Perhaps I will add more later, but for now this is a glimpse of what my trip was like
July 22 – Travel to NY
The first two flights were uneventful, mostly spent reading Harry Potter. However, my short layover in Atlanta was not 40 minutes, but 5! God really answered prayer there because I only made the flight because the gates were right next to each other. I must admit, as I sat with my luggage at LaGuardia airport waiting to transfer to JFK I longed to spend some time in New York City. I wanted to stay and do ministry in a city that has been my passion for years. Looking out the window of the plane, I knew right away we were flying over Queens. I know NYC. God quickly reminded me that the world is drawn to NYC. So many desire to be there, including those who feel called to minister. So many groups long to change NYC. But who is drawn to Romania? Who has that same passion for His children there? My passion for NYC will not fade, but my new passion for Romania becomes stronger each day.
July 22/23 – the flight to Hungry and Romania
I met my team in JFK and was too tired to talk much. We exchanged names and that was it. None of them sat near me on the flight. I sat next to a Hungarian woman who did not seem to know any English. In the midst of the 8-hour flight I woke up just long enough to be tempted by a delicacy I have avoided for so long. The in-flight meal was some random cheese pasta or chicken. I could have neither. I ate my stale role then examined my dessert. Cheesecake. Sometimes I like to try new things that I know I should not have, but this is one a have avoided for years. I knew I would love it. Since there was nothing else to eat, I gave it a try. It was delicious. An airplane slice of cheesecake was amazing. I can’t imagine what ‘real’ cheesecake taste like (real being Cheesecake Factory). Hopefully in the future I will be able to resist temptation, but for the plane ride over it was just enough to not be too much protein yet keep my stomach satisfied.
I slept the rest of the fight; I had no memory of the two movies and the candy bars others told me of later. What a loss, I needed chocolate! When we arrived in Budapest, we had about a six-hour layover so I fell asleep on the floor of the airport, using my carry on bag as a pillow.
The plane to Targu Mures was small and the flight was only an hour. Looking out the plane window I saw beautiful mountains and open land. I was wide-awake and ready for whatever God had for me. I knew customs was the next step, so I silently prayed as we landed and moved into the short line. The customs agents in the tiny airport did not seem too concerned with me. They asked if we had anything to declare without ever even telling us what types of items should be declared. Since we all had the nifty Livada luggage tags, all our bags were pulled into one group and none of us were even carrying our own stuff. They searched one big supply bag and that was it. After all was done, we realized that some of the bags were missing. Two of my teammates were missing all their stuff. The bags did not arrive until Wednesday morning. Although it was hard for them, it reminded me that God truly was answering a prayer by allowing my food and formula to arrive safely. I know that I could not take that for granted, it was God, not the airlines, that assured my bags made it safely to Romania. It was a huge answer to prayer.
We were taken to the Livada offices and fed dinner, then to our Guest House. It was a nice house with bunk beds and plenty of room. That night we learned quickly that its best to sleep with the windows open – it was so hot. Romania was experiencing temps in the 100s and we had no AC. It was crazy.
July 24 - Waterpark
I learned first thing in the morning that Romanians do not like their refrigerators as cold as we Americans enjoy. My formula was only a bit cooler then room temperature. Luckily this trip I learned the art of freezing my formula for an hour before I needed it. This proved to work the entire trip, except for one time when I forgot about it and froze it solid! After solving the problem, drinking my formula became rather easy, which was again a huge answer to prayer.
Today was the day we took the kids to a water park called The Weekend. We met the interns and translators at the office and paired into our groups. I was put in the best group of all, CTU, known of course for the famous Jack Bauer. Other groups were CIA, FBI, NSA, MI-5, SAS, SIE, etc. All of it fit quite well with the MissionPossible theme. We walked to the water park (a few pools and a few slides) and met the kids’ busses. The kids we had came from two groups, some from group homes and some from an orphanage called Ludus, the worst of all the orphanages in the area. I was paired with two teenage girls, Ana Maria, 15 and Adriana, 16. It amazed me how much they resembled the teens I work with here. They laughed at people in funny swimsuits (Did you know Romanians love to wear thongs to the beach…not the flip-flop kind! And many like to go topless). They checked out the guys. We even joined some of the guys for cokes. The boys insisted on buying for me too with what little money they had. While we sat and drank cokes, Adriana text messaged others. In the background the radio played Akon and I noticed that we were listening to KissFM, the same little station jingle and everything. If it weren’t for the thong Speedos, I might have forgotten I was in another country.
After saying goodbye to the kids we showered and headed off to McDonalds. I walked up to the counter and said “Large coke, large fries” only to be greeted with a blank stare. Oh yeah, this is Romania The Large Coke part was understood but I needed an intern to order my fries for me. Oops. The entire day felt was like that, I kept forgetting where I was. I kept forgetting the kids’ background as well, they seemed so normal. God had to constantly remind me of why I was there. I needed a lot of spiritual preparation before leaving for camp.
July 25- Camp Day 1
Camp was in a town called Vetca. It was a Hungarian town in Romania, meaning no one spoke Romanian. Livada built a kitchen, bathroom, and showers on the land they owned. The “cabins” were actually military tents complete with cots.
Someone brilliantly decided to put foam on the cots so they were actually very comfortable.
Since the theme was MissionPossible, secret agents welcomed the kids and informed them of the week’s mission. After they unpacked the day was full of random rec games and even a trip to town for ice cream. It was much like any youth camp. The kids were hesitant to play the games at first, but after a while they had a blast. My team consisted of Ana Maria and Adrianna, Levi, Nicolette, Ciocio (ok not really sure how that’s spelled) and Gabor.
Gabor is deaf and has grown up in the orphanage with little ability to communicate with the others. I was real impressed with the kids’ patience as everyone tried there best to make up signs so that Gabor was a part of every game. The kids did so well together that I almost felt useless. I had a blast, but my role was small and I knew nothing of the language.
The food part was a fun challenge. The kitchen was small and the cooks knew NO English. I knew NO Romanian. It was a comic sight. I had to find ways to “sign” to communicate butter, plate, knife and towel. I actually ended up with a spoon instead of a knife, but it worked. I never did figure out spatula so I turned over my tortillas with the spoon! The cooks were great though and willing to help however they could. It was such a relief to have such support from them.
We let the kids shower that night and then after a campfire and smores and Emi’s wonderful leading of “Jump, shake your bootie” we headed off to bed in the cold with no showers. Instead of sweating all night we were bundled up in sweats and socks. It was a very welcome change.
July 26- Camp Day 2
The second day of camp was hard. It started off with a team workout (which actually resembled dancing) then breakfast, then a hike up the mountain. The hike was difficult but proved to provide some amazing photos.
After the hike and lunch we played the worst game ever…ok, not really, it was a blast but WAY too much running for me. We ran around finding secret agents, only we had to find them in the right order. They were spread all around camp so if you found them too soon you had to run back later. I was about to fall over by the end, but team CTU managed to get third place.
Since we were running low on water, instead of having the kids shower we let them slip and slide. There was soap and water, so close enough! The ones who joined in had fun and most the others got caught up in throwing buckets of water onto people.
That night was the best part of the trip. Each of the leaders took some time to pray for the students. The kids had no clue what I was praying out loud over them, which gave me such a freedom, it really was just God and me. As I was waiting to pray for one of the kids, they all began to be restless and started laughing and whispering. When I approached Levi I put my arms around him as he laughed. The first thing I prayed was that he would take it seriously even though he had no idea what I was saying. I prayed for many things, but mostly for God to make him a great leader. All the kids follow him and I know that God can and will use him for such great things. The entire time a prayed he sat calmly. When I was done, he found one of the other leaders who had not prayed for him yet and asked for prayer. To everyone’s surprise he also offered to pray for her. She knows a lot of Romanian so she was able to tell that Levi thanked God for brining her to work with them and prayed that God would bless her marriage. It was obviously not a formula prayer. Levi was praying his heart. It was amazing to see God working in him. God gave me an immediate glimpse of how he was answering my prayer for Levi. It was such a blessing to be a small part of his life.
July 27- Ropes Course
Friday we took the kids to a rope course, high ropes that is. Anyone who knows me knows that this stuff is not my thing. Most my group seemed like they didn’t want to try anything. I was a little worried about what the day would look like. I helped out at Jacob’s Ladder, a ladder that takes the teamwork of two people to climb. I watched the boys venture to the top successfully, even Gabor with his limited ability to communicate with his partner. Then my girls decided to try. I was so proud of them. Everyone in my group made it to the top. After lunch, it was my turn. Heights don’t scare me at all; I’m just not very strong. I wasn’t afraid of going up and falling, I was afraid of not getting to the top. One of the many ways I am still so prideful. It was hard work but I was able to make it. (I can’t say the same about the climbing wall though; I can’t seem to master those!) The day was very laid back and the kids had so much fun completing tasks they didn’t think possible.
The last hour it finally sunk in that we were not going to see the kids again. Goodbye doesn’t really fit the situation. Perhaps I will be back in March or the summer. Maybe not. Honestly I was not sad because I have never felt so much confidence in a ministry before. I KNOW that Livada staff will continue to be a part of the kids’ lives throughout the year. Even if I never make it back, these kids will be ministered to. I allowed God to use me this week but I was merely a vessel. So many others will come and be used by Him in the same way. I hope I will be back soon, but I love knowing that so many others are obediently responding to His call in the lives of these orphans.
That night back in Mures we cleaned up (first showers since Tuesday night) and headed out to dinner. Another group from Livada was at the restaurant before us and must have eaten all the food. Half the food we tried to order they were ‘sold out’ of. It was a bit of true Romanian culture. It was a fun evening, but everyone knew the trip was ending and no one was ready.
July 28 –Ludus
We woke up early and drove to Ludus, the orphanage about half the campers live at. I wish we could have seen Ludus before we met the kids. They did not allow us in but the outside was very telling, everything looked run down. Ciocio and Levi were the only ones from my group at Ludus so I was not sure what to expect. Levi greeted me with a big hug but Ciocio asked for Kimber, the other leader. Seconds later one of the girls took my hand. Claudia had gone to camp another week but felt an attachment to me. She seemed to think I would make a great football partner (soccer). I had a blast kicking around the ball and playing on the rusty swings. My favorite part of the day was then one of the Livada staff members handed out bags of clothing. She had bought them tons of clothes; most of the girls’ clothes came from Forever21. The girls were so excited to try on their new outfits, which were very trendy. The boys’ faces lit up when she pulled out Adidas shirts. Levi was so proud of his Adidas shirt that he put it on right then. One little boy was so excited about his new pair of tighty-whities. I wish I had a picture of him, but no photos are allowed there. It was humbling and heartbreaking all at once to see where they lived and get a small glimpse of what life was like for them. I really didn’t want to leave, but once again was able to leave knowing God has placed so many faithful servants there to minister.
After Ludus we spent some time shopping for souvenirs, only about 2 hours total which was not nearly enough time…if you didn’t get anything now you know why. We joined the interns for a cookout and said some goodbyes. Honestly the people I needed to say goodbye to were not there. Kimber, my intern, left early, Radu, Dana and Emi, the Romanians on team CTU were all absent as well. It was discouraging not to be able to say goodbye and tell them how much I appreciated them but hopefully my many thanks on Friday was enough. That night we slept for 3 hours then headed out to the airport.
July 29/30 – Flight Home
On the flight back I was able to sit by Katie, which was such a blessing. It was so great to sit next to someone who spoke English! More than that, it was great to just sit and talk about the week and all God had been teaching us both. Our flight landed late due to weather and so our team parted ways very quickly right after customs…it was the fastest I have ever given hugs and there was no time for words! After paying way too much money for a cab so I could make my flight at LaGuardia, I found out my flight was delayed and I would not make the Atlanta connection. I was so tired that I burst into tears at the agents counter. It did not help that they were very rude. My sister saved the day and got me a hotel in Atlanta. I slept so well, the first time sleeping in AC in a week. My bags made it to Dallas at about 8am and I made it back at about 1pm. I was so sure I did not have jet lag. I took a nap at 4pm and except for a brief phone call/visit I don’t really remember (sorry Kristen) I slept until 6:30am.
