"..its friday, friday..fun fun fun!"

Why yes, it is indeed friday! How can it be friday already?! This past week here went by so fast. Today was our last day here in Romania and our free day.  It was delightful! We walked through a village museum with different house types of various regions of the country throughout the centuries. We all got a tiny glimpse of living styles and conditions over time. The most interesting house type I saw were the ones underground.
After walking through the villages, we ate at the Rard Rock Cafe (delish) and went to this giant park afterwards. The park had a lake, boats, skate park, playgrounds, and walking trails. It was a nice relaxing day after this week working with all the kids. This week has been incredible. My highlights: going to the abandoned baby hospital and cancer hospital. At the abandoned baby hospital  I got to hold  many babies and got to take a few outside. One of the little girls had never been outside before to play and it was so exciting to see her face touching the grass and seeing her surroundings! At the cancer hospital my favorite moment happened when I was playing with a little boy and in the middle of our game he ran over, gave me a HUGE hug and pulled me down to give me a kiss of the cheek. It melted my heart. There are so many memories over this trip that I will cherish for a lifetime!

-Susanna Lacy

Tiny Elevators

Whew! What I day.. What a week! I've just completed the last day on the "mission" field during my stay in Romania. I've spent the majority of my week in the Maternity House basically mothering babies and cooing and crawling and dancing and tickling and cleaning and play play playing. For all you mothers out there.. you know what kind of energy this entails.. Although our experience has not been quite what we expected out of tasks and has been exhausting in every way possible, it still has been a rewarding experience. It was definitely planned by a greater hand that we would be coming during this time..The mother's and staff members have been participating in a conference to learn parenting skills as well as skills on self improvement which means that all hads we needed to keep the fort down. Basically we've had plenty of time to get to know these babies. But spending so much time at this house we've also developed compassion for these mothers and their future. We've heard so many stories about how they ended up in this home and what kinds of lives they lived before; whether it be from a domestic violence home or simply becasue of their gypsy family. In Romania, if you are a gypsy, you're basically another species. Saying goodbye to the mothers and babies today was a bitter sweet moment. Although it hasn't been that long, it feels as if we've known these babies for months and have basically lived in this house as long. The mothers teared up said that we were angels sent to them from heaven to stay and love on them and their babies. I am however excited for the moms and their future,

Today was a different day than the rest i've spent during my stay. Instead of going to the Maternity home, this morning I went to a hosptial and spent time with the chldren who are cancer patients. We were greeted at the door with surprising smiles and hugs. They were so excited to see us! Most of these children have been in the hospital for weeks, were sick from medication, or were loosing their hair yet they were so cheerful and fun to be around. We came prepared with games and crafts but the mostly just wanted to talk or make pipe cleaner glasses. I left the hospital covered in stickers and marker and a big heart.

After lunch the time FINALLY came to go to the abandoned babies home. Most of what you see of Romanian cities is left from communisim times and so everything looks uniform, (all building, appartments, streets) dull and unactractive, and was thrown up fast. It's amazing being here and actually being able to see histrory laid our in front of you. I say all this to discribe to you the designs of the hospitals are exactly what you would see in old movies or imagine in a communism time period.. long white halls, no colors or signs of life.. kinda creepy looking. This abandoned babies ward was basically just this. We climbed up several flights of stairs over sleeping street dogs to a floor where we found the helpless victems. We spent the rest of the afternoon holding, feeding, playing, and praying over these poor poor babies. They were exactly what I imagined them being. Helpless. The magority of the babies that are abandoned are gypsy. This unfortunately means that although they may have some compassion for a baby, most nurses even refuse to show much interest in the babies. They literally yank them around, carry them like a dog basically, prop a bottle up to them at feeding time with undesolved baby formula, and lthen look at you like you're crazy for even being there. I changed some of the most terrible diapers today in which I found some of the most sickening things. The parents decide that they just don't want them and drop them off or they don't see how they can afford to raise a baby right now so they dump them at the orphanage untill they are old enouph to somewhat fend for themselves and take them back to live on the streets and lose all chances for a good life. Their are no abjections to this in Romania. Most of the children who go to the orphanage will never be adopted and will wind up going to the streets regaurdless. The best thing to do is to pray and love on them as much as possible while we can as well as support those who are actually working hands on with the issue.

They inhumanity that I have seen and only heard of has been more than anyone can bare. Only by God's grace can anyone hav ethe ability to confront these issues in the face and not be discouraged by the negative world this country is stuck. It's people like Sara the Saint who has become a new hero of mine. Sara is a 23 year old who graduated with her masters in North Carolina while she was still in the states. She now perminately stays in Romania by herself where she works with the abandoned baby ward as well as Touched Romania (the organization I've been working with). She has fallen inlove with these babies (whom she claims them all as her own) and only visits home once a year. All the money that would normally be spent by her parents for plane tickets she asks to be sent to her to go towards the babies or baby food, which the hospital doesn't pay for, or for other necessities, such as new baby cribs that are not lines in chicken wire and so low for them to fall our.When she's not spending all of her time with babies at work she's at home raising twins toddlers which she took on herself to spare from going to a handicap orphanage when clearly they are not handicap. They are two beautiful, healthy, playful, and fully functional gypsy babies. Sara is living a missionaries life because she loves the lord and she loves these babies.

For my first mission trip to Europe, I have definitely had my eyes opened and awakened to a whole new world

No words....

Shock. Emotionally numb. dumbstruck. those words cant even begin to describe how i feel at the moment. 

Today, i had the chance to work at the children's cancer hospital and at the abandoned baby hospital. Unfortunately, because of rules and regulations, we weren't able to take pictures, which broke my heart. 

The day started off at the cancer hospital. Two other girls and i went to a kids play room and did arts and crafts with the kids. I ended up "hanging out" with the older girls, they were between 8 and 15. 2 (Alex and the other girls name i don't know how to spell) of the girls spoke Spanish and began an instant interview about how i learned, where i was from and all sorts of things. Out of the group of about 4 or 5 (Alex, Georgina, Elena and the girls who's name i can't spell were the four who stayed pretty constant in the group) girls that would come and go, one of them was unable to walk. Her name was Elena. I didn't even notice at first because she was sitting down. She LOVED to ask me questions and didn't know much Spanish, so she asked the Alex to translate everything for us. She had the biggest heart i have ever met. She and one of the Spanish speakers wanted to play "Mexican games" with me. It was interesting having to adapt some games to make sure to include her, but it didn't even phase me after about 5 minutes. She and Alex wanted me to braid their hair and Elena made sure to constantly, along with the questions, hug me and give me endless kisses. 

Today, Elena taught me more about joy and happiness than i could have ever learned on my own. To see her smile about just having commonalities with Lili, the Spanish speaking American and to see that we could talk and things were normal when she knew they werent. She and Georgina taught me to speak Romanian (some words, like green {verde} are the exact same in Romanian!) and they were the two girls who were more visibly affected by the cancer. Yet the constant smiles and laughter they had whenever we talked made me question my own selfishness. It made me question my reasons for being upset at life and at different situations. On our way out Georgina hugged me goodbye and called me her friend in Romanian. She told me that she'd always remember me and Elena didn't want me to leave without getting my email to stay in contact with her. These two girls have forever changed my heart. I thank God for the opportunity to have met them, i can honestly say that they gave me more in the 2 short hours we had, then i could have ever given them.

In the afternoon at the abandoned baby hospital, it was surreal to be there. Most of the babies are gypsy babies and treated badly because gypsies are thought of so badly here in Romania. At the present moment, i have no words to explain or describe what i saw or how i feel about the time i spent there. All i can say is that i wanted to take those babies with me and put them on an airplane to take back home. 

God has seriously opened my eyes on this trip. 

Time flys when your having fun..

It seems hard to believe that today is Wed night. Tomorrow i'll get the chance to finally go to the cancer hospital and also work in the abandoned baby hospital. I'm exicted and also very nervous. I'm ready to pray and bless these children but i'm nervous because i know its going to be an emotional day. Other girls have had the chance to take them once at a time, not back to back. But God has a reason for it, and i'm willing and ready to give of my all for His glory.

It's just sad that tomorrow will be the last day at the maternal center and actually ministering through the Casa Agar. This time has been life changing in so many ways! 

I'll be home soon, but i will be taking Romania in my heart.

abandoned baby hospital

 

The first half of the group visited the abandoned babies this afternoon. It was an amazing and devastating experience. We held the babies, helped feed them, change them, pray for them, and take some of the toddlers to the park. Pray for the health and future of these babies and also pray for Romania's government to open up adoption. Even Romanians can't adopt these children.

God has a plan and it is going to be amazing and powerful!

Today i had the opportunity to meet and spend the day with one of the girls (Istera) and their mother. The mother, Daniela, speaks only Romanian and a little Spanish. so this time, after yesterdays event, i was able to communicate a little better, thanks to Jesus!
Being able to hear her story, of what she's been through and seeing the love she has for her daughter and for God was so uplifting! it was inspiring to hear her speak of how much she loves God and spend time with her.
can't wait to see what more amazing things comes this week!

You're the God of this city!

Our time in Europe so far has absolutely FLOWN by! We have been here over a week now, but it seems like we just arrived in Paris! So much has happened since then...God has blesssed us more than we could have ever imagined!
This morning we were driving to Casa Agar (Hagar House -- the central location of the Touched Romania ministry. 5 women and their children live there right now. The TR offices are also located nearby.) and the song God of this City by Chris Tomlin came on. It came on just as we were driving through the city of Bucharest, and that song has never been more powerful to me. I have listened to it hundreds of times before, but never really felt how true those words were. Here are the lyrics for the first few lines:

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You Are

You're the light in this darkness
You're the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless
You are


As we drive through this city in one of the poorest countries in Eastern Europe, it's easy to feel hopeless and pity for the people of this place. But our God is THE God of this city! He is hope to the hopeless! Peace to the restless! And we have this tremendous opportunity to shine His light into this dark place! That song has an entirely new meaning for me. Wow.

Please keep praying for us as we continue our time here! Please also pray for the ladies at Casa Agar, as well as the Berlin Team!!

Rachel P

CULTURE SHOCK!

So over the course of the last 24 hours, some amazing things have happened.One of them being that today was the first official day working at Casa Agar! the day started out, what i'd thought would be simple. Everyone (out of the 10 girls on the trip) were divided into different teams for different assignments. I had the privilege of being able to service Casa Agar by cleaning the office space. It was amazing to see how well everything runs! They seriously have the hand of God over them and its breath taking and humbling to be able to be a part of it.
We all came back together for lunch, which we shared with the mothers and children at the center. It felt like a big family sitting down. Its amazing to see how even though we have a slight cultural barrier, when it came to food and company, we're all the same! haha :)
after lunch i had the chance to go to a transitional apartment home. This is where mothers who leave Casa Agar are able to have an extended opportunity to save up and help in their transition from the shelter to the real world. I had the opportunity of playing with the children that lived at the apartment. The mother, son and twin girls all went to the par with some of the girls on the trip.
I have to say i experienced my first ever cultural shock. while helping out the twin girls i had the chance to experience what other cultures feel like. I always thought i had it easy. i know English and i know Spanish. i'm pretty much set in North America, not out of my comfort zone at all, but wanting to ask help from the Romanians and realizing i had no way of communicating with them was one of the worst and most eye opening experiences in my life!! There was nothing bad that happened (for those of you who are wondering).
What happened was that i was asked to take the twins to the water fountain. there was a little accident were one of the girls was startled and the fell backwards. there was mud behind here and her little flip flops were stuck in the mud! i felt so horrible because in trying to figure the water fountain out (not your typical American kind and there was a nob, i didn't know how to twist) a HUGE crowd surrounded me, trying to get water and obviously entertained by the girl who has a Romanian name and slightly looks like one too!
Lets just say today my eyes were really open in a new way. i thought there wouldn't be much for me to get outta my comfort zone. I'm pretty flexible for many things and it really helps that Romania reminds me a lot of Mexico, so i've had a pretty good transitioning. i guess not! But i'm excited and waiting to see what other ways and things Jesus is going to use to get me out of my comfort zone and open my eyes.

Buna!

Just completed my first full day in Romania.. I gotta say.. it's different. This place is not like anywhere or thing i've ever seen.. and trust me.. i've seen a lot of crazy stuff in the last week. Everywhere you go in Bucharest there is buildings and houses stacked upon more grafitti covered buildings.. Trash is everywhere. Naked babies everywhere. Gypsies and lost people are everywhere. It's heart breaking to compare where I've been to where I am now. I have to say, when I walked up the four flights of stairs above the local post office in the middle town I was not expecting to be surrounded by so many Romanian believers and the presence of the Holy Spirit. He IS and he WILL move the nations.

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting accuanted with the Hagar House for women who have been given a second chance to learn how to raise a child as well as get their life together. It's great how this home works to take interest in these young mother's lives and become their second family. They make sure they are equipped to find a job and keep in touch with them even after they leave the home.

We ended the evening with an amazing testimony/prayer meeting with the girls of the Romanian team. It's been such a blessing being able to bond with each of these girls. I know many anxieties have been put to rest as to not coming together as a team. The reason behind this is that we are all hear for the purpose of obeying our call to be Ambassedors for Christ. God has blessed us with great visions for a hopeful future for eachother and the mission we have set out for as well as encouragment for our sisters. His finger prints have been the path for our journies all the time.

I wish you all sweet dreams where ever you might be tonight.
<3 Bay

FINALLY!!

Today is our first official day in Romania! No hectic, crazy flight stories this time! Thank you Jesus! Although our missionary hosts have made it a point to scare us. Not in a bad way, just in a stereo-typical Europeans drive too fast and don't have/follow traffic rules.
We had the opportunity to go to an international service. It is AMAZING, refreshing and uplifting to know that we all worship the same living God, but to be able to see people worship, half way around the world, in a different language and be able to experience the spirit move in the mist of the service, it was so unexplaniable! I know what its like to worship in Spanish and in Mexico, but that never felt different, it was normal to me. But here, it was eye opening.
We are leaving in a bit to go to the maternity home where we will be working all week. Keep this week in your prayers! i'm so pumped, as i'm sure the other girls are too!

Romania at last!

Lots of excitement buzzing from the Romania team as we boarded our flights from Belgium to Romania! Our tickets said our flight was around 6 hours, but we soon all found out it was only around 2.5 hours and that sounded a lot better. Our car rides were very fun on the way to where we are staying- lets just say that one of the drivers was wearing a helmet and the 2 cars were racing. It was a fun ride for sure! The house is incredible and I am excited to sleep in our amazing beds = )
Tomorrow is church and orientation- its going to be a great week!!

- Susanna Lacy

Mission: Romania!

Our stay in Belgium is finally coming to a close. We have spent four amazing days here touring, experiencing this new, interesting country, and worshiping our Lord. We love it here, but we are ready to begin our mission in Romania. We have been abundantly blessed through many twists and unexpected turns so we are excited to see what else God has in store for us. We have been praying for the children, the young mothers in the crisis pregnancy home, and the patients in the cancer ward and hospital. We are also praying for the entire country of Romania.
Lord, we ask that you shed light on this country, fill their hearts with your love and compassion for each other. Use us as your tools, Lord. We give you everything. Allow us to be a perfect image of you, God, in order to reach the people and show them Your true love for them. We love you. We thank you for bringing us here.

Thank you, friends and family, for your support and prayers! We love and miss you all!

God Bless CTS!!

Wow! What an amazing few days it has been! We have traveled across the deep blue and made it to the other side of the world! We've had so many opportunities to experience many cultures, languages, foods, and just aspects of life. For all the moms who are reading, no worries are necessary. Everywhere we have gone we have been met with amazing hospitality and kindness. I'de like to take a few lines to express our thanks for those at CTS. Continental Theological Seminary was once a castle, housed German soldiers during wars, and was even a meeting place for Turks at one time. There is no telling what else this special place was for many generations of people. The students here come form all over the world and all have on thing in common, There love for Christ Jesus our Saviour. Thanks to all CTS students for your generous hospitality and help for preparation for our ultimate mission.

God's Amazing Plan

Hello from Brussels!

We are having an absolutely amazing time here already! We have already been blessed by some wonderful testimonies and chapel services. It has been a really eye opening experience for me because I have never been on a missions trip and I wasn't sure what to expect about being in another country. I have met so many awesome people of God and can't wait for the missions work in Romania. (Which we are leaving for in just a little bit!) Also I can't wait to see what God has in store for me and our awesome team. God Bless and keep your prayers coming! They are wonderful!

Love,
Rachel B

God's Plan vs. Our Plan

Hello everyone!
We are all having an amazing time so far in Europe! God has definitely been moving in miraculous ways. He has made a personal theme for me throughout our time here thus far. I am learning how much I have to trust in Him and fall into His arms - letting go of MY plans and making room for HIS plans. My church back home has been learning about the Holy Spirit and how He works in our lives, and as Richard spoke also about the Holy Spirit, there were some definite overlaps. This simple event was, to me, an evidence of how God is weaving together our lives so that a million little events can form a beautiful, God-planned life - just like the details of the Cathedrals in Brussels and the tapestries in the castle we visited! There are many other instances in which God has opened my eyes to little parts of His plan, and I hope to continue to learn to trust in Him and maybe have a few more glimpses of His perfect plan for my life!

April :)

On the Road again...Just can wait to fly in the sky!!

We have had an awesome experience so far. The presence of God has really been around throughout this whole trip. I love how the favor of God has shown up in every aspect of this trip. From our luggage to my allergies the Lord has continued to teach me faith and patience, that waiting on him is the best thing I could do. As we go into our specific locations (Romania and Berlin), I have huge expectations of what God is going to do through each of us. Jesus loves each of you and Please continue to pray for us as we reach out to these people. Thank you for everything. Romania here we come!! WOOT WOOT!

MELISSA

Day 4

It has been an amazing 3 days. During these 3 days, we have been preparing to depart for our separate countries. We are staying at the Continental Theological Seminary and have learned so much about the European culture that has been amazing. This morning Team Romania got a chance to learn from a student who previously did missions in Romania, did her dissertation on early childhood education. Her paper focused on Reactive Attachment Disorder in which kids have problem relating and the struggle to connect with others. I ask, … WE ask that you pray for these needs with us. Thank You.

P.S. This is Stephanie. I usually for get to include my name. lol. Remember to PRAY!!!!

God's Calling

In the past week, there have been ups, and there have been downs.
There have been moments where i could have had the right to cry out in frustration. Our flight was delayed to Boston, then we found out our flight to Paris was cancelled, that we MIGHT not all fly out (18 people) to Paris together, that they lost our luggage and we had to wait two days before we had it. There have been moments where i had the right to laugh, to smile, to worship. But in the last 24 hours i feel that i know have the right to say, that no matter what will happen on this trip or in my future, now more then ever i know that i have been called.
The one thing that has most impacted me thus far was hearing the president of the seminary briefly talk about God's calling. You see, i've waited all my life (in my Pentecostal upbringing) believeing that i'll confirm my calling when an Evangalist spits, prays and prophecies in my face. Hearing Joesph talk about the great commission and how we read it and hear it as a command "...GO and make disciples..." when in fact in Greek it, in reality says, '...AS you go and make disciples..."
its as we go out on our day to day basis that we fulfill God's calling in our lives. Its as, in this next week i go out and work with these orphans and young mothers, that i'll be fulfilliing God's Calling. sometimes it will be "glamorous", going out of my comfort zone and into a new country. other times it might be going out of my comfort zone at home and on campus to reach out to my peers while walking to class or eating in the cafeteria.
sure i've known that our lives are and should be a shining reflection of who God is, but it hit me today that my "majestic, ministerial calling" isn't as important to fret about as my "living everyday as a Christian" calling.
God is good and i can't wait to see how this will apply as i now go out to Romania tomorrow evening!

Bonjour!

Bonjour from Brussels!

We finally arrived in Brussels late Tuesday night…with no luggage! It was quite a journey. We made it through the Atlanta airport with no trouble and arrived at our gate to take our flight to Boston. Shortly after our arrival at our gate, it was announced that our flight would be delayed by two hours. This was no good, because we needed to catch our flight from Boston to Paris! After spending over an hour at the International Rebooking counter with Miss Margaret, all 18 of us had standby tickets for the flight to Paris. We went over and waited to find out if we would make it on the flight. Everyone stayed in good spirits and just enjoyed our time together. We did end up making it on the flight to Paris. While our bags did not make it, we did! In addition, Air France gave us each a pretty nice toiletry kit and they will reimburse us for up to 100 Euros (~150 dollars) worth of “necessities” – clothes, toiletries, etc. So it wasn’t so bad. After rescheduling our train tickets to Brussels, we finally made it!

Yesterday we enjoyed a day in the city! Belgian waffles are DELISH! It was a lot of fun, and definitely an experience.

Today we visited a castle and a chocolate factory. The castle was amazing…words cannot even describe it. And of course you know I loved the chocolate! AND…our luggage finally arrived today (all except one bag)! It was so nice to put on clean clothes.

Our time on the trip so far has been awesome. We have really gotten a chance to get to know each other. God has definitely been teaching us to rely on Him as our Provider. Having to wear the same clothes for multiple days (or wash them in the sink) can be kind of humbling. And relying on your bags to get from Boston to Brussels definitely took an act of God!

We will spend one more day in Brussels and on Saturday we will leave for Romania and the Berlin team will leave for Germany. Please continue to pray for us on this incredible journey. We know that this is not going to be an easy task. We are going to see and experience a whole new world that we never could have imagined. Pray for our protection, both physically in our travels, and spiritually for the things we will see and experience.

Thank you all SO much for your support! We will continue to update you as we can!

Break my heart for what breaks YOURS

I heard this song today, and some of the lyrics really stuck out to me in reference to our trip!

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

May 16th is HERE!! Congratulations Team!!

Are You a Pointer or a Leader?

   Jess and I once spent our anniversary with a homeless guy.  Now, don't think we were trying to be über Christian...it was completely by accident...

   We had tickets to the High Museum of Art for some sort of hoity-toity, artsy, dress-up and eat fancy cheese-type of event.  We put High Museum of Art into the GPS and when it told us "You have arrived at your destination, on...the...right", there was no High Museum there. We parked and walked to where the GPS said it should be and looked around downtown ATL.  It was no where to be found.  One of the horse carriage guys pulled up next to us.  We asked him if he knew where it was and in a bout of half-hearted (and completely clueless) courage pointed us in the direction of a homeless man across the street and said, "He can help you."

   He came over to us and said that he knew where it was and to follow him.  Now, let me pause for a second.  When you are going to an art museum to eat fancy cheese, you are pretty dressed up.  And as a homeless guy is walking me around downtown ATL, I am thinking that we are probably walking right to a band of homeless thugs who are going to jump me and take the wallet of a guy wearing a suit (to be sorely disappointed when they find out I'm a missionary, and thus, am broke.  The tickets were free and the suit was a gift, haha!)

   Back to the story: He leads us for about half a mile.  We talk about Jesus (he is really involved in a ministry for the homeless in ATL).  He talks about life on the streets.  He talks about how 'this ministry comes here and gives food out on this day' and 'that ministry sets up free food there on that day', and without these ministries so many people would be starving.  He then realizes that we are going in the wrong direction...

   We turn around and walk about a mile in another direction, only to find out that he had no clue where the High Museum was.  He asked someone in the barbershop, they didn't know.  At this point, I assumed it was no where near where we were so we started the long journey back to our car.  We talk about God and ministry and life and blessing the entire time.  It was wonderful.

   I think ministry looks a lot like this.  Often times I feel completely clueless where I am going and change my direction often...but I would much rather be the guy walking around clueless with people and talking about God, than the guy that just points people in a direction.  I read this from my devotion book this morning:

A true leader influences others spiritually only because the Spirit works in and through him to a greater degree than in those he leads.  We can lead others only as far along the road as we ourselves have traveled.  Merely pointing the way is not enough.  If we are not walking, then no one can be following, and we are not leading anyone.

Oh, and we found out when we got back in the car and re-GPS'd the High Museum, it was literally 8 miles from where we were...we didn't go.  We had already "arrived at our destination" that night.  We were suppose to forget about fancy clothes and fancy cheese and fancy art and walk around downtown ATL with a homeless guy, talking about Jesus, and learning a whole heck-of-a-lot about leading.  From a "take these people to the proper location quickly" standpoint, my friend failed miserably.  But, the Spirit of God was working through him to teach me a life-lesson I will never forget, so in this regard, he was supremely successful.

   On this trip we are leaving for in just 5 days, we may be completely clueless at times, but we will be walking with those in Berlin.  Are you content with just pointing people towards Jesus (or towards someone else that is leading), or do you want to lead people to Him?  It's time to start walking.  Pointing is easy.  Leading will not be.

Less than a week?!

Last summer, Richard Burke (Director, XA GSU) sent a message to our leadership team telling us about mission trips for the year. I remember Romania being mentioned and I immediately replied asking if this would be working with children. He said yes, and from that moment on my heart was in Romania. There was some talk of not having the trip to Romania, and I was absolutely devastated. I knew this was where I was supposed to go, and I prayed and prayed that it would not be cancelled.

In November(ish) of 2010, I submitted my application to be a part of the ReachEurope team and was accepted. Then began the fundraising. For a college student, $3000 seemed like an outrageous amount of money. I had no idea where it would come from. But God continuously reminded me how faithful he was. (You can read about it here.)

Still, May 16 seemed so far away. I had a crazy semester ahead of me and I thought we'd never make it. Sure, we talked about going. But it seemed like some far off idea, a date that would never arrive. 

Today is May 10. Which means that in SIX days we leave for Romania. 

The girls from the mission team in the
Bahamas (I'm the tall one in the
middle.).

The last time I went out of the country was in the 9th grade. It was also the last time I went on a mission trip. It was to the Bahamas. I'm not even sure that counts as leaving the country! 

I've never been on a plane for more than two hours, let alone across the open ocean. So yes, I'm a little nervous. But there is zero doubt in my mind that God has called me to Romania for these two weeks, and I'm beyond thrilled to see what He has planned for us!! 

Our flight leaves Atlanta at 7:15pm next Monday night (the 16th). Please be in prayer for us as we begin this awesome journey!! 

Thank yous Finally :)

So my name is Rachel Bridges. I know I am really late on the whole thank you blog, but I wanted everyone to know that I sent out personal Thank You cards to every single person/family who helped and supported me to go on this amazing trip. I don't want anyone to think I don't appreciate my family and friends and that since I didn't post on here before that I didn't say "thank you". But I still want to post (now that I figured out how... I am sort of technologically dumb lol). 

I am so excited to go on this trip! I am from Athens, Ga and I go to Gainesville State College. Even though I do not attend, I am a part of the UGA Chi Alpha. There was a group going on this trip from UGA, but unfortunately I was the only one who ended up being able to go. Even though I don't know anyone too well, I am super excited to make new life-long GOD LOVING friends through this experience! I already feel really close from meeting everyone at Collide. I know God is going to do marvelous things through all of us and I can't wait to see everyone in

  12 DAYS!!!!!! 

********

13 DAYS!!

We leave for Europe in THIRTEEN days! So soon!
Please continue to pray for us as we prepare our hearts
as well as our bags for this trip!

Well Hello There

I am a tad bit behind....

My name is Susanna Lacy and I am from Atlanta originally but now living in Columbus. I graduated from Georgia Southern University and moved straight to El Salvador and was on the missions field there for one year. When I got back to the states I did an internship with the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Atlanta for 3 months and now I am living in Columbus working with kids part time.

Some of my favorite things:
Laughing, chocolate ice cream, missions, reading really good books, kids, and playing volleyball

I can't wait to meet all of you awesome girls in person and experience this trip with each of you.
It's going to mark each of our lives. I am ready!!

Almost there!

                                                                                  Source: flickr.com via Jenna on Pinterest

We have finally reached the month we have been waiting for. May is here! Only 16 more days until we leave. 

Can you believe it? 

A couple of weeks ago I was praying about not knowing what to do, what to expect, how to share the gospel to the people and children of Romania. I was feeling pretty unsure of myself when God just told me to open my bible. So I just turned to a random page and God showed this scripture to me:

I take joy in doing Your will God, for Your instructions are written on my heart. Psalm 40:8

This totally encouraged me. God has placed the instructions on our hearts whether we know it or not. He has prepared us for what we will experience.


I'm continuing to pray for all of us, the children, the country. What visions, scriptures, words has God been laying on your heart this past week? Let's share!

1Thessalonians 3:9-13

How can we thank God enough for Romania in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of Romania? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see Romania  again and supply what is lacking in Romania's faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to Romania. May the Lord make Romania's love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for Romania. May he strengthen Romania's hearts so that Romania will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Praying! (Week 2)

Thank you ALL, again, for your continued support! As we enter the second week leading up to our trip, we are focusing our prayers on the individuals in our country (Acts16:6-10, Colossians1:9-11). 


There are three main points we are focusing on:
o For God to continue prepare our hearts for this Mission Trip, to open up His Word to us, what He wants to teach us on this trip, over flowing Love for Romania (Continuing last weeks prayers!)
o To give us specific vision of what we will be doing

o Colossians1:9-11 for the missionaries we will be working with and for ourselves


If you are reading this, please just take a few minutes to join with us in prayer for these things. The Georgia Southern ReachEurope team will be meeting Thursday at 7pm to pray -- we would love for you to join us in prayer wherever you are during that time!! 


Thank you all again for your support!

Join us in PRAYER! (Week 1)

To our many wonderful supporters:

Thank you all for your support thus far! We would love for you to continue to support us with your prayers! In these four weeks leading up to our trip, we are praying for specific things. We would love for you to join us in praying for these things! 

During week 1 (which technically ends today, but nonetheless), we have been praying for our specific countries (Romania in our case). 

We have been praying for these specific things and focusing on 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13:

o For God to Prepare our hearts for this Mission Trip

o To Open Up His Word to us

o To give us specific vision of what we will be doing

o To begin to reveal to us what He wants to teach us on this trip

o Our love for Romania would OVERFLOW like Paul’s for Thessalonica (vs.12)

If you're reading this, would you take just a few minutes to pray for each of those things? Thank you! We cannot do this without your prayers!!

Rachel P and the rest of the ReachEurope Team!!

Awsome Supporters

So I guess I forgot the whole introduction portion of my last post. :) sorry about that. (I wrote So Exciting!!!!!)

My name is Stephanie Holder. I would like to give a shout out to Trinity Temple (whoop whoop)! Thanks for all your support and for all your guidence throughout the years. Without your support I would not be able to be apart of this awsome experience I believe (and apparently you do too) that God has planned for my life.

Thank You to everyone who helped to support the ReachEurope Romania. Its nice to know that everyone has become involved in  one way or another. Now that the team has raised its budget I would like everyone to start praying. Please pray for us, for the children in the hospital, for the mothers there, for the families there, and for the workers there.

Wowzerzzzz

So I just got done reading the some of the "Important Stuff" for our trip to Romania. I honestly almost starting crying while I was reading the "Why children are abandoned" section. The mind set of their culture is so different from ours its amazing. I almost cannot comprehend some of the aspects of their life. If I had to live over their and follow every cultural outline of life I really don't think I could make it. I have all new respect for our missionaries and the situations they face. I KNOW that I will forever be changed after this trip. It will bring a brand new perspective to my life.


Thank you missionaries for all you do. And to ours in Romania, the Hagar Home, and all those who take care of the abandoned children a special thank you!!! God will definitely bless you for all you have done and in everything you will continue to do.

Thank You!

                                                             I am Bailey and I am Blessed.

It is hard to not be thankful when I think about how blessed I am. I am overwhelmed with the thought of how gracious my Father has been as I have prepared for this mission trip to Romania! I am thankful for the worderful supporters you have all been; you helped me raise over $3,000 in just a few weeks! By supporting me you are giving a contribution to the hands of Christ reaching out to Europe. I will continue to pray that I will be a useful servant as I travel to a new world as well as pray that many blessings will be sent to those who helped me get there in the first place.

I cannot comprehend His great love because it is uncontainable. I cannot count all my blessings because they are unimaginable.  I cannot express my gratitude because it is indescribable.

2 Corinthians 9:15
Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! 

About me!

Hey Guys! I'm Bailey Ann Floyd and I'm from Statesboro Georgia. I go to Georgia Southern University and i'm a Nutrition Major. I'm 20 years old and am going on my second mission trip to ROMANIA!!! So excited to do God's work with the little babies along my awesome team of laddiieesssss. WOOT!

Thank You!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[ or in Romanian: Multumesc]

Your kindness, generosity, and support has been overwhelming. Through this experience of raising 3,000 dollars, God has shown me that anything is possible through Him. If it is His will, it will be done! Because you gave your donation, I will be able to go to the part of the world that is the most spiritually dead and I will love on them and show them the love that God has for them. I couldn't do it without your donation!

You should expect to hear from me after the trip with lots of pictures and testimonies! 

Thanks again!

Jenna Secrist

Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Hey, I'm Lili

Hi,
I know i'm far behind on this blogging process but my semester has been pretty hectic. so here i go:
My full name is Liliana Saucedo but i like to go by Lili (its easier to keep track of). I'm a sophomore at Columbus State University, a psychology major and business minor. I was born and raised in a Spanish A/G church. i speak fluent spanish but people never assume that i'm Spanish.

This will be my first missions trip ever, and i am so excited to see what God is going to do not only in the lives of those children but also in ours! I don't know about you guys but I've been under a constant attack from the enemy, just as soon as i feel like i can breathe something new comes up. But i'm trusting that its because God has such a great purpose for us over there that the devil is just trying to stop me now.

I'm praying for each of you and i can't wait for us to go and do God's will.

p.s. i'm working an a thank you video that i'll probably post the link to later

God Bless :)

The Start of Something New! :)

Hello EVERYONE!!! 


Thank you for checking out our blog. I am another privileged lady going to do God's work. My name is Melissa Williams and I love God with all my heart. I am an Army child who has been all over the United States but have now settled in Columbus and calling it home. I go to Columbus State University and am currently a freshman growing through the Chi Alpha ministry located there. I am very happy to have been able to get involved with Chi Alpha. It has been amazing meeting new people and doing new things.


I am so excited to be going on this trip. I love missions and going out to reach others whether in America or Romania. I went to Africa last summer and saw miracles happen. I am expecting HUGE things to happen on this trip. I believe children will be healed and families saved.


Sincerely,
Melissa

Changing the Future, Changing History

Hey Gang,

It's Ouida, Chi Alpha Director at CSU. Just wanted you all to know that we spent time praying for the trips at our leadership meeting last night. As we were praying, I thought about the legacy of pain, torture, cynicism, and ultimately evil that Europe has inherited. Those seeds sown all throughout the past have sprung up in countless ways in the lives you will encounter there.

I kept finding myself praying that God would change history. Now if history is in the past it is unchangeable, right? Well I believe that what God can and will do through you will change the future and ultimately change the course of Europe's history....through the students in Berlin and the children in Romania.

For so many Europeans, the story seems to have been written already. Our God is a God who wipes the slate clean as if that history never happened.

God, will you change history through reachEUROPE? Will you use us to do it?

An Inspiring Story

Hi everyone!
A friend posted this Ted Talk on her wall, and it just touched me so much that I figured I would share it with you all! It's amazing to see how God can work wonders through a single person... changing someone's life forever. Enjoy!

http://www.ted.com/talks/rick_smolan_tells_the_story_of_a_girl.html


April Lovering

April!

Hi everyone!!
I'm April Lovering, and I was, unfortunately not able to go on the Collide trip (I was in a wedding!), but I am so excited to meet everyone SOON! :) Here's a little about myself...
I am a second-year student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and am a Business Administration and Biology double major. I am super excited about going to Romania this summer. I knew I was meant to go when I made the connection that my mom went there a few years ago. She actually went to the same center that we will be working in. All of her experiences sounded so great, and now I will be able to continue God's work that she did! I'm so thrilled to see what wonderful ways God will work through us all! :)

April :)

So EXCITING!!!!

So one night I was hanging out with Katie Mayo at Barnes and Noble and we happened to glide by this interesting section. Perfect for entertaining children. There's books on how to do origami, I'm learning how to play a couple of nursery rhymes on the harmonica (London Bridge would be a fun game to play and Jesus loves me would be cool, trying to look up the words in Romanian if anyone would like to try and help), shadow puppets and balloon animals (funny how we were talking about that at Collide). If any of these sound like good ideas let me know so I can try and perfect more on others. We can tell a story through shadow puppets or something like that. Any suggestions? Let me know. Can't Wait!

Introduction -- Rachel P

Hello! Thanks for checking out our blog :)


I've been asked to introduce myself, so here goes! My name is Rachel. I am a student at Georgia Southern University, studying Special Education. I want to one day teach students with severe and profound intellectual disabilities. I have been involved with Chi Alpha at GSU since the very first Plug service my freshman year. I came on leadership my sophomore now, and at the beginning of this year I began to serve as the President of XAGSU. 


I'm very excited and very nervous about this trip! I know that is going to be life-changing, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us!

Rachel P

“God never intended for us to simply be the objects of His love, but also to be the instruments of that love in the lives of others.” ~Paul David Tripp

Thank You!

In November of 2010, I made the decision to go to Romania. 5 months and over $3000 dollars later, this is really happening! I absolutely could not have done it without my supporters (and God of course). Thank you SO much to those of you who have supported me along the way, whether it was through prayers, finances, volunteering at one of Chi Alpha GSU's many fundraisers, or just encouraging me not to give up, THANK YOU!!!!! The lives of the people I will encounter in Romania, as well as my own, are forever changed because of you. THANK YOU!

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare to leave in one month!!

Rachel P. 

P.S. The pictures at the beginning of this post are my hands signing "Thank You" in ASL. 

Thanks!

A glimpse...

let your love be known

                                                                           Source: hillsongunited.com via Jenna on Pinterest

Wow, only 32 days until we leave for Europe!

Today, while teaching, it dawned on me that one month from today I will walk across the stage and receive my college diploma. Yikes. I mean, what am I supposed to do with my life? It's not like they are just handing out teaching jobs. Where does God want me to be?

Of coarse, my ever so faithful God responded to my prayers. Almost instantly. I was just killing time before one of my lessons and decided to read to my students a book called The Oak Inside the Acorn by Max Lucado. If you have never read this book...do it. now. I had never read the book before and was not even aware that it was a Christian children's book. Well, let's just say, it took everything inside of me not to drop to my knees and give praise to my Lord right there in front of my kids. 

"Little Acorn sees himself as very small and he's unsure of what he's supposed to do in life. Eventually, he grows into Big Oak, but he still wonders about his purpose. Though he tries as hard as he can, he can't grow oranges like his friends the orange trees, or produce beautiful flowers like his friends Pink Petunia or Rosie. But finally, he discovers that his mighty branches were created for a very special purpose! He heard his mother's voice say,"Just be the tree God made you to be."

Throughout the whole book I couldn't help but relate it to my own life. For as long as I can remember I have compared myself to other people--family, friends, peers. And nearing graduation, I'm not sure if I'm ready to grow up! 

One thing I do know is that God spoke to me today. Yep, he spoke to me through a children's book in the middle of a lesson in front of 20 curious children. He calmed my nervous heart and reassured me of my purpose--to bring glory to Him. No matter where I am--whether it is Statesboro, Atlanta, or Romania--God granted me this life for a purpose:  to glorifying His name, continue to seek His heart, and spread the gospel to His people. 

*

I have never been on a mission trip before and I have no idea what to expect. Lord, I just pray that you prepare my heart. Prepare us all for what You have in store for us. Open up our hearts, give us visions of the things You want us to do and share with the women and children, place specific scriptures on our hearts for us to share with them.  We do this for You. Only You God and for Your Glory. We love You. We praise You. 

Ramblings on Healing, Romania, and How Awesome My God Is

**I wrote this back in January on my blog. Now that we started this blog for the trip, I thought I'd share it here. Since this blog was written, I (along with the other members of the Romania team) have raised all of my money for the trip! Enjoy!**

I don't know about you, but I believe in a God who heals. Heals our bodies, heals our hearts, heals our minds, but most especially heals our souls. Lately I've heard of a lot of sickness and disease. And my heart is burdened with grief for those people, those families. But then I remember how in Luke 1:37, it says that with God nothing is impossible. And I believe that. My God is a Healer. He reminds us of this in Exodus 15:26 when he says "I AM THE LORD YOUR HEALER."

So believe with me now that He can heal us. From whatever is afflicting us.

Sometimes it's comforting to just rest in knowing that God is who He says He is. Always. Forever.

My God is who He says He is.

And He likes to continuously prove this to me.

A few months ago I made the decision that I was going on a trip. A mission trip to be exact. To Romania. To play with babies all day long. I signed up knowing that my heart will be broken at the end of this trip. I was excited to do what God had called me to do.

And then I needed to come up with 100 addresses to send support letters to. (Thanks to all of you who have donated as a result of these!! And if you didn't get a letter and want one, let me know!)

100 letters! Can you think of 100 people you want to send a letter to, much less asking them for money??

But once again, my God, my Provider, came through. In the months of November and December I raised over $1000!

At the beginning of December, we had a Chicken Dinner Fundraiser (Again – thanks to those of you who supported this in various ways!). Some awesome people from my church donated everything. So all sales were going towards the trips!! This also meant I was in charge of this event. And every time I would begin to get stressed out, my God of Comfort would remind me that this was for His Glory, and that I just needed to calm the heck down (yeah, I think God says things like heck…don't you?). The night of the chicken dinners was a complete whirlwind for me. But in the end, I had over $400 for my mission trip! Overall, we raised over $800! And we even had some chicken dinners leftover to donate to a local ministry that did a food bank. He is who He says He is.

Now we are getting ready to run a 5K in February. Now, if you know me, the idea of me running a 5K is pretty outrageous. I'm not much of a runner (although I did complete Day 1 of my "4 Weeks to a 5K" training!). And needless to say, I was less than thrilled at the idea of this fundraiser. But I decided to give it a shot. I signed up for the 5K, and was skeptical I was going to raise the "required" $150 for this event. And in a matter of a day, I've had people commit $165 to sponsor me in this race, with several more saying they would. I sat tonight having my quiet time in absolute awe of my God. How could I ever doubt Him? By my human nature, I do. But He ALWAYS comes through! It's amazing how that works. It was as if He said, "Oh, you have doubts? Well watch this."

So maybe this was yet another rambly blog from me. But it's my blog J I can do what I want.

If you really read this whole thing, thanks. It means a lot. And I hope it meant something to you as well.

And if you want to sponsor me for the race, just support my trip in general, or know more about my trip, feel free to ask!!

‎"Let's believe that if we all stand together we're a force that can shake the whole world." - A Day to Remember

About Romania

Romania is a country located in Eastern Europe. It has a population of over 21 million, almost 90% of which are Romanian. They speak Romanian and the adult literacy rate is 97%.

Romania has the highest number of orphaned children in Europe. In the year 2010, there were 62,000 children in the care of the state. 19,000 were in orphanages.

In the year 2008, 2 children were adopted from Romania.

In the year 2010, 0 children were adopted from Romania. ZERO.

19,000 orphans and not ONE was adopted. Not because no one wanted them. But because the Romanian government has closed off international adoptions.

19,000 sweet children of God, trapped in these horrible institutions. Orphanages in Eastern Europe look nothing like orphanages in the US. (This is not to say any orphanage is a great place to be.) There are so many children, that by the time each child is fed and changed, there is little to no time to hold them, stimulate them, love on them. This is why I’m going. To share love with these babies. To hold them. To make them feel like they are important.

So I guess what I’m asking is for you to pray and to believe with me. I believe in a God who loves and saves His children. I’m asking you to pray and believe with me that the Romanian government will open up their doors to international adoption, that those children might find a home.