Whats Up in Romania

So by now I’m sure you are probably wondering what we are doing this month in Romania. I apologize for not writing sooner, but we have been working ten to twelve hour days the past few weeks, leaving very little time for writing. Needless to say, we are rocking out our ministry this month! We are working with a church in Pitesti, Romania called Living Hope. They do a lot of inner city ministry (as we would call it in the States) in the gypsy communities and currently rent out four rooms in an old school building located in the heart of one of these neighborhoods. On Saturdays, they put on fun programs for the kids, which typically includes worship, arts and crafts, a bible lesson and dancing. Cristi, the pastor of Living Hope, has put a great deal of time and love into these programs and has developed strong relationships with the children. For the first week we were here, Cristi was in the States visiting one of Living Hope’s partner churches, so our team could not start our ministry until Thursday (We arrived on a Saturday). This dilemma didn’t stop the church from taking the upmost care of our team until then. We have an awesome new addition to our team named Vali. He is our personal guide and translator, and he does it all solely out of love and honor for his church and for us. He is truly one of the most selfless people I have ever met. If it weren’t for him, our experience would have been much different. Our team is absolutely overwhelmed with the hospitality of Living Hope’s core church members and staff. I know I haven’t gotten to our actual ministry tasks yet, and don’t worry I’ll get there, but first I think it is essential to tell you about the wonderful people that have given our team a new perspective on ministry. For the first time on the race, I feel like the apostles probably felt when they arrived to one of their ministry locations. Our team was taken in, treated like special guests, and honored in every possible way. The first night we were here, the worship leader, Chip and his wife Gabby invited us over for dinner. They served us baked chicken and potatoes, bread and soda (seems to be a signature meal in Romania–we love it!).  When Cristi arrived in town, he and his wife, Cami had us over for pizza, and another night for a Romanian barbeque. Over the past week, multiple ladies from the church have taken the time to cook for our team so we could focus on our ministry rather than waste our time in the kitchen. They have cooked us all sorts of traditional Romanian dishes and have baked us delicious breads and desserts. I’m pretty sure we have all gained at least 5lbs in the past three weeks! There is no doubt that we will be very sad when we have to leave these people, not because of what they have done for us, but because we are considered family. We have grown to love these people and feel connected to them. This month has put a whole new perspective on Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. They weren’t just a church to him; they were family. These people have adopted us, cared for us and loved us as if we are their own and they will be greatly missed.  

 I’m sure you are dying to know by now what we could possibly doing for ten to twelve hours each day! Well, we actually have been doing a lot of different things this month. As I mentioned earlier, the church puts on a program for the children on Saturdays in the old schoolrooms they have rented out. So our team has been working with the children in the school for the past few weeks. From Tuesday-Friday we teach English to any children in the neighborhood that want to come. Originally we were supposed to have two classes per day, one from 10-11am and one from 3-4pm since some children go to school in the mornings and others go in the afternoons, however we only have one student that comes in the mornings. Erin, our incredibly talented forth grade teacher, spends one on one time with Ionut (pronounced Yonunst) teaching him English from 10-11 while the rest of us paint-yes, paint… I’ll get to that. From 3-4, we have about twelve to fifteen students come on a daily basis. Erin is in charge of the lesson plans and leading the class, while the rest of us have groups of four or five students and monitor their work and help with any questions they may have. I have really enjoyed spending time with the students, especially my little group of five. I always joke that I have the best group of them all because four out of five of my students haven’t missed a single class in two weeks! ☺ It’s awesome to see how eager they are to learn and how much they enjoy our company. Many of the children just long for affection and hugs, so it has been really great being able to be there for them and love on them the past few weeks. 

For the rest of the day we are painting murals on the schoolroom walls. You will have to wait until the end of the month for pictures, because I don’t want to post an unfinished product, but I will tell you that we are painting two murals. In the young children’s room, we are painting a cartoon of Noah’s Ark, and in the boys room we are painting a cartoon of Jonah in the belly of a fish. So far, the rooms look pretty incredible! We have put in ten to twelve hours a day the past few weeks making these rooms perfect for the children. It is our hope and prayer that many kids will be inspired by them and will come to know Christ in an intimate way. So, you can look forward to a “before and after” picture blog in the next week or so!