Go Now semester missionaries love the lost, meet needs in Romania 

During the Spring 2026 semester, Micah Scobee and Alanna Harris spent time in Romania serving Roma people with disabilities, sharing the gospel with them and the surrounding community with Go Now Missions. 

Scobee, a Fall 2025 Midwestern State University (MSU) graduate and Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) student, went into her last semester feeling called to go on a mission trip. The second week of classes, Keith Beanland, MSU BSM director, asked her to consider a semester-long trip with Go Now. 

“I prayed over [Romania], and I kept going through the book, and it just stuck with me… [but] I chickened out [and] I missed Discovery Weekend,” Scobee said. “[Beanland] met with me the week after and he said, ‘Micah, that spot is still open, and I really think it was for you.’” 

Scobee said “yes” to a semester in Romania after determining her experience as a rehab tech and serving in children’s ministry was fitting to meet the needs of the Roma people, and she received her passport within two weeks of applying for it.

Harris, an August 2026 University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) graduate and BSM student, said Ben Muir, UTA BSM director, also asked her to consider going on a semester-long trip. She said she felt drawn to Romania because of her call to missions and a desire to meet the needs of the Roma people. 

“[The trip] was so evangelism-heavy to the point where you didn't need to know how to do any of the medical stuff because… the main reason that you're there is to share the gospel. So it was a lot more [because I felt] compassion [and wanted a part in] meeting needs,” Harris said. “Right now, it's pretty clear that the Lord wants me to be a missionary for as long as he has calls me to be.” 

Serving, building relationships despite communication barriers

Each week, the Romania Go Now team served in small groups, serving Roma people with different types of disabilities. On Mondays, Scobee and Harris served in children’s groups, which focused on teaching life skills to Roma children and young adults with mental disabilities. On Fridays, they would serve in therapy groups, which focused on providing physical therapy to Roma children and young adults with physical disabilities. During each group, they provided a meal and shared a Bible story. 

Scobee and Harris were both impacted by a girl named Geta who came to Friday therapy group with her siblings. 

“Romania is truly not handicapped accessible, so for a lot of these people, [small groups were] the only time they got to get out of their house, and it was because we physically went and picked them up in our wheelchair vans. So for a lot of these people, it was really a light in their life to be able to get out of the house and be social for a couple of hours,” Scobee said. “[Geta and her siblings] have a really bad life situation. They're beaten at home. We never know when they're going to eat. So anytime we had an opportunity to get them out of the house, we brought them.” 

Harris said Geta was closed off at first and would not listen to the Bible story with the rest of the group. But as the weeks went on, she began to slowly open up, help prepare the meal and listen to the Bible story. 

“When we would eat together, each [person] would have a task, and [Geta’s] task was to go and get the butter knives for the sandwiches to put butter on the bread. At first, she would not do it. Finally, if I would ask her to go do it, I would go do it with her, then she would do it. Slowly, she would come in, and she would come up to me, and she would do her version of a hug… Then she would hold out her hand for me to put my hand in and we would hold hands for two hours,” Harris said. “She just really opened up. She was smiling, and she was laughing, and when we talked to some of our national partners, they said, ‘This is completely different for her. She's totally changed her entire attitude.’” 

Harris said building a relationship with Geta helped her realize that despite any communication barrier, she can still show people the love of Christ through her presence and actions.

Harris said God adjusted her expectations while serving in Romania. She said two weeks in, she and her team learned they were an answer to prayer.

“One night the second week there [I was] crying and [feeling] so lonely and… the next day, we were talking to one of our national partners who works with [Hope Without Limits], the disability organization, and she was telling us how she had been praying for… a group of three [but] they got six,” Harris said. “She was very clear about, ‘The Lord is answering our prayers for laborers. You guys are our answered prayer,’ and I think that was the Lord showing me so clearly how faithful he is. I don't need to know why I'm here exactly, but if it's to answer one singular prayer, then praise God. That's the Lord being faithful to send.” 

Praying for the lost, boldness

Scobee said God used her time in Romania to open her eyes to the lost and grow her heart for the nations. She said going with her team to an Easter Eve candlelight service at an Eastern Orthodox church put this into perspective.

“On Easter Eve, essentially they all make a pilgrimage to the church, and they light their candles and they chant and they walk around the church three times to symbolize three days that Jesus Christ was in the tomb,” Scobee said. “We decided to go to one of the churches in the area to witness it, and I remember just standing there and watching them climb over each other to get to this candle to light theirs, just to turn and walk away because they've checked their box.” 

“There were so many people in this hundred-square vicinity who all want to know God, and they want the relationship, but the people that are supposed to be telling them how to do it are telling them to put their faith in works… It really hurt seeing so much lostness in one spot, and they don't even know [they’re lost],” Scobee said.

Harris will begin serving as a Campus Missionary at UTA BSM in the fall and said she looks forward to encouraging students to serve on mission trips. She encouraged students who are considering serving with Go Now to pray that the Lord would break their heart for the lost and give them boldness to take gospel opportunities. 

“[Praying for] boldness when you’re given those opportunities and praying for a broken heart for the lost is so [important] and will drive you to [want to] go on mission,” Harris said. 

Go Now Missions is a ministry of Texas Baptists and is made possible, in part, by the Mary Hill Davis Offering. Local BSMs and individual students also raise funds to send students. To learn more, visit gonowmissions.com.