Romania Compassion Mission

Goodmorning All,

We arrived back in the US safely yesterday.  While I miss Romania I must admit it was good to sleep in my own bed last night.

Most of us arrived back home tired but having come away with the feeling of accomplishment and having had God reveal areas we all need to work on.  All in all it was a very successful trip and I want to thank everyone who made the trip possible and especially those who prayed for us while we were there.  You have all been a blessing to us.

Have you ever sat through a 3 1/2 hour long service entirely in a foreign language?  Let me just tell you it sure is hard to stay awake in such a service, especially with temps as high as they are today.  Fortunately the church was somewhat airconditioned.  I say somewhat because most of us used fans to keep the air moving at least.  Actually it helps to keep you awake too since your body is doing something besides sitting on a carpeted 2"x6" board.  I have often said that they make their pews like that so you cannot slouch or fall asleep or you will fall off the seat.

Even though the language was different the Spirit was the same and that is what was most important.  Pastor Nicu has just recently been appointed to the Filadelphia Church also called Sebastian church because it is right beside the Sebastian Park.  This is the largest pentecostal church in Bucharest.  It has been even more obvious just how much he is respected among the pentecostal believers here in Bucharest as we traveled this week.  He truly is a man of great integrity and conviction.

We were originally scheduled to attend another service immediately following the morning service at Filadelphia church but that would have meant a one hour drive and no lunch in this heat.  Pastor Nicu discussed this with me and we decided it would be best if we did not attend this service.  The pastor from Teisor was in our morning service and was disappointed.  He really wanted the people of his church to have the opportunity to express their thanks to us for what we have done for them.  I shared it is not us they need to thank but God. 

We went to a local mall and had lunch.  Some had McDonalds, some KFC, and others had Burger King.  That's right.  Good ole American type food.  I will say the KFC here is better than back home.  Afterwards Adi took Sharon, Amor and Amber shopping and the "old folks" came back to the house to rest. 

Pastor Nicu just left to get ready for the evening service and will be back afterwards with his family to say goodbye.  It gets so hard to say goodbye each year.  These folks have come to mean so much to us.

All in all here is what we did with $10,000

      $2,000 - Outstretched Hands of Romania in Calarasi

      $3,500 - 685 bags of groceries

      $    850 - Ground transportation

      $    200 - lodging

      $    200 - interpreter Adi

      $    500 - Pastor Nicu

      $    250 - food/snacks for team and others (driver, interpreter, Pastor Nicu, etc.)

      $    500 - petrol for bus

      $ 1500 - Teisor church for flooring and aid to widow with four children

We just arrived back from Galbanesti and our meal of mici and rabbit sausage.  It was such a delight for me to return to this village.  We are always welcomed with such enthusiasm.  One brother in particular lights up when he sees me and I get the biggest hug from him.  Of course Pastor Marion is a real nut and such fun to be with.  This year he decided that Amor would make a good wife for his son, Phillip.  She has been trying to avoid him every since.  We have all had a good laugh over this one.

We took the morning off and rested.  I actually slept until 7:30 which is highly unusual for me. 

All in all we have filled and distributed 685 bags of groceries in three days.  Not bad.  The weather and the schedule we have kept this year has really affected the entire team this week.  We are all tired, some not feeling their best.  All in all it has been a great trip and GOD is good all the time!

Adi has taken Richard, Sharon and Amor souvenir shopping and Amber is off to play volley ball with some Romanian girls.  Sue, Bill, Lew and I are going to chill out for a while.

Later this evening we are going to get papanache.  This is a Romanian dessert we were introduced to last year and it is wonderful!!  That should round out our day very nicely and be very refreshing.

Tomorrow church with Pastor Nicu in the morning, traveling to Teisor for a baby dedication and service at 2 and then back to Bucharest and home.  Pastor Nicu said we should not plan to attend the evening service but take the time to pack and rest as we have a very early wake up time on Monday in order to get to the airport on time.

Here we are home once again from a shorter day.  We first went to the Carrefour to fill 200 bags of groceries.  You can only imagine the looks and confusion we create when we come walking out pushing grocery carts loaded down to the max.  It was very HOT filling those bags and by the time it was all said and done we need drinks to keep us from dehydrating any further.

Patricka, a pastor and van driver friend of ours, met us at the Carrefour and took 30 of the bags for the village he ministers in.  This is Iosef's dad.  After getting his 30 bags he pitched right in and help fill the rest of the bags. 

Dutchway in Myerstown donated 1,000 bags to us for this trip and they have been such a blessing.  Here in Romania you must now buy your bags and they are not very sturdy.  Thank you Dutchway!

We took off for Filadelphia church and unloaded more of the bags.  Marion's wife (our driver) works in the kitchen at this church and gave us all refreshing ice cream.  Bless her Lord.  We were then treated to a very short concert by Adi on the piano and then off we went to meet up with the pastor from Teisor.

Teisor is the church we left money with last year to finish their building.  This pastor, pastors eight villages but Teisor is the head church.  Last year it had a low ceiling, rough floors, few windows.  In a room about 12x24 70 adults and 80 children met each week for church.  Now there is a beautiful addition that has expanded the church significantly.  They raised the ceiling, painted and have beautiful tile floors.  What a difference.

We did visit a couple of homes on the way to Teisor in Clejan.  There is always such need everywhere we look.

We also had a phone call the Pastor Pauluic Getza from Suceava has lost his home to mud slides due to the flooding and rains in the north.  This is the pastor from the Filadelphia church in Suceava where we stayed two years ago when we were in the northern region.  From what we are told he has lost everything.  Please keep this in prayer.

We came back to the house for dinner.  Marion requested I make spaghetti again so tonight's menu was spaghetti, tortelleni and chorba. 

We are going to Galbenish tomorrow for mici and rabbit sausage.

Take care all and please continue to pray for us.

I know it has been hot at home and we too are feeling the effects of heat and humidity.  It has been miserable again today with the weather but God is good all the time!!

We left here this morning and headed for the Sebastian Church to meet up with Pastor Nicu and the pastor from Dragonlina.  Our first stop was a small village church we were at last year.  This church is meeting is a very very small building and since here last they have purchase a tract of land to build on.  Of course now comes the challenge of raising the money to build the church.  They are good people, very oppressed and very very poor but with hearts that love the Lord.  Next we went to the church in Dragonlina.  This is the church that has the green houses in the back yard to help provide for their people.  They treated us to a delicious lunch of fresh tomatoes, goat cheese, cucumbers, potatoes and fried chicken.  They always treat us so very good.  We then visited a few desperate families and shared prayer and left groceries.

As we headed back to Bucharest (Pastor Nicu had to be home for a church service this evening) we thought we were done for the day.  Oh nooooo... Pastor Nicu said he wanted us to fill 200 bags and bring them to his church and then return for another 200 bags for tomorrow.  We dropped Pastor Nicu off and then headed to another Carefour to fill 200 bags.  Let me tell you the mini-bus was loaded down!!  Since the bus was so very full, half of the team took off with the bus and one of our drivers from last year, Iosef, came and picked the rest of us up.  Adi thought he was coming in the van however, he showed up in a car.   There were five of us plus Iosef and that became a challenge.  Ended up Amber sat on my lap on the trip back ot Sebastian church.  Let me tell you that was a riot.  It looked like how many Americans and Romanians can you cram into one car.

By the time we arrived at the church I had decided enough was enough.  We had not eaten since noon and it was now 8 PM.  Imagine my delight when I found out that our hostess had dinner waiting for us here at the house.  I had thought I would have to come back and cook for us.  Dinner was absolutely delicious.  Stuffed peppers and most of us agreed they were the best we had ever had.  That is really saying something since I do not ordinarily like them.  We topped the meal off with pepene - watermelon.  YUMMMM.

Tomorrow it is back to Carefour and more groceries.  I have requested Saturday off as we are all about at the end of our endurance.  Keep us in prayer as we continue to serve HIM.

Goodmorning All,

Here we are off getting ready to head out once again.  Last night we filled 180 bags of groceries to distribute today in several villages.  Some of these villages will be new ones for me and others will be a return visit from last year.  Pastor Nicu did not tell the pastors we were coming this year but somehow the word has gotten out. 

Most of us are tired.  Let me rephrase that, exhausted.  Between being constantly on the go and the hot weather we are drained yet we press on.  There is soooo much need everywhere and it breaks my heart to realize we cannot do more. 

More later...

Hello once again.  I think this is day eight but I have actually lost track of time. 

We are back in Bucharest and once again have internet access. 

Monday morning we left Calarasi and headed to the Vaslui region for further ministry.  This trip took most of the day.  The pastor from that area met us asked if we could fill some bags yet that day and distribute them to a remote village.  We asked about our overnight accomodations and discovered that not much thought had been put into that.  We were given our choice of a hotel (very expensive) or a prayer house about an hour from where we were.  Adi, our interpreter, thought that perhaps the prayer house would be one without electric or running water.  We debated.  The more we spend on us the less we have for the Romanain people  We finally decided on the prayer house.  We then filled  30 bags of groceries and and off to a hillside village.  The roads (if you can call them) were horrible.    When I say hillside village  I mean hillside.  The first house we stopped at was a young widow with four children.  He husband had committed suicide by hanging himself out in the yard of the house.  She is struggling to keep up with bills and raise four children alone.  As we drove further into this village we parked the van and walked to several homes to distribute groceries.  Then the pastor told us we would walk to the rest of the homes and ask them to come to the bus for their bags.  We soon understood why we were not carrying the bags with us as the walk was quite steep.    It would have helped if we were mountain goats I suppose.  By the time this was finished and we drove the the prayer house in Barlad we were exhausted.  Much to our surprise the prayer house not only had electric and running water, it had a full bathroom complete with shower and beds!!  God is Sooooooo Good.  The pastor wanted to know if we could be ready to go by eight the next morning and it was already very late.  I had been up past midnight the previous four nights and wondered if I could possibly be ready that early. 

We were up, had our simple breakfast and ready by 8 AM the next morning.  After meeting with the pastor and looking over the family sizes it was determined that we needed to buy and bag 75 bags of groceries.  This was accomplished in record time and off we went once more.  The need is unbelievable everywhere you look.  The government sponsored help has decreased dramatically to the poor and it was so very evident everywhere.  Children in rags or no clothes, houses crumbling down around the occupants.  We visited a family with 16 children and number 17 on its way.  The current youngest has been diagnosed leukemia and there is no help available.  Before going to the doctor or hospital you must pay in advance and of course this is not possible for most of the poor.  We visited a young couple in danger of losing their home due to a lack of paperwork filed with the courts.  We saw need after need and it broke our hearts.  One of the last houses we visited was a young woman who has had an open sore on her leg for over two years now and it is getting larger.  We were able to leave money with the pastor to pay for her hospital stay so she could possibly get the help she needs before it becomes gangerous.  Her husband is a non-believer and she has a handsome 9 year old son who takes care of her.  She cannot stand without leaning on something.  Please keep her in your prayers. 

After visiting two villages and a couple of other folks we returned to Barlad for a spaghetti dinner.  We gathered for a group devotional time and each shared what has stood out to them thus far on this trip.  Sue and I both agreed the prayer time has been special.  I had discovered the pastor we were working with pastors four churches and oversees 12 villages.  If you could only see the terrain this man travels you would stand in awe.  He has 9 children and is not paid by the Romanian church here.  A Romanian church in England sends him the equivalent of $300 each month and that is his only income.  We blessed him with $500.  This brought tears to his eyes.  He reminded me that the last time I was with him (5 years ago) we gave him money for tires.  He needs them again!!  He was thrilled.

This morning we loaded up and headed back here to Bucharest.  Our accomodations are beautiful!  Pastor Nicu is now the pastor of the largest pentecostal church here in Bucharest and these beautiful folks are part of his church.

Keep us in your prayers and we will send you another update later.  We are headed to Carefour at 8 PM to fill 100 bags tonight.

What a day!  We awoke to blue skies that became cloudy almost immediately and yes you guessed it RAINED again!  Thankfully it was only a short shower and the rest of our day was dry.  Can anyone praise the Lord now?

We all attended church with the Hayes family.  It was a special day in which they were honoring all missionaries.  This church is unusual since most of the Outstretched Hands team attends there.  Kind of like Tri-County with the TCTC staff attending thus lots of preachers, etc.  They recognized us as a team and I was asked to share whatever was on my heart.  This was quite an honor as most Romanian churches do not ask women to speak - especially not on a Sunday.  This was followed by more music and then the pastor spoke.  He spoke on divine healing and then asked Brad and myself to join him in the front to pray for anyone wanting prayer.  We broke down into three teams (Brad and I had interpreters) and prayed.  Again this was very unusual for a Romanian church to ask a woman to pray for others.  It was a very humbling experience for me and I felt very honored.  The prayer time was awesome!!!

We then had another true Romanian meal at the Canadian missionary's home that had been prepared by a sister who lives in the same building.  This sister is such a special lady.  She has raised her family of five by herself and she has the heart of a servant.  This was followed by a short rest and then off to Chirnogi and Soldano.  Amber, Amor, Sue and Bill went with some of the OH staff to Chirnogi and Lew, Sharon, Richard and I went with Bill to Soldano.  As we were walking up to the door this dear little lady came rushing out and embraced me in a full hug.  She was one that I had prayed with Thursday night at the Ladies' meeting.  She had asked for prayer for courage and peace in her heart.  She said she was often laughed at and made fun of.  What a difference!  We had another great meeting.  At one point it was like how many Romanians can you squeeze into a 13x21 sized room (with only two windows).  They had each of us share and each member did an awesome job of just sharing some of their life experiences and how God remained faithful in the hard times.  Tears flowed freely down many faces as each one shared.  I closed out this time with the scripture from Isaiah 43:1-2 -"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you."  This was again followed by an awesome time of praying for special needs.  We were each assigned an interpreter and the prayer time was so anointed!

When we finally left there we stopped in Oltentia for Shaorma.  YUMMMMM!!! It was once again after midnight til we got back to the apartment!  Needless to say I am feeling like I could use some toothpicks this morning to keep my eyes open.

Today we leave for Vaslui.  One of our favorite drivers, Marion and Adi, our favorite interpreter will be picking us up at Brad's and then its off for at least a six hour drive to the Vaslui region.  Please pray for this area.  They are once again experiencing extreme flooding thus it is an even more desparate need then before.

I have no idea if there will be computer connections available to us once we leave here so even though you may not find daily updates, please keep us in your prayers and know that we are proclaiming Jesus wherever we go.

Day Four brought us a long, tiring and exciting day.  After getting in after midnight the night before we were allowed to "sleep in" and only had to be ready to go by 10. 

The guys were up earlier but then they got to bed a lot earlier than we did too.  They went to buy a horse for a boy in Caramidari.  Bill said he had never seen a smile so big as when they delivered the horse to the guy.  Lew said it was a tired, foundered horse that had snow shoe feet.  None the less it brought much joy.

At ten we gathered and went to the village of Roseti for a children's meeting.  This is a fairly new work started about eight months ago.  We began by doing a prayer walk through the village inviting the kids to come and praying with families we met.  The regular day for this ministry is Tuesdays so we were uncertain how many would come out for the meeting. After our walk we returned to the house where they are meeting at present.  Our room was about 12x40 (that's real approximate).  It began filling immediately and by the time it was all said and done we had around 50 children there.  Since this was a special service, our team was given most of the program.  The service started with Scott (one of the leaders of the ministry there) doing some fun things with the kids.  They loved him and it.  We then did the "I'm A Christian" skit - that's the one where someone comes on acting like a car and the main character stops them and asks what they think they are doing.  They respond they are a car.  When asked what makes them think they are a car the answer is "Because I live in a garage."  Of course the response to that is "Just because you live in a garage doesn't make you a car."  We had a car (Sharon), an airplane (Amber), a train (Richard as the engine and Lew as the caboose), and a Christian (Amor).  The kids loved it and we had a blast.  You just had to see Richard and Lew as the train.  This was followed by Amber telling the story of Jonah and the Great Fish story using balloons.  She really had a time of it as the balloons kept breaking on her before she could get Jonah in the fish.  None the less again the kids loved it.  Scott then had another team member come and sing some songs with the children.  Oh how they love to sing!  It was great.  Just before they closed, Scott asked us to do the Jonah story again as more children had arrived.  This time Amber did the balloon while I told the story (you know with a bit more drama involved since I didn't have to concentrate on putting Jonah in that silly fish balloon).  Of course the balloon thing worked the first time this time.  We laughed, the kids laughed and it went over well.  They closed the service and had the kids line up outside the house and we gave each of them a fish balloon.

It was then back to Calarasi for a delicious lunch of chorba (a wonderful type of soup) and pork with mashed potatoes. 

One of the Romanian girls that works with OH needs braces on her teeth.  She is trying to earn the money for this without asking anyone for help.  She is beautiful!  I learned she paints and tries to sell her paintings to help earn the money for the braces.  I asked to see some of her work.  She brought in 7 paintings and told the story behind why she painted each one.  We as a team bought them all.  She was thrilled and so are we.

Amor, Amber and I then went to help prepare the evening meal that had to be made and then transported to Chiselet where we were headed next.

Chiselet - I feel so welcomed and at home there.  After so many visits through the years I have come to know many of the people and of course me.  It feels wonderful to walk down the road or visit in a home and have them say, "Oh yes, we are so very thankful to see you again," even when I am not bringing food.  When we arrived the soccer tournament was just getting underway and it was not raining.  The sun actually came out about the time we got to the tent but alas it didn't last.  Once again the sky opened and it poured.  Didn't stop the soccer game mind you but it poured.  I mentioned to Brad that I was surprised that the bleachers were still full and he said, "It's soccer - the Romanian addiction."  We did have a good number of kids in the tent already so we started a service.  There was singing, laughter and once again our skit and Jonah story.  There was testimonies and Bible verses and more singing and laughter and then we were mobbed as we handed out fish balloons once again.  The balloons were such a hit that we ended up making swords and dogs as well as fish until we ran out of balloons.  It was great!  Somewhere around 8 we loaded into the vans to go to the home there in Chiselet where we were to eat our evening meal.  The rain had stopped once again.  If you have never been to Romania you can't really appreciate the mud.  It is BLACK - not brown - BLACK.  Of course I am sure this is due in part to the great fertilization means they have - cow and horse manure.  MIx that with black dirt and you can begin to imagine the smell and nastyness of trying to walk in it.  Once we arrived at the home where we were to eat Brad broke us down into three teams and we delivered groceries to the families that are involved in the new work there.  As soon as we stepped onto the road to walk to the houses we were assigned to (Lew, Sharon and I along with one of Brad's daughters) the skies opened up once again and within minutes we were drenched.  Thank goodness it is summer here and the rain though cool wasn't bone chilling.  Now picture this, walking through slippery black mud and such to enter a home where we had to take our shoes off before we could go in.  That really didn't matter as for Sharon and I our feet were as nasty as the shoes we were wearing.  Uckkkk!  The people didn't care. They welcomed us with open hearts and arms.  Eventually we made our way back to the house for dinner.  It was a supa (soup), sausage and cabbage with dill.  Those of you who know Amber well will smile at that.  I will say she didn't eat any of the "slaw" although it was very good - not to dilly.  We visited for a while in this home and finally head back to Calarasi at 11 PM.  That meant we were well after midnight getting to bed once again. 

Rain rain go away and come again after we leave!  It has rained alllllll daaaay looong.  It made ministry very interesting today.

We started the day with a continental breakfast with the entire Outstretched Hands team followed by an awesome time of praise and prayer.  As we gathered our hearts together we prayed for the outreach in Chiselet and each other.  Afterwards Amber and Amor went back to the Hayes home to help get the craft ready for the tent event.  Since we had had a very late night last night Sue, Sharon and I returned to our apartment to catch a power nap before rejoining the rest of the team for a delicious lunch at the Hayes. 

We loaded up the vans with supplies and people and headed out for Chiselet.  The tent was erected yesterday.  We kept praying the rain away but to no avail.  It did let up a lot just as we got to the tent and the kids started coming.  There were kids playing soccer, kids playing volleyball and kids just plain playing.  About the time we were ready to start the service part of the event the skies opened up once again and drove the kids into the tent.  Can you say "wet"?  The longer we were in the tent the further into the tent the water crept.  After a bit Brad decided to shorten the original plan and try to expand the time there tomorrow since it was getting pretty wet.  The kids were great - enthusiastic and loud.  The group was awesome in how the interacted with the kids.  At one point Brad called all of the OH (Outstretched Hands) group up to do some silly songs and somehow got Lew and I up there too.  You should have seen Lew jumping and dancing around with some of the children.  It was priceless!  Can't wait to get the pics of that.

We have just arrived back at the apartment - wet and muddy.  I am actually doing a bit of laundry since we have black (not brown) mud on most of our clothes.  Here's hoping I am operating this Romanian washer correctly.

Tomorrow we have children's ministry in the village of Rosetti followed by lunch at the Canadian couples apartment and then back to Chiselet.  We are praying for better weather.

Until then keep praying for us.