I don't even know where to begin. So much has happened in 7 days! This has been one of the most incredible experiences, and I will never forget it. Anything I had expected or been wary of in coming has turned out to be a huge blessing. God has revealed himself every day, and seeing how much he works when the focus is completely on him and the glory is given completely to him is incredible. My heart will be left in this country when I leave, and I truly hope to return. Experiencing another culture is something not easily forgotten, but experiencing and embracing a new culture with God at the forefront in order to bring Light and Truth is something that cannot even be described. It is humbling and full of purpose and heavenly treasures. It is now halfway through this trip, and I know that before I am ready this trip will be over.
I don't know completely what I was expecting coming here, but I expected the trip to be much more difficult in terms of adjusting to culture change and language barrier. Instead, I have found myself completely at home here. The landscape, villages, and city scenery are just about the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The people are wonderful and so hospitable, and the food has been very good. I enjoy observing and capturing everything in my mind, and I am struck by the way in which people are the same universally. Laughter, smiles, and kindness are understood in any language. I love my host family. Becca, Abby, and I are staying with a mother and her teenage daughter (who speaks excellent English), and they are some of the sweetest people I have ever met. While the daughter speaks English, the mother does not speak much, yet we have laughed and joked together more in 7 days than I have with some people I have known my entire life. Some of my favorite memories with them include being dressed up in a traditional Romanian dress (with props), sitting on their 4th floor balcony enjoying the cool night every night when we come home, and swimming together in the public Romanian swimming pool. God knew what he was doing when he put us in this home. We have all grown so close to each other. Also, coffee is very good here and so is icecream!
God has been teaching me so much from this trip. I'm learning I can be completely comfortable being uncomfortable. I really can step out and do something I've never done before and trust that God will take it where He wants it to go, and everything works out. And it really can be a lifestyle, not just a mindset of a missions trip, although it may have taken this summer and this trip for God to convince me of that. And as weak and unskilled and incapable as I feel, he has other plans, as he revealed in reconfirming that he has called me to missions work. This is not in my comfort zone, but God is showing me how much he can do with someone who is not in their comfort zone and can only rely on God.
I have so much more to tell. Ask me when I am home about my visit with Becca and Roberta to a village home, swimming adventures, conversations with tourists who almost were hit by footballs, team bonding times, and the many adorable and loveable children that I wish I could play with forever. Also, I can now make duck tape bracelets in any color or size, so requests are being taken. I wish you could all experience this. Thank you so much, more than I can say, for your prayers and financial support for me to experience this and impact others.
In Christ,
Beth
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
God is totally, and completely at work!!!
So today is day four in Romania, and these past four days have been full of some of the best experiences that I have ever had in my life!! Romania is gorgeous as well. All of the buildings and architecture are incredible, and the atmosphere almost feels like you've stepped back in time, but it is the most amazing feeling. There is absolutely no doubt about it, God definately has a lot of special plans for this trip, because no one could have put together anything like what I have been able to experience anywhere near as perfect as this. There have been so may firsts, the first time I have been out of North America, been overseas, flown on a plane, been in a host family, and drank coffee!!! :) Each thing has been such and exciting new adventure, I've learned to just go with the flow, and let God take care of the rest... and after these few days, I definately belive that God has a very BIG sense of humor!!!
I'm pretty sure I've never laughed so much in my life as I have over here, and a lot of that is due in part to our host family. I am staying with Beth and Becca, and our host family is two wonderful women, Ramona, who is 16, and her mother, Carmen. They are both so incredibly sweet, and Carmen is probably one of the funniest people I have ever met. She is just so incredibly full of life and love and joy, that is so rare to see. She loves taking pictures with us and even brought out Romanian cloths for us to dress up in and pose for the camera; It was so much fun and I can't remember the last time I have laughed so hard!! God definately put the three of us (me, Beth and Becca) in the perfect host family for us, we have just connected so well with them. Ramona is so sweet and she speaks English extreamly well, so she interprets a lot for us and her mom. Carmen speaks almost no English, but her spirit is just so incredibly vibrant, that we really don't need to speak the same language to understand each other. I think I can speak for all three of us in saying that we are so incredibly blessed with the family we have been put in, we've played dress up with them, taken pictures, walked around the citadel and up into this incredibly gorgeous clock tower, swam at the pool, and just hung out building a relationship with these to beautiful people.
Today has been such a cool day as well. It was the first day of camp with the Romanian kids and I was pretty excited. I was also pretty tired, and we had to walk from our host family in Beregon to the House on The Rock in Sigisoara, about a 45 minute walk, in the rain. So by the time we reached The House on The Rock, I don't know about the others, but I was pretty wiped out!! The kids got there and we started with karate, which I just floated around taking tons of pictures, which was a lot of fun. However, that was soon over and I realized that it was my turn to lead a group of the kids in taking pictures... and I wasn't given much instruction other than, give them the camera's take them somwhere around the area, and have fun!! Well I work with kids all summer at Kindercamp, but the activities are always already planned out, so all I have to do is direct the kids in the way that I'm told (plus, those kids are American, not Romanian). It was a bit different here though because it was my job to come up with something to lead these kids in, right on the spot... and I'm not too good being on the spot, so I was a little nervous, I had absolutely NO clue what I was going to say!! But just like everyone had told me, God gave me the words, and I showed them all how to zoom in and out, and they ran around taking tons of pictures (1200 plus total), and they had such a good time, and a lot of the pictures came out extreamly nice!! These kids for how young they are, have totally impressed me with how well they can all speak English, every single one that I have talked to, have all understood me! Watching them laugh, smile, play and just have so much fun has been such an incredible God sighting and such a blessing, and the pictures I have taken capture a lot, but they can never capture the extent of absolute joy and life that I see in these kids; God is so, incredibly, amazing!!
Even though it has only been four days... and the fourth day isn't even over yet, God has been so incredibly evident everywhere I have been. I saw Him when I was watching the team massage the elderly on Friday when I was playing my flute with Beth on her harp. I saw Him in the way our team all gets along. I saw Him in the view from our host family's balcony. I saw Him at church on Sunday when Beth played the keyboard and Maurice preached, and Nolan got baptized, and I will never forget how much of a presence I felt of Him when I closed my eyes and just listen and let my heart soak in the voices of the Romanian people singing to God in their own language... that was awsome! I see him in our host family, the missions team, the prayers Beth, Becca and I have late at night, the people in the streets, the kids in the camp, the smiles and the laughter. I just love seeing all these people over here in Romania, a completely different culture than what I have at home, and recognizing that half way across the world, there are people just like me, going about their everyday lives, just like I do, and knowing that we are all children of the same beautiful, incredible, wonderful, God.
Well, now that I have written an epistle, I should probably save some things for others to write about... even though I could write 10x more than what I already have (my journal already has at least 40 some odd pages filled, and I haven't even journaled today yet)!! I apologize for boring anyone or rambling... but already I just have so much that is going through my mind, Mike decided that he was going to call me Gabby from now on... I guess I talked a bit yesterday during our group debrief!! :) God is just so amazing and I just can feel and see Him all around me. Already this trip is incerdible, and I'm loving every second of it!! :)- Abby
I'm pretty sure I've never laughed so much in my life as I have over here, and a lot of that is due in part to our host family. I am staying with Beth and Becca, and our host family is two wonderful women, Ramona, who is 16, and her mother, Carmen. They are both so incredibly sweet, and Carmen is probably one of the funniest people I have ever met. She is just so incredibly full of life and love and joy, that is so rare to see. She loves taking pictures with us and even brought out Romanian cloths for us to dress up in and pose for the camera; It was so much fun and I can't remember the last time I have laughed so hard!! God definately put the three of us (me, Beth and Becca) in the perfect host family for us, we have just connected so well with them. Ramona is so sweet and she speaks English extreamly well, so she interprets a lot for us and her mom. Carmen speaks almost no English, but her spirit is just so incredibly vibrant, that we really don't need to speak the same language to understand each other. I think I can speak for all three of us in saying that we are so incredibly blessed with the family we have been put in, we've played dress up with them, taken pictures, walked around the citadel and up into this incredibly gorgeous clock tower, swam at the pool, and just hung out building a relationship with these to beautiful people.
Today has been such a cool day as well. It was the first day of camp with the Romanian kids and I was pretty excited. I was also pretty tired, and we had to walk from our host family in Beregon to the House on The Rock in Sigisoara, about a 45 minute walk, in the rain. So by the time we reached The House on The Rock, I don't know about the others, but I was pretty wiped out!! The kids got there and we started with karate, which I just floated around taking tons of pictures, which was a lot of fun. However, that was soon over and I realized that it was my turn to lead a group of the kids in taking pictures... and I wasn't given much instruction other than, give them the camera's take them somwhere around the area, and have fun!! Well I work with kids all summer at Kindercamp, but the activities are always already planned out, so all I have to do is direct the kids in the way that I'm told (plus, those kids are American, not Romanian). It was a bit different here though because it was my job to come up with something to lead these kids in, right on the spot... and I'm not too good being on the spot, so I was a little nervous, I had absolutely NO clue what I was going to say!! But just like everyone had told me, God gave me the words, and I showed them all how to zoom in and out, and they ran around taking tons of pictures (1200 plus total), and they had such a good time, and a lot of the pictures came out extreamly nice!! These kids for how young they are, have totally impressed me with how well they can all speak English, every single one that I have talked to, have all understood me! Watching them laugh, smile, play and just have so much fun has been such an incredible God sighting and such a blessing, and the pictures I have taken capture a lot, but they can never capture the extent of absolute joy and life that I see in these kids; God is so, incredibly, amazing!!
Even though it has only been four days... and the fourth day isn't even over yet, God has been so incredibly evident everywhere I have been. I saw Him when I was watching the team massage the elderly on Friday when I was playing my flute with Beth on her harp. I saw Him in the way our team all gets along. I saw Him in the view from our host family's balcony. I saw Him at church on Sunday when Beth played the keyboard and Maurice preached, and Nolan got baptized, and I will never forget how much of a presence I felt of Him when I closed my eyes and just listen and let my heart soak in the voices of the Romanian people singing to God in their own language... that was awsome! I see him in our host family, the missions team, the prayers Beth, Becca and I have late at night, the people in the streets, the kids in the camp, the smiles and the laughter. I just love seeing all these people over here in Romania, a completely different culture than what I have at home, and recognizing that half way across the world, there are people just like me, going about their everyday lives, just like I do, and knowing that we are all children of the same beautiful, incredible, wonderful, God.
Well, now that I have written an epistle, I should probably save some things for others to write about... even though I could write 10x more than what I already have (my journal already has at least 40 some odd pages filled, and I haven't even journaled today yet)!! I apologize for boring anyone or rambling... but already I just have so much that is going through my mind, Mike decided that he was going to call me Gabby from now on... I guess I talked a bit yesterday during our group debrief!! :) God is just so amazing and I just can feel and see Him all around me. Already this trip is incerdible, and I'm loving every second of it!! :)- Abby
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Steven's Dog
Friday, July 27, 2012
Joe's Day
Hello friends and family, we all survived the first day... But some of Mike's jokes are making sense, so either there is somthing wrong with me, or the flight took more out of me then I thought. But anyways, so far so good. An uneventful flight minus a brief encounter with an olimpian heptathalete.
Today has consisted of waking up as the last person in our house, being driven to a plaza and getting a feel for the city, (I actually saw someone else with red hair!) and then heading to the church to massage some the elderly and size up the construction site. The massaging was interesting because really all of these people were just tired and you could just see years of exhaustion on their faces. The man that Aaron Curtis massaged, must have had every single vein bulging out of his arms. The communication really didn't seem to be a barrier and they seemed to enjoy it, and Karen told us that the mumblings of Romanian I heard were positive, or so she says...
The biggest story however, involves the host mother we stayed with. This woman was really trying to take care of us. She knew little English, but she still kept at us to make sure 'that you will be happy.' And so we got settled down and ready for bed and I thought that now would be a good time to give the blanket my mom had made for the host mother that Karen had told her about. So I give it to her and she seemed really happy. Even though my host family assignment had been changed before we got there we love where we are staying. All in all though, it has been a good week and I look forward to the rest of the trip!
Your only redheaded blogger
Joe Hunt!
Today has consisted of waking up as the last person in our house, being driven to a plaza and getting a feel for the city, (I actually saw someone else with red hair!) and then heading to the church to massage some the elderly and size up the construction site. The massaging was interesting because really all of these people were just tired and you could just see years of exhaustion on their faces. The man that Aaron Curtis massaged, must have had every single vein bulging out of his arms. The communication really didn't seem to be a barrier and they seemed to enjoy it, and Karen told us that the mumblings of Romanian I heard were positive, or so she says...
The biggest story however, involves the host mother we stayed with. This woman was really trying to take care of us. She knew little English, but she still kept at us to make sure 'that you will be happy.' And so we got settled down and ready for bed and I thought that now would be a good time to give the blanket my mom had made for the host mother that Karen had told her about. So I give it to her and she seemed really happy. Even though my host family assignment had been changed before we got there we love where we are staying. All in all though, it has been a good week and I look forward to the rest of the trip!
Your only redheaded blogger
Joe Hunt!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
In Which We are Reminded what a BIG God We Have
Arriving in Sighisoara last night was probably not what anyone thought it would be. We stepped out of the boat (or off the train) and were seriously wondered if we were just going to sink right then and there. Craig and Joe got a last minute host family change (with about 10 minutes notice). Beth, Becca, and Abby were put in a vehicle at the airport with Miss Roberta and told we'd see you all tomorrow while the rest of us got on a train. On the train we met some great Romanian young people and Mike got to practive his Romanian. The Romanian girls laughed a lot but we had a great time with them. Later today we will post a picture. But probably the biggest stepping out of the boat moment was when 6 of our team got off the train in the middle of a field. I know parents- don't freak out. Here is how the totally Romania moment happened and how we saw what a BIG God we have.
Part of the team was going to get off in Danesh during our ride from Sibiu since tat is where Mike, Aaron, Tim and Vic were staying with host families. At the last minute it was decided that Nolan & Liam could get off with them and we would pick them up when we dropped the luggage off. The stop should have been immediately after Dubraveni so I had everybody get ready to get off since stops are really short. The train stopped and they all quickly jumped off. Only then did Maurice and I realize that this was not Danesh but rather some stop in the middle of a field. The train started to pull away so the only thing I could think to do was to jump off and join them. At least they would have a Romanian speaker with them. We knew Maurice and the others would let Relu and Roberta know what happened. We figured we must be pretty close to Danesh so we started to walk. The railroad tracks were not safe and neither is a Romanian road at night. We started to walk on the gravel road on the othere side of the tracks. After walking for a while we realized that although the gravel road followed the tracks, the road where cars travel was moving away from the tracks. Nothing to do now but to keep walking - I mean - how far could Danesh possibly be. We all began to wonder how we ended up on the gravel road in the middle of who knows where at 10:00 at night with half the missions team.
The lightening was going the whole time but it never rained. Thankfully from Nolan's time watching Bear Grillis he actually had a head lamp and a flashlight. I told Liam that the lightening was God's lighthouse shining our way home. Over and over during the journey I recognized that God was completely in control and we needed to trust Him. We were ripped completely out of comfort zone so that God could remind us to trust in Him.
After at least 2 kilometers of walking we came across two men in a caruta (horse and wagon) in the pitch dark. We offered them money to take us to Danesh. I introduced Pastor Mihai (Mike) and they asked if we were Pocait (reformed one) which is generally not a nice word to call someone but turns out they were as well and were part of the Baptist Church. I am sure at that moment the other team members were seriously questioning why they came on that trip but their attitudes were just great as I had all seven of us loaded in the back of a wagon. Mind you the whole conversation was in Romanian. I don't think any of the team was too sure about crawling in the back of the rickety wagon with pitchforks and scythes but in they all went. In moments like these you can try to do things your own way (like continuing to walk) or you can just trust. Listen to God's voice saying " I am in control- I provided the wagon to take you the next part of the journey". What a crazy moment-old nag and a rickety wagon rambling along a back country rode at 11:00 at night.
The moment where fear could have prevailed was when we got on the car road. The edge of the road had a two foot drop off, cars flying up behind us with only Nolan's flashlight to shine out as we go through construction zones. Instead of fear though the only thing that came into my mind was the song "Dumnezeu este mare Dumnezeu" or My God is Big God. We could see the lights of Danesh when Tim and Vic said the wagon started to feel like it was falling apart. We had the men pull over and let us all out and we would walk the rest of the way. No sooner had the last of us got out of the wagon when Miss Dorothy, Relu and Maurice pulled up along side us on the road. God's timing is so perfect.
I don't know what God's plan wsa in all of this but I do know that each of us on that journey tonight saw and felt the hand of God! -Karen
Part of the team was going to get off in Danesh during our ride from Sibiu since tat is where Mike, Aaron, Tim and Vic were staying with host families. At the last minute it was decided that Nolan & Liam could get off with them and we would pick them up when we dropped the luggage off. The stop should have been immediately after Dubraveni so I had everybody get ready to get off since stops are really short. The train stopped and they all quickly jumped off. Only then did Maurice and I realize that this was not Danesh but rather some stop in the middle of a field. The train started to pull away so the only thing I could think to do was to jump off and join them. At least they would have a Romanian speaker with them. We knew Maurice and the others would let Relu and Roberta know what happened. We figured we must be pretty close to Danesh so we started to walk. The railroad tracks were not safe and neither is a Romanian road at night. We started to walk on the gravel road on the othere side of the tracks. After walking for a while we realized that although the gravel road followed the tracks, the road where cars travel was moving away from the tracks. Nothing to do now but to keep walking - I mean - how far could Danesh possibly be. We all began to wonder how we ended up on the gravel road in the middle of who knows where at 10:00 at night with half the missions team.
The lightening was going the whole time but it never rained. Thankfully from Nolan's time watching Bear Grillis he actually had a head lamp and a flashlight. I told Liam that the lightening was God's lighthouse shining our way home. Over and over during the journey I recognized that God was completely in control and we needed to trust Him. We were ripped completely out of comfort zone so that God could remind us to trust in Him.
After at least 2 kilometers of walking we came across two men in a caruta (horse and wagon) in the pitch dark. We offered them money to take us to Danesh. I introduced Pastor Mihai (Mike) and they asked if we were Pocait (reformed one) which is generally not a nice word to call someone but turns out they were as well and were part of the Baptist Church. I am sure at that moment the other team members were seriously questioning why they came on that trip but their attitudes were just great as I had all seven of us loaded in the back of a wagon. Mind you the whole conversation was in Romanian. I don't think any of the team was too sure about crawling in the back of the rickety wagon with pitchforks and scythes but in they all went. In moments like these you can try to do things your own way (like continuing to walk) or you can just trust. Listen to God's voice saying " I am in control- I provided the wagon to take you the next part of the journey". What a crazy moment-old nag and a rickety wagon rambling along a back country rode at 11:00 at night.
The moment where fear could have prevailed was when we got on the car road. The edge of the road had a two foot drop off, cars flying up behind us with only Nolan's flashlight to shine out as we go through construction zones. Instead of fear though the only thing that came into my mind was the song "Dumnezeu este mare Dumnezeu" or My God is Big God. We could see the lights of Danesh when Tim and Vic said the wagon started to feel like it was falling apart. We had the men pull over and let us all out and we would walk the rest of the way. No sooner had the last of us got out of the wagon when Miss Dorothy, Relu and Maurice pulled up along side us on the road. God's timing is so perfect.
I don't know what God's plan wsa in all of this but I do know that each of us on that journey tonight saw and felt the hand of God! -Karen
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tomorrow is D Day (departure day)
Tomorrow a team of 14 of us will set out from Pearce Free Methodist Church in Rochester, NY, USA on our way to Sighisoara, Romania. Six of us have been there before and are so excited to be going back to see our Romanian "families". The others are eagerly if not a little nervously looking forward to this opportunity that God has called each one of us to. We are all being moved out of our comfort zones, moving out of our task oriented -rush everywhere- technology obsessed society and into a very different culture. A culture where relationships and time for people matter more than being on-time. A place where you can still see a horse pulling a wagon down the street. A place where communism has only been out of power for a little over 20 years. A place that makes our own economy look fantastic.
For the next two weeks we are going to be honoring the elderly by treating them to special times of music, desserts, massages, but most of all just being present with them so that they know they are valued. Some of us will be helping with construction on the Church of the Nazarene in Sighisoara. Maybe the most exciting yet scary part is that we are hosting a whole week of Veritas Kid's Camp for Romanian kids 8-12 years old. We will be playing Wiffle Ball, American Football, Karate, and spending time learning to work with digital photography. There are 28 kids signed up for camp.
God has really beem amazing in this whole process. In order to host this camp we needed 13 digital cameras, 28 SD cards, 28 karate white belts, 30 football, 30 Wiffle ball bats, photo matting supplies, a photo printer, 5 laptops, lots of colored duct tape and sponsorship for some of kids coming to camp. God has provided everything we need as we prepare to leave tomorrow. He even provided extras before we knew we had extra kids sign up for camp. We have been trying to find a small space of land in Sighisoara to play american football and wiffle ball and just today we were able to locate perfect grassy spot at the Children's Club that they are allowing us to use. How awesome!
Please pray for us as we depart on our journey, for patience with each other, peace while flying, and trust as we move in with host families. Blog with you soon.- Karen
For the next two weeks we are going to be honoring the elderly by treating them to special times of music, desserts, massages, but most of all just being present with them so that they know they are valued. Some of us will be helping with construction on the Church of the Nazarene in Sighisoara. Maybe the most exciting yet scary part is that we are hosting a whole week of Veritas Kid's Camp for Romanian kids 8-12 years old. We will be playing Wiffle Ball, American Football, Karate, and spending time learning to work with digital photography. There are 28 kids signed up for camp.
God has really beem amazing in this whole process. In order to host this camp we needed 13 digital cameras, 28 SD cards, 28 karate white belts, 30 football, 30 Wiffle ball bats, photo matting supplies, a photo printer, 5 laptops, lots of colored duct tape and sponsorship for some of kids coming to camp. God has provided everything we need as we prepare to leave tomorrow. He even provided extras before we knew we had extra kids sign up for camp. We have been trying to find a small space of land in Sighisoara to play american football and wiffle ball and just today we were able to locate perfect grassy spot at the Children's Club that they are allowing us to use. How awesome!
Please pray for us as we depart on our journey, for patience with each other, peace while flying, and trust as we move in with host families. Blog with you soon.- Karen
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