The Lord’s pursuit in Craiova

Ministry in Craiova has been absolutely incredible! We continued to partner with Hope Church Romania. Just like in Draganest-Olt, every morning we worshipped and prayed together as a squad. Raul (our ministry host) shared with us his vision and goals for Craiova which we prayed over alongside our own personal prayer requests. After prayer, Raul equipped us for ministry by sharing his wisdom with scriptures and asking us thought-provoking questions. We would continue social media ministry then do various activities and events in the afternoon and evening.

Hope Church has a huge heart for the Roma community. Roma is the largest ethnic minority in Eastern Europe. They are the region’s most misunderstood, most persecuted, and maligned minority. Throughout our time here in Craiova, small groups within our squad would take turns going into Roma communities near the outskirts of town. Before we drove there, we unloaded fruit boxes and crates of dessert from trucks, made an assembly line, and put them in grocery bags to pass out to the Roma families. Another time, we passed out clothes to the Roma as well. Going into these communities were very eye-opening! Although the living conditions were not the best, the kids were overjoyed to see us! They just wanted to be in our presence. When we sang songs in English with dance moves, they tried their best to sing along and copy our dance movements. They were so full of energy and very free-spirited. I could tell that they all just wanted to be loved. We had the opportunity to share/act out bible stories and play games with the kids, then our ministry leaders would pass out either fruit/dessert bags or clothes to the families. I loved sharing the Bible story of Peter walking on water with the kids and briefly saying afterwards of how much Jesus loves them and to not be afraid to call on his name when they are afraid or need help. I met a missionary at a game night that we hosted at the church and she told me how she actually grew up in a Roma community. She shared how she has a passion to bring education and the Gospel into these communities so the Roma can know Jesus and have a better life. I was very excited to hear this! It really touched my heart how much the Lord is pursuing the Roma! 

During the nights in Craiova, we had the privilege to host and lead a women’s event, worship nights and games nights at the church. It was really cool to see my squadmates step into leadership roles to plan the games to play, create a worship team and host an amazing Beauty for Ashes (women’s event) that allowed the local women to connect with each other and the Lord. In order to provide awareness to these events, we made flyers and passed them out all around town. Hope Church’s heart is to love people no matter where they are in life. Hope Church’s goal for this year is to share the gospel with 1000 people and to have at least 8 discipleship groups! With that goal in mind and a compassionate heart, we listened to the Holy Spirit and was led by him to pursue the ones that He had for us. The following are the people we encountered that the Lord pursued…

Beatrice and Eliza

On our first outreach day, myself and 2 other teammates met Beatrice and Eliza (coworker) sitting in front of the pet shop where they work. Beatrice (who is a Christian) is very sweet. She has a kind heart and she hopes to go to college for medicine. She desires to provide medical care for the elderly. I noticed that Beatrice had a tattoo on her right arm that says “feel the fear and do it anyway”. After she explained what it meant and how she moved alone to England and worked there for awhile, I encouraged her a bit sharing how brave, bold and determine she is. Before leaving, I prayed for her dad who needed healing of a heart condition and for her future. I also prayed a blessing prayer for Eliza’s 2 year old son. I actually had the opportunity to see them again. Around the time the Ukraine-Russian war started, I asked about how they felt about the situation. They both expressed hurt, confusion and frustration. So I offered to pray for them on the spot, for peace and God’s power to move and to touch their lives during this situation. They were very grateful for the prayer.

Dania and Aisha

These two girls are sisters. They both are attending the same university to become doctors! I also met them during our first outreach day with my 2 teammates. They told us that the previous world race squad that was here before us met them and invited them to a movie night. So cool! We invited them to a worship night! An hour before the worship night started, a few of my teammates met up with the sisters, their brother and friend to get to know them more. Dania shared her heart with Talaya and I. The sisters were raised Muslim and still discovering what they believe, but they came anyway to the worship night! During the worship night, I felt called to pray and prophesied over Dania. She felt so touched by it and almost to tears. Lindsey, one of my teammates, asked her after worship how she felt. Dania said that she loved the worship night so much, and this was the first time in years where she felt God’s presence! Come on Holy Spirit! So powerful. Thank you Lord for your pursuit over them and pouring out your unconditional love.

Johnny

One day, my teammates and I carried these huge flyers referencing Matthew 7:13 to a flea market. There Talaya and I met Johnny standing right outside his shop. He is not a Christian, but he knew some of the Bible. Talaya and I invited him to a game night that evening. I had the honor to pray for him and encourage him at his shop before we left. Later that evening, he came to the game night! What’s the coolest part is that he ended up coming to every event the rest of that week-including multiple worship nights, bible study, another game night and even church the following Sunday morning! WOW! I asked him the other day, “Why come to these events, what motivated you to be here?” He told me that evening on the day I met him, he felt this voice inside of him telling him to “Go”! He wanted to obey that voice and that is why he came! Thank you Holy Spirit for your pursuit! Johnny has an incredible story. Some years ago, he had a really bad heart condition in which the doctors told him that he only had a slight chance of survival and if he survived, it would take him 6 years to be fully recovered. But praise God for his healing power because he is alive and well and his recovery process only took 5 months!! Johnny carries so much wisdom and he loves to share what is in his heart. He has a passion to help people change from the inside out-like a counselor, to see lives transformed and changed to who they truly meant to be. Johnny shared with me a powerful testimony of growing up being bullied. Years ago, someone beat him really badly. But, Johnny did not fight back. He showed that guy unconditional love and forgave him. From that incident, the guy that beat him actually changed his life around and found Jesus! Johnny told me that to this day, that guy tells everyone about Jesus! I pray that the Holy Spirit continues to pursue his heart and just like what happened to that guy, for Johnny’s heart to be open to receive Jesus. 

Estera and Andra

Estera (20 years old) and Andra (17 years old) are sisters. Talaya and I invited them to the worship and Beauty for Ashes events at the church. After explaining about the worship night, Andra said that she always wanted to go to something like that. That’s when I asked her what their faith background was and they proudly said Christian! They said that they been wanting to find a church home for a long time!! They seemed super excited to check out the church! Before we left, Andra said we made their day better!!! When Talaya and I arrived to serve at Beauty for Ashes, we were pleasantly surprised to see both Estera and Andra there! They told us later that they had a great time, and one of them had the opportunity to share their testimony during the event. A couple days later, the sisters came to our last worship night we hosted. They told us that they want to make Hope Church their church home! So cool how the Lord works! Yay God!

Monroe 

One day, myself, Talaya and another teammate was standing in front of the mall. We were supposed to meet a local guy that I met few days prior during evangelism, but he ended up not showing up, so instead we started telling others around us about Beauty for Ashes and worship events held at the church. We met 2 woman and we explained to them about the women’s event. When we shared that it was free, they got super excited. (One of those women actually came to Beauty for Ashes!!) While we were talking with them, a black man was walking around us ease dropping. When the ladies left, the man came to us asking about church. We told him about the worship night happening that night. He was interested and told us that he liked to come so we walked together to church. As we walked to the church, Monroe shared with us that he went to church growing up in Liberia. He is a Christian and wanted to find a church home in Romania while going to a nearby university to study computer science. After worship, he told us how much he loved it and he ended up staying for the bible study that evening. Monroe also went to church service the following Sunday, which he enjoyed. Just like Estera and Andra, Monroe plans to make Hope Church Romania his home church! I am so honored to see the Lord’s pursuit!

On February 24th, Russian attacked Ukraine. Immediately the squad been receiving calls and texts from family members and friends at home concerning our safety. Raul made sure to convey to us his heart about the situation. He shared how our protection and safety is his number 1 priority. Also, he told us that Hope Church Romania will be in prayer and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance is what to do and how best to help and serve the Ukrainian refugees.

February 28th, was the first day that Hope Church went out to the Ukrainian border to pick up the refugees to provide them with transportation to different countries like Germany, Austria, or Italy so they can stay with family or friends, or transportation to hotels within Craiova so they have a safe place to stay until the war is over. Hope Church Romania wants to provide physical, emotional and spiritual support for all the refugees!

Myself and some squadmates had the honor to help assist Raul with behind the scenes work for the refugees by writing encouraging notes to them, cleaning Raul’s car for transporting refugees, getting boxes of sweets and other food items ready and washing apples for refugees, making a pharmacy run to pick up medicine for Raul’s wife, and putting flyers in plastic slips so the refugees can easily find the drivers at the border. The squad also had opportunities to raise awareness back in the USA for monetary donations to help Hope Church Romania provide food, fuel and other resources to help the refugees as well as Christians within Ukraine. Since February 28th, Hope Church Romania has assisted 135 refugees so far in their journeys! If you feel led to provide monetary donations, please donate at the link below:

https://togetherformission.com/team/raul-costea/

WOW! I have seen so much of the Lord’s pursuit in Craiova. It is truly a joy to experience people coming together to serve, love and provide hope and restoration. Since receiving refugee training a couple of days ago, I am really excited to serve with the refugees and take part in what the Lord is going to do in Alba Iulia for the rest of March!