I always feel that when I write a blog or plan on putting together some really nice anecdote or story for everyone to read, that I am really leaving out a bunch of information about what I am actually doing. And while I love to write eloquently and impress you all with my fancy vocabulary, I want you to have a perfect picture of what it is we’re doing here in Sistarovat, Romania.
We wake up early in the Romanian morning when the fog is still heavy and the sun is still chasing the cool of the darkness from the trees. The camp at which we’re serving is surrounded by forest on three sides and the tiny town on the fourth. The view is amazing.
We have been doing a lot of chores around the camp, helping Michael the caretaker in his work. The camp is in need of work to maintain the facilities. We think of ourselves as temporary stewards of the land, caring for it as if it were our own. It is a place not just for children to come and learn the gospel, but a retreat and meeting center for pastors of the area. One project that has been particularly arduous is the sanding and repainting of a cabin on the camp premises. It is a beautiful little house where the missionary family that used to work here lived. As you can tell from the photo below, it is a bit of a messy job.
Also, a couple days ago, I helped kill and butcher a pig that we will be eating next week. No big deal.
One of the joys of being here has been meeting the people that have come to the camp for retreats and the friends Michael has around the village and in the nearby town of Lipova. In the evenings, we sometimes play soccer and volleyball, and the spirit of the Romanian people has been revealed to us in these friendly contests: they love to laugh, and they love to work hard. I’ve also discovered that one of our team members, Elizabeth, is a wicked good soccer player – she scored four goals on me our first game.
We live in a small house with a handful of bedrooms and are very comfortable, and it is fun to try and make meals together and improvise in the absence of some of the things we “normally” find in our American kitchens. Sharing a shower has been interesting, and living in community has been a fun experience. We have been blessed by the Lord for providing us with Michael and his sweet neighbor Sophia, an older woman who lives across the street and sells us milk and eggs, things that will be delicacies over the next year. Michael cooks for us, and every other day or so we have an amazing meal of many courses, sampling the fine Romanian cuisine he has prepared for us, laughing (and sometimes scratching our heads) at the curious Romanian jokes he tells us.
All in all, we are blessed to be here and to further the mission of Global Outreach Romania and The Seventh Spring Camp through our work. While it is not glorious, and it is often physically and mentally tasking to not see so much “fruit” of our work, we know that God is taking this offering and preparing it to be a blessing to someone who comes here. We may never see it here on this earth, but I wonder if some day, in my old age, I won’t hear someone say, “That Seventh Spring Camp. What a beautiful place. I met my Savior there.” That would be a good day, but if it never came, I still know that the work we are doing is for the Lord, and it pleases him greatly.
