Heidi Reger

Growing up in a Christian family, I had knowledge of God from an early age and made a public commitment to follow Jesus at the age of 8. I was at a Christian summer camp at the time and I remember realising that I couldn’t just live off my parents faith but being a Christian was something I had to choose for myself. It was a significant week for me, and God set my heart ablaze for living my whole for him and being involved in telling others about this great news.

As I arrived home from camp, I excitedly told my mum two things; one, that I had become a Christian and two, when I grew up, I was going to be a missionary. Since that day, a love for Jesus and a love for people has characterised my life. Some might call it the gift of an evangelist but I think much more simply, I want the people that I care about to meet the one who is my best friend and has changed my life.

After I finished high school, I left my small hometown of Attleborough in Norfolk to go to Leeds where I studied music at University. As a student, I discovered that my friends were even more open to discussing deep topics than they were at school, and I became heavily involved in the Christian Union in organising events where students could gather to explore the difference that Jesus can make in our lives.

I grew a lot through my time as a student but even more during a 10-month internship with the Christian Union where I received more theological training and discipleship as well as having practical opportunities to exercise different gifts and step out of my comfort zone.

It was during this year that God began speaking to me again about the nations, showing me the resources and gifts that he had given to me and how, even at a young age, I could make a difference in witnessing and discipling others in countries where the need was greater. As interns with the Christian Union, there was an opportunity to move to another country in Europe for a year or two to serve their national movements and this sounded like the perfect fit. I began researching and through many conversations, God both led me and confirmed to me my decision to go to Romania to work primarily with international students.

After 18 months of living in Bucharest, Romania, I am delighted that God has brought me to this beautiful nation and that I have the opportunity to make friends from all across the world, especially from closed-countries where people cannot easily hear the gospel. I love to partner with Romanians in reaching the foreigners amongst us and to experience the joy of helping friends to take one step further in their faith journey. I have learnt to appreciate the beauty of real diversity with multi-lingual conversations and I’m constantly growing in my understanding of different cultures.