Romania Update:

Hello friends and family! It’s Cass here. Currently in Greece. Thought I’d fill you in on my time in Romania. 

This is what each day’s schedule typically looked like: 

5:45am—wake up and workout (Typically HIIT or a run to the Botanical Garden)

6:30-8:30—Eat breakfast, make lunch, , drink coffee, have quiet time, shower, get ready for the day. (Sometimes have a one on one in the morning) 

9:00am—Worship and prayer

10:00—Teaching and social media hour

11:00—Pass things out to public aka seed packets, pamphlets and youth flyers. Or evangelism. 

12-2pm—-Lunch break/team time

2-7pm——Visit Ukrainian homes, organize Jam, go to food bank, unload food from food bank, organize food from food bank, Roma ministry(my fave), after school with kids(Fridays), english class, youth group, evangelism, load convoys, organize materials for convoys. 

8-10pm—groceries, cook dinner, hangout and then get ready for bed. 

*Each day we would do something different between the hours of 2 and 7. Certain days were meant for visiting the Ukrainian houses and delivering items they needed. This was also a time where we got to hangout with them, go for walks to the park and get to know them and their stories through google translate*

Some things I loved this month:

1. Gigi’s (Window bakery)
2. Soft serve/gelato icecream 
3. Playing in the park with my Ukrainian friends 
   
4. Team time dinners
5. Visiting the Castle
6. Teaching English and playing with the Kids at the after school program on Fridays. 
7. Walking everywhere and getting over 10,000 steps each day. 🙂
8. All the Tulips we saw upon arrival in Romania 
9. Worship every morning to start our day
10. My coffee cup that I drank out of every morning!

Here are some ways I saw God work:

1. The Lord provided housing for over 100 Ukrainians.
2. We put on an event to connect Ukrainians with Romanian businesses. By the grace of God, and with the help of this event our long term Ukrainian houses got jobs. We were also able to bless them with new shoes thanks to all ya’lls support. 
3. Someone came to youth night because of a flyer and now he is going to Bible study and church. Praise God. 
4. We gave our houses a break from their kids by taking them to the park or playing with them. This allowed their parents to just have space to be, have a break and think about or grieve the war back in their country. All of them expressed gratitude toward us for this. It is really the little things 🙂
5. I saw Gods heart in each time I entered a Ukrainian friends home, especially the first time, they displayed such hospitality and kindness despite everything they are going through. They fed us and cared for us.
6. God humbled me in many ways. You don’t realize what’s happening in the world until you are in the place where it is actually happening and you hear the stories. The war is still happening and it is affecting real people.
7. I saw God bridge language barriers yet again.
8. My friend Sav who is on my team raised $2,700 with her church to  send more convoys to Ukraine. These convoys provide basic supplies and food for those still in Ukraine.
9. One of the girls in our houses needed new glasses but they were too expensive. My team and I were praying for them and thought about asking the business if she could get a discount or something. Turns out she got her glasses for free. The Lord answered our prayer.
10. There was one week where there were 42 people staying at the mission house. There were only 3 bathrooms and one small kitchen and the Lord for surely multiplied or grew this living space because it did not feel like that many people were living there. If anything, before M squad arrived was when it felt more crowded. 

Ways you can be praying:

1. Continued prayers for the war happening in Ukraine. It is real folks and our friends have families back there. Pray for protection over their loved ones as their husbands, fathers and family members stay back, serve in the military or help with relief efforts.

2. Pray for Hope Church Romania as they continue to assist Ukrainian refugees. Pray for more resources, more drivers, more food, more housing, just more. Also pray for their staff. Pray they find rest physically and spiritually in this season. Pray they continue to rely on Gods supernatural strength. 

3. Prayers for my team, Happy Feet! We are in Greece now and are asking the Lord where He wants to lead us. Pray we are in tune with the spirit, have willing hearts and have eyes and ears to listen and move when He speaks. 

There is always so much to be praying for. So if something comes to your mind, pray or drop the prayer in the comments below. I would love to hear from ya’ll!

Until next time,

Cass