I’m officially living life in
Draganesti-Olt, Romania!
WARNING: Long blog ahead…but hey
there are pictures!
Here’s an insight to how I made it to Romania…
On September 28th, all 55
members of G-squad traveled from Nicaragua
to Costa Rica where we had a two
day debrief. We rode in two different buses, walked a rather long distance
across the border, and stood in line for hours waiting to get through the
border. Once we made it to Costa Rica we had team changes and spent time
preparing for the next season. We left from Costa Rica on September 30th
where we then had a 18+ hour layover in NYC.
Many people ventured into Times Square to the “city that never sleeps,”
and let me just tell you they sleep alright. I had
some bathroom issues and could not find a bathroom anywhere other than a
McDonalds that made you purchase food in order to use the one bathroom in the
entire restraint. Our flight from NYC was delayed three hours and our next stop
was going to be Poland where we were
supposed to have an hour and a half layover.
Needless to say, we missed our connecting
flight, but a perk was that we received $15 worth of meal vouchers in NYC and
$40 once we made it to Poland. Once arriving to Warsaw, Poland we then had a 9
hour layover where some people went into the city for a little tour. I opted
for staying in the airport. We left for Poland at around 10 pm there time on
our two hour flight to Bucharest, Romania.
Arriving in Romania on October 2nd, yep
that’s five days of travel and five different countries visited. Some teams
departed from the airport right after arriving, but my team as well as a few
others slept in the airport. We then took a bus ride to a train station where
we jumped on a train for two hours to get to our ministry location for the
month.
At our train stop we were greeted by many
Romanians who helped us get our bags off of the train and took us to their
vehicles. A short drive was ahead of us and we stopped at the missions’ house,
our place of residency for this month.
I wish I could express to you all the moments of heartache, sickness,
and hilariousness that I experienced over these travel days. Here are a few:
I was sick from September 26th
until today where I am just now starting to feel better.
I had explosive diarrhea while in NYC and
could not find a stinkin’ bathroom (sorry for the details). Here I am in Times Square:
My grandma went on to be with Jesus right
before my flight from Poland to Romania.
So many tears were shed over these travel
days in pain for my family and everything they were going through.
EVERYONE was staring at those that
actually slept in the airport in Romania.
Tried ordering food at a McDonalds and epically
failed getting only one of three items I tried ordering.
12 people running around the train station
to catch our train that was supposed to leave in two minutes; all while asking
if anyone spoke English, no responses from Romanians, just blank stares at us
like we are crazy people.
I had a ticket to have a seat on the
train, but it was not legible, so I sat on my pack and passed out in the aisle;
all while Romanians climbed over me to get by.
Here’s what life is like in good ole Draganesti…
As I stated, we live in a missions’ house
which is a two story house home to us and a girl named Helen/Ellie.
Team Chayi is paired with another six
person team this month, Team Depths of Freedom.
Downstairs in the house we have a kitchen
with an excessively large table to fit all twelve of us, two toilets, two
showers, and two living room areas. Here’s
our kitchen, from the huge table, to our cabinets and stove.
Here’s a picture of our 2 bathrooms & 2 showers:
Upstairs we have four bedrooms that the 12
of us are split up into for sleeping, and a lot of mystery doors that I don’t know
what they hold behind them. Here are a few
pictures of my bedroom, I’m on the bottom bunk, don’t mind the mess:
There is also a balcony that we can walk
out on and watch the gypsies across the street, that’s not creepy at all! Here are a couple pictures of the view from
the balcony:
Here’s what we have going into our fourth month of ministry…
We have hot showers this month, my second month of the race with that
blessing!
We have a washer this month, my third month of the race with a washer (last
month I had to pay for it though).
We are able to prepare all of our own food this month, my first full month
cooking.
We do NOT live at our ministry location, my first month not living on the
ministry site (PRAISE THE LORD!).
We have PERFECT wifi at our house, my second month having wifi whenever I want it.
We have a Romanian contact, my first month not having an American contact
(his name is Raul and he is super cool!).
Here’s a glimpse into ministry…
We are really involved with the church services for Hope Church. All aspects of ministry are done in partnership with the church and with leaders within the church. Here is a picture of some of the kids that attend the church service while being prayed over by the leaders in the church:
So far, I have had the opportunity to
assist Raul, our contact, with updating his facebook page, which is my favorite part of ministry in any
country.
I have had the opportunity to go to “club”
which is like a little Sunday school
lesson throughout the week in the different villages surrounding Draganesti.
From now on, my main place in ministry
will be working with evangelism. I’m
not 100% sure what it looks like, but I know we will be going into villages and
sharing the gospel.
In Olt county, where Draganesti is located,
there are 0.2% Christians, meaning less than 700 people are Christians. A lot
of gypsies are here as well as a lot of Orthodox. These people are well
grounded in what they believe, but that does not hold my God back from reaching
them. Be praying for open hearts in the
community as we bring Jesus to these people.
Thank you all for making this world race possible.
Your prayers, financial support, blog comments, and love are not going
unnoticed!
Blessings from Draganesti!
