Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Saies
Today was hard. When we counted at the beginning of the day there were 70 kids in a 10x16 room. The decibel level was incredible. By then end I think we had accumulated at least 90. I don't know where they all came from. We only had 2 translators who stayed with us the whole time, so it was difficult to corral all the kids, because of sheer numbers and the energy level of these kids with little ability to communicate what was going on. These are pics of the kids I bonded with, the other 70 or so were so hyper I couldn't deal with them. I also didn't sleep well last night, so maybe my fuse was a little shorter than normal. We went to bed at 1 and our rooster friend decided to start screaming from 2 a.m. till 3 a.m. last night. I'm praying his life is cut short soon as punishment for the evil screaming he likes to do at night. Aren't roosters supposed to wake you up in the MORNING?
The picture I put up is of the church we were at. The condition of this village seemed better than Laslea, but still much worse than anything in America. The families are running out of food, and work is very hard to find because the village is 90 percent gypsy. Usually they try and get a job as a field worker in Romanian fields, but there are so few Romanians in the village. We visited 2 Christian families. The house we visited first was a two room house (no bathroom!), maybe 400 sq. feet total. The couple had 6 kids, and everyone slept in one room. The condition of the house was unthinkably bad. It made an american trailer park look like the finest luxury. We chatted and gave them food bags, and when Nathan prayed with the family we couldn't help but just weep for these people.
As bad as the conditions are now, it is only going to get worse. Most Romanians live off of about $200 a month. Roma (the gypsies) live off of significantly less than that! Starting next month the Romanian government has completely cut all gov't aid to families, and everyone who has a salary job is getting their pay cut by 25%. Everyone who gets retirement is getting theirs cut by 15%. Pastor Florine said that in the winter they eat only bread and water to survive. When they run out they will eat anything, even grass. Starvation is going to be a very real danger for these people in a few short months. Pray for our brothers and sisters here in Romania!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Laslea and its Kids
This video is of some of the children in Laslea. They laugh and play as they see themselves in the camera. It is heart breaking to see these kids in these living conditions. They are sweet and loving children. When all the children were in the church it reeked of body odor, they have little sanitation and rarely bathe.
"but the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to His disciples, 'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?' Jesus replied to them, 'The healthy don't need a doctor, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:30-32
Your time and offering yourself for service of the kingdom of God are worth more than your money to these people. Jesus commanded all who believe to go and make disciples. How are you fulfilling the great commission? Merely giving money to the church is not obeying God. All are commanded to go, all are missionaries. America is spoiled, people are hungry and dying. Wake up and move. God is always on the move.
our sweet gypsy kids
This is the church we worked at today.We fed our kids salami and ketchup sandwiches today, and they LOVED it. They use ketchup like we use mayo in America.
The church we are working with has a bread ministry that gives out bread to needy families during the harsh winter months (6 months of winter here!) but this past winter the bread ran out before the winter did. There were kids who didn't get to eat for a very long time. These kids were VERY grateful for the food.
Please pray for our protection from sickness and injury while we are here. Stuff like lice, intestinal worms, and scabies are all rampant here. And if one of our team gets it....we all are likely to get it. eeek! We both physically exerted ourselves to the point of pain and exhaustion today, so prayers are appreciated!
Also, for your enjoyment: the creepiest most hilarious looking bird I've ever seen.
former communist turned to Christ and his sweet wife
We were invited into their home for drinks and they shared with us what God has done in their lives. This man used to be an officer in the the Communist regime. He didn't believe there was a God. His testimony was amazing, but too long to write now. They were so kind and hospitable to us, even though they have hardly anything of their own to share. We took them a food bag with flour, sugar, butter, cheese, and some other basics to try and help them out. We worked in a village doing a kids camp from 10-2, and then we walked into the village about a mile or so and visited 3 families today, giving out food bags, because the economy is really bad here and they need help. This evening I (Leah) am going to get to cook with Romanian women and share with them as we do women's ministry. We're making them apple cinn pancakes b/c they have never had them! Nathan is going to play soccer (futbol) with the men. Soccer is very big here. They do it as an outreach and invite alot of guys. Our translator George (pronounced George-ay) is getting to be friends with Nathan and he told Nathan "You don't wanna play with me, I'll break your legs!" Lol. So tonight will be fun, and many more pics to share soon!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sighisoara
Sabin took us up here after church tonight to see the beautiful view. Click the image to enlarge.
Romanian Choir
For those who appreciate music check out this Romanian choir. They sung 4 times in the Sunday night service! They are all normal lay choir members of a small church in Sigishouara. Yea, and they were amazing...
Put on a good pair of headphones/earphones and enjoy!
Here is another:
church service
Happy Father's day from Romania! We are thinking of our dads today, but are focusing on the work our heavenly Father has given us to accomplish this week! Church today was incredible!
Yesterday Jen told Nathan he would NOT have to preach, so there was no need to prepare a sermon. Today we got to the village and the Elder asked him to preach (surprise!), so he got to proclaim the gospel at TWO different churches. I was so proud of him, he did an awesome job. It seemed very natural for him, even with working tandem with our translator. Surprisingly, the language barrier has really not been an issue for us at all.
The ride to church this morning was like something out of Busch Gardens. Our van was stinky and had no seat belts, and since we were running late our driver Phillip was driving even faster than normal (and in Romania that means CRAZY driving). On the way home Phillip told us that the van didn't have brakes, and that he had only gotten his driver's license 3 weeks ago! AHHH! I figured that God had brought us this far, He was protecting us so I just held on for the ride. The rest of our group rode in regular cars, so we gave them a really hard time for putting us in the deathmobile when we all reconvened after church.
Pastor Sabin told us that when Americans come to Romania they are told not to go to Gypsy villages, because its like the ghetto. For us to come and actually WANT to be with these people and love them is something they are not used to.
The first church we went to was in a village called Danes (Dah-nesh). It was a small, one room church. When we walked in the people seemed excited that we were there, and they all seemed very joyful and sang really loudly. It was weird because even though we couldn't understand a word they were singing, you could still feel the presence of God and it was just a really sweet time.
The second church we went to was emotionally hard. We drove up to this cinder block structure that had plastic over some parts of it, two by fours haphazardly holding up other parts, and looked like it was about to cave in. Then they told us we were going underneath of this thing, because the service was held in the basement. As we descended the stairs, the smell of stale urine, mustiness, and b.o. hit me in the face. These people have it rough. We are going back to their village later this week to give families food bags, and I can't wait. The people all looked really beaten down and you could feel a heaviness in the room. We did get to sing with them in Romanian and that was fun. After the service an old man came up to us and chatted away and seemed like he enjoyed it from what I could tell. Now we are going back to church again tonight and Nathan will lead worship and we're teaching them Mighty to Save in Romanian :) I'm excited. I absolutely love it here.
I am struck by the hunger for God that these people have, and I am amazed at how kind, hospitable, and servant minded these people are towards us. I want more of this.
Yesterday Jen told Nathan he would NOT have to preach, so there was no need to prepare a sermon. Today we got to the village and the Elder asked him to preach (surprise!), so he got to proclaim the gospel at TWO different churches. I was so proud of him, he did an awesome job. It seemed very natural for him, even with working tandem with our translator. Surprisingly, the language barrier has really not been an issue for us at all.
The ride to church this morning was like something out of Busch Gardens. Our van was stinky and had no seat belts, and since we were running late our driver Phillip was driving even faster than normal (and in Romania that means CRAZY driving). On the way home Phillip told us that the van didn't have brakes, and that he had only gotten his driver's license 3 weeks ago! AHHH! I figured that God had brought us this far, He was protecting us so I just held on for the ride. The rest of our group rode in regular cars, so we gave them a really hard time for putting us in the deathmobile when we all reconvened after church.
Pastor Sabin told us that when Americans come to Romania they are told not to go to Gypsy villages, because its like the ghetto. For us to come and actually WANT to be with these people and love them is something they are not used to.
The first church we went to was in a village called Danes (Dah-nesh). It was a small, one room church. When we walked in the people seemed excited that we were there, and they all seemed very joyful and sang really loudly. It was weird because even though we couldn't understand a word they were singing, you could still feel the presence of God and it was just a really sweet time.
The second church we went to was emotionally hard. We drove up to this cinder block structure that had plastic over some parts of it, two by fours haphazardly holding up other parts, and looked like it was about to cave in. Then they told us we were going underneath of this thing, because the service was held in the basement. As we descended the stairs, the smell of stale urine, mustiness, and b.o. hit me in the face. These people have it rough. We are going back to their village later this week to give families food bags, and I can't wait. The people all looked really beaten down and you could feel a heaviness in the room. We did get to sing with them in Romanian and that was fun. After the service an old man came up to us and chatted away and seemed like he enjoyed it from what I could tell. Now we are going back to church again tonight and Nathan will lead worship and we're teaching them Mighty to Save in Romanian :) I'm excited. I absolutely love it here.
I am struck by the hunger for God that these people have, and I am amazed at how kind, hospitable, and servant minded these people are towards us. I want more of this.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
archita
Today we went into Archita and worked with the Roma (gypsy) kids. 75 kids came today! I can't even explain the love we already have for these precious children. In some ways they are similar to American kids, and in many ways, I like them alot better. They are energetic, but great at listening to adults and doing what is asked of them. They LOVE to sing. Many of them have so much responsibility because they have kids of their own. Most of them have tattered dirty clothes. They have no access to medicine if they get sick and there is no doctor in the entire village.I met a 14 year old girl today who had 3 kids of her own. THREE! Most of the gypsy kids' parents marry them off by the time they are 12 or 13. And you all thought we got married young ;)
A monster storm came through shortly after we got there, and so we were all trapped inside with them. Water was coming in the windows and the light flickered several times.
They taught us some songs in Romanian, and they sang about Jesus at the top of their lungs. They were so excited to sing, music is a huge part of their culture here.
village of Archita
These girls were little camera hogs! I have almost learned how to say "please take my picture" in Romanian, because they all ran up to me saying it so many times!
longest travel day
We're in Sighisoara (pronounced Shig-ee-swar-a)
We got in at 4:00 a.m. last night after nearly 44 hours straight of travel. Nathan is uploading video now of the adventure.
Today we're surprisingly awake and happy, for being so messed up with our schedules.
Last night was like something out of a horror movie. Our van broke down in a seedy area of town, right outside a place called "Hotel Draguila". We all of course assumed that was Romanian for Dracula. We later found out it was a rough translation of something like "love shack". So we were stranded on the side of the road for about 7 hours. Nathan and I actually got split up about 5 hours into it they decided to pile all the girls into the one working van and drive the rest of the 2 hour drive to our hotel.
Nathan is probably preaching on Sunday, and I just found out we will be ministering to women on Monday while the men teach a seminary course. Women's ministry with a Romanian twist.
Friday, June 18, 2010
We landed in Bucharest around 4pm Romanian time. The trip to Sighisoara was supposed to only take six hours....before one of the vans broke down. NOW 12 hours later we have finally arrived at our hotel. We already have some...interesting stories to tell and it has only been the first two days! But now, we have been up for 44 hours straight with maybe 2 hours of power naps inbetween and need sleep.
We'll update soon!
We'll update soon!
Made it to London
We landed in London at 6:50 a.m. (about 1:50 a.m. our time I think) Our bodies are so out of whack, I don't know what time it is anymore! Fatigue is hitting us hard. It feels like we have had an extended all-nighter because we couldn't sleep on the plane. We're currently laying on benches in London while we wait two more hours for our next flight. Thanking God for free wi-fi.
Next stop: BUCHAREST!
Next stop: BUCHAREST!
flying to London
Hi all!
The glory of God has already astounded me this morning. We have seen the sun set on the East coast, and rise over the U.K. in the span of 3 hours. Amazing. Wide bands of color stretch from east to west, and it’s unfortunate that I only have an 8” window to peek through at this glorious color show. The horizon is volcano red, followed by bands of buttery yetllow, fading to the most calming blue you could imagine. Beautiful.
Our trip has been ALL travel so far. International customs in DC singled me (Leah) out for extra search because I’m clearly a suspicious looking person. I have to say; I am impressed with British Airways, especially compared to American flights I have been on in the past. We had our choice of orange chicken or vegetarian lasagna for dinner, and had passion fruit cheesecake for dessert. They give EVERYONE blankets, pillows, toothbrushes, and headphones for free, and everyone has their own tv, and free movies through a touch screen system. Those Brits do travel right! The seats are heinously uncomfortable, but I’m overlooking that in light of the cheesecake experience.
The glory of God has already astounded me this morning. We have seen the sun set on the East coast, and rise over the U.K. in the span of 3 hours. Amazing. Wide bands of color stretch from east to west, and it’s unfortunate that I only have an 8” window to peek through at this glorious color show. The horizon is volcano red, followed by bands of buttery yetllow, fading to the most calming blue you could imagine. Beautiful.
Our trip has been ALL travel so far. International customs in DC singled me (Leah) out for extra search because I’m clearly a suspicious looking person. I have to say; I am impressed with British Airways, especially compared to American flights I have been on in the past. We had our choice of orange chicken or vegetarian lasagna for dinner, and had passion fruit cheesecake for dessert. They give EVERYONE blankets, pillows, toothbrushes, and headphones for free, and everyone has their own tv, and free movies through a touch screen system. Those Brits do travel right! The seats are heinously uncomfortable, but I’m overlooking that in light of the cheesecake experience.
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