Tearing the Veil

According to global statistics, Romania is considered a "churched" country. Which it very much is; deeply rooted in Orthodox tradition. So the world views Romania as saved, in fact, overly saved. The standard jobs given to the missionary in Romania are orphan care and providing for the "poor" aka the gypsies. The truth is, we didn't come here to adopt all the Romanian orphans, or be the bread winners for a gypsy village. God didn't call us here to change the circumstantial atmosphere around us. God called us here to love. To show His redemption in grace to produce freedom in Christ.

But how do you loose bonds from misconceived ideas and made up truths? Time. Lots of patience and ample amounts of prayer. In Săbolciu, there is roughly about 140 people. Not very large by ministry standards, Romanian or American. Yet after nine months, we are still discovering new facets in the realm of village life. When we first began hosting Sunday services there, we followed a similar format to what there has been in the past. As our experience grew, we began making changes and testing out new formats. Adding a children's lesson, taking the kids outside, doing worship, having prayer, bringing the kids in, and when it got cold, bringing in an industrial heater. Sometimes it didn't work, and sometimes it would, for a while. What we were really missing were a lack of adults. Besides a select few women, most of the village kept their distance from venturing into the church building. Everyone had there own reason, but a common thread kept coming up, division. Division and judgement. The village splits very nicely in two very different halves. We still don't know the true reason behind this discourse, but we have watched how hindering it is. Through times of prayer and seeking out God's wisdom and guidance w were led to completely change our service.

When Jesus came and died on the cross, His actions caused the tearing of the curtain that separate the people from accessing God. Our steps reflect His example as we try to sever the customs an traditions that separate the people in the village from coming to Christ as they are. Now, we meet in different houses in the village, at least one house per side. It is a beautiful gift to watch the people get involved. Although church may be a humid, confined experience now, there is an abundance of community and togetherness. The hosts have been taking action an inviting their friends to service; and then they come. It's the most people we have had come to Sunday service. Our hope is to unite the village by teaching them about love and showing them through our actions. One day, the entirety of Săbolciu can come together in peace to give honor to their Creator.

Eight Months In

Perhaps the best way to start is at the beginning. In the dawn of June 2012, a small group of people packed up their very separate lives and moved under one roof just outside a small city in Romania. Throughout the past eight months of life and ministry together we have grown not only as a missionary team, but as a family. Of course, we still have rough spots, being human it is only natural. In the morning, we all drink from the same coffee pot and then spend a bulk of the day together. Whether that means in and about town or at Săbolciu [a gypsy village only a twenty minute drive from town] we desire to share God's love and grace with everyone we can.  Here we intend to share God's movement in the spiritual aspects of the mission field and in the daily mundane tasks that come naturally with living, i.e. grocery shopping or washing clothes.

Koinonia in Centru of Oradea

Perhaps Christian culture has, in it's own way, glorified the term missionary to mean something similar to how the term saint is looked upon. As something a select few can attain and only by the deepest measures of commitment and faith; so extreme that all luxuries are thought as something wrong. It has taken each of us a while to warm up to the label of missionary; but we  have come to experience that even in our shortcomings as humans, God can and does use everyone willing to be an accomplice in His work.  Soon after arriving in Romania, we were able to jump in and assist hosting church service in Săbolciu every week. As time passed, we began regularly heading out to the village during the week as well. First it was just to play with the copious amounts of children that seemed to be running about in the summer heat. As our bodies grew sore, we began to switch our focus to a more relational level with the adults. We know that consistency has spoken loudest to the hearts of the people there because our tongues have been slowly able to communicate. As we take the twenty-minute drive out, we often remind each other to have expectations for God to move and to not be disappointed if our personal plans for the day are changed. Just as we cannot plan out and know the future of a single afternoon, two years ago we could not have planned to leave the lives we had known for our present situation, living together in an under-the-radar Eastern European country. God has ultimately planned our paths and we can only ask Him to guide us to the next step. We are now blessed to be living very near the heart of Oradea and have been studying Romanian enough to make our way here and there without too much grief. God has brought us to a small church that meets in a coffee shop and there we have begun to sprout roots in good soil for Christian community. Our prayers have been to see through all the clutter of societal differences and gain true perspective in the lives of the people God has surrounded us with.