Visit #6, Week #1

I don't think it's even remotely possible that I will be able to sum this past week up concisely, so...if you're ready for a mini-essay, here goes.

Chaperones at dinner in London

Our trip this year started with a planned overnight in London.  We checked into our hotel (my last unshared room for quite some time), then took a bus and a long train ride into central London.  It was fun...but we'll probably never do it again.  The commute to central London was much longer than we'd been led to expect, and corralling 26 students through the subway system is no joke.  But we chaperones enjoyed a nice long relaxed dinner at an Italian restaurant.  Everything was delicious and it was a lovely welcome to Europe.  While the others made their way back to the hotel, I met a friend from the last two trips, Marcel.  We walked a little bit, then he drove me back to the hotel.  Riding as a passenger on the left side was so fun! I drank an 11pm cappuccino with him (oops, didn't actually sleep that night), then went to bed.

Flooded streets on the

way from the airport

Flight to Romania on Friday was uneventful, and it was such a joy to see familiar faces picking us up at the airport.  I rode with a group of students in a van with one of the Romanian missionaries, and the rest of the group rode a bus...which took the worst route through Bucharest rush hour and then got a flat tire.  My van arrived far ahead of the bus, so my group got to greet our friends here, eat dinner, and help prepare the house for the later arrival of the others.

The last thing I remember before fainting...

Saturday was probably the worst day I have ever had in Romania, in all 6 years. I did some ministry with the students, but while getting to know some neighborhood kids at the soccer field, I suddenly woke up on the ground, unsure where I was, to find that I had passed out and hit my head.  I was disoriented and afraid, and scared about why it happened (my anxiety-prone self jumped to brain tumor!) and thought that I might not be able to do the rest of the trip as planned.  I had a hard time thinking about anything else the rest of the day and was sad to not be able to wholeheartedly serve my team or the people of Romania.  BUT, after some good conversation and prayer with my friend and group leader Derek and with my Romanian friend pastor Raul, and after I took a nap and drank some water, I felt much better.  The rest of the trip has not really been affected!  Praise God!

the sign in front of Hope 

Church Craiova

I'll try to pick up the pace from here, especially since I've already posted some pics.  Sunday I and a group of students went to the city of Craiova to participate in a church service at the new church plant, then enjoyed evening service back in Draganesti.  On Monday, some students and I visited the missionary doctor here and her husband and kids, did some games and activities with the neighborhood kids there, and met their bees and ate some honeycomb!  On Tuesday, the whole team did street evangelism and passed out Bibles back in Craiova.  On Wednesday, my group went with a new missionary in the area, Tavi.  We got to visit different people in his community and pray with him and his wife.

"Red Light, Green Light" with kids in the village

our team with Tavi and his disciple, Sebi

Passing out New Testaments in Craiova

in front of Peles Castle

Thursday was the day the rest of my team had to say goodbye to Draganesti...but I didn't!  I went with them for their day of tourism - to "Dracula's" castle in the town of Bran and to another castle in the town of Peles.  The scenery was stunning and it was such a fun day.  I rode with them all the way to their hotel in Bucharest, then rode back to Draganesti with two guys from the church.  The transition from being a part of the team to being the remaining American with my Romanian friends is always such an interesting thing - and I love it!

In the Craiova church with the Equipped to Equip group

Today was just plain wonderful.  I had no idea what the day would hold but the introvert in me was coming alive after so long with such a big group (Don't get me wrong; I love the students, but...).  I slept in til almost 7, walked to the church and around town a little bit, then went to Craiova with Raul and his wife Ana and their son Samy, and another American missionary named Laura.  We met at the Craiova church with 3 of the students in their "Equipped to Equip" program, which trains up men to potentially be full-time missionaries.  So encouraging!  Laura's Romanian skills are better than mine (she's lived in-country for 6 years) so most of the conversations all morning were in Romanian, which was a fun challenge for me.  We stopped for lunch on the way back to town, and then I got to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening just talking with Ana and with Raul.  What a gift to be able to spend undivided time with them.  I walked home from the church this evening feeling completely comfortable and at-home here.  This place and these people are just so precious to me.

Ok, this blog entry feels more like a list of events than anything else, but it at least gives me something to look back on as a summary of the week.  Perhaps I'll blog more often now that the team is gone...but no promises.  Thanks for reading!