Ordinary people in ordinary situations doing extraordinary things

If you have not read the post “Any Old Bush Will Do, you will need to read it in order to understand this post.

I want to tell you about the village of Barbosi in Romania. I had the wonderful opportunity to visit this village in 2005. When my team was there in 2005, they met in a small, damp room under the church which was under construction. They were very poor. The people of this village took a week’s worth of the flower they use to bake with and made us a special pastry for us to eat while we were there. They were so happy that we came to visit them. Out of all of the villages in Romania that I have visited, I was most humbled by this little village. They taught me that I don’t need a beautiful building or a nice suit to wear to church or lots of food to entertain friends and family. All I needed was a passion for the Lord and a willingness to serve him daily. That’s it!

There was the one particular lady that made such an impact on me while I was in Barbosi. She was an elderly lady who could not stand straight because of many years of picking crops in the fields. However, she would walk five miles, one way, from the main road when the church was having services. She was so precious to us. When we left, she wanted to “honor” us by kissing us on the cheek and then one kiss on the forehead. She grimaced in pain trying to stand up to give us this honor. She would not allow us to lean down for us to receive her kiss. I simply cried as we pulled off from this village. The Lord truly showed Himself to me through this lady.

On this past trip in April, I was giddy when I found out that we would be going back to Barbosi. I so wanted to revisit this village to see the progress of the church. Although the believers would not be at the church today, I was still excited to see the physical building. As we traveled down the long, gravel, bumpy road with so many holes in it that all of my organs were not in the same place we arrived, I started to wonder what ever happened to the lady that made such an impact on me. That memory left me as we drove up to the church and I saw that it was completed. It was truly a very emotional time for me.

When we got out of the car, I was still in shock that the church was finished. When we tried to get in the sanctuary, the doors were locked. As we were walking around outside, Vasile said to us that they had asked one of the members of the church to move in downstairs (where they use to meet) and her job was to keep the facility clean and watch over the grounds.


We climbed a hill to get a view of the back of the church when we heard some ladies yelling. Vasile turned around and started to talk to one of them when he said, “Ah, Mamma Lena is coming down to let us in.” He said, “We need to hurry, because when she sees me, she won’t let me go! I have become her adopted son!” When she came into view, tears started to form in my eyes because it was the lady who had honored me five years ago. She now lived in the church that she so much loved! She no longer has to make that five mile walk to church.

When she reached the church, she hugged the pastor and he, in Romania, talked with her and told her who we were. She grabbed each of our hands and started to cry. She pressed our hands against her face and as her tears transferred to the back of our hands, we just stood there in silence as she said, in Romania, “God bless you for coming. I am so happy that you are here. Peace be with you.” She looked up and then looked at me and then remembered that I had been there before. She asked Pastor Vasile and he said yes, and then she then gave me that same honor she gave me in 2005; A kiss on each cheek and one on the forehead. I just stood there in amazement of the situation. She asked about David Jarvis, a bearded man who was with me in 2005, and I told her that we was doing well back in the USA. She asked me to send him her love and blessings.

She then took us upstairs to see the finished sanctuary. That is when I could no longer control my emotions. Seeing the very building that I prayed so hard for to be completed was completed. It was beautiful. It had hardwood floors, a podium, a baptistery, and dressing rooms for the baptistery. It was beautiful. To me, it was more beautiful than any mega church in the states. I was speechless.

When we came out, Pastor Vasile asked Mamma Lena, “who put up this fence in front of the church?” She sheepishly looked down and said that she had asked some of the men of the church help her with it. He then asked her, “Where did the money come from.” She again, sheepishly said, “I used my monthly pension ($150.00 USD) to purchase the materials.” He asked why and she said that” she was tired of the village animals leaving their waste on the church porch and front area and it makes the church more beautiful.” Oh wow. The magnitude of this is enormous. All she gets is $150.00 per month from the Romania government for her pension. That is for her food and essentials. She used ALL of it to build that fence. She said to Vasile… “I just ate a little less each day to make up for it.”

As we left, I could not stop thinking about what I had just saw and heard. I was once again reminded of how God uses ordinary people in ordinary situations to do extraordinary things. If you are saying to yourself that building a fence isn’t an extraordinary thing, you have to remember the village, the economy in Romania, and the person that God used. I will tell you this. Mamma Lena will have a mansion the size of Billy Graham’s when she gets to heaven because she had the faith to do what the Lord asked her to do. She believed that God wanted her to build that fence and that he would take care of her; Even if it meant eating a little less each day for a month.

You see, approaching the burning bush, standing on holy ground, removing sandals from our feet; paying for a fence with all that you have, are the longings of the human soul; longings that will draw us toward the land of milk and honey; Where God's mercy awaits to heal us, and bring us peace. Such experiences may not prevent what is going on in the world, but it serves as a deep reminder that we are infinitely loved through Christ and meant to be one, living with each other in harmony. If only we would share the fire that draws us near, the fire that engulfs us in its bright light. Or better yet, allow God to use US as his burning bush. How different this world would be.

I felt that I was called to Romania to make a difference in the lives of the people there. When Mamma Lena honored me with those kisses and asked the Lord to bless me for what I was doing, and then told the story of the fence, I then realized that I was the one that was being blessed and that I was the one that needed a visit. I realized that I was the one that needed the reminder that we are loved by Christ and to allow Him to engulf me with his glory. What a humbling yet glorious experience.

But it all begins with each one of us recognizing that we encounter God almost daily. Like Moses before the burning bush, and Mamma Lena building a fence, we encounter God in many ways. It may be the time we ate in candlelight with a person we loved, or our wedding day, the birth of a child, the whisper of big pines in the mountains, or the lapping of the ocean against our feet or seeing a completed church building in a poor village. Once we recognize encounters of the burning bush, being blessed by God's presence, we need to share them by telling our story. Then as we tell our story of God's presence in our lives, we become a blessing to others so that this day we will stand on holy ground.