I honestly don’t know what to write about since my last blog update in Romania. I guess I’ll pick up from where I left off. Our last week in Romania was a hectic one. Some of the lovely ladies on my squad had the wonderful idea to put on an eyeglasses clinic for the locals in a small village. The Hope Church team was able to acquire all the resources necessary and select a village where the ministry would be most effective. We spent some time the day prior to hosting the clinic praying into who would run each of the different stations we were going to have at the clinic. I felt led to be a part of the prayer station. This seemed daunting to me for a couple of reasons, mainly that I was unsure of what I would be praying for each of these people. This nervousness continued to the time we were about to start the clinic. Ana joined Heidi and I to translate for us and I was alleviated that she would be with us. She has a big heart for people and does a great job of creating conversation and sharing the gospel. Talking and praying with and for these people turned out to be easier than I had thought it would be. Many of the Christians in Romania are Orthodox believers meaning they believe works are necessary for salvation. It was a blessing to be able to ask and prod as to how one can believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, yet still think we need our works to secure a place in heaven. Jesus died for our sins! What more do we need to do than believe and proclaim this truth to be saved? Nothing. We can do nothing to be made right with God. Jesus is the only way. We know if we believe that we will be saved. If we have to perform good deeds in order to be saved, then how can we ever know we’ll be with Jesus? We cannot. Jesus alone provides us assurance of our salvation. 1 John 5:11-13 states, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” After some seemingly rhetorical questions I posed to one man, Ana stepped in with an illustration explaining Jesus as the only way to the Father. The man we spoke with seemed to understand this and agreed Jesus was the only way to be saved. It was powerful to see someone acknowledge their misunderstandings and be willing to change their mind (repent) so quickly. Ana explained to me that the people in Romania can be very open minded if someone simply takes the time to explain the truth to them. This really stuck out to me. How often do we simply assume that someone would reject the Gospel if we shared it with them? How often does this keep us from even giving them the chance to accept it? I was certainly convicted of doing this. My knowledge and snap judgments of people are many and overwhelmingly inaccurate. What a blessing it is that we aren’t responsible for how one responds to the Gospel. We can rest in the confidence that if we speak the truth, the Holy Spirit will use our words in His way with His timing to minister to that person. We are not the ones who save, Jesus is. We are not the ones who determine if someone listens to us, the Holy Spirit moves and convicts as He will. This is not meant to foster a spirit of apathy and nonchalance, but excitement and urgency to speak the truth of the Gospel! Even as I write this am I convicted by my own words. In America, I did not live this out. As I have begun travelling out of the US to share the Gospel, it is a challenge. Thankfully, I have the Holy Spirit inside of me who can give me the words to say and discernment when talking to new people. I also get to partake in the beauty that is the community that God set up to allow each of us to thrive. I can share my burdens and my joys with my brothers and sisters in Christ. They are able to step into situations I am unprepared for and living and working alongside them is a wonderful encouragement in and of itself. I could share more stories, but for now I will leave you with this one.
I am still learning how to blog well. I think sometimes I will share little stories such as this and what they are teaching me and sometimes I will try to give a more broad update as to what we have been doing and where we have been.
We just left debrief in Krujë, Albania and are now in our separate teams in different parts of Albania. My team, CIA (Christ is Alive) is in Orikum, Albania. Tomorrow we are heading out to walk/hike to some of the nearby villages and will be there for a few days. For the next two weeks we are doing ATL (Ask the Lord) ministry meaning we have the freedom to determine what our ministry will be and where it will be. I will be sure to record what stories and connections come from this time and relay those to you all.
As far as fundraising goes, I am a little less than $4,000 away from being fully funded. This is great, but I have about a month left before I need to be fully funded. If you would like to donate to get me to this goal you can click the button at the top of this blog. Please share this blog with anyone you know who would be interested to hear what the Lord is doing in my life and so far in Romania and Albania. I have already learned so much from the 7 weeks we’ve been on the field and am excited for the next 9 months! Thank you all and God bless!
Nathan D. Schubert
