If you have read any blogs written by our squadmates since arriving in Romania, you will see and hear epic tales of bucket showers, outhouses, sicknesses, and eating cow heart.
Here in Arad … not so much.
The place we are staying in actually has two showers, a bath tub, and three toilets … just in the boys’ upstairs bathroom. We also have amazing cooks here in the Shalom house who prepare all of our meals, and every single one has been delicious and filling.
Honestly, we did feel bad when we heard about other teams’ living conditions, but we got over it … fast. God placed us in this group home called Oaza for a reason. The kids here are all awesome, and we love hanging out with them. We have also been fixing up another property they will turn into a daycare: Painting, cleaning, constructing shelves, and moving/disassembling furniture.
Today, we traveled two hours to a gypsy village to bring clothes and food to a family whose daughter used to live at Oaza. We also brought along a parachute, balloons, and some balls and played with the kids in the village and just spread God’s love even though we didn’t speak the language. At the start, we weren’t sure how many kids would actually play with us, but I’m certain almost every child in the village joined in the fun.
It was a very humbling experience. The family we visited lives in a small one-room house and has very little money, but they scraped up enough to serve us fruit juice and coffee. Hospitality is very important to Romanians, and they take care of their guests regardless or how much they have.
Here’s a quick update on my team. Scratch Egypt off the race route. We were told yesterday that our contacts in Egypt fell through, so we will spend the next month somewhere in Eastern Europe. Not sure where exactly, but each team will be praying about it and seeing where God is leading them. According to Wikipedia, Eastern Europe is comprised of Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine. So all I know right now is that we leave Arad on Monday, head to the Awakening seminar in Brasov for five days, and then we are off to one of the Eastern European countries. Please pray for my team, because it sounds like October will be a very interesting month, and please pray that we g where God is calling us.
Onto the photos:
ARAD
THE KIDS
