I never came to Romania to find any acclaim. My single purpose was to know him and make him known. I came to be the hands and feet of Christ and a barer of justice…which is why I was so humbled by a service we went to in the country.
As far as country churches go, this one was big, boasting of about 150 members. It had been announced that Master’s Commission Romania was bringing a bunch of Americans, and that we were all going to be speaking (good thing we all decided to prepare to say something just “incase” we were asked). Shortly after arriving we started worship…and then they did something special…
The kids all got up on stage and began to sing, “Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus in my heart! Bless you Jesus, Bless you Jesus…” in English! I couldn’t stop smiling. I am a foreigner in their country, and yet they sang a song in English for us Americans. This was the first time I had ever seen this here and instantly felt so humbled…I just wanted them to have the best from me. Later they sang “Our God is an Awesome God” in my language, and once again I was almost overwhelmed.
You know, the Bible says that if you give a cup of water in Christ name to a little one, you’ve given a cup of water to Christ. Well, I’m not Christ but I am one of his little ones…and in that moment I felt all of us joined as one big family. Brothers and sisters from across the world, joined as one body before his throne. What an awesome day it will be when we all stand in the fullness of Christ’s Glory together as unique creatures yet one people!
However, the main reason I wrote this blog was to brag about the amazing things God does. So I want to say this: How humbling it is to be a glove to Our Father’s hand! On Friday afternoon we all set out to give our lunch to one hungry person in need, and share the gospel of Christ with them. We were all so excited and ready to set out! Two hours later of walking, though, and unable to find a single person in need of a lunch, I began to feel discouraged.
The first year with me, Sorin, like me was ready to be love, light, life; but, our feet were beginning to get tired. However, it was in that moment, that we decided we’d keep walking until we came by one person who needed a meal! 30 min later, we met a traveler, getting ready to head to another city.
After we had determined to keep walking, Sorin had looked at me and said, “Let’s go to the train station. There are always people who are asking for money and food there!” As soon as we got there I saw a man in dirty tattered clothes, slumped over with his beanie pulled over his eyes. I felt the nudge to go and made my way to him, asking, “Hey man? You hungry?”
In Romanian culture it’s polite to reject a gift to see if that person really wants to give it to you, so he told me no. Me being American, though, almost just left…but then I felt the nudge to talk to him. So I obeyed and asked if I could sit down and talk with him; asking him about where he was headed, his life, and family…and that’s when he said yes, and began to share with me his heart of grief.
In that moment, Sorin and I got to be more than just a sandwich on legs, but instead the arms of comfort. We prayed for his travels, his family, and when he found out that we had a personal relationship with God, he said, with much eagerness in his eyes, “Yes, Yes, I want one!” You know Romanians know they’re sinners and in need salvation (if I had a quarter for every time I heard a Romanian say “Repent” I’d be a rich man), and that religion just isn’t enough. The harvest here is ripe, and ready…and it really is a beautiful thing!
Please continue to keep the souls of the hurting and lost in your prayers and that God would continue to give us all the tools we need. Also, soon we’ll begin to tour! This is one of the biggest evangelical outreaches we’ll be doing across Romania. Right now we’re in the creative process of it, and we need God’s creative hand in it. Please keep tour in your prayers, not just for creativity but also for those we’ll be reaching out to.
Now for the punchline:
So, when we went to the country church, none of the girls could wear makeup and had to be in proper attire. Risking death I took this photo of them:
Lol, I’m just kidding. Defying death was never apart of the equation (but convincing all the girls to let me put this up on my blog...)
Anyway, God bless ya’ll and thanks again for all of your prayers! It truly is an honor to partner with all of ya’ll in spreading the gospel across this nation!
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