Greetings from Craiova, Romania!
We are staying with a local host who debriefed us on culture and customs in the area in preparation for us to go out and do street evangelism.
Romania leans heavily towards Eastern Orthodox Christianity. There are cathedrals all over the place and as we drove from the airport I saw several depictions of Jesus on the cross with a skull and crossbones at his feet. It felt ominous.
But wait, Heidi, aren’t you there to tell people about Jesus? Why are you going somewhere where Christianity is the largest religion?
I don’t know all the doctrine the Orthodox holds dear. I’m looking for an opportunity to sit down with a priest and hear about it, but based on orientation with our host and conversations I’ve been having with the locals, they have twisted scripture to place a heavy emphasis on good works. If you do good works, that will help you get to Heaven. Which is basically the same message preached in Islam and Hindu. So what’s the difference in what I’m saying?
James 2:14-26 talks about how faith and works goes hand in hands. If we believe everything Jesus taught, then our lives should reflect that. But faith needs to happen first, then works. Faith is established between you and God. He knows your heart’s intentions. But our works show the world that we belong to Him and are a reflection of the goodness, grace, and love of God (or at least that’s my prayer).
Paul talks about in Philippians 3 about how we need to wholly rely on Christ. The church at the time was still telling Gentiles they need to be circumcised in order to be a believer in Jesus, but Paul, “a real Hebrew if there ever was one” says:
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying with the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.”
In Romania, there is the weird mixture of witchcraft/spiritism in the church. But because it has been slipped in and steeped in church practice over time, it is tradition, therefore, it is now viewed as perfectly acceptable, even righteous! Tradition trumps everything.
Many people’s perspective of God is skewed or too narrow. They can see Him as a righteous God, but not as a loving Father.
I was talking to a local seventeen year old boy Mario*. He was very polite, but I could feel a heaviness around him. It was almost like there was a vacuum and it was sucking all the joy out of the atmosphere. As he began to share, I was silently praying for him in my head wondering what he was getting into in his spare time.
He was telling me his parents pay him to go to church. He’s frustrated because they are hypocrites: They say to live one way and do another. I could hear and see the pain, frustration, and anger in his voice. Life can already be difficult at seventeen as you wrestle with your identity and seeking truth. He began to share that he had been researching the Satanic church…bingo.
We talked for awhile and then we got pulled into playing a game. I am looking forward to having more conversations with him and hope I get to share some of my testimony and get to pray for him.
Another time, I was walking with an indigenous missionary. He was having a conversation with this woman in Romanian. I could tell they were arguing about Jesus, but not much besides that. She kept speaking directly to me making eye contact. I was helpless to say anything encouraging or challenging, but I just prayed, “Lord, help me to look at the way you see her.” I could the fear lurking behind her bright blue irises. Her postured was hunched in defensiveness, but I saw an earnestness there. I continued to look into her eyes smiling, full of compassion and love for this woman silently praying for her heart to be soft towards God.
Prayer Requests
- Pray for Mario, that his heart would be open to Jesus despite the pain inflicted by his father.
- Pray for rest/energy for my squad/team. We walk around handing out fliers/posters and having conversations with many people. It’s a lot of work. Pray that we would rely on the Spirit’s strength and not our own. Zechariah 4:6
- Pray for hard hearts to become soft and that they would be open to experiencing Jesus for themselves and not through a priest or traditional practices.
MY TEAM – BANJO
This is the team that God has given me to steward for the next three months. Aren’t they beautiful? Right now the entire squad is together for the month, but when we change countries we will be off on our own together.
GIVING
I am still fundraising! If you would like to support me as I go out to make Jesus known to the nations, you can do so at any of these avenues.
Venmo: @Heidi-Gray-3
Paypal: @HeidiAlmighty
CashApp: $HeidiGray
Adventures in Mission: Click the donate button on this blog! Donations through their page are tax-deductible.
T-Shirt: If you want to get a cool souvenir, you can also get a t-shirt I designed in order to fundraise for this trip. About $10 from each purchase goes towards my fund.
