I feel fortunate to be today’s blogger simply because today was my favorite of the trip so far. I am someone who is very much a people person and not having the opportunity to work face to face with impoverished people so far has been a struggle for me, but today changed that.

It started with visiting with Roma people just outside of Bucharest. Our group split up to visit two different families in this village and had the chance to sit among these impoverished peoples and speak to them about their lives. My group was able to actually visit with a Christian family that totaled about ten people along with other village children throughout the morning visit. We were immediately greeted with “pace” (pa-chay = a Christian expression of peace in Romanian).

I particularly enjoyed a conversation through our translator with an 18-year-old Roma guy whom was struggling with faith in God, but still wanting to enjoy life with friends and not knowing where his heart really is. As a young Christian guy, I have had and continue to have the same struggles and tried to assist him through scripture in dealing with this problem. Our Christian translator also did a marvelous job of explaining his life as a Christian man and all the joys it brings. It is amazing how universal God is!

This then led to us asking questions about things like daily activities and we were especially interested in the second MDG: Universal Primary Education. It was explained to us that a few of the children were attending school while others were not. One nine-year-old girl was enjoying her schooling in the second grade, one boy was supposed to be in the fifth grade, but was unable to attend because his aunt felt that he would be mocked for the poor clothes that he would wear, while another nine-year-old girl had moved from Spain with her family after her first year of schooling in that country and had yet gone and was not planning to go in Romania.

Tonight also was great because we were able to worship at Providence Church were we are staying at the Ruth Center. I had been asked several weeks ago to prepare to deliver a message and was excited to do this. Thank you to family and friends that prayed for me because I certainly felt that power as I spoke about Paul’s address in Romans 12 about all of us making up one body in Christ. Just as I experienced in China last year, it is amazing to hear God’s people worship in their own language. This along with a mandolin orchestra and warm Romanian people made for a wonderful experience this evening.

Keep praying for us as we move forward!

In Him,

Carson