Tickets are bought! I will leave the states on Friday, September 26 for my week-long vision trip to Romania. I am beyond excited right now!
This vision trip will provide me with an opportunity to see more of the ministries in Romania and it will help me determine whether Romania is the place that God is calling me to serve. My parents are in the process of buying tickets for themselves to come along and see/ experience Romania as well. Being a single missionary, we thought it might be good to have someone else come along with me to be another set of ears and eyes on the trip. You know when you went on college visits and you wanted your parents to be with you so you could go back home and talk through the experience? Well, this vision trip isn't a college visit :) ...but the idea of having someone to bounce thoughts off of that experienced the same trip will be highly beneficial. Also, I think my parents are excited to come along so they can see the people and the culture that may become my new normal. Folks, this trip is a little over a month away! Wowzas! Please, pray for this trip. Pray for my parents and I to ask good questions. Pray for me to listen to God's promptings during the trip..whether this is where I will be serving or not. Pray for the dynamics of me, my parents, and a potential new place of ministry. Pray that we would have conversations open to the work that God is doing in Bucharest and how He may be including me in that. But most importantly, pray as the Spirit leads (Romans 8:26-27). "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3-6 At the end of my last post, I mentioned something called a vision trip. But, I didn't really explain that!
The update I have is that right now I am close to having my airplane tickets bought to visit Romania at the end of September. Yes, the end of SEPTEMBER! So soon!! This week-long trip will include me visiting with the mission team that is currently in Bucharest, immersing myself in the culture, meeting the ministry partners, and just experiencing life in Romania as much as I can. I am assuming there will be a lot of asking/answering questions with the team members so we can all get to know each other. I am really looking forward to this trip! As I hoped to convey in my last post, the conversation that I had with the missionaries in Romania a few weeks ago was so encouraging. Please pray with me that God will make it very clear as to whether I am being called to serve Him in Romania or perhaps a different location. (I will write soon about the other ministry opportunity that I pursuing at this point as well.) Until then, please enjoy the beauty that is around us. Isn't God's creation incredible? I went for a bike ride tonight, and I was blown away yet again by the beauty of the green fields, the blue skies, and the sun as it was setting. Please read and meditate on Psalm 19. Our God deserves all the glory. Always. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+19&version=ESV This song by Shawn McDonald and the pictures/words of Psalm 19 are absolutely beautiful as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKwA9ejGCws I am still in the beginning process of figuring out exactly where I will be going and when I will be leaving, but I cannot wait to share with you about the conversation I had last week.
Last Friday night I had the opportunity to Skype with missionaries that have been serving in Romania for many years. (As you may recall, Romania is the country that has been on my mind and heart since 2008 due to the way that orphaned children and people with special needs are treated there) The missionaries shared with me the vision that God has put on their heart for Bucharest. They see Bucharest as being a Gateway of Joy, where believers are going with the Gospel of Christ both to the least reached and to the least loved people. For the past 2-3 years, these people have been praying for the vision that God has for Bucharest, and for all of Romania. And one part of the two-fold process is on reaching the least loved which includes people with special needs and abandoned children. As I listened to these people talk about their vision for Bucharest and how they are looking to build a team of people with this same vision..I thought to myself, but wait.. God has molded my heart to yearn and love those people with special needs and abandoned children! The way that my life and their vision seems to be lining up makes me think of the promises we have from God's Word that tell us about God's perfect timing. I also am reminded of Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Here is a video that was recently made about some of the ministries that are happening in Romania. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNUxLe-AVxM Soon I hope to take a week-long vision trip to Romania to experience life there and to hopefully determine if this is where God has planned for me to be. Please pray with me as I seek God's direction in a location. In AWE of God's perfect plan, Mandi |
"The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.
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