Romania Overview and Arrival in Albania.

Hello everyone!

 

I know it has been since August 29th since I made a post! I wanted to use this as a time to update everyone. I want to be vulnerable through these posts. Life isn’t always easy and we go through hard things. However, it’s through those hard things where we grow closer to Jesus and learn to persevere. Where we learn this much needed dependence on him that we may have lost sight of. There were a lot of encouraging moments but there were also a lot of hard moments for me. There was so much good that came out of the hard things that I want to share.

 

I shared that we were in Craiova, Romania. I was in quarantine for about 3 weeks. I finally got out on September 6th. I’m going to start off by saying it was a very hard month for me. My stubbornness and flesh didn’t want to think about trying to see things from the lens of God. I was so disappointed about having to stay inside a property for almost a month. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to develop more relationships with others. I was frustrated that I had to sit. This is where I was noticing the joy being sucked right out of me. God wanted me to sit with Him. As an extroverted westerner, that was not something I wanted to do. I needed that realignment. I got caught in pulling the “woe is me” card. This was an important reminder that I needed to TRUST God. I had all this time to spend with him. It was a wrestle I had with Him. I needed that heart check. He had always used very hard things for SO much good in my life. He has always been faithful, even through the hardships. What makes it any different then vs. now? 

 

I got to develop these closer relationships with others in my “squad” in Quarantine. Some of the people were: Taylor, Anthony, Chris, and April. They were not on my team. I wouldn’t have gotten to know them if we weren’t stuck together. God used them to point out some scriptures I needed to hear. We went through the struggles of it all together. I’m so very thankful for that time now. I’m really thankful for that time because it brought me closer to my brothers and sisters in Christ because we went through it together. Most importantly, it brought me closer to Jesus. He was there through it all as He always is in my life. 

 

We ended up having youth/young adult, cross cultural, and women’s events. One of our events was a youth young adult event in Craiova. We were supposed to have about 20 people show up that we met in the streets and various places. We had over 40 people show up! Our cross cultural event had people primarily from Turkey, but we had people from other Middle East and Eastern European countries. We got to hear about their cultures and we got to share about our American culture as well. We got to have some fascinating conversations with Muslims about Jesus. For some background, Jesus is seen as a prophet. As a Christian, Jesus IS GOD. I did not attend the women’s event. Well for one, because I am not a woman. Haha. The women of our squad helped orchestrate that event. They talked about the importance of community with them and talked about Jesus with them. Some of these women have gone through some really big hardships in their lives. They had massages and actually had a fun time that night. A lot of them have had a hard life and it is very rare for these women to have a time like that. 

 

One of the biggest things that absolutely broke my heart from Romania is how people were viewing their lives. I heard some of the youth mentioned their favorite time of the day is going to bed because they got to escape the hardship of their daily lives. That absolutely broke me inside. Jesus wants them to know Him so much! I know I can not go each day without Jesus. They do not have Him and I just saw and sensed this hopelessness. I ask that those reading this pray over the people in Romania. There is this hopelessness in the people and it breaks my heart. Our ministry partners there need SO much prayer. Please pray over Together in Mission. Raul and his wife Ana lead this ministry. Pray for revival in the hearts of the people there and for Jesus to do a mighty work there. Pray for God to lead more people to serve there in this Ministry. I’m so thankful for my time in Romania. I got to meet so many amazing people in just a week outside of quarantine. I got to talk about my love for Jesus with others and my hope and my prayer is that the people I came across saw something different in me. My hope is that they saw Jesus in me, even if they didn’t know it yet.

 

“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.””

Matthew 9:35-38 ESV

 

We finally made it to Albania Last week (I think the 15th). We are having debrief. We have these about once a month. It’s a time of training, rest, and fellowship with people from other teams. Next Tuesday (September 28th), we are heading to our team’s ministry sites here in Albania. My team will be in North Eastern Albania. Albania is about 70% Muslims. Hospitality is very important in the culture here. People have been so welcoming that we have come across since we have been here. Overall, I have been doing very well this week! I’m excited to be with my team over the next month and getting to grow deeper with them.

 

I will post some pictures as well on here from my time in Romania and from my time in Albania. I will try to post more on Facebook as well when I can!

Prayer Requests: 

 

1. Pray for my team. We leave on the 28th for our ministry location. Pray for God to help me find ways to serve and love the people on my team well! I desire to be a light to them.

2.  Pray for Gods strength to get through the struggles to persevere. I know I cannot do it alone or under my own srength.

3. Pray for me and my pride in terms of accepting help. Sometimes I find myself trying to do things myself and not ask for help. I need put that silly pride away. They want to serve me and love me well.

4. Pray for God to soften the hearts of the people we will be around and pray for God to point out people I can pour into.

5. Pray over our health. We are all healthy. However, continued prayer over health would mean so much to us.