Closer to his heart with Welcome Home Team to Romania

A journey to never forget. After 3 Preparation evenings we couldn't wait to go! The unity we experienced in the preparations has remained throughout the journey. Serving each other and the very nice, spontaneous worship times have set the tone for a fantastic week. In the morning, God already spoke what he wanted to do that day and evening. We were really amazed at what God was doing through us.

Practical
Together we were able to distribute around 300 food packages. For more than 100 we did the shopping ourselves. What an experience to arrive at the checkout with 17 full shopping carts!! Thanks to the enormous generous donations from you as our supporters, we were able to buy this and distribute it with love.

Spiritual
One bag with groceries is a real survival kit for the Roma families, the widows and singles. But it striked us that the people in the mountain villages knew that we had more to offer! Many came for prayer. They don't have money for the doctor/dentist but they know of the God who can heal! We watched toothache disappear, a man who was partially paralyzed by a cerebral hemorrhage was able to walk again, several people told us that they felt a "very warm stream" in the place where the pain previously was. There was faith, expectation and hunger for the gospel. Many people and children wanted to receive God in their lives. We were allowed to pray with them and many gave their lives to Jesus. A pastor, who is the spiritual leader of these mountain villages, will follow up and teach the people further. In addition to the shock of poverty, there was also so much love and joy, both with our team and with the Roma. By the way, these were some mountain villages around the idyllic town of Sighisoara, where we stayed this week with David and Rodica McGregor and their daughter Sabrina.

We were also allowed to speak in the Roma congregations in Bachnea, Coroï and Laslau, share testimonies (each team member), lead worship and pray for people and children. What an honor to be in their midst and how deeply we were touched in our hearts by God, but also by the beautiful people and the passion they sing with... nothing compares, so beautiful...

Comments from Team Members:
"So much respect for the people who work there. Everyone should take a mission journey once in their lives, it changes you while it supports someone else."

"I knew pretty much what I was going to find and it is still hard every time to smell, see and feel the poverty. It looks like a scene from a movie, so unreal, but it is still their daily reality."

"Romania was a really big adventure for me, together with this team and with God. I will never forget this experience."

"The outreach to Romania has done a lot with us. You know before you go that there is poverty, but when you see it with your own eyes... the' houses'in which the Roma live, sometimes flanged together with some wood and pieces of sail... that was heartbreaking. We have given love, but also received so much."

"What a wonderful week! This was my first outreach. I have seen a lot of poverty, brokenness, pain and sadness among the population. It touched me deeplyn. But we've also seen miracles of God and the joy of the children as we came! We had a really nice team, we started worshipping God together every day, praying for each other and for what we were going to do that day."

"This journey has changed our lives. We went there to give love, but our view of the church has also been refined again. Another piece of God's puzzle. We have changed forever. This was our first trip, but not our last! It was a privilege to come along!"

"During this trip God gave a huge breakthrough in my private life. So special, I went into obedience and actually thought: what do I have to give, but God ways were higher than mine... He has given deep recovery to me and also to some other team members, He has given direction, fueled desires, adjusted vision... "

Thank You Lord for this special week! We brought our "5 loaves and 2 fish"... (John 6: 9
It is up to God to multiply this to more than enough for everyone we have met!

David & Rodica, our host and hostess