The
second part of my ode to the wonderful people we were with in Timisoara
continues. . .
are indebted to the missionaries of Greater Europe Mission who connected us
with the Potter’s House. Lots of emails
were exchanged between us and GEM staff, both in Europe and stateside, and
finally, through Dwight Poggemiller, we found ourselves in “Little
Vienna”. The whole family – Dwight,
Melissa and their boisterous boys – have been such gracious hosts. We were glad to be aunties and uncles for the
month. How Melissa keeps calm with such
energetic kids boggles my mind. She is
also quite the chef! I’m tempted to
refer to Dwight as a gentle giant ‘cause his steady and kind demeanor draws
respect more than his stature does.
We got a
acquainted with an avid car-collector who lives down the street. He had fled Romania as a teenager, when it
was still very Communist, then returned as an adult. We told him a bit about ourselves and what we
were doing in Romania, and he said, “There’s an American missionary family who
live down the street.” He really likes
and respects this family. Just their
very presence where they live is a testimony to their neighbors! Keep this family in prayer, as he oversees
ministry for GEM over a chunk of Eastern Europe, and as they await the arrival
of a new child!
Dwight
connected us with the rest of the GEM Romania folks, essentially adopting us as
part of their team. Dawn Elenbaas has
blessed us tremendously. She coordinated
our ministry with the special needs kids, shuttled us across town – and
notably, all over Romania for a whirlwind weekend of sightseeing – and simply cared for us. Dawn is
such a servant, marked by the “quiet and gentle spirit” that Peter lauds yet
you can sense the strength and humility underlying all that.
all, I’ve really enjoyed partnering with fellow laborers in this field – there
are other GEM people as well as workers with International Teams – and I hope
God will continue to bring a plentiful harvest there. As I type this, I just finished chatting with
Jill (not to be confused with Dan’s cousin/my fellow squadmate) over Facebook and
I’m grateful that even in as short a time as a month, we’ve been able to
impacted and be impacted by brothers and sisters all over the world.
