Hello there followers! Buna from Romania. I have been here in Draganesti-Olt, Romania for a little over a week and it is time for a blog to explain a bit more about my ministry details for this all squad month!
Where am I?
Draganesti-Olt, Romania. This is a small town of about 10,894 people. It is located in south Romania with many villages surrounding.
What is all squad month?
We are all together, all 26 of us and 3 squad leaders! Living and working together. This is the only month that the whole squad is together.
What do I do?
This month we are paired with Hope Church, a church based in Dragonesti-Olt that also has regional ministries around the country of Romania and international ministries. The church offers many different kinds of ministries including working with kids, playing sports, office administration for the church, social media work for the church, community service, helping widows, and participating in church services. Our schedule changes often and there is a lot of flexibility in what we choose to do each day. So far, I have helped with widows, I have done some community service, and some manual labor (corn harvesting!). So far, the variety is refreshing!
Who is hosting us?
Raul Costea and his family are the founders of Hope church and he hosts us here. Raul is married to Ana and they have a beautiful and loving family. Raul is visionary and has started many programs since founding the church.
Where do I live?
Our squad lives in a house in the city of Dragonesti-Olt. This is the missionary house, where many previous world race squads and other missionaries have stayed. The house has 7 rooms, many many bunk beds, two bathrooms and a kitchen. We are also neighbors with Raul’s family 🙂
What do I eat?
With all squad month, we are mostly eating all together for dinners and on our own for breakfast and lunch. We cook most meals and shop at the local grocery store Profi for food. The market is 10 minutes from our house and right across from the church. The market, house and church are our three areas of living this month… like i said, small town. So far, I have not had too much typical Romanian food, but maybe by the next post.
Currency?
The money here is the Romanian leu.
Transportation?
We walk everywhere because everything is close. When we go out into villages for ministry we ride in cars or vans.
Tourism?
Our touristy days for the month were spent with a quick trip to Greece from 9/10-9/12. We camped beside the beach in Polychrono! Here is a video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXSWZ36VqbM
This past week has been a special one because my birthday was on Friday, September 14th. I was very excited to spend my birthday with the whole squad! It was a fun and simple day of celebration. We did ministry work most of the day, but during lunch I enjoyed some birthday cake with Raul’s family because their son Sammy shares the same birthday! I was able to hear the Romanian birthday song and enjoy cake made by their grandma.I felt like part of their family. Later that day, we had chili for dinner and played games!
