I cannot believe I am at the end of month 7 of the World Race! It has flown by! Here is a look at my month (March) in Zrenjanin, Serbia:
Exhausted on our travel day to Serbia
3 generations of ministry leaders. Our contact, Jovica, is on the left.
My teammates, Ashley and Majil, hard at work planting seeds
The team and I went to Novi Sad on our free day
Home visits and prayer
The girls spent a lot of time in the kitchen this month preparing food for a group of Serbian students staying at the church while the guys on our team did electrical work in the new church building.
Our contact went to Belgrade to run some errands, so some of us got to go with him and explore the city!
One day this month, we were asked to help garden. Well once we got to the site, “gardening” was actually farming. We were asked to plant rows and rows of vegetable seeds in a huge field. I actually really enjoyed being outside and planting. On the race, one thing I have experienced is getting to plant spiritual seeds, but not always getting to see the fruits of the harvest. In some ways that can be frustrating because we do not get to see the results of our efforts. Still, we have to trust in the Lord and pray that the seeds will fall on good soil and will produce fruit.
“Then he told them many things in parables, saying, ‘A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.” -Matthew 13:3-9
One of my favorite days of ministry this month was when we made home visits to a few gypsy families where we prayed for them and sang worship songs with them. These families did not speak any English, but we were able to sing a call and response song with them-Victory Chant.
Hail Jesus! You’re my King!
Your life frees me to sing
I will praise you all my days
You’re perfect in all Your ways
Hail Jesus! You’re my Lord!
I will obey Your word!
I wanna see your kingdom come
Not my will but yours be done
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
How wonderful you are
Hail, hail Lion of Judah
How powerful you are
At one home we even sang VBS songs, like Father Abraham, with the kids and they sang it back to us in Romanian. It was so awesome to be able to worship the same God in different languages and experience His joy.
My sixth month was spent in Targu Mures, Romania, in the region of Transylvania. Here’s a look at February:
We went on many home visits and prayer walks.
My friend Maria and I. We visited many gypsy villages and her family often.
We also went to the nearby universities and tried to initiate spiritual conversations with students and invite them to church. When the students were in classes, as a last resort, we ended up writing Bible verses on the chalkboards in the empty classrooms. Who knows how Jesus can use that, right? :)
A typical day of home visits and prayer with a gypsy family
I cannot even put into words how this family welcomed us and the presence of God into their home. I have never experienced such hospitality and kindness as I have on the race!
We went to an orphanage in Romania and got to play with, worship together, and tutor the kids in English.
We also were part of a Romania gypsy funeral procession. We made weekly home visits to an elderly man, who was dying, and he passed away while we were there.
We just arrived in Tirgu Mires, Romania a few days ago! My teammate Rebecca blogged about our crazy travel days. I couldn't have said it better myself.
This month in Swaziland, I spent most of my time with the kids at the orphanage. I love kids so it was such a fun month of ministry! I fell in love with Mataban, the cutest 5 year old boy who was the doppelganger of a young Denzel Washington. I realized that for me on the race it is so easy to love adorable orphans, but sometimes I find it so difficult to truly love the ones that are closest to me, such as my family or friends when they do things that upset me or people that I don’t click with or irritate me. This month I have been learning to love even when it’s hard-one of the greatest lessons I will ever learn.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
-1 Corinthians 13
Better late than never, here is a look at my month in Swaziland (January 2012)!
My team along with two other teams on our squad, stayed at and worked with El Shaddai, an orphanage in the hills nearby Mbabane, Swaziland.
I spent a lot of my time hanging out with the kids. I painted the older girls’ nails. So fun!
My squadmates, Francis, Maria, and Megan hanging out at the children’s playground.
Our beautiful view every day-God is soo GOOD!
The school that is also a branch of El Shaddai. We also did manual labor this month and painted the exterior walls of the school and inside the classrooms. This is a before shot.
Hanging out with Bosley.
Some of my squadmates leading worship at church.
Mataban and myself. He was my buddy this month!
We got the awesome opportunity to go on a mountain biking safari on our free day. So cool!
In the words of the great MC Hammer, we got to pray just to make it today.
Ministry this month is different than what we are used to. The first week in Mozambique, we experienced the national youth conference at a large church in downtown Beira. It was filled with speakers and worship. So encouraging seeing hundreds of Mozambique youth so passionate about God!
We also had the opportunity to be a part of a game day for the children in the community. Our contact and his brothers had invited about 75 children to their house to have games and fun activities, a Bible lesson, and serve them lunch. It was a great outreach and a chance to serve the children that will one day be a part of the future orphanage. My team and I got to put on a skit for them and teach them how to trust in Jesus.
Our main ministry focus this month has been prayer walks. Our ministry contact, Elias, has a vision to build an orphanage. So we have been walking to the land that will one day be the site of an orphanage for the children in the community that so badly need it. We have also been making home visits in the community and praying for widows and their families. Many of these widows are young, only in their 30s or 40s. They usually have many children, about five per family. Most have lost their husbands to “disease” which usually means AIDS. Because of this it usually means the children are infected with the virus as well. It’s heartbreaking to visit these families, but so rewarding to be able to pray for them.
This month I have been learning that not much in Africa is in our control, all we can do is pray. We’ve been learning to pray for everything and have been able to witness the power of prayer.
“When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” –Luke 11:1
