Blog

Explore My News,
Thoughts & Inspiration

Intro To Romania

hey lovely people! this blog is a catch-up and an intro into Craiova, Romania! i look forward to writing more about Romanian ministry as i get more into my time here!

okay so let’s get into it…

i spent two weeks in Houma, LA serving hurricane victims. it was challenging, but so fruitful. we worked tirelessly every single day to demo homes that were infested with mold from the water damage. our squad saw many salvations come from serving the home owners. one salvation dear to my heart involved sweet Cathy. Cathy is an older lady, native to Houma, who couldn’t live in her house anymore due to the hurricane damage. after samaritan’s purse worked on her house, she wanted to serve others that were affected in her town too. miss Cathy was raised catholic and believed that only her works would get her into Heaven. it hurt my heart that her compassionate soul didn’t understand the free grace of God. after some “just so happened moments” and as we spoke to her throughout the week, the Lord pressed upon Cathy, and she accepted Christ as her true Savior. serving at samaritan’s purse taught me the truth of Christ fulfilling our needs. being so tired at the end of each day, but always having enough strength and energy to get through the next day of manual labor was truly from the Spirit. seeing Him give us just enough for each day was humbling. it was so tender to see Christ through the elderly who still praised God in their broken house, through the sweetest lady, Bev, who cooked us wonderful meals each day, through the kindest team leaders, Keith and Joan, who showed the Father’s love to me, and through all the answered prayers.

after serving in Houma, we went back to the base in Gainesville for some rest, debrief, and processing before heading to Romania. we got to have a parent zoom and worship with them, so it was very sweet to see my dad on there to show him what we have been doing on the race. the whole week was just such a sweet time of soaking up all the Lord had taught over the last 7 weeks.

“Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:14-24

this verse is what i held onto as a prayer for my squad before entering Romania, but it’s also a description of how i see them living out the kingdom. it’s a verse i hold onto for conviction and encouragement.

now, before we talk about Romania, there was a travel day to get there… i was chosen with 2 others to be apart of the logistics team for my squad. this means that i head up travel days, spending, budgets, expense reports, planning, and all kinds of stuff. travel day from GA to Romania was my first real task with this job. i was slightly worried about directing 32 people through unfamiliar airports with covid restrictions and customs, but the Lord provided peace and comfort. it also helped tons that i got to see my Zack Austin <3 at the airport before getting into the grit of travel day. after a couple challenges, more “just so happened” moments, a 9 hour flight, a 4 hour flight, and a 4 hour bus ride, our whole squad finally arrived safely in Craiova, Romania. 

okay so now you’re at the part that you are probably reading this for 🙂 i will share just a little about the ministry here, so that i can write a more elaborate blog on that’s solely focused on what’s been going on here, but for now… the ministry going on here is amazing. the long term missionaries and Hope Church have such clear vision and are so intentional. it’s so evident that their hearts are for the lost and for serving, and they have plans set up to make their ministry effective. less than 0.5% of Craiova claims to be true Christians. Craiova is dark and heavy and full of witchcraft. Craiova has Romanians and Roma people (gypsies). the Roma communities are poor, like a 3rd world country village, and they are outcasted by the Romanians. Hope Church seeks out all people in Craiova. it’s my squad’s job to come alongside Hope Church in whatever way they need help. they assigned us our ministry based on our spiritual gifts (for example, gifts like evangelism, teaching, hospitality, discipleship) and i got the blessing of being assigned to youth ministry. the youth ministry (12-18 year olds) is newer to the church because they just recently got long term missionaries to be in charge of the youth, so they are currently still building up the program. my favorite ministry day is saturday, when we have english classes and youth group. our other ministry days look like praying specific prayers and having worship in the morning, and then evangelizing or seeking out relationships in the afternoon. the younger people in Craiova are so desperate for kindness. the goal is just to make relationships with others and get coffee with them or hangout with them and invest into them to show them the love of Christ and share the Gospel. it’s so beautiful to be apart of discipleship and friendship in order to show the Father. i can’t wait to share more about what has been happening here and some ministry stories!

here are some prayer requests that Hope Church has us praying for daily & a few from myself…

  • i love to go meet people in coffee shops, so pray for open hearts. most young people are very desperate for relationship, so they are usually glad to speak with me and then go hang out with me. pray the people i have been meeting with will start to see the value of the Gospel and their need for a Savior.
  • pray for Hope Church’s youth group to grow. they have a few that attend regularly, so we are praying for more. pray that the youth coming would be open to accepting Christ because very few have.
  • pray that more people would come to English classes because it’s a great way for us to get to know people.
  • pray for more long term missionaries to come stay in Craiova and partner with Hope Church.
  • pray for Hope Church to be able to plant more churches, especially in the Roma villages.
  • pray for the darkness. we’ve met people who practice witchcraft and claim to be friends with demons, so pray that the spiritual darkness would leave.

if anyone has any questions or wants to partner closer in prayer, let me know! i have limited wifi and im in a big time difference, so it may take me awhile to respond, but i’m always glad to talk!

love, raina <3

 

 

One comment

  1. Raina! What a privilege to pray for you in such a detailed fashion. Glory to God for how He is working!
    Lord Jesus, thank you for the work you are doing in Romania through Hope Church and this ministry. Thank you for Hope’s wisdom in using the team according to their giftedness, for preparing each and using them for Your glory. Thank You for the tough times where the team is learning to lean on You for their daily strength. We pray for the youth of Romania, and for the English classes, for word to spread. Bring people in and prepare them to hear the gospel and surrender to Your Lordship. Hold back the evil of witchcraft, even sending the evil spirits into the pigs like You did in scripture!! Save those who are bound by theses spirits and fill them with Your Holy Spirit instead. May they surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We pray You would provide more long-term missionaries, harvesters for the great harvest. Give wisdom and strength to the leaders of Hope Church. May Your Spirit go before them, behind them and all around them, protecting and empowering them. We praise You for being Lord of all and greater than any evil spirit! Greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world! May Raina, the team and all of Hope Church walk each day in all the power Jesus provides.
    In that Powerful Name we pray! Amen

Comments are closed.