Romania Update 1

Two days into camp and I’m already not wanting to leave.
Our trip started out a bit crazy. We had an hour connection from Germany to Romania and I spent the last hour of that flight praying we make it. The answer to prayer came through the man in the yellow vest…seriously. There were many others on our flight with tight connections and our plane was a little late. When I walked off the plane, I saw a man holding a sign that said “Bucharest”. He was there to escort us through security passageways to our gate. He used his key card to get us to our plane on time- a definite answer to prayer, especially because no other flight seemed to have that luxury. When we arrived in Bucharest, we found out that we made our flight, but 11 of our bags did not. After a 6-hour drive to Targu Mures, we settled into the hotel, shuffling to find things to sleep in and borrowing toiletries as best we could.
Saturday morning we headed to the baby hospital. There were so many more babies then the times before. I ended up left alone in a room full of toddlers. One was wearing my flip-flops walking around the room. Two were pulling out my hair clips and “doing” my hair. While a fourth tried to crawl on me to be held. It was heartbreaking how little attention they received. It is always so hard to leave them.
We did not get to go to Zau as we had planned- which was sad. Instead we spend Saturday sorting through our 11 bags as they finally arrived. We met the departing Irish “Edge” team for a cookout then walked around TM.
Sunday was of course church. I was excited to see old friends. My friend Gabi greeted me right away and I spend the entire service talking to Ani about silly things…I was one of the many with no translator. Don’t worry; we did not disturb anyone else…too much.
Sunday afternoon the team met the Casa kids for the first time. They made connections instantly. Then we headed to the office for some time with the Campnita girls. These state care girls were my first group at camp last summer. I was amazed to find that Rodica not only remembered my face but also ran to me saying my name as soon as she saw me. She listed every team member as well. She attached herself to me right away and told me stories of herself and her siblings, Bobby and Ileana. These three were the family that I connected with the most last year. God put each one of them in my path and we connected in separate ways. I was so blessed to see her again and hope to see her sister next Saturday.
Monday and Tuesday were spent with the Casa kids at camp. The team stepped right up into leadership and the kids love them. The first day we had our all-girls cupcake decorating. Some of the cupcakes were not so pretty, but everyone had fun. One of the girls even said it was the best day of camp she ever had. Tuesday we took the kids to a nursing home to hand out flowers. Some of the kids were really scared, but a few were amazing. Catalina was playing games with one; Daniel was walking around with an old woman who could not have been happier. They truly brought smiles to faces.
The rest of the days will be continued in future blogs…this one is long enough. Please keep praying!

Romania 2009

It's late and I should be in bed. In fact, I was reaching for my "real" journal but instead decided I needed to blog. On Thursday, I leave for my third trip to Romania.
Many of you reading followed my last trip via blog. I doubt I will have time to blog on the trip as its only 10 days long. But it is already full of emotion. It is almost a year exactly since I was last there. I am so excited to go back, but so many other things are on my mind as well.
One of my favorite parts about Livada, the ministry in Romania, is that I get to see the same kids year after year. I am starting to see some of them grow up. It's amazing. Last year, I didn't want to leave. I knew it was time to, but I was feeling called to come back and possibly even more long-term. As a prayed through the fall, I was surprised (and I must confess a bit disappointed) to hear from God that I needed to lead a team this summer. Don't get me wrong - leading a team is great. But leading a team meant I could not spend the entire summer there and I of course could not spend even longer there. It didn't seem to make sense, but I reluctantly obeyed.
Now, I am leaving for Romania with a team of eight ...some youth, some peers/adults, and my mom. I can't tell you how fun it is to hear my youth speaking Romanian. Not only are those eight a part of Romania, but countless people in the church and a few in the community have become involved. Even my students helped (by helped, I mean bought my overpriced candy bars for a fundraiser, but it still counts). Now, so many people in my life are a part of Romania. I would not trade that for anything.
As I leave, obviously there are many prayer concerns for the trip, a few being travel, safety, unity, and to expect great things from God. But my biggest personal prayer is that God shows me how Romania fits in my future. I don't need all the details, just a peace about what to do next. This coming week, I will have to face some Romanian friends who are disappointed I did not move there. I don't even know what to say some of them, nor do I know what the future holds. As I wrestled with dreading those conversations, God used a bible study tonight to remind me of the way He works. The main point: Balancing Passion with Patience. I know I am passionate about Romania and I was ready to dive in fully a few years ago. Patience did not come easy; I'm not even sure it came at all- I waited, but not always patiently. But the little patience I had allowed me to invite many others to be a part my passion. Who knows what else patience can bring as I wait on His timing.