Christmas in Craiova

I wrote this next blog on December 17th, right before Christmas. Our squad was still living in Craiova, Romania, and we had many ups and downs throughout our time in ministry. Looking back, I am so thankful God brought us there, but during our time, we were battling heavy spiritual warfare, making it difficult to simply get out of bed each morning. We were in the streets everyday evangelizing to a post-communist community who have a closed heart to the name of Jesus. The people there are like little fires trapped inside a bubble. They have warm hearts, but you have to find a way to pop the bubble in order to experience it! Some people were open to conversations about Jesus, but many times we were rejected, ignored, laughed at, spit on, and even occasionally slapped for sharing the name of Jesus. During this time one of my fellow racers Banks and I studied Acts and became even more passionate about bringing the Gospel to the unreached. The more challenging it was to share, the more passionate I became! We saw how Paul was persistent in sharing the good news of the Gospel to the unreached, and God put in our squad a new burning desire to do the same as we travel to more people groups who have never heard of the name of Jesus.

December 17, 2022

When you hear the verse, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few,” (Matthew 9:37) it can be easy for a new missionary to get excited thinking, “I am going to the ends of the earth and will see multitudes of people come to accept Jesus in their heart. And as a new missionary myself, I thought the same. You hear crazy stories of revival where hundreds are convicted of their sin and desire a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, but more often than not, I see how people are satisfied living their life for themselves. My heart feels the weight of The Father, especially now at Christmas time, when He sent His one and only son to be born here on earth as a baby, in order to die on the cross for us to have everlasting life with Him. Tears well in my eyes thinking about how much God loves each of His children all around the world, and desires for them to know Him. He wants to give us good gifts. He knows what we are passionate about. And He was there for all the hard moments in our past and He wants to be invited into celebrating life together, forever.

My heart breaks for Craiova. In this town 0.5% of people are Christian. Orthodoxy and witchcraft are heavy practices here. There is more spiritual heaviness and weight in this one town than I have ever experienced in my life. Within the first week, I had experienced 3 demonic dreams but in all of them God showed up and taught me how to combat spiritual warfare. In the dreams I had no fear because I knew that the presence of the living God was with me and that no dark power could come close to me because of His great protection. At the time I had no clue that He was teaching me in my dreams for real encounters in the day. Many people in the squad were also being tormented in the night so as a team we pressed into intercessory prayer. We had a schedule for people to be up and interceding over Craiova every hour of the night for 6 weeks. We learned that our first line of defense is on our knees, seeking our Fathers face. We saw God move in crazy ways throughout the month, and I am so thankful He invited us to be a part of it.

My heart rejoices knowing that God loves His children in Craiova. They may not want Him, being influenced by a culture of distrust and corrupt religion. I understand how these children of His turn us away, threaten our lives, and mock our attempts to share the gospel, but I know that in each encounter with a member from our squad they are coming in contact with the presence of the Holy Spirit. God is sending Himself throughout all the world in different forms, no longer only a baby born on Christmas, but by His Spirit living inside of each of us Christians. What a privilege and honor it is to be a home of the most high God. When words fail, and I feel upset that I wasn’t able to have a deep conversation with the people I encounter, I can rest knowing that the Spirit is the one with the power to reveal Himself to that person. They have the option to choose God back, but am sure that God’s heart is for them, and I am just a shell of a body to move and speak as the Spirit leads. Please join me in prayer for our friends here in Craiova. Pray over my squad as we battle in the Spiritual, not flesh and blood. Pray for our ministry partners who share Jesus to their community every day of their lives.

Flash forward to March of 2023 as I am finally sharing this blog I wrote months ago, and it is amazing to see how much God has already done in the world the last 3 months. You can see on social media everywhere you go the revival that has been happening back home in the States. Praise God that His words are true and, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few,” (Matthew 9:37). God is always at work and searching the earth for people to say absolutely yes to everything He asks. I encourage you to ask God what things He wants you to say yes to. Revival is happening right outside your door, and He wants you to be a part of it!

Please let me know how I can be praying for you!

Also please pray for my team as we head to Biga, Turkey tomorrow to begin ministry!