As I sit here reflecting on my trip to Moldova, I can’t help but be thankful. God is so good.

“May the God of all peace fill you with joy as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

That pretty much sums up how I feel right now. As I trusted in Jesus, he filled me with joy and hope.

My heart is so full right now. Full of sweet memories of the wonderful people I met and got to know in Moldova as well as filled with God’s love.

You see the wonderful thing about taking one of these trips where you go to spread the love of Jesus, its usually hard. There is a certain element I like to call dying to self or relinquishing your rights.

Like how we traveled 40 hours both ways, or shared a room with 6 other women while sleeping on a rock hard bed, or sharing 1 bathroom when the water smells like eggs because its sulfur water from the well…

I came face to face with my selfishness and pride. I realized how much I love to be comfortable. Don’t get me wrong, it is not wrong to like a soft bed, water that smells nice and personal space – but when it gets in the way of you loving on people, you need a little challenging.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18

Boy does that ring true.

As I laid down my life for the people of Moldova by serving them, loving on them, and boldly sharing Jesus – I saw more of the things I don’t like about myself (selfishness, pride, and entitlement) fall away to make more room for Jesus in my life.

Whew – and did he show up in power! A big reason I went on this trip was to get closer to Jesus. Don’t you know he loves to answer that prayer? I feel closer to him than ever.

I’m seriously so blown away by God’s faithfulness.

I prayed for a safe place to stay that was clean – he went above and beyond with that one.

I prayed that our team would be united in love – check.

I prayed God would use us powerfully – double check.

One thing that I’m super surprised about is how much God moved in my heart. I have been praying for a long time that I would know more of the gifts God has given me and to walk in them – he sure showed up powerfully in that area!

When we would go out and talk with people and invite them to our events, we experienced a lot of wariness. A good analogy for the work that God did through us while we were there was breaking up the hard ground and planting seeds. God used us to pave the way for more harvest.

The people were a lot of times wary of us and you could see the hurt these people have gone through over the years through the corrupt government and just hopelessness they experience on a day to day basis. The people that did respond to our invitation though, whew, was that joy-filled! We saw several people make decisions to accept Jesus in their hearts and it was amazing.

One particular instance, I was in a group of 4 passing out flyers to our event and felt like we were supposed to stop and talk to a man who was sitting in the park on a bench. We talked to him a little and he said he was Muslim and wanted to come. He showed up early to our event and stayed the whole time. At the end he came up for prayer and accepted Jesus into his heart!! It was exhilarating! We almost didn’t talk to him. Can you believe it? God is so good.

We also saw another lady’s knee healed through prayer. She was humoring us at first when we asked to pray for her, but as we were praying the pain went away and she was healed. She exclaimed rather surprised, “Its better!” haha I love God.

The city of Moldova is beautiful. The people are beautiful. I was only there for 10 days, but the bonds I made with the people we met will forever be with me. I am truly sad to have left them, but know that I will be with them again if not on this earth then in heaven. Thank goodness for technology, its so easy to keep in touch!

The most impactful thing about Moldova is the people. I have never felt more welcome or come to love people so quickly than the ones we spent time with on the trip. In the beginning I wasn’t so excited to share a room with 6 other women (thankfully it was big and everyone had beds) but I quickly saw God’s hand in it and it actually was really fun! It was like a big sleepover. Even though we couldn’t always communicate very well with words, a special bond was formed and we had so much fun.

We had such an awesome team. Words cannot express how much I love my team and the Moldovan people. God hand picked every single person on my team and I am so grateful. Quick to serve, love, and encourage – man was I blessed just being a part of them!

On another note, America needs more parks like Moldova!! They were so pretty.

Thank you so much everyone for all your prayers! It was seriously such a great trip.