Trust and Provision.

On December 26th team 247 set out on our first World Race ATL time. ATL is a time to ask the Lord where to go and what to do anywhere in the country that we are in. We had about two weeks to follow wherever the Lord leads. As we stepped into prayer about these weeks the Lord made it clear that we were going north. One place that came up multiple times was Brasov, Romania. People kept mentioning to my teammate Kara that she was going to love Brasov, even though she hadn’t said anything about going there. As we started to look at places to stay we quickly realized that the budget we were given was going to push us to rely on the Lord. We didn’t feel at peace about options that were in budget so we decided to wait in faith. On December 26th we hopped on a train to Brasov with nowhere to stay. A couple hours into the train ride an airbnb that we had looked at before had lowered the price and was now in our budget. We booked it for the two nights it was available and thanked the Lord for his provision.

On our first full day in Brasov we did some exploring. We walked around and got coffee and I made friends with the local street cats. During this day I received a contact in Brasov from a girl that I follow on social media named Mckenzie. She saw one of my instagram posts about heading to Brasov and let me know that she had family in Brasov that were serving as missionaries. When she sent me her contact I figured I would reach out and see what kind of ministry they do. We were immediately extended an invitation to have dinner with their family that night. Once again I was blown away by the family of God around the world.

We had the best time with Derek, Catalina, their kids, and their intern Kim. They met us with the sweetest hospitality and friendship. We got to exchange stories of God’s provision and movement in our lives and we left dinner so encouraged. The next day we had to checkout of our airbnb and we once again had no place to stay. So we stepped out of our airbnb with everything we owned on our back and walked to a nearby park to pray. As soon as I set my stuff down at this park I had a text from Catalina offering to host us for a couple of nights! The Lord truly provided our next step just as we needed it. Over the next couple of days we got to do life with them and watch their kids for them. My team truly loves these kiddos and their super cute kitten in the pictures at the bottom.

At some point during our travel to Brasov we joked about reading the bible from cover to cover in one sitting. The funny thing is that it ended up not being a joke because my entire team was very excited to put it into action and felt the Lord calling us to give our first fruits of the year to him by opening the bible and reading cover to cover. During our stay with Derek and Catalina we continued to search for airbnbs that were in our very small budget… available on new years eve through the next four days… in a very popular city. On the morning of new years eve we finally had a place with the help of a christian airbnb host working the price down as well as some people that gave us a bit of extra funding!!

So how did this bible burn work? We each read for an hour alternating through the five of us. We had the privilege of inviting other squad members and friends and family back home into this experience because my friend Morgan lost her voice. During her hour we got to listen to friends and family pickup and read over the phone for an hour. The entire bible was read aloud in our cute little airbnb from start to finish. The word of God. The atmosphere changed. The amount of peace in that room was astounding. It brought me closer to my brothers and sisters on team 247. We were in our last moments as a team and it was so special to have this experience with them.

The Word of God is a privilege to know and have access to. If you’ve read this entire thing I encourage you to spend some time thanking the Lord for the access you have to the Bible. I hope you leave this blog encouraged!

With Love–

Lex