Let’s go through some of the photos that have been collected while in Romania since they have yet to leave my camera roll.
Gun Gun has made his fair share of appearances here in the mission house. He has been passed around either to comfort, to be a pillow, or even to mess with me. I absolutely love my dog and I knew being away from him for 9 months was going to be challenging but having a piece of him with me makes it all the easier. If people know one thing about me they at least know I have a dog named Gunner and love him with everything in me.
Craiova has a park on every street corner it feels like. There are parks specifically for the youth, ones with a playground, or ones with benches for the elderly. A lot of times we would end up in a park doing ministry cause that is where everyone normally would hang out. I have prayed over women in this park, met 3 ladies from greece, talked to a man who wasn’t having a good day, and evangelized to anyone who were sitting on a bench. The park that is shown in the picture is one of my favorites. Every tree is lit up with lights and has little lanterns hanging from the branches. Walking through this park at night reminds me of walking through my town covered in christmas lights and it fills me with so much joy.
So this is a funny one. Matty B is someone I immediately became close to at the beginning of the race. He is born and raised from the good ol south, with an accent that feels like home. It is a running JOKE that we are the best world race couple haha, but this man has become like such a brother to me. It is sweet when the lord blesses you with someone who gives you peace and comfort like that of your own family. He is a brother that you can pick on, fart in front of, and talk to about any and everything.
You all know that I love to be active all the time. I started out running here, but quickly I decided it wasn’t what I needed in this season. I then started rock climbing with a group of friends almost every morning before ministry instead of running. I learned how to belay, lead climb, and lead belay. This season I am trying to be active while looking to have fun and not just to be the best. It has been hard, especially when I fall, or have been trying a route but not succeeding, or just so afraid to fail I don’t try. I am growing in finding joy in the small things, whether that means finishing a route, getting one more move done, or just looking at how I have gotten better over these 2 months. Learning something has been so fun and obviously challenging at times, but I am so thankful for the things that climbing has taught me during this time. 🙂
I have spoken about how ministry is quite different almost everyday. We did a lot more evangelism the first month, just trying to create relationships with the youth and eventually get them to youth. The second month, as a squad we have done a lot of one on ones with the people we created the relationships with, and have done quite a bit of random tasks just around the church and in the office. It has been a new concept I have had to learn that ministry can look like vacuuming, taking out trash, passing out flyers, planning youth nights, or actually evangelizing. This ministry is very different from Guatemala but something I will cherish forever.
MY TWO PEOPLE! Throughout Romania I have grown closer to these two. The father has given me the opportunity to lean on, be vulnerable with, comfort, mess around with, and just have these people to do life with. Laughing with them is a must and crying with them just happens. I have never watched more movies, lost what are the odds when I am not even playing, shared soured strips, and played cribbage with anyone else. I love these relationships and am looking forward for the many more memories we are going to make.
Every night for the past 2 months a group of us have sat on two extra mattresses in a hallway, squeezed tightly together ready a book of the bible a night. It has been a time of sacrificing sleep and time doing other things, and just a time of doing something radical for the father. This time has been filled with countless of jokes, moving to let people through and sleeping people. Oh how I am always going to remember the sound Matt’s voice reading in the king james version.
These are just a couple of pictures and stories of my time in Romania. It has been a sweet time here, while also being a really hard time. There has been a lot of challenges along with a lot of growth. I am super thankful for this ministry and what Romania has brought us. Thank you Jesus for an unforgettable 2 months!
