#MobiJourney: Robert from Romania

#MobiJourney features testimonies and stories of those who have taken an SM course, have been impacted by it and resolved to be involved in the expansion of God’s Kingdom. Below is 22-year-old Robert Olteanu’s testimony on how the Kairos course has ignited in Him a passion to live His life for Jesus and to take part in the expansion of God’s Kingdom: 

What is the purpose of life? What is that thing that you wake up in mind with, and live the day for?

When I was 19, I left home, my family and everything I knew to go to college. After my freshman year in college, I tried to compare the “high school” me with who I had then become. I was shocked. I had left home as a shy boy, scared of interaction and new environments, but after only one year, I was facing a braver and stronger me. But deep inside me, I knew that I was faking it.

Questions were haunting me. I was wondering: am I meant to become a successful software engineer? Is that the kind of life I should live? And if it is, how would it fulfill me, what would be the meaning of my life? Don’t get me wrong. I am already a Christian. I knew, at least, theoretically, that I was living for Jesus, that I need to grow in holiness and in my relationship with my Lord. But, frankly, I didn’t have the passion for growing as a Christian. I thought that I’m a Christian and will just go to Heaven.

As I was facing those questions, I had the opportunity to participate in a Kairos course. And through Kairos, God gave me exactly the answers that I was looking for. Suddenly, I understood what my purpose should be: fulfilling the Great Commission. I didn’t understand everything but during this course, God gave me a heart for mission, for the great purpose of reaching those who have not been reached with the Gospel. This changed me in so many ways.

After the Kairos course, I was invited to a prayer group for missionaries. The leader of that group, who is also a Kairos head facilitator, became one of my best friends, and through him, God taught me a lot! God has His way of placing the right people in our lives.

In a few months, I became friends with more and more Christians with passion for mission. It’s very interesting to see how God does not quit. Sometimes, in my studies and projects, I tend to lose my focus, to forget about my calling, but He does not! In these moments, He reminds me again that I have decided to follow His will, more than a career, more than the money, more than anything else. Usually, He does it through one of these friends.

I’ve done the first step in playing my part in fulfilling the Great Commission, when I began to pray for missionaries. After a while, I had the opportunity to go to a few short mission trips in Bulgaria. This year, God used me in the Republic of Moldova. I’ve been more a mobilizer than a missionary.  I have been trained as a Kairos facilitator, and I have been involved in a few Kairos courses in Romania and in a Romanian church in Belgium. In every Kairos course, God has been giving me the confirmation that mission is His calling for my life.

It’s been two years since I took the Kairos course. I can’t see very far, but I’m going as far as I can see. I’m not sure, yet, in what way God will use me in the future. I have some plans, but right now, I know that God wants me to be a mobilizer. I’m trying to do my best for that. I have said in the beginning that, after my first year of college, I thought that I was braver. Now, after all the things that God made me to go through, I can say that I’m braver, but more than this, I have learned to trust Him, no matter what. I have grown, and I’m still growing.

So, what’s the purpose of my life? I know that I’m an arrow in His bow, and right now, God is sharpening my tip, He is straightening my shaft and my flight. All I want is to be an arrow that will reach the target. This moment is my “Kairos” to bring glory to God. His glory is filling my life so much, that it’s overflowing to lead peoples to Him, so peoples will be filled in the same way! I want to play my part in expanding His kingdom! I love Him, and my life will be spent as He pleases! Amen!