Friday (Week 3)

Today is our last day of ministry in Romania! I am not ready to come home at all. There is no doubt that I could live here. I love the people, country, language, and everything else. The only thing I don't care much for is the food, but who needs to eat anyway, right? :) I've been told that if you are hungry enough you will eat anything, so I can handle the food. Today we went out into our villages. We had a wonderful day at Samboleni. We did our same routine with them, but we spent a lot more one on one time with them. There was an older gentleman in the village that we had not seen there before. He just sat down and started talking to some of the men in our group. He asked so many questions about church and God. He and some others sat and talked the entire time that we held the children's camp. God was doing a work there. The man prayed to receive Christ that day!! PRAISE THE LORD!! My prayer is that he will be a light in that village. There isn't a church in that village, but I pray that he would be willing to host a Bible study in his home. Please continue praying for this man. As we were leaving the children today, they broke my heart as usual. The girls that I had grown attached to for the past two weeks were so sad when they found out we would be leaving for America in the morning. They held on to me so tight and wouldn't let go. They kept calling me "gypsy girl" in Romanian. They asked me not to leave and when I would be coming back. That is always the hardest part of missions. We go and invest so much time and love into these people, and then we have to leave with no promise of return to them next year. I can always hope to come back next year, but I can never promise them that I will see them again. I just have to go in faith that God will continue to mature the seeds that any of us may have planted. I know that any work that He starts He will finish. That's a promise from God that I hold on to.

My sweet and beautiful girls that I didn't want to leave. Lilliana, 7 and Adina, 8.

We went back to the hotel to rest up and prepare for our last evening in Tagu. Today was such a blessing. One of my friends that lives in America but is Romanian ended up being in the same city as us. When we found this out he had asked if he and a friend could come out to the villages with us. With the way Tagu had been going with so many people, of course we needed him to come. He could also serve as an extra translator which was a HUGE blessing! So, our friends Marius and Josh drove out for the evening to come to Tagu with us. Two side notes: 1) Ask me about how our church got linked up with Marius- it was a complete God thing. AMAZING! 2) Marius grew up in Romania where he was raised like most Romanians to be afraid of the gypsies. The first year we worked with gypsies he was amazed! He couldn't believe we would go there to work with them. After hearing our testimonies over the past few years, it is a complete God thing that Marius had the chance to come work with us with the gypsies. God used him in an amazing way!!!
We all went out to Tagu. There were people everywhere as usual. We started the children's camp and Bible study as soon as we got there. Everything went great! The children got to hear several Bible stories and the Bible study for the adults went great. People were being fed the Word, and that was our purpose in going. As the children were doing their craft, Marius noticed a group of older youth standing around. They felt too old for the crafts but too young for the Bible study. Marius decided to take them aside since he speaks their language and present the Gospel to them with the evangicube. This was SO beautiful to those who know what it means for a Romanian to witness to a gypsy, especially if they have grown up not associating with each other. He said that they had questions about being a christian. He told them his testimony and how with or without money he found happiness in God. He explained the hope that Jesus gave him in his life. Words just can't explain how special this moment was. I can't speak for Marius, but I believe that he knows God used him that day. I pray that it changed his and those teens' lives. As we left Tagu some of us prayed with those we knew were believers.

Marius sharing with some of the youth in Tagu:

They hated to see us leave, but they know that we will be praying for them. Please continue praying for the village of Tagu. It has come a long way from not accepting Americans in the village last year to allowing us to come out for several hours each day. There are new believers, and they need our prayer. Two youth specifically said that they want their village to change, but that they didn't know how to change it. They see the sin and evil in their village, but they feel like no one will listen to them. These girls need our prayer and encouragement.
What amazing things God has done in Romania over the past few weeks! I look forward to hearing what He does in the future!