Quarantined in Craiova

M Squad has arrived in Romania!! An array of emotions flooded over my heart; excitement, curiosity, eagerness, and slight hesitation. 

I wonder what kind of ministry we’ll be doing? I thought to myself in wonder. 

I can not wait to see how beautiful this country is!

Thoughts continuously popped in my mind…then the unexpected happened. The next day we were informed that we would have to quarantine for 14 days. 

Wait..What??

What about ministry?

What about the community?

How are we supposed to do what we came here to do from inside the house?

This was the biggest curve ball yet and certainly not an ideal situation. But then, a sweet voice whispered,

It’s okay, just hold on.

*I took a deep breath and closed my eyes*

Okay God, what do you want to do? 

The circumstances were not what I had pictured, but it was actually what I needed.

Stillness, wrestling, and time.

The 14 days actually turned into 20, but throughout those 20 days I was able to fully saturate myself, the city of Craiova, and my squad in prayer. Prayer is one of the biggest resources and it is vital that we as believers access the fullness of it. There are some places, spiritually and on this earth, that we cannot access without prayer. God was very gracious and kind through that time and walked me through some elements I had forgotten about prayer– one of those elements being that it is a conversation. There is talking AND listening involved in prayer and that is where the stillness that I was lacking came into play. 

Quarantine allowed me to be physically still as well as spiritually and really key in on the voice of God. He invites us to sit with Him and just spend time with Him. Through that time of intentionality, I was very honest with Him and wrestled a lot.  

Why did this happen?

What good are we stuck in a house? 

I’m supposed to be spreading the Gospel, Jesus did you forget? (As if He could forget such a thing).

Consistent wrestling. 

And that’s exactly what He wanted. God wants us to be bare before Him and my heart was on my sleeve.

Again, there was a small, still voice that assured me He had this under control and good was going to come out of it. But in order to hear that small voice, I had to lower mine–which was so focused on the frustrations. 

Now, please don’t misunderstand me— God wants you to come to Him with ALL of your emotions and nothing holding back, but it’s an exchange. After coming to Him with it all, we need to be disciplined and desperate enough to sit there and listen for a response. It may not come right at that moment, but we should be expectant of the Father’s voice and posture our hearts to receive it. During quarantine, He spoke to me through scripture, nature, and the people around me, but I had to make the space to receive it and be still enough to listen. 

In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 9 verses 37 and 38, Jesus says to His disciples,

“The Harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Jesus asks them to pray to God before going into the field of harvest. Our time in quarantine was filled with intentionality, prayer, and petition. I am so thankful He allowed us to begin this 11-month journey through stillness and prayer. 

Lord, thank you so much for the sweet memories we created as a squad, the friendships that blossomed and for your consistent pursuit after our hearts. Continue to move in M Squad and use us for your glory!

 

This window was a blessing (especially whenever you’re stuck in a tiny room with 5+ people)

Thank you so much for reading! Make sure to subscribe to get all the updates on my journey. If you have any questions about ANYTHING please feel free to reach out via email.

Until next time amigos, 

Gina Oyuela-Dickinson