Dear Friends,
It is somewhat unusual this year to write a report about a tour that I did not take. For me, the often said phrase: “Firstly, everything turns out differently and secondly than you think” has become realistic.
I had planned to accompany Ghita and his team on a mission to Dacia during the Romanian Easter holidays. Unfortunately, I was hit by the coronavirus and had to stay at home. This was hard for me, especially because my symptoms were only mild.
Nevertheless, I encouraged Ghita and his team to go and carry out the mission.
Because my absence was so sudden, they now had to master all the preparation and logistical challenges on their own. They managed to do this and they have grown. Both as a team, and each individual personally. Thanks to technology, I was able to be connected with the team at certain points. So every morning I was allowed to prepare an
impulse and start the day with the team. In doing so, I heard first-hand their enthusiasm for mastered challenges, learned about difficulties and received pictures that testified that the topics, games, actions and songs were very well received.
In the end, I was grateful. Grateful for the high personal commitment of the young people and their leader. Grateful for a week in which children played happily together, and learned things that help them master their lives even when things don’t go smoothly. Grateful for friendships that have been formed, which transcend cultural and ethnic differences and thus set a sign in a village that was long referred to as the cesspool of Transylvania.
But I am also grateful for my personal realization. Namely, that God is good even when things turn out differently than I thought.
Wishing you all a blessed summer and strength for the decision to trust in God anew, especially when things turn out differently than planned.
Warm regards,
Wolfgang.