But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

One thing that God really taught me at training camp was that the Holy Spirit is real and present in my life. Growing up in the church, I've always known of and "believed in" the Holy Spirit but I never really put much stock in it - it was just that other one in the Trinity. I didn't hear God speaking to me through the Holy Spirit and I didn't see its work in my life.

In the time we spent as a group, Jessie, Bryan, and Sarah all put a huge emphasis on listening to God through prayer and we discussed it in one of our morning sessions. I learned more about Holy Spirit in just a few days than I had in my whole life. It turns out, that little voice in my head isn't me, it's God. I've always suspected that, but when I heard it from a different person, it was pretty mind blowing. All of the sudden, prayer became more real to me and God's voice became more clear. Those "random" verses that pop into my head are actually the words that God wants to speak into my heart.

You're probably wondering.... what does that have to do with Galatians 5:22-23? I guess you could say I didn't have very much joy in my life before I came here. Even though God has blessed me greatly,  I was always angry and bitter and maybe even a little bit depressed. I don't know why I had so much anger towards the world but I know I definitely wasn't producing the fruits of the spirit. Well, since I've been in Romania, I've begun to change. Even though I'm out of my comfort zone, God has given me a joy that has carried me through the hard times. He has made me into a new person, a better person and I'm sure it's because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life.

For many of us, the song, "Hosanna" by Hillsong has become a sort of themesong for this trip. It says, "Break my heart for what breaks yours, everything I am for you kingdom's cause." Not everything is easy here - God is breaking all of our hearts for Romania, but this is a good kind of hurt.

In Him,

Emily