Prayer was the breath and the pulse of our life there.
I have never witnessed a church becoming – being – the way the Body of Christ was purposed to be more than this one.
These people care about talking to God. Hearing from Him. Lifting the needs of the church up to Him for hours each day, and expecting Him to answer.
These people care about the widow, the orphan, the poor, the needy. They clothe the naked and feed the hungry and visit the lonely and extend grace to those hardened by all things encompassed by a life that just isn’t easy. They want to see the real gospel spread to every inch of Romania and beyond, and they are taking strides in faith and deed to make that happen.
These people are always on the move. They serve, they love, they go, go, go. And yet, at the end of the day, they always asked us, “What can we do for you? How can we pray for your needs?”
I have a few things to learn about loving God and loving people – for real.
Pastor Raul Costea (as shown below, with his wife Ana) was one of the people who made my time there. He challenged us in our faith and biblical knowledge. He inspired us to listen for the voice of God. He made us actually think about what we knew – and what we didn’t. He is a man of love, joy, relationship, and legitimate discipleship. Not afraid to share his faith with strangers. A friend to all. He once went to another village to show the Jesus film and share the gospel, and he ran into “the worst man in the town,” who was known for abusing his wife and hating Christians. Raul was intent on building a relationship and sharing the gospel with this man, but every time he returned to the village to meet with him, the man hid in his house or in the woods, and threatened to kill his wife if she gave him away. Finally, he met with Raul – and was saved. He has now become the St. Paul of his village, pastoring a church and working with Raul to start kids’ clubs throughout the community.
Kevin and Michelle Weppler (below) are two of three Canadians on the mission team with Hope Church. Michelle disciples several pre-/young teenagers in the community and leads a couple of groups that meet Saturday afternoons to bake, make crafts, sing worship songs, pray, and learn Bible stories. She has been teaching a few girls for up to three years, and at only 12 years old, they are ready to start raising up disciples on their own. Many of these kids are the only Christians (i.e., “repentants”, as opposed to Orthodox Christians) in their families. One boy’s abusive, alcoholic father remarked to Michelle about the change he saw in his son – how happy and joyful he had become since attending her group. He was so affected by the boy’s changed demeanor, the generosity of the Wepplers, and conversations with the father of another one of the kids, that he has since stopped drinking and abusing his son.
So many more stories to tell and highlights to share…
We spent a total of 36 hours traveling from Grand-Goâve, Haiti, to Drăgăneşti-Olt, Romania.
We wore donated clothing all month because we didn’t bring giant coats and snow boots in our packs. We spent one Sunday afternoon dressing up in the most ridiculous clothing and doing a “gypsy photoshoot” at different sites in our town.
Out of everyone on my team, I became the most fluent in Romanian. And, by fluent, I mean that I knew at least ten words/phrases.
Biblical discussion and theological questions took up hours of our days. Raul assigned us Bible homework and probed into our respective pasts and plans for the future, and we each wrestled on varying levels with truth to be discovered. We questioned, we answered, we grew.
A group of us were kicked out of a village apostle-style by the Orthodox priests and the cops for putting on a kids’ program in public (i.e., teaching them fun worship songs, playing games, talking to people about Jesus).
And if you want even more… Check out the Mosaic diaries.
Rachel Williams
Matt Blair
Tyler Hamilton
Rebekah Clark
Suzanne Bradford
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