to befriend those living in them and was invited into their homes.
My first week in Draganesti, I took a picture of a house that had many colored rugs hanging out to dry on their fence. I had no idea who lived there or what their lives were like. Little did I know that just two weeks after taking that picture, I would be going to this very house to talk to them about Jesus and would befriend one of their daughters. I love the way God works sometimes! Below is a picture I took of their house after visiting with this family.
One of my aunts recently told me that my Great Grandfather was Romanian and served in the Romanian Army; I totally took advantage of this in order to relate to the Romanian and Roma people. I used it to better connect with them, so that I wasn’t just seen as some privileged, American girl. As soon as I let them know that part of my heritage was Romanian, I could tell they were instantly more open to hear from me, and felt as though a little part of me, was also part of them.
House visits were one of the things I most enjoyed while working with Hope Church. I loved being able to hear stories about the locals lives; hearing about their joys and struggles and then sharing my own. Of course, they did not speak English, all of our communication was translated via the workers at the church.
I really enjoyed my time in this country. I loved being able to build relationships with some very special people and going into people’s homes to hear their stories and in turn, share mine. This community, church and staff will hold a special place in my memories and future prayers.
