New Monday, new podcast episode and this time I got to sit down (via Zoom) with Daniel & Ioana Pop, pastors and founders of Bucharest Connect.
They bring so much to this season (3) because no matter where you are in your journey, you will find something from them that will inspire you in your day to day life.
We start with their decision to move to Australia to attend Hillsong College, then move back to Romania, challenges and blessings with new beginnings. They also share with us how they organised an indoor Easter Egg hunt during a full-on pandemic (I loved that, so a big shout out to all the super moms and dads out there) and we also go into subjects like building a community, starting a church, finding a balance between ministry and personal life and one of my favorite topics – BOOKS.
While Daniel helped us with Shine The Light On part, Ioana talked passionately about her 3 favorite books (besides Bible) that stayed with her during the years and had an impact on her life.
I strongly believe that we can learn so much from books and when she mentioned her top 3, I was ”you know what – these books should go on my blog”.
- Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry and Leadership by Loren Cunningham – This book brings light to the church’s crucial debate through- historical and current global perspectives- a detailed study of women in Scripture- an examination of the fruit of women in public ministry- a powerful revelation of what’s at stake for women, men, the body of Christ, God’s kingdom, and the unreached. As a woman, if you have doubts about holding a public office in the Church, then this book is for you.
- Hiding from Love: How to Change the Withdrawal Patterns That Isolate and Imprison You by John Townsend – When you experience emotional injury, fear, or shame, your first impulse is to hide the hurting parts of yourself from God, others, and even yourself. Often, you’ve learned these hiding patterns during childhood to protect yourself in a threatening environment. The problem is that when you hide your injuries and frailties, you isolate yourself from the very things you need in order to heal and mature – connection, intimacy, and love. What served as protection for a child becomes a prison to an adult. This book helps you explore the hiding patterns you’ve developed and guides you toward the healing grace and truth of safe, connected relationships with God and others.
- The Seven Principles For Making Marriage Work by John Gottman – this book helps couples focus on each other, on paying attention to the small day-to-day moments that, strung together, make up the heart and soul of any relationship. Packed with questionnaires and exercises whose effectiveness has been proven in Dr Gottman’s workshops, this is the definitive guide for anyone who wants their relationship to attain its highest potential.
*Full Disclaimer – all the notes used to shortly describe the titles above are a mixture of ideas from Amazon, Goodreads and authors personal websites.
“I read a book one day and my whole life was changed.” – Orhan Pamuk
Thank you, Ioana, for sharing these titles with us.