Our expedition to leave Ukraine and enter Romania left us with a continual feeling of movement for about a day or so. It’s kind of like being on a boat for any unspecified amount of time and then stepping onto land. You just feel like you are moving. Here is why. 19 hour train to Kiev, Ukraine from our contact. 3 hour layover at the train station there. 25 hour train to Budapest, Hungary. 4 hours in the city, 4 hour drive with our contact into Romania, and we have arrived at our final destination, a place that I would like to call “The Castle.”
Really it is a giant 4 floor house/dorm/conference center located in the middle of a large “camp” like property. We live on a hillside that looks over a small village in Romania. I am intentionally not telling you the name of the place because I want your imagination to wander a bit. I want you to think of what you may call a “classic European village” and tell me if this is what you picture…And note that this description is not in any way embellished to make my experience sound more amazing than it is. We really are living in a quintessential European landscape.
I look out of the window and as far as the eye can see there are hills of the greenest grass and trees that the eye can comprehend. On the hillside in the near distance, sheep and their shepherd roam freely while people ride by on bicycles on a nearby path. Our castle overlooks the tiny village that is tucked away pleasantly in a small valley between hills. A church steeple with a simple yet ornate design protrudes over the smaller homes and nearby farmers are preparing their fields for spring planting. Now picture where the green hills meet the sky. Do you ever look at the sky and almost feel like you could reach out your hand and grab a cloud? It is so blue and clean and pure that if it were any closer, one would fall to the ground and be crushed. Even tonight, as I look at the moon; it is so close that I feel like I can pull down deep heaven on my very head. Praise God for his majesty and creation. This is the view that I am humbled to see everyday for the next month.
Welcome to Romania. Enjoy your stay.
The Man With Unclean Lips,
Brandon Barnum
