Loving Ukraine Refugees Through Hospitality & Prayer

Hey everyone!

It’s true! We returned to Romania to partner with Hope Church once again, as they have DOUBLED their outreach to care for Ukrainian refugees! Please watch this 2 minute video my friend, Dana, made to get a peek at how we are ministering to refugees on a day to day basis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emOlI8MrAjE&t=5s. Ya’ll this email is PACKED WITH IMPORTANT NEWS! Scroll to the subtitles that interest you! 

 

Refugee Ministry

We organize convoys once a week with food supplies, hygiene supplies, clothing, etc., that travel to the Ukrainian border, for the Odessa region.

We host long-term refugees in Craiova and cover lodging, food, medical assistance, and immigration documents (help plan their future travel across borders). Hope Church has 8 total houses JUST for refugees. We do everyday life with them, such as walking around the town and going grocery shopping. We clean the houses daily! Sometimes they insist we eat supper with them!

Weekly we go to the food bank and collect donations, bringing them back to the church office, and walk with the refugees there to choose what they need. If they need something the church office doesn’t have, we sit down together and come up with a grocery list, and try to get these additional items from the store for them using the budget the church has for each family.

We help transport refugees to the Hungarian, Serbian, and Bulgarian borders as they are passing through Romania to western Europe (church staff drives). Refugees who are staying short-term like this, stay in our transit house (which is where I served :D)!

The Power of Prayer

As I prayed for our time in Romania before we arrived, I felt the Lord said to me, “I am going to invite you into many things. Be ready to say, ‘YES!'” When I arrived, I felt this immense joy, boldness, hope, and faith come upon me… which increased my capacity to minister to others! There was an immediate opportunity to join some refugees going to the Hungarian border the next morning, and I said, “Count me in.”

That evening I got to meet the two families who were going, and was careful to remember their names and ask God what to pray for them. He gave me specific things to pray for each person. We had received training for Trauma & Refugee training the month before, so I was careful to memorize the steps for interacting with them (so as not to overwhelm them).

The next morning we left at 6 AM, and for the first couple hours I talked about light-hearted things with the woman named Elena beside me. I noticed the carry-on sized bag they had with them. That both her and her husband were sharing the same pair of reading glasses. We used Google translate, and I noticed that every time I handed her my phone to reply, she was shaking so much she dropped it. I learned she was a Christian. Then I asked, “Would you like to talk about what happened?” Her and her husband had been in a bus when it started getting shelled. They were on the way to the train station.

She started crying, saying, “I feel so afraid. I feel scared all over again!” I asked if I could hold her hand, and said, “Your sadness and fear is welcome with me. What you are grieving is such an important matter. It matters so much what you lost and went through, and God has seen it all and catches all of your tears (Psalm 56:8). That must have been so scary, and yet things are going to get better.”

We sat in silence for awhile. Then I said, “Jesus wants to help you carry this sorrow. He says, ‘My yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11:30). Are you ready to ask Jesus to remove your fear and ask Him to help you carry this sadness?” She said yes. I held her hand and prayed for Holy Spirit to come with strength to help her cope with what she experienced and endure her journey ahead. I prayed He would replace her fear with His perfect peace. I prayed He would help her carry her immense burden of sorrow.

I asked, “How do you feel now?” She had ceased shaking and crying. She said, “I felt and understand everything you prayed–thank you. I feel a great mental relief.” Wow God. He is so good. He comes with healing and strength. Then she slept peacefully for the rest of the ride.

When we stopped at a gas station, my teammate gave me a bracelet that had four images on it that represented the Gospel. I showed it to Elena, and explained what it meant. “On your journey you’ll probably meet more people who are suffering. You have hope to offer them. You can testify about the comfort you have received from God, and invite others to be comforted and healed by Him. Would you like to do that?” I held out the bracelet to her. She said yes, and put the bracelet on. I saw everything that God asked me to pray for come to pass on that van ride for each person. He knows their heart best and deeply wants to meet them where they are at! 

God Invited Me Into His Romania Dream

On that van ride, I had my second “wow” moment (my first being my first month in Romania). God gave me His eyesight for how He is moving here + His immense love for these people, & I saw how the equipping I went through the past couple years (pursuing training in Christian Counseling, Inner Healing Prayer, Discipleship, & my own faith journey) was able to meet that unique need. It was so fulfilling!

God has been confirming in many ways that He is calling me back to Romania. Too many ways to list here. He speaks differently to each of us, yet we each know His voice. I have felt this significant joy & yet heavy burden for the lost in Romania that cannot be explained but from the Holy Spirit. Then I allow Him to open & close doors as I walk forward, & so far no door I’ve tried to walk through here has been closed for me… God consistently opens them.

He’s given me favor in getting to serve at the transit house (where refugees arrive straight from Ukraine & only stay a couple days; I get to be the first face they see when they arrive at the train station and say goodbye to them), praying for healing & peace for the refugees, connecting & having spiritual conversations with local youth (+youth I befriended last time coming out of nowhere & reconnecting again), local people randomly stopping me on the street to talk, getting to go to a local Roma village twice & share my testimony at a Roma Sunday service. God closed the door for team leading with World Race, since they have changed their program focus & next squad is leaving too soon. God closed the door for me to return to China, as their ‘rona restrictions still make it almost impossible to enter.  

God is pursuing these people hard. So many Romanian people are seeking right now. As soon as I realized what God was doing in my spirit, I felt led to begin fasting lunch on my Sabbaths to worship and pray for His will. That if He is truly calling me here long-term, that He would deeply mark my heart with His love & burden for reaching these people. And help me to walk in step with His spirit as I make decisions moving forward!

Tiff and I with Adrianna & Denisa!

Anthony & I shared at a Roma service with Daniel and his wife Daniela.

Melanna and Arinna helped me hang up the clean sheets!

Previous refugees picked me flowers & thought of me when they saw this fun toy, and bought it for me :D! 

I got to know Lydia & Artur while they were staying in the transit house. She texted to let me know they arrived in Germany and that it is beautiful there!

This week is our last week serving on the World Race!

I’ve cherished all of it! It still feels like week 1, day 1 to me… and frankly I would just keep on serving abroad if I could! June 11th-23rd is a bit of a final celebration: we were given freedom to travel anywhere in the world (using our own money)–so I’m going to Egypt and Morocco with some squad friends to share the Gospel with people we meet and see some grand sights! Final debrief is the 24th-30th at the missions base in Atlanta, GA. Then, HELLO KANSAS CITY!

I’m moving to Kansas City!

I haven’t committed to a church family since college ended, since I’ve been living in so many different places since then. I have 8 different churches that I attend and enjoy fellowship with their congregation! God has impressed upon me that community is priority when I get home, so He’s led me to immediately move to Kansas City and join International House of Prayer’s (IHOP) church family!

Living in Holton would not allow me to have job opportunities nor community with others my age (as I learned in 2020 the r e a l l y hard way). I rebuke loneliness & working 3 jobs at a time, in the name of Jesus! I will be traveling to each of these churches to share and catch up once I have settled into the states. It’s going to be a celebration and I can’t wait to encourage you all!

Prayer Requests:

*Hope Church Fundraising: both transit vans are in need of servicing + the 8 refugee houses rent is currently unable to be met this month. People on my squad have volunteered to do various challenges if Hope Church’s fundraising goal is met. Check out their social media for more information!

*Prayer specifically for an apartment with other strong Christian women, near IHOP, that’ll let me rent on a month by month basis–needed by the end of next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Prayer for God’s will and clarity about when He needs me to return to Romania and for how long. 

*Prayer for the two youth I am doing healing prayer with next week–that God would reveal Himself to them!

Invitation:

*If you feel led, please fast lunch on Monday with me to worship and pray for these prayer requests!

Hope Church Social Media (if you want to donate & see what’s happening):

https://www.facebook.com/hopechurchromania

https://www.instagram.com/hopechurchromania/?hl=en

Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouraging comments! Thank you for remaining near and dear! It’s been a wonderful adventure, and it won’t end with the World Race! I’ll post another blog about Egypt and Morocco before returning to Kansas. Please comment below, I love hearing from each of you! <3