As some of you may know already, I am planning to leave for Romania in February in order to work with Outstretched Hands of Romania for a year, but I hope and fully expect to stay as a long term missionary.
As I'm writing this, I have raised most of my needed one-time expenses like the cost of a plane ticket to Romania, a Romanian Visa, and enough to buy a plane ticket in the case of an emergency. For this I am very thankful, but I still need to raise $920 of monthly support. This covers living expenses as well as school tuition as I am working towards my Associates Degree in Biblical Studies through Moody Bible Institute -Distance Learning.
If you are interested in knowing how you can be a part of this mission in Romania, please leave a comment so I can conact you!
I have been asked often what I will be doing in Romania, and I want to make sure to answer all your questions here.
My main focus will be Children's ministry. This includes teaching kids from the Bible, helping them with their homework, and playing games and other activities with them. I look forward to this since I really enjoy being with kids and investing in them, helping them to become the people that God has created them to be. Children's minsitry ties directly into the work that Outstretched Hands, or OH, does with planting churches in this largely un-reached part of Romania. The vision of OH is to raise a generation of people for Christ who will take the gospel to yet others, and that begins with the children. Here is a picture of kids from the village of Caramidari graduating from kindergarten at the Hope Centre in June of 2014.
I also want to be involved in Pro-Life ministry through OH. They are in the process of beginning a mobile pregnancy center in a van with an ultrasound machine and a nurse who is certified in ultrasounds, etc. This way we can go to villages and counsil people, help them understand that abortion is the destruction of a human life, and stand alongside them in keeping their babies and raising them to adult-hood. This is a very important issue because 3 out of 4 pregnancies in Romania end in abortion. People don't talk about abortion much in Romania, and that needs to change. This link will show you a video about a woman who had an abortion and her story:
Pro-Life Video, Adriana's Story
I look forward to being in Romania again. I was just reminded this weekend of how many close friendships I have with the OH team and how much I love being there and using the Romanian language to communicate and interact with people. I still have much Romanian to learn, but Lord willing I will get there soon!
Lastly, I want to say that I know it is God who has put this wonderful and unique country on my heart. In March of 2012 the Lord began to stir my heart for this place, he has given me a love for the people and the culture, and he continues to put it on my heart. Not all of my experiences in Romania have been good or easy. The last trip I took in 2014 was especially hard for me because of some discouragement I experienced and some of the hard situations that friends of mine found themselves in. But I know that this is what God has placed before me, and I want to follow him in this.
