If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be going on a mission across the world, I would have replied by saying, "I'm not called to that," "I can't do that," or something along those lines. Of course, I had thought of going on a mission trip because, as a Christian, that thought goes through your mind. But I always thought that Africa was the place for missionaries. Though a lot of missionaries go to Africa, the whole world needs the gospel and love of Jesus. But God didn't send me to Africa. God sent me to an amazing, small village in Romania.
Eight months ago, I was really struggling with what God wanted me to do and what my direction in life would be. My school hosted 40 missionaries for a week and I was astounded at each of their stories and how God has worked in their life through missions. I went into my dorm room and broke down in tears because I didn't know where I would be the next year or even the next semester. I prayed and cried out to God begging Him for any answer or even just peace and patience if He responded in a way I didn't expect. But God blew me away (as He always does).
After I prayed for God to send me an answer, I opened my devotional, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. The day was October 26, 2016. The verse of the day was John 20:21.
"As my Father hath sent Me, even so I send you." Being a natural doubter, I thought it could have been a coincidence... Until I saw the next page.
"Go ye therefore, and teach [disciple] all nations," (Matthew 28:19). I was in shock for a few seconds and then I broke down in tears again. This time, I cried for nearly 10 minutes before I realized that I should probably call somebody and tell them what happened because I still wasn't sure if it could have been a coincidence. The first person who answered my call was my previous youth pastor, Tim.
I cried for a few minutes on the phone with him before I could even utter a word. Once I told him what happened, what I'd experienced that week with other missionaries, what I had been praying for, my situation, and my thoughts, He assured me that there are no coincidences and that it was surely God talking to me. Though neither of us knew what God meant by Him leading me to think about missions, we both knew that He would be faithful and that He would provide. It turns out that Tim and his wife, Becky, were in the area of my college that week and wanted to come by and visit and talk about what God had just told me. What a blessing it was to have someone from home to visit me, especially in my time of need. It was also amazing to see God working, even in such little ways like that. I marvel at God's care and love for me through the little things.
A few months later, I made the hard decision to come home from school and take a semester off. I struggled internally with that decision for a long time because I felt like my life had no meaning and no direction. When I should have been clinging to God through that transition, I wasn't, because I felt like He couldn't help me. What a thought. The God of the universe couldn't help me with a life decision. Of course that is absurd. At the time though, I couldn't get it off my mind that my life had taken a hard turn and I could never get it back. That part was right, I couldn't get that life back. The one that I had so carefully planned out for the past three years. But God had much better plans for me.
I set up a meeting with my current pastor and told him what had been going on within the past few months and he asked me to check out the church's mission team. I went in for a meeting and later on with a woman who had been a missionary for two years in Ecuador with her family. After talking with her more and more and learning about a few of the missions my church supported and the trips my church had planned for the summer, I decided that I could go on one. Originally, I was going to go on a different mission with the youth group, but I felt a pull towards Romania. The woman who I had been talking to kept asking me to "just apply" for the trip to Romania.
I applied as more of a "just because" type of thing. I didn't have any finances for the $2,000 trip and not many people in the church even knew who I was. A few weeks later, I got accepted to go on the trip and it moved very fast from then. It was a whirlwind of getting to know the team and getting our fundraising together. Though I still had hesitations about getting all of my money for the trip, God provided.
God provided abundantly for the team and truly amazed us all. We were in awe at the support from the church both in finances and in prayer. We made it safely to Romania where we learned so much more about the true joy and love of Christ in kids who have had hard lives. Lives that I can't compare to my own because of their background. But God provided and protected them and He is still working in their lives. Through my experience and time in the little village of Talpos, Romania, I have realized that life is much simpler there. Though they face different hardships, their focus is not on looking the best, having the most, or making sure to post weekly on their social media, but it's about family.
At the orphanage, the 12 kids we met are a family with an astounding, hard-working, wise, unconditionally loving, invested, and down-to-earth mother. Not only are those children blessed immensely to have Sally Sebo as a mother-figure, but they are fortunate to have a great community of people who love them, support them, and adore them. They are cared for so well and they are so happy and grateful to have Sally, the church, and the community to raise them and love them. And they love back. They love hard and they love deep.
A piece of my heart and my soul will be in Romania forever. I will always think about my Romanian sisters and brothers and will value and adore them for the rest of my life. God willing, I get to go back and see them and hug them. God willing, I get to hold their hand again, pick cherries with them, play soccer and volleyball with them, and visit the well with them. I will forever treasure them all. To name everyone who made an impact on me in Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania could be its own article. So, to my European friends and family, thank you forever. I love you and miss you dearly. And to everyone else reading this and has actually finished it, thank you for your support and love.
Just a reminder: God will provide for you. God will protect you. God loves you. God cares for you. God will blow your mind. God looks out for you.
