Roaming Romania

Bună ziua!

We’ve been in Romania just over three weeks now. It’s crazy how fast the time flies! I wanted to give a little update about who we are working with, what we are doing for ministry, and what life looks like here!

First, we are partnering with a ministry called Hope Church. Their vision is to grow and impact people with the hope of Christ on a local, regional, and international level. They originally started the church in Draganesti, Romania, a smaller village town, but have since planted 9 more churches throughout the southern part of Romania. They have a heart for this area as only .5% of the population is Christian.

The first 2 weeks we were here my team was is Draganesti working at the original church and with the staff there. It is a very small town and we would always see people that we had met walking around, which was fun! Our ministry was mostly focused on the youth in the town. We would spend most afternoons having conversations with high schoolers, getting to know them. We also helped with youth group through the church on Saturday night which was great! Our team enjoyed the slower small town speed of life and we had a lot of sweet time together in Draganesti.

Our second weekend in Romania our ministry host offered to take us on a trip to Transylvania to visit his home town and explore a castle. I really enjoyed the drive through the beautiful countryside and the Carpathian Mountains. It was also a great opportunity to talk to Raul, the founding pastor of Hope church, and get to know him better. He took us to his home town Alba Iluia, a very old and historic city. One of the highlights was visiting the thousand year old cathedral. The next day we went to visit Corvins Castle one of the largest castles in Europe! It was amazing to see more of the beauty and history of Romania.

Last week we moved from Draganesti to Craiova and rejoined our other team to help with ministry at the church plant there. Craiova is one of the larger cities in Romania and is also a college town. Here in Craiova every day looks different but a few things we have been involved with are: youth group, kids club, street evangelism, food distribution to Roma communities, and teaching English. We spend an hour in the mornings in intercessory prayer for the church and the city of Craiova and then spend another hour listening to a teaching from pastor Raul. This time is definitely a blessing and one of my favorite parts about being here.

Hope Church doesn’t only have a heart for Romania but also the surrounding countries. We saw this on Friday when we had the chance to go to Bulgaria. We spent the afternoon sharing the love of Jesus and encouraging other believers that we met. It was a great opportunity to get to experience what their international ministry looks like and get another stamp on the passport!

We have just about 2 more weeks here in Romania before we are off to Albania. I am excited and expectant about what the Lord is going to do during the rest of our time here!

B🤍