Week one of Romania has not been what we expected. Covid is still an unfortunate part of our lives and we are not exempt from getting it. Our first two weeks are confined to the ministry house, which was not exactly our ideal way to be in the country. But if I have learned anything in my 16 months of being on the mission field, it is to expect the unexpected and hold all of your plans loosely. 

At first, I was finding myself asking a lot of questions and feeling a little frustrated with only having three months on the field and spending the first portion in quarantine. It is so easy to get caught up in my own expectations and thoughts and completely miss the point. 

But then as I was praying yesterday the Lord reminded me that Paul preached from inside a LITERAL prison. Not a modern-day one at that. At least 4 books of the bible are written from his prison cell in his letters to the churches. His worship in the prison broke chains and brought an entire household to eternal life. If he can do all of that from a dark dusty cell, how much more can I do from a house with light, food, a bed, shower, and internet. I am not as trapped as I think. 

The power of prayer is enormous. The power of worship is exponential as our battles are not of flesh and blood but of the spirit. (Ephesians 6:12) There is also so much we can do with social media these days and an encouraging word can reach people all over the world and even save someone’s life. 

For some this quarantine might sound like an obstacle, but I think it is only an obstacle to our own ideas. In fact, this is a great opportunity to focus deeply and intentionally on God’s word, His children, and His plan for this city, in a way we would have never thought of before. 

God has been teaching me a lot this year about rest and dependency. That we were created to work out of a place of rest, not rest as a reward for exhaustion. He continues to teach me what complete dependency on him looks like. I still try so hard to hold on to my independence, but by His grace, I am loosening my own grip and letting Him lead. These two weeks were not what I had in mind, but He is so faithful and showing me how we have an opportunity to dive deeper and pray with everything we have. 

M squad has blown my mind with their faithfulness to the Lord, constant encouragement to each other, and their dedication to this ministry and this city. They are extremely creative with the ways they can still minister to the people and are fighting for each other and this place every day. 

I have found myself with lots of time to pray, so if you have any prayer requests please let me know! I would love to pray for you! You can comment below or email me at jmallen747@gmail.com. 

For my prayer warriors, please continue to pray for health for my squad, that we recover from covid quickly, and pray for freedom for the city of Craiova, as they only have 0.5% of people who know the love of Jesus. Pray that we can continue to help our ministry and expand their vision in this city!