Already, I’m going into my last week of Romania. Soon, I’ll be in South Africa! Before I leave this place, I want to give you a glimpse into what life has been like here. Hold my hand, and let’s go on a walk together.
We begin at the Mission House, the beloved home that all 42 of my squad has shared. We leave its chipped, blue paint behind us as we open the stiff metal gate and step into the street. “Oh, hi Flabbigail!” The neighbor’s dog greets us every day, and we always return the gesture. Now, we start the walk to Hope Church for morning ministry. We pass the beautiful, old Orthodox churches and quicken our pace to escape the cold. After about 15 minutes, we arrive at the former-office-space-transformed-church. Don’t forget to close the door (we forget way too often). Now, find a spot and join the squad for morning worship and teaching. Then, we listen to some announcements. Hopefully, you remembered to repost on social media, or else Jackson will call you out. Finally, we clean, paint, and organize the church and office a bit before taking a break.
Team time is at the house today. Do you need to go anywhere on the way? If you want, you can go with some of the others to Maestros to grab a chocolate pretzel. No? Ok, we’ll head to Profi (grocery store), so I can buy food along the way. We walk past all the middle-schoolers who congregate at the store for their break. We buy sandwich supplies and we head home. We enter the kitchen full of at least 15 people making lunches, and we choose to wait a bit to eat. Instead, we walk up the spiral staircase to the third floor for team time. We talk, laugh, and share puns (we tease our leader with them because she doesn’t like puns). Around 2:30, we head back to the church for afternoon ministry.
Every afternoon is a little different. Maybe we’ll stay and help Raul (the pastor) in the office. Or, we’ll hit the streets for evangelism and see where God leads us. I forgot, today we have a one-on-one with a girl I met last week. We head to Starbucks at the “small mall,” and wait for our meeting. She arrives, and we talk about life and, hopefully, also about Jesus. We finish hanging out, and we go back home for dinner at 8.
We make it home, and the cooking and cleaning crew finished dinner already! (We have 3 different people stay home each day). We eat a delicious new meal, and we head to bed. It’s been a long day with a lot of walking!
I hope you enjoyed our stroll through a typical day in Craiova, Romania. Through all these walks and ministry days, God has been teaching me what it means to walk through life with Him hand-in-hand. I’ve learned that we often don’t know where we’re going. Just as I led you to each place you needed to be, God leads us to exactly where He wants us. He knows the best route and the perfect timing. Yet, we get to choose whether we enjoy the journey and whether we follow His lead. Honestly, I have noticed how often I complain and resist God’s guidance. He wants me to walk with Him, and I try to run. He gently pulls me forward, and I stubbornly dig my heels in. Nevertheless, He is so patient with me. He is so faithful. He never tires of being with me. He loves me so much. He loves you too. He wants to walk with you too. Nothing can stop Him from loving us. So, let’s walk with Him. Hand in hand.
