Romania Recap
Our team consisted of six college-age students – all of whom sacrificed their precious time and money to go, including two that had never been overseas before. The dynamic of our group was absolutely wonderful, only something the Holy Spirit could accomplish!
Having been there before, we had many preconceived ideas and expectations for this trip. However, God wanted to show us something completely different. We had more time to spend building relationships with the local people who would serve beside us. We were busy every day, yet our schedule was relaxed. We knew the different tasks we wanted to accomplish before we got there, but we didn’t operate from an agenda or checklist, which allowed us to blend in even more with the people. We felt like we lived out Church with the Romanians every day.
For the first half of our trip, we camped in the mountains with nine Romanian students to minister to some of the villagers. The church in Alba has been trying to build trusting relationships with these people for the last few years, and our role was to get another step closer to their hearts. Half of our group cleared a hillside of small trees for a couple in their 80’s so they could gather hay for the winter, while the other half of us poured a concrete floor for an elderly man’s barn. Many people who live in the mountains cannot afford to buy food, and instead live off whatever they harvest from their land. So, we also left them with three large bags of groceries, consisting of oil, flour, sugar, rice, pasta, and other necessities. They thought we were so strange to work for free which allowed us to share why we had come so many miles to serve them. We openly prayed that they would find peace with God and come to know Christ as their Savior, but didn’t feel led to push for any decisions. We understood that our role was to water the seeds and allow God to harvest them in His time. After our work was finished, we hiked up the mountains to view the landscape – which is absolutely breathtaking! Long story short, we got rained on towards the end, got turned around once, and were absolutely exhausted after 12 miles of climbing and descending. But the team enjoyed the challenge and everyone agreed that of all the places they’ve ever been, the Romanian mountains were among the most beautiful.
The last half of our trip was in the city of Alba Iulia. We hosted a youth meeting for the church where Ryan spoke about what it really means to be a disciple of Christ (from Mark 10). We were able to attend the church services on Sunday, which also happened to be their missions week. The church’s own missionaries from Turkey and Siberia shared about their ministry and Ryan gave the church a challenge about their personal responsibility in missions. During the week, Katharine and two of our team members taught a two-day photography class for the church’s youth – focusing on the basics of a camera, ways to improve their photos, and how to use their passion for photography for God’s kingdom and ministry. The rest of us split into small groups to visit several disabled church members and single moms from the church to encourage and pray with them. Each evening, we headed into the park to share Christ with anyone we could. This was very challenging for our group, as well as the Romanian students. However, it was a great time of learning and growing for us all!
We believe our relationship with the pastor and the church there has a lot of potential. Please pray for us as we seek God’s direction for Wings’ future involvement in Romania.
Summer Mission Projects with Wings of Morning
Wings Participated in back to back mission projects this summer to the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. God opened many doors for our team to share their faith in both countries. On a hot afternoon in a city in the Dominican Republic, an entire street was blocked off where Wings was sharing the gospel. As the team shared through music and drama, people would walk by and suddenly stop to listen. Our teamwas then able to share (through an interpreter) the hope found in Christ. That day we saw many people pray to receive Christ into their life.
In Nicaragua, Wings participated in a 5 day Crusade/Soccer Tournament with a ministry called Project Hope from Springfield, MO. Outside the tournament, the team had ministry opportunities in orphanages, prisons, schools, and parks. It was an amazing experience for Wings to participate in this type of sports ministry.
We are thankful for the lives God let us touch through these projects and look forward to seeing the great results in the future.
Celebrating the First 25 Years of Ministry
From July 30-August 2, we had over 150 guests join us in Woodstock to celebrate the 25th year of ministry for Wings of Morning. It waas an honor to see the lives that have been eternally changed as a result of the ministry of Wings. It was a blessing to reconnect with old friends and to make new ones. God’s faithfulness was the most evident thing of the entire weekend. As we celebrated what God has done over the last 25 years, we also looked ahead to what God will do through the next 25 years.
Wings has always provided a platform for young adults to use their gifts and talents to serve the Lord. This goal is still true today and was evident in the weekend’s celebrations. To God be the glory for what He is doing through Wings and our alumni around the world!
We Finally Moved to Georgia!!!
Although our ministry is based in Woodstock, GA we have been blessed with the opportunity to rent a house about 30 minutes away for much less than the cost of an apartment! We officially moved in the last day in June, but are still in the process of unpacking and settling in. We’ve already had visitors, too. Katharine’s brother (who lives about 45 minutes away) has stopped by a few times, Ryan’s family was here the first week of July, then some friends from Idlewild in Tampa came at the end of July, and Katharine’s family was here the first week in August. We are so thankful to be up here with the rest of our staff, to call Alpharetta our new home town, and to have the extra space for people to visit!
