A Night of Miracles…

Here is a story from one of our days in a Roma community in Ukraine! 

            On a rainy, Sunday, late November morning, my teammates and I bundle up in all of our layers and head out the door to catch the 10:20 am bus into the city center. We typically are running out the door a few minutes before the scheduled bus time and we walk quickly to the bus stop that is just around the corner from our apartment. Hoping that we aren’t too late, we arrive in just enough time to jump on the bus and settle in for the 30 minute ride into town. Madison and I get excited seeing the little bits of Christmas decorations slowly going up in the town. New lights on the trees make it feel more like the normal holiday season that starts so quickly in the States. We make it to the church early and head upstairs to grab a quick cup of coffee before the service starts. Week Two of attending this church allows us to start recognizing familiar faces and gain some sense of familiarity in adjusting to a new city. We walk into the sanctuary and are greeted by our host and his wife. We exchange “good morning’s” and our host says, “Hey, the pastor is sick today, so we will be calling on y’all to come up and share this morning of some testimonies and stories from your trip”. 

            We smile to ourselves, because you never know what ministry is going to look like for the day and sometimes that means getting called up to speak at church. I start going through my mind of different stories, thinking about which one I want to share. We get called up to the front and down the line the microphone goes as each of my teammates in front of me share testimonies or stories of God’s faithfulness in our ministries, the leading of the Lord, or personal testimonies of what the Lord has been teaching them. There seems to be a theme shared of ways people have grown in letting the Lord interrupt our days. We can learn to live a lifestyle of submitting to the Lord’s leadership and living interruptible lives that reflects a sensitivity to the Spirit. The microphone is handed off to me as my heart beats quickly. The story I was led to share falls into this same theme of living an interruptible lifestyle. I share the story of God healing *Maria’s* knees as she sat on the bench in a Kosovo city center. I also share the ways that living this kind of lifestyle of constant surrender is still something that I am growing into and that I didn’t “feel like going out of my way” at the time, but saying yes to the Lord is always worth it. I share of how the Lord told me in that moment to “not let my comfort get in the way of someone else’s encounter”. This perspective of knowing that the Lord wants to encounter his children in personal ways motivated my obedience. I pass the microphone on and my squad leader wraps up the testimonies shared with an encouragement that the Lord is moving in incredible ways all around the world and it is such a privilege for us to be apart of seeing Him move in all of these countries. Returning to our seats we finish church with a Ukrainian worship song. It has been beautiful to hear people praising Jesus in every country and language that we have been to. A sweet reminder of what the throne room of heaven will look like one day with every tribe and tongue represented, all praising the Lord together as one body. 

Living God Church in Uzhhorod

            After the service concludes, a man and two women walk up to us and introduce themselves. The language barrier is an obstacle, but they know some limited English. Each week these faithful three members of the church go to a Roma community and give a message and lead worship for four different homes in the community. They told us to be prepared for a long day as they typically stay for several hours. When our translator, a teenage girl who grew up at the church, arrives we walk out to the gravel parking lot where a blue, van is parked with a man ready to drive us to his community. 

            As I cross the parking lot, I pray, “Jesus, help me because I am already tired today. Yesterday was a long day in a different village and this is not something that I specifically want to do in this moment. Please help me surrender this day to you and give me the strength I need ”. 

I jump in the back seat of the van and three other teammates get in, along with our translator, to make the 1 hour drive to the Roma community. It is cold and rainy outside, but the car is warm inside and the windows start to fog up with the different temperatures inside and out. I wipe the window to see the road curve along the railroad lines and I look straight ahead to keep from getting nauseous along the way. I talk with a few of my teammates about the day and we get to know our translator *Laura*. The conversation makes the afternoon drive pass quickly. The car slows down as we enter into the community and within a few minutes we are pulling into an overhanging structure for the car. We each get out and our driver, *Paul*, invited us into his home. We walk into an entry room, pass through the kitchen and *Miriam*, the wife of the house, ushers us into the living area. There is tan wallpaper on the walls and potted plants by the window along the far wall. On the opposite wall is a long bench that covers the whole side of the room and a long table is set up next to the bench with chairs surrounding the other side. On the table are plates and utensils and an elaborate spread of dishes covering the rest of the table. There are plates of cabbage salad, chicken legs, sliced tomatoes, pickles, rice stuffed cabbage leaves, baby potatoes, bright magenta beet salad, sausages, along with bowls of sauce, bread, sliced cake, and a coffee pot of a light pink liquid with floating pieces of cooked fruit. It is a FEAST! *Laura* explains that these dishes are common in the Transcarpathian region and the drink is called Kompot. It is a tea made with cooked fruit, sugar, and water. The family sits down with us and we pray and eat. 

Lunch at the Roma Community

            After a delicious, late lunch and too many encouragements to “Eat up, Eat up…” the tables get taken away and the keyboard and microphone are set up in the far corner. People start filling into the room, adults in the back and the middle area is packed with children. There is probably 60 people packed into a small 15 x 15 room. Bodies are pressed together to all be able to fit and worship together. Worship starts and the room is muggy and warm. The windows fog up with the heat of so many people tightly together. Layers are taken off and I look around and see pink cheeks on all the children’s faces. After a few songs, one of the women calls “Elizabeth…take kids outside”. I stand up and follow this woman *Rebekah* as she leads about 45 kids outside. The sun has already set and the sky is dark when we walk out. There is a rush for jackets and boots as we head out into the cold, fresh air. There is one light that shines from the outside of the house that gives enough light to see their faces in the dark. *Rebekah* leads the children in a game called Night and Day (similar to Simon says) which involves a lot of jumping. Soon there is giggling and laughter and when the children get out of the game they come over to me and join in the circle. I am able to ask them their names by saying “Ya Elisabeta” (I am Elizabeth) and then point to them. They understand and tell me their names and ages through holding up fingers. Soon, the game ended and *Rebekah* leads them through a song giving thanks and praying for their family members. Then she comes over and says, “girl… pray… sick…; boy…pray…grandfather sick”. She brings me children to pray for and tells me a situation and who in their family is sick. The faith, joy, and heart of worship that this woman carries is incredible. She is so faithful and focused on pursuing the Kingdom of God. She sees the needs of the families and brings the children knowing the power of prayer. So I stand outside after it has freshly rained and the ground has turned to soft, sludgy mud and I pray for these children and their families, for healing and for Papa God to encourage them in powerful ways. Lord, thank you for your goodness and your faithfulness. We pass out chocolate and give hi-fives and goodbyes to the kids as they make their way back home. 

            *Rebekah* and I head back inside to where we left the 3 guys on my team and our translator. I walk back into the very warm room and see my teammates praying over a woman. This family and others in the community share their challenges and their heartaches and we pray. We cannot do anything apart from Him and so we lift up their requests to the one who sees and knows their struggles and loves them so much more than we ever could. I join in with my teammates praying for God to heal and pain to flee in Jesus’ name by His Spirit. The pianist from the church who comes to this community every week is prayed over for back pain. Within a few minutes she starts twisting her arms and rotating her torso. She stands up and testifies that her pain is gone and that she can move so freely. A man comes forward and explains that he spent 8 days in a hospital and the doctors sent him home because they couldn’t do anything for him. He also struggled with intense back pain that would shoot down his legs. Everyone prays and he starts bending down to his TOES, something that he was unable to do moments before. We continued to pray for the needs in the room…ears, stomachs, children who have nightmares, eyes, and couples with infertility all are prayed for that Jesus would intervene in their lives in powerful and supernatural ways. It was so evident that God was moving in this small, warm room. Thank You Jesus! He was healing pain, revealing Himself as the God who sees and knows, and released Faith and Hope to this community. 

            After hours of prayer we wrap up with another song of praise and worship to the King of Kings and start saying our goodbyes. Right at the end, *Rebekah* comes to me and motions me over to a young girl who had just come into the room. She tells me…She needs prayer…came from the hospital…lost baby. I look into the eyes of this girl who is younger than I am and I see pain all over her face. She is grieving and the tears start rolling down her cheeks. I feel for this girl in a deep way and tears begin to roll down my cheeks as the Lord helps me to feel a sliver of the weight of grief this girl is experiencing. My teammate starts praying and I quietly intercede for her. I cannot imagine the extent of this woman’s pain that she was experiencing in this moment, but I know that God is in the midst of the pain. I know that He was so close to her and allows us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. The Lord sees and knows this daughter who He made. He knows her full story and all of the pain and joy and is present in the middle of each moment. 

            We eventually make our way out of the house where the sky is completely dark. We get into the car and begin our drive back and I am still shaken by compassion for this girl. We experienced in a few short hours the joy that is uncontainable and grief that is unimaginable, yet the Lord is the God who is faithful in both. He is present and knows the pain and heartaches of life and the joys and is PRESENT in the middle of it. 

            The car stops a few minutes into the drive. We are a little confused to why we are stopping so soon. *Laura* explains that we are at his daughter’s house and he wants us to pray for his granddaughter who is 4 months old and was born paralyzed. The baby, Miriam, struggles to hold her head and has trouble eating and swallowing. I walk in and pray for this beautiful little girl. I hold her head and her sweet tiny adorable brown eyes gaze up at me. Her eyes continue to follow me as we pray over her life. 

Lord, would you continue to heal Miriam! Would she be healed and restored and would she grow up to be a woman of God who loves you and follows you. Would she know the power of your love and treasure the Word of God! Thank you Jesus for her life and that you have a plan for her story! 

Thanks for reading about this night at the Roma community! I know that it is long 🙂 

With love, 

-Elizabeth 

*Names changed for privacy