Ministry of the month:
Ministry this month was interesting. We really didn't do that much. We chopped and moved wood, planted a ton of flower and vegetable seeds to start a few gardens, pulled weeds, painted, and did housework. It rained every single day our first week so we did absolutely nothing during that time. We literally slept….we had some serious jet lag. We basically were there to help Mihai (our contact) get the camp ready for use this coming summer.
View from the bottom of the property
Favorite Memory:
Getting to go castle conquering! Cassie, Workman, and I walked from Lipova, the next town over from Sistarovat, about three miles to where the castle ruins were. Then we hiked up the hill….because of course the castle was on a hill, to get to the castle. It was an adventure! It took us forever to find our way into the castle, but once we did, we had a blast. We went climbing all over creation and took a million pictures. You can see all of Lipova from the top of the hill. It was incredible and beautiful.
Me, Cassie, and Workman goofing off at the castle
Biggest Challenge:
A lot of my team struggled with depression this month, almost as though there was a spirit of it over the camp and town. I had a very hard time with the lack of work we had to do…after going all day six days a week for the past three months. I also struggled a LOT with wanting to just be alone most of the time. We've been with a lot of extroverts for the past few months so…my introverted self was getting overloaded. I had to work on my attitude a lot.
Church Situation:
We attended Mihai's church, a very small Baptist church in the middle of town. It has four members. Yes, four….that we know of. The church itself reminds me of the Amish because of how simple it is. There is a wood stove in the middle of it and everyone sits on wooden benches (with no backs). There are cushions to sit on, flat ones, and song books in Romanian. Very quaint. They do a time of prayer, then Bible study, and then a sermon and songs for their service. Women wear skirts at least to their knees and men wear pants.
Inside the Baptist church
Food:
Angela, the housekeeper, cooked for us…so nice! We had bread with butter and some sort of marmelade every morning, soup for lunch, and pasta, soup, or something between the two for dinner every day. Bread was always on the table. Lots and lots of cabbage and potatoes this month.
Random WR Moment:
Lots of members from both teams ended up making an acapella group after watching Pitch Perfect together one night. They practiced over and over and over…and finally showed off their song, Just the Way You Are, to the whole squad at debrief.
Also, Mihai owns this crazy huge sheep named Godzilla. He had just purchased her before we arrived. She likes to stare you down…and sometimes you worry she will charge you. He loves this sheep. All he talks about is Godzilla. It's quite funny. He treats her (and his other animals) like pets. They roam the property and follow him when he calls. It's awesome!
Mihai with his beloved sheep, Godzilla
Funniest Moment:
This wasn't funny as it was happening…at least not to my jet lagged, incredibly exhausted self (hadn't slept in almost an entire week at this point)…but our experience traveling to Sistarovat was probably the best example of a funny moment this month. All the girls from both teams traveled together by an overnight train. Imagine all of us walking through the VERY narrow hallways of the train with our packs on trying to find our seats…which we couldn't find. The conductor and police man on board either didn't want to help us or ended up making matters worse on accident. Doors kept shutting on us either seperating us from the group or causing us to be stuck, lodged in the doors. And…we had no idea when we were supposed to GET OFF the train. We stood in the hallways for over an hour after one of the passengers told us it would only be another 5 minutes before we would be at our stop. When we finally did get to our stop, we all jumped off the train like crazy people, thinking that the train would leave again in a matter of seconds like it had every other stop. It didn't. It stayed put for at least 10 minutes. We looked stupid. Mihai laughed..and probably thought we were crazy.
Romanian trains…o how we love them
What I'll Miss:
I really enjoyed the quietness of everything. It was a great place to sit outside (when it wasn't cold) and read a book or journal…or take a nap. The property is massive so it's easy to get away outside if you need to. I'll miss the feel of walking down the street to the one store in town to get chocolate and a coke. All month long, I couldn't get over the fact that I am now actually in Eastern Europe finally! It is such a cool thing to think that only a few years ago I was dreaming of coming here…and now I am here! I'll miss Mihai and his flock of animals (2 sheep and 2 goats). Mihai just made you laugh all the time. I'll also miss the chance to wear my cold weather clothing! It was really weird to wear jeans or pants all month long, but I loved it! I'll miss the hot showers and the warm rooms at night too.
More of the property
Spiritual Lesson/ Revelation:
I didn't really realize it at first, but basically what God was doing in my heart during the month can be summed up with Psalm 100:2 "Serve the Lord with gladness." I didn't always want to be hoeing up clods of dirt to "plant" seeds in…hoping, although mainly doubting, that they would actually grow. I was reminding myself throughout the month that even though I mostly did extremely mundane tasks and I'm not seeing the results right away, it might make an impact on someone later. Some little kid could come to the camp and find joy in the flower gardens that *will be there* because I planted them. My month was about finding joy in the mundane. It was about my heart attitude toward the kind of ministry we were doing and serving gladly alongside other people (even though at times I wanted so badly to be an extreme introvert).
Working on the vegetable garden
Prayer Requests:
Pray for the camp we were at, that they will have an awesome summer and the kids will experience the love of Christ. Pray for Mihai as he continues to work hard every day at the camp and hosts other WR teams. Pray for a neighbor to the camp, Sophia. She is extremely sick and needs a lot of help on her family's small farm. She has an incredibly generous heart. We love her!
Emily with Sophia
