Hi friends and family!
These past few weeks have been a complete whirlwind and I am so excited to be able to share what I have been up to with you guys.
Upon arrival in Craiova, Romania, we were put under a quarantine. This meant that we couldn’t leave the confines of the house we are staying at and that we would be doing digital ministry for a while. Honestly, none of us were stoked.
Fun surprise though, I actually ended up loving digital ministry for the time I got to do it. I helped work on editing and transcribing youtube videos, sharing social media posts and helping grow accounts, and finding partnerships for our ministry.
Since Covid, many people haven’t been able to attend churches or are ashamed to go to a non-orthodox church, so social media is a great way to share about what Hope Church is and more about Jesus’s love for the people of Craiova. I was really so blessed to have helped out with this ministry, and it was such a great opportunity and outlet for me to do what I am passionate about, which is filming and creating.
Since being un-quarantined, I have been able to explore the city and build relationships with the people in it.
There are many facets of ministry here: Kids (ages 0-8), Youth (ages 8-12), Seals (ages 18-30), Craiova Project, administrative, etc. When choosing what ministry I wanted to do, I quickly chose kids ministry. I have always loved working with kids and it’s what I’m good at, so why not?! God said nope! There were not enough available spots on kids ministry so I went wherever the most help was needed, which ended up being on Seals, which is the evangelism group, that does anything and everything.
Evangelism has never quite been my forte, I had always thought of it as holding a big sign up and screaming, “You’re going to hell!” or something. That could not be further from the truth of what evangelism is. The priority of Seals team is to build relationships with the locals and it is beyond beautiful.
This means waking up every single day and choosing to pursue people, choosing to pour out love to people and going out of my way to see people for who they are and how Jesus sees them. I spend my days exploring the city and making connections with business owners and showing kindness to them, making friends in coffee shops, and just spending countless hours with the people we meet. The goal is just to show anybody and everybody that they deserve to be loved and sought after.
What the Lord has been teaching me through ministry here is what it looks like to seek and be sought after. What it looks like to be a true friend. What it looks like to love people looking for no gain in return and loving solely from the love I receive freely from Christ. He is showing me what boldness looks like and that I was created to be fearless.
The Lord truly is doing a work here in Craiova and it is such a blessing and honor to be able to be a light here and walk in unashamed fearlessness.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, I miss and love you all dearly <3
Dumnezeu sa te binecuvanteze!
