Hey from Romania, ya'll! I have been in Arad four days now, and I'm learning a lot of interesting things. But honestly, my thoughts are rather fragmented and I haven't quite had the energy to pull together something that makes sense for this blog! So I'm going to keep this simple and hopefully interesting, because after all, how many people want to read long and thought-provoking blog posts all the time? I don't have time for much of that myself, and I used to be an avid blog reader, and I like thought-provoking writers! Keeping this in mind, I think it's better to write short but regular posts....sound-bytes of my experience. But please be patient with me, because I am a writer, and my thoughts come out better in writing once I get started, so things usually end up much longer than I intended!
I flew into Budapest, Hungary, because that is cheaper than coming into the Romanian airport. I had a three hour or so drive with my hosts from Budapest to Arad. The country I saw reminds me a lot of the Midwest....mostly flat fields of corn, beans, and lots of hay bales....but they also have fields of sunflowers.
Arad is the third largest city in western Romania. It is crowded with rows upon rows of block apartment buildings. During the Communist regime, Ceausescu consolidated all the farmland into huge communal farms and built tons of apartments in the city in order to move most of the people there. You can also see some fairly typical old European buildings; churches and such. Little shops are everywhere, and not always in places that would be easy to find. We visited a salon the other day that was tucked away on a narrow side street in a rather nondescript building. Trams run along between the main city streets, and sometimes right down the middle of the street. Most of the streets are not built for the heavy volume of traffic they have now.
I am staying in an apartment with three young Romanian women. The missionaries live across the hall. One of the girls speaks English very well. The other two understand a little. The set-up is to provide a family for the girls, but also to give them a semi-independent situation, so they can eventually become fully independent. The heart of the ministry is for these girls to find hope in Jesus Christ, because only He can deliver them from the bondage of their backgrounds and the darkness of their culture.
Let me catch you up on some things I've gotten to do so far. There hasn't been a lot going on over the past week, other than hanging out in the apartments, getting to know my hosts and the other girls. They have actually had a busy summer, volunteering with some ministries, going here and there, and having three interns stay with them before I came. Scott and Carolyn, the Rock of Hope missionaries, just returned from a vacation in Greece with two of the girls. So they were needing a break from all the other stuff. The neat thing is that I get to be a part of their everyday life, and just like it is with most of us, some times are busy and full, and other times are slow.
My first evening here, I got to participate in a small support group of missionaries who gather to fellowship, study the Word, and pray for each other. Just to sit and listen to them talk about the realities and challenges they are facing in their lives and work has been a faith builder for me. They are seeking to follow and obey God in the midst of a culture that is very difficult sometimes, and their faith in Him is real. Living here without a lot of the American "securities" we are used to has taught them to cling closer to the Lord and to band together as the body for spiritual and emotional protection. I feel privileged to see inside their lives for a little while and to learn from them.
I've also been able to spend a lot of time with Scott and Carolyn, who are doing a fabulous job of painting for me a picture of Romania....its culture, its spiritual atmosphere, its mindset, etc.
The weather here is comparable to the American Midwest, although lately it has been much hotter than our summer in Missouri. The first few days of my visit, temperatures were around 100 degrees. Too hot to spend much time outdoors, and the apartments are not air conditioned, so you don't feel like doing much inside either! I'm so thankful for fans! It has cooled down a notch in the last two days.
On Friday evening, we went to the home of one of the missionary families who work in radio. We had American hamburgers on the grill, which is a treat for them here. After supper we sat around and talked....several in the group have just had major attacks on their work, so it turned into a time of encouragement to stay in the battle and keep trusting God, and then we had another wonderful prayer time.
One of the girls was wanting to go get her eyebrows done (beautification is a really big deal here), and we decided it would be a fun thing for us to do together. So Saturday morning, a couple of us went to a salon. These things are much cheaper in Romania. I have never paid to get my eyebrows done professionally in the States, and I probably never will, but it was a cool thing to do for once!
I went out walking in the city with one of the girls on Saturday night, and again on Sunday with a group of girls. Europeans like to stay out late at night. For the most part it is quite safe, and plenty of people are around. We bought ice cream and corn on the cob and walked through a park with a colored fountain and saw a lot of the city. Oh yeah, we saw a horse-drawn cart on the road. I don't think it's a common sight, but it looked like maybe a touring ride. Horses draw my eye wherever I go!
So there's your first snapshot of Romania through my eyes. Next time I'll tell you about attending a Romanian church.
Ciao! (That is hi and bye between friends in Romania)
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