I'm in the Lord's ARME

Some of you may think I have made a mistake. No, there is not a spelling mistake... I'm in the Lord's ARME.

If you read my blog entry A Call to Prayer you remember that I have written about God tapping on my shoulder and telling me that He wants me back into full time ministry, He wants me to have a fervent prayer life, to be a prayer warrior. My life has been changed as I realised things I have been missing all along and as I allowed Him to take full control of my life.

Than, if you read my blog entry In His Presence, you remember that God made me give up my plans for this summer (going with my youth group to the seaside) so that I do something meaningful. When God asked me to change my plans, I thought He wants me to go to Upper Colombia ARME Bible Camp. So, I started praying and talking to my friend Melody about it. I was really excited since I have wanted to be part of an ARME Bible Camp for a long time. But, as we were making plans and praying about it, I simply did not have peace in my heart regarding this decision and I did not understand why. Since I know my Lord and since I know that He does that every time I am about to make a wrong decision, we decided to wait and continue to pray until I understand what I need to do.

It was in this period of time that I found out about the GYC Convention that they are going to organize in Romania. I remember telling Melody: "Wish I could organize a Prayer Room there!" But I knew that I could not do that since I did not to do it alone and there was nobody to help. You see, after being in the mission field for 5 years and being alone most of the time, I told the Lord that, if He ever wants me to do something for Him, He has to give me a team or at least one more person I can work with, dedicated people who share my values and desire to work for Him. So Mel and I started to pray about it. I did not tell anybody else about my desire and I did not know anybody who had a burden for prayer. So, I have to admit that I did not believe that God will send someone.

I was one day talking to Rita, Melody's "adopted" Romanian sister who had just come to visit her Romanian family. I had just met her (Melody introduced us) but felt that I have known her for a long time. I do not know why but I mentioned the GYC Convention and asked her is she is not interested in coming. "Maybe we can organize a prayer room there ," she told me. I was shocked even though I did not show it to her. Could it be this God's answer to my prayers? Could it be this why He did not want me to go to the Upper Colombia ARME Bible Camp? (Btw, both GYC and the ARME Bible Camp will take place in the last week of July). I had not told her anything about my desire to oganize a prayer room and that I had been praying about it. We decided to take a week to pray and make a decision whether we want to do that or not. As we finished the conversation and as I got on my knees to pray, I knew that I did not have to pray about it. I knew that this was God's answer to my prayers. He made it possible despite my lack of faith.

The rest is history... I wrote Rita right away that I believe that she is an answer to my prayers and that I know God wants us to do that. Than, we wrote the GYC committee about it and waited for their feedback. A week ago they let us know that they will be more than happy to have United Prayer and a Prayer Room open for a few hours a day.

So, here we are, getting ready to lead United Prayer and a Prayer Room in a month. Though I am excited, I realize what a responsibility lays on our shoulders. I do not know why God chose to trust us so much, but I sulrely feel the need to abide in Him and to give myself up to the control of the Holy Spirit. And I realize more and more that this is His work, not mine. So, I just want to make sure that I am fully surrendered so that my sins do not block the way for His blessings and for His power to be manfested in people's lives.

I know that I have said it many times, but I am more and more amazed at the ways God is working and at the plans He has for my life. And I am more amazed of how He choses to answer prayers. I am also thankful for godly friends like Mel and Rita whom I have not known for a long time but whom I feel like I have known for years because of our love for God and mutual desire to abide in Him and to serve Him.

So, I'm in the Lord's ARME and I am so humbled by His calling!

God's Strange Ways 2

I have written about God's strange ways a couple of weeks ago... how I lost my Bible and how God replaced it right away.

Oh well, there are a few things that I haven't told you and the time has come that I share them with you.

I have to admit that, when I got the Bible, I was a little bewildered. Why? First, because it reached me so fast. It usually takes 2 weeks for a parcel to get here from the US. Than, it has been brought to my work place. Normally in Romania, parcels sent through the regular mailing sistem are not delieved. One receives a notice from the post office and has to go there to take it. And there is only once postal office where one can get the parcels coming from other countries. Then, the third strange thing is that the guy who brought it has not asked to open the parcel and check it. Parcels sent from foregin countries pass through customs.

Another thing that was strange was the fact that I got only one parcel. Melody told me that she sent me two of them. She posted both of them in the same day, at the same post office. Hmmm... strange... So I waited and waited and kind of lost my hope to get the other parcel. I thought it simply got lost.

I was working at home yesteday when the secretary called me to tell me that I received a notice from the postal office. I have to go and pick my parcel. This is a little over two weeks after I got the first one. So I went and picked it...

God definitely knew that I need a Bible and I need it soon. So He worked on that. I got it 5 days after is had been posted and it has been delievered to me. There is no logical explanations for that. Two parcels sent by the same person, in the same day, from the same post office get here at different times and in different ways. Aren't God's ways strange? Yes, they are. And that is why God is God. He can do the impossible. He can do irrational things when you expect Him the least and even when you do not ask Him to. He loves to surprise us and give us gifts. I love surprises! But I love God more.

I am wondering what is going to be His next surprise.

Pressing on!

I have been challenged this week to think about my passions. What is it that I put all my power and energy into? When people look at my life, what passions do they see there? Do they see my passion for traveling? For mission in isolated places? For music? For education? For translation?

Yeah, I might me known for the things I have just mentioned but I know that I want that to change. Not because these things are wrong but because the focus should be different. I want people to look at my life and say: This person has a passion not for ministry, not for missions, not for evanghelism, not for education but for God. Yes, I want people to see that I am passionate about God. I want people to see my desire to abide in Him and be His and only His. I want people to see that He is everything to me. That He is my first and only love.

And this is what He has been working on in my life lately. I know that He wants me to focus on Him and to press on! I asked Him to do everything it takes to make me passionate about Him and He promised to do so. Sometimes He has to take from me things He has given me, just to change my focus on Him. Mission work has been one of those things, but there are many more. And even though it hurts and it is hard to let go of all those good things, I know it is Him who's asking me to give them away. So, I am ready to give them away because I want Him more than anything. I may walk through the vally of loneliness and darkness, I may have to give away the dearest things to me, I may have to face waiting seasons, I may have to drag my bleeding feet, I my get wounded in the fight, I may stumble and fall, but I want to press on. Because I want Him to be my first and only passion.

Press On by Selah has been helping me a lot in my journey...

Press on

When the valley is deep

When the mountain is steep

When the body is weary

When we stumble and fall

When the choices are hard

When we're battered and scarred

When we've spent our resources

When we've given our all

Chorus:

In Jesus' name, we press on

In Jesus' name, we press on

Dear Lord, with the prize

Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on.