Romaina

May people have asked me how the mission trip was. I always say an eye opening experience. We stayed in Cluj, Romania. It is a large city, and as modern as any of our cities. We would get up every morning and drive out to the ROMA villages. You can see a picture of one of the homes above. Many of the houses where four room shacks, often times lacking doors. They told us in the winter time they put up a piece of plywood to keep the cold out. Being in these villages and in this country has shown me a few things. First of all, as Americans we to often mistake material possessions for wealth. There were many of the children who had never seen nor heard of a gameboy or a PSP, but were happy and wealthy in family and friends. Second, we to often mistake self-centeredness for self-fulfillment. We try to excuse our self-centerendness with excuses like "That's just who I am." God is not interested in who you are, he knows who you are. The bible says the heart of men is desperately wicked and who can know it. God knows that you are self-centered. It is time that we stop thinking in terms of what will comfort us and make us feel better, and start striving to be a son or daughter of Jesus Christ. And finally, I think we mistake an invitation to church for an invitation to a relationship with Jesus Christ. This point really builds off the first two. We need church members who don't just invite people to church, but who invite lost people into their homes. We live in a culture of experts. Many times our church family says, If we can just get time into the door to hear the professional, that is the ticket. But that is not the answer. We must all do evangelism!