3 Events in One Week

My time in Romania for ministry concluded with three events in one week. Which were all amazing especially because of this reason. We have 1 God existent in 3 persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) this is the best way I can explain it. I bring this up because of the reason I stated and the number 3 seems to be very prevalent within our squad. The song Rest On Us by UPPERROOM also seems to be our anthem. It was awesome to see God work within those 3 days and the days leading up to the event.

The first event was the youth event (young adults) with people between 18-30 years of age. I ended up having great conversations with people who from Turkey and Kurdistan in Romania. One person started asking about if I ever converted someone from Islam to Christianity. Told them I can’t do that and I haven’t done that. Only God can shift your heart. He’s the one who brings people to Him. He then asked what the church believes on homosexuality. Told him that some churches in the United States are for it and some are against it because Biblically it is a sin. I didn’t know how to go about with the conversation personally because it was unexpected. I wasn’t expecting anyone to ask questions about the Bible and my faith in God on month one of the World Race (which is why it’s always good that we be ready to give an answer and bring them to Scripture). I also enjoyed talking to my new Kurdish friend who invited me to their place for Kurdish tea, unfortunately I couldn’t go then because of having to be back at a certain time. I should of messaged him to finally get Kurdish tea; all the days were just moving so fast paced I felt exhausted and couldn’t keep up. I will definitely fly myself out in the future to try some Kurdish tea with him because I want to honor that new found friendship and build a stronger friendship with this man.

The second event was the cultural event where I got to learn some Turkish from someone from Turkey and learn more about their culture, and I talked with people from Syria. Syria is one of the countries the Lord has called me to since freshman year of college. So the fact that I was able to talk with people from Syria brought me much joy. Two of us from the squad also answered questions about the United States. Regarding learning Turkish and currently being in Albania I never realized so many use ‘ba-o’ for bathroom; of course spelled differently depending on language (In Albanian it is spelled as banjo).

The last event was the women’s event. Of course I wasn’t there but saw some of the setup and also helped clean the kitchen for the event. Some cooked the food where we were staying at to bring to the women’s event. So myself along with two others cleaned the kitchen. The event involved getting to know the women there in Romania, cooking them food and I believe manicures were involved as I saw nail polish there. While the ladies were at the women’s event, the rest of the men were playing soccer with those we met at the young adult event and cultural event (fútbol- Spanish, futbol – Albanian, fotbal- Romanian, Futbol- Turkish, gog- Kurdish, kurat alqadam- Arabic = translated via Google (I don’t have options for different keyboards on my phone to type out the Arabic on how it’s written)).

All in all, these events were very life changing in so many ways and I now have new friends from other countries which I am very thankful for. I’m excited to see how the Lord builds these friendships. I am going to try my best to be better at building friendships. Other than the main reasons of joining the World Race (share the Gospel, help others in need, and discover my calling into ministry), building friendships/relationships is a huge factor as well as I struggle at building those friendships/relationships. I say this simply because of my own experiences and how I feel about those experiences (I’ve been ghosted by a lot of people whether intentional or not). Glory to God for all that He has done already this past month and a half!