Cluj, a county of Romania, reawakened in me a love for mission’s work. I knew this love had gotten sidetracked with life. But after taking this trip, the mission’s fire burned inside of me again. As a part of a team from World Harvest Church(WHC) in Roswell, Georgia, I had an opportunity to see God move through the Romanian people as we served them.
In preparation for this trip, my sister gave me a few words of encouragement. This was a first! She told me to be open for whatever God may have for me to do. She also stated that the trip was going to be easier for me than I would realize. Weeks prior to going, my gifts began to stir within me. I began dreaming and hearing from God. Everything I had learned in my bible training classes at WHC would be used.
Thismission trip, however, was not without its physical and mental challenges.
I travelled weekly for my job, so flying was not difficult. However, the seven hour time difference was a challenge. My first three nights resulted in three to four hours of sleep per night. I shared with Pastor Mirek of WHC my difficulty sleeping. He responded, “your clock needs to be reset.” Right there in the Starbucks line he prayed for my biological clock to be reset. That night and for the remainder of the trip I slept like a baby. There was much work to be done, and I could not have done it within my own strength: We ministered to children of all ages. We played games, told Bible stories, hauled bags of clothes, sorted clothes, rearranged shelves of clothing, and labeled bags of clothes in a partially completed outreach center and dorms for future mission teams. There was some construction to be done on the Depot, (the Future Dorms for missions teams), as well as a couple of home visits to teenage mothers.
These are the two most important revelations I got during this trip. A heart of gratitude is like precious gold and, there is much, much more to learn. My twin sister, Charlotte and I were touched by a simple act of handing out wet wipes to the Gypsy children. You would have thought we were giving away gold. They loved them! You must realize most of their lives consist of growing up to be able to pick through the dump for recyclable materials to sell. By reselling these items, they are able to earn money for their families. To see the reaction to the wet wipes was priceless. My second favorite moment was getting to share in the pouring rain, in “The Stables!”. The experience felt like a scene straight out of the Nativity story. All we needed was a manger, a star and baby Jesus. It was really profound to be in such a setting and to see the responses of the children as well as the 3 women who attended.
This was a wonderful trip for me. God used this mission trip to develop some of my spiritual gifts. I was also reminded to just love and serve. Serving God’s children, laboring with and beside a wonderful ministry, “Yielded Vessel”, was a privilege and honor. The host families were truly the hands and feet of Jesus! What an absolute joy it was to be a part of their ministry and home for a week. AMAZING!
