Our ministry this month was amazing, but the people we got
to do it with were even more amazing.
I can hardly begin to express how amazing this people are and how
blessed we are to have met them, so I’d like take this blog opportunity to
introduce you to them and show you their beautiful faces!!!
Cristi, Cami, Bianca, Dennis, Marcus
Cristi was our contact for this month, and I couldn’t have
asked for a more hospitable, amazing, God-fearing man to lead is into ministry
in Romania. We saw him and his
family every day- at the church, at ministry in Razboieni, in the car driving
to the doctor when people got sick, at their host when they hosted us for a
barbecue… they were very present in our lives all month. Just to give you a taste of their
personalities-
Cristi- Cristi is an extremely energetic, compassionate
man and the pastor of Living Hope church. He fearlessly leads the
church to grow deeper in Christ and to be more joyful and free. He builds relationships with adults and
children in Razboieni; people that many others refuse to care about or even
acknowledge. He is also a humble
man, and I have heard many examples of his kindness and actions from other
people who speak so highly of him.
Cami- Cami is Cristi’s beautiful, compassionate wife. She leads her family with quiet
boldness and loves fiercely. She
is also an amazing mother to her three beautiful children and to all of us!
Bianca- Bianca is ten years old and an extremely
intelligent, graceful girl. She
also has an incredible amount of class (which she no doubt got from her
mother!) and loves to care for her younger brothers and the other children in
the church.
Dennis- Dennis is seven years old and very energetic. He speaks enough English to have
conversations with, which is really fun for us. He is a ringleader for the other little boys, but in love
instead of in mischief. Dennis
also has a lot of boldness and is SUPER great to have around when handing out
fliers. Who wouldn’t take a flier
from this cutie??
Marcus is two and is a cute cuddler. He likes to sing into the microphone at
church and to sing “na na na na na na na!� from the song “Waves of Mercy, Waves
of Grace�
Cami and Cristi
Cristi and Marcus
Marcus and Bianca
Dennis with his lego set.
Marian, Marte, Tomine
Marian and Marte are a Romanina/Norwgian couple. Marte met Marian when she came to
Romania for a mission trip, and the rest is history! They normally live in Norway but came back to Marian’s home
country of Romania for six months to work with the church. They help out in Razboieni, they help
with the youth, and they are an amazing, encouraging presence in Pitesti. They also have the most beautiful
daughter, Tomine, who is a little blond haired, blue eyed ball of fire! Marian is a beautiful father to her-
the way he interacts with Tomine reminds me of how much God loves me as his
daughter. It is so beautiful to
witness. Their entire family
together is a beautiful, loving, caring, and an asset to the church. I feel so blessed that their short six
months in Pitesti coincided with our month there!
Tomine, Marian, and Marte
Beautiful Tomine.
Marius and Dutzi
Marius and Dutzi are another beautiful couple at
church! They are newlyweds (only
about six weeks married!) and they interact so beautiful together. They are also both very playful and
energetic. I love to see Dutzi
interact with the girls we were working with- they just love her and give her
so much respect. The two of them
are an excellent example of an awesome, God-following, and loving couple that I
am blessed to call my friends.
Mama G and Mary
Mama G (also known as Gianina) and her daughter Mary and a
pair of amazing, strong women.
Mama G took good care of us while we were in Romania- she made us
special teas, massages, invited us to her apartment, supplied a natural remedy
to get rid of parasites, made us dinner…. The list is endless. She was also a fantastic mother figure
for us and even led a Bible study.
She was really there for us when we needed her, and also a friend. Her daughter Mary was a joy to be
around- she loved us, told us about her life, painted our nails, and became our
friends. She has the same caring
nature as her mother and was always checking up on us. Mary is also very skilled at English,
so she helped translate for us as well.
I remember a slightly chaotic incident at a restaurant when she kept her
cool while ordering for about eight people… awesome girl, that Mary!
Me and Mama G
Mary and Hope
Alin and Raluca
Alin and Raluca are two siblings out of eight that live
together in an apartment near where we lived. They helped translate, buy bus tickets, and got us settled
in. More than that these two were
our friends. They hung out with us
all the time and were just amazing to be with. Some of us got to bond even more with Alin as he did a lot
with the worship team, and Raluca was so outgoing and present that everyone was
blessed by her joy and wit. The two are 16 and 15, so we got to spend more time
with them when they weren’t in school.
I am very impressed by the depth of their faith at a young age, and I
know that God has amazing things in store for these two amazing young people.
Me and Raluca
Iulie and Reli (two more siblings that don’t live in Pitesti) with Alin and Raluca
(Older) Vali
Vali is an amazing guy with a huge servant heart. He was constantly helping us-
translating, explaining things, even giving us some Romanian history
lessons! Vali loves very well and
we were all blessed by his love during our time in Romania. He has an incredible story of his past
that he shared with us, and his attitude toward life is one of the most
positive that I have ever seen.
Hope, Vali, and Kate
(Younger) Vali
Vali is studying at university but is also involved with the
organization International Messengers.
Vali hung out with us, worshiped with us, and proved to us that if you
watch enough American TV shows, you will be well-versed in sarcasm! (This is definitely a blessing… a lot
of foreigners don’t understand sarcasm even if they speak English really well, and
that just results in super awkward situations). Vali is a solid example to Christians around him, especially to younger kids who look up to him. One of the last days we saw him he blessed us with his
testimony, which is another amazing story of how God can turn people around
100%.
No caption necessary. 🙂
Florin and Avery
Florin and Avery are an American/Romanian couple that met
doing ministry in Ukraine. They
lead the youth at the church and are just great people. Avery has such a sweet disposition and
is quite wise, and I got to have a couple great conversations with Florin about
photography stuff (his work is great!).
We only got to spend a couple of weeks with them because they were away
for a couple of weeks, but they definitely blessed us all the same.
Kate and Avery
Britta
Britta is a fantastically sweet girl from Minnesota!! She is in Romania for about eight
months working with the church.
She lives in an apartment with a Romanian girl and helps out at church
and in Razboieni. She belongs to Living Hope’s parent church in Minnesota, so it’s pretty cool to see her
tangibly connect the two groups of people. Britta is mature, spunky, and hilarious, and I have really
been blessed by her friendship this month. In the fall she will attend Moody Bible Institute in
Chicago, and I am already planning on meeting up with here somewhere in the
Midwest once I get back home!
Me, Britta, and Dutzi
Our whole group!
