As Christians we all go through seasons in our spiritual walk where we feel distant from God and are in need of a refreshing to remind us of the unique calling and purpose God has on our life. Sometimes this awakening requires us to be away from our normal everyday routines.  In this article Julia Edlefson shares her personal story of the life changing experience she had while serving with us on a mission trip to Romania.  We pray that our mission trips would be a catalyst for God to ignite passion for being world changers for Jesus in the hearts of every awesome person who so graciously volunteers their time and energy to serve our kids in Romania.  Here is Julia’s powerful testimony.

“From a young age, it had always been a goal of mine to go on a mission’s trip. I am easily intrigued by different cultures and love to help others, so International missions seemed like a natural choice. After hearing testimonies of some friends from church that had traveled with ACF to Romania I immediately wanted to go.

I was a little nervous as I was just graduating high school and hadn’t necessarily experienced any major hardships in my life. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to relate to these children that had already been through so much. However, after spending time at the Point of Hope Center and a few days at camp, I realized that all of these kids and I really weren’t that different. Despite our different backgrounds and circumstances, we all longed for unconditional love at the end of the day. While saying goodbye to the kids with tears flowing, I realized that a trip I had signed up for with the hopes of possibly changing a child’s life for the better was actually doing the same for me.

God laid it on my heart during that trip that I was seeking validation and love in all the wrong places. I left both humbled and inspired in this revelation. Going to Romania was life changing because it sparked within me so much passion for spreading the unconditional love of the Lord. That passion has continued to pour out into other parts of my everyday life and has made my relationship with God so much deeper and my connection with others so much stronger.

I encourage anyone to go to Romania and get involved with ACF and relish in how much it inspires you to spread the goodness of the Lord in even the smallest ways in your own community. I can’t imagine my life without this experience!”