Oradea, Romania - July 13-23, 2006 |
After arriving in Oreada, I’m thinking to myself, “I’m in way over my head on this one. I can’t do this without God.” I decide that I will simply turn all fears and thoughts about failure to Christ and anything that needed to be done, I would do without hesitation. Sunday morning we head to a gypsy church and to meet some of the kids that will be attending the camp. We walk into this little church of about 20 Romanians, 20 Americans and 4 translators. Randy [Bullock] asks me to share, so I give a shortened version of my testimony. A small 150-year-old Romanian woman stands up as I return to the pew, points her finger at me and starts yelling something. I thought I offended her or something but the interpreter informs me that this lady just said my testimony touched her and she asked for God’s blessing on me. WOW, still gets me going just thinking about it. Camp was very basic, not near as nice as any camp I ever visited in the states. The bathroom had one toilet, one urinal, two showers that rarely worked, and two sinks for 60+ people. Outside there was a volleyball court, soccer field and a swing. The kids are not used to structure. Most gypsy kids are not permitted to stay in school past eighth grade and many of these kids were orphans. Randy said to simply love on them. It was a beautiful thing to see. Kids who were wild, throwing things, and yelling on Monday were easily controlled by Wednesday after a couple days of just putting your arm around them, sitting down next to them and smiling. Showing these out-of-control kids the unconditional love of Jesus Christ was extremely powerful, not just to them. It also made a powerful statement to me. I was all out there by this point, totally just running under the control of Christ. It was a feeling I have not experienced since becoming a Christian in 1999. One of the most amazing things that happened to me in Romania was while I was playing my drums. I knew before I left that I would be drumming during our worship time. In fact, I took my own drum set and ended up donating the set to the Bullocks’ ministry. I was worried that I wouldn’t know the music or be able to communicate with the band at all. But, I realized that music is a universal language. Actually worship is the universal language. On the way to camp, the gypsy children started singing a praise chorus in Romanian and the American team started singing the same song in English. Suddenly the language that was being sung didn’t matter, it was just worship. It was an honor for me to serve the Lord with my music and may all the glory go to Him! Honestly, I wasn’t that crazy about going to Romania. I even wrote in my journal on the plane, over the Atlantic, “What am I doing here?” I felt that it was a mistake to leave half of the family behind, even though they were in excellent hands! I felt that I should be here taking care of my “things” and preparing for home-schooling and all of the other activities that were looming on the horizon. I suppose initially I agreed to go to support my husband in this decision. I was told that everyone needs to experience it and it will change your life forever…blah, blah, blah. In fact, the first three days that we were there, I still thought, boy, this was a mistake! But then….we met the kids: 42 beautiful children from several different parts of Romania came into my life. Suddenly, I felt the Lord telling me, “This is why you are here, to show these children the unconditional love of Christ.” I felt that everything that mattered to me was suddenly insignificant. That feeling has not gone away. I felt that glorifying God in all that I do was the most important thing that I could ever do. That feeling has not gone away. I felt that ministering to children was what I was made for. That feeling has not gone away. So, when people say that going on a mission trip will change your life…it’s true. Even through all of my doubts and resistance, God was able to work through me in Romania, and I will never be the same. |
