Archive: June 4th, 2008 (2)

May 23rd

On to the next day of that crazy weekend...
Vasi and I stayed at my parents' house while he was here. We got up early Friday so he could meet my parents, who were sleeping when we got in the night before. Talk about worlds colliding. I think this was especially strange for my parents – I'm hoping that God will use it in the long run to make Romania a little less mysterious to them and a little more real. Vasi and my dad got along ridiculously well and enjoyed talking politics. ..
We were going to head up north on Friday but the weather was still crazy and there were snow advisories at the Grand Canyon Saturday morning – not exactly prime conditions for viewing a sunrise. So I spent the day giving Vasi a tour of all my favorite Phoenix places – the zoo, Botanical Gardens, Mill Ave, and ASU. It was a really fun day, and he was a fun person to show things to because he got excited about stuff that I get excited about. And we made fun of evolution signs all day
Friday night we headed out to Session 1 of the West Coast Youth Conference – put on by the Romanian Pentecostal church and primarily consisting of young Romanian-American Protestants. Wow. I was disappointed that a lot of the service was in English, but it was still a thrill to worship God with so many Romanians. And again, the last time I sang praises to God with Vasi (besides in the car that day I suppose) was in the garage of the little orphanage in Criscior, so this was a little different. Anyway, there were two sermons, and they were both good. One was almost entirely in Romanian, and the other was mostly in Romanian but with some English sections. The 2nd one was really powerful. The guy talked about Jesus's prayer in John 17 and how He wasn't praying for everyone – v. 9 states "I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours." He talked about not assuming that we are among "those" if we aren't living a life that reflects this. I was thrilled to understand most of what he was saying (the English parts helped) and thrilled that the message was a strong one.
The most meaningful part, though, was at the end. We only sang one song in Romanian the whole night, and it was an adaptation of Chris Tomlin's version of Amazing Grace. That was cool, but the highlight was singing an old hymn in English – How Great Thou Art. Every time I sing songs like this one, I remember how I used to sing them in church as a kid. I'm not sure when I came to saving faith in Christ, but I'm fairly certain that I sang these songs before that happened. And I can picture myself as a preteen and teenager, singing with the rest of the congregation, excited mostly about trying to figure out the alto part in the hymnal. I was so oblivious at the time, oblivious to the work God was going to do in my heart to bring me to Himself, oblivious to the finished work at the Cross that had already been done on my behalf. So every time I hear these hymns, I think of the journey God has brought me on since then – salvation being of course the turning point, but also the daily walk with Him, the struggles and joys, the questions and the answers and His steadfast faithfulness.
And my praise of Him that night was only magnified by singing these songs alongside Romanian believers. Only 3 years ago, God had yet to open my eyes to His work in the nations. My vision of him in early 2005 was so limited, so Americanized. And now every time I worship with Romanians, it reminds me of the immensity of a God who works in hearts worldwide and who has promised that He has ransomed some from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Most of the people at this conference were likely born here in the States, but I bet the majority of them had parents or certainly grandparents that lived under Communist oppression in Ceaucescu-ruled Romania, who called on the name of Christ when this was an illegal thing to do.
And so along with praising God for my own journey of faith and for His work among the nations, I also could praise Him for combining the two. There was a moment that night of "What am I doing here?" Several years ago, I never would have dreamed that my ideal evening would be just that – singing praise to God among Romanian young people. What a great God He is! What a sweet, sweet blessing! He is truly able to "…do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…" – Ephesians 3:20