"It's awesome, Dave. Do you remember the first time you came here and saw the base? As Alin showed you around you dreamed out loud of what you would do to change and improve things here, and now, three years later, you are here and actually doing it!" Gabi exclaimed as she watched me transforming an outdoor space from a rubbish pile into a cozy, quiet space to sit and pray.
I must admit, it truly is awesome. I never thought for a second back then I would be where I am now, doing what I do now. I had made different plans... but God directed my path.
As I considered what had happened over these years, the value of relationships became so evident.
About five years ago I was finalizing my plans to move here, to Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and serve God as a missionary. I had no training as a missionary, knew little about where I was going or about the people who lived there, but I had a fire in my heart that just wouldn't go out, an obsession to move out into that world of faith where God is in charge of all you do or else you fall.
It's not easy finding true friends in life; they are too few and too far between. The problem is compounded when one lives in a different culture with a different language. Superficial relationships come easy, but they stand up very well under pressure.
During the first year I was here I met Alin and Gabi Ciorogar one Sunday at church. They invited me to their home for a meal and we began to get to know each other. As time passed we began to work together a bit. They were staff personnel with the Youth With A Missions (YWAM) team in this city. Alin is a worship leader and I occasionally backed him up as a bassist.
Time passed, I moved to another part of the country for a season. I occasionally saw Alin when I would visit Cluj, but not often. On one of these visits I told him of how I was planning to return to Cluj and resume my work here. He had since become the director of the YWAM base and offered me a place to stay as I made the move and transition back into life in Cluj. I accepted.
It was not an easy transition...
In all honesty, I had struggled from the start of my time here in Romania. Every possible problem from every area of my life began to surface. I felt as though I was caught in an undertow and being dragged into the ocean to drown. Nothing worked. I began to question and doubt if God had truly called me here. But every time I would reach the point of giving up He would confirm His call to me.
But the problems just got worse...
I was at the end of the time I could stay at the base; Discipleship Training School was about to begin and they needed all the space for the students. I had only one financial supporter and was working as a carpenter to support myself here, or should I say, trying to support myself; lots of promises, very few jobs. I couldn't afford to rent an apartment, so I began to sleep in my shop. I ran out of money and for a time ate bread and margarine and picked fruit from the trees along the road. I was getting desperate.
One morning, after a quiet time with God and His Word, I finally gave up. I closed my Bible and said, "I'm done."
I gave up...
But...
I wasn't giving up on God.
I wasn't giving up on His calling in my life. ...I was giving up on me... I had managed to prove beyond any uncertainty that I was totally incapable of running my life and ministry successfully. I could no longer discern God's voice. I closed the book on my life up to that point and asked God to write the rest of the story... "I think maybe I'm supposed to go to the Discipleship Training School" I told Alin. He smiled. "Yes", he said, "I've known it for some time, but it had to be your decision." "I don't have money for the school." I said. "I know." "I have some ideas..." "Me too." And so began a five month journey through DTS and an outreach in Egypt. By the time it was over I could again discern God's voice and His leading in my life. "I think maybe I'm supposed to be on staff here..." "We'll pray and see." "I have lots of ideas..." "I know." And so, here I am. It is truly amazing how God took those dreams and ideas from a few years ago and added some good people and mixed them together with good relationship. We are truly blessed. We work together daily advancing His kingdom and mentoring His children while watching Him give us the desires of our hearts. It's not easy, but it's good. It's full. It's abundant. ...And that's what He came to give us in the first place...