New House Guests

This past two weeks we have had new guests come to stay with us. Jenny and Kelly are from Indiana and are new missionaries with Remember the Children. They are scheduled for 6 months of language school; the same school that we attend. Jenny is a Physical Therapist and is also involved with Joni and Friends- Wheels for the World. What a great connection and future colleague here in Romania. Kelly will be working with youth sports in a village setting. They are going to stay in the house we are in until they leave for Oradea in July.

The great part of having guests is reliving and seeing through them the exact place we were eight months ago. The extra energy it takes just to cook and doing dishes after language school. The spoken and unspoken questions you can see in their eyes. How does public transportation work? What to buy and not buy at the grocery store.

We have to walk to class down that muddy road?

It is a good experience for us to share and learn how to prep other missionaries in our new culture.

Using Language at The Boys Without Parent's Home

Kristi and I have been busy with language school and building a foundation in the culture these past seven months, but what does that mean?

Atat de mult a iubit Deumnezeu lumea, incat si-a dat singurul Fiu, pentru ca oricine crede in El sa nu piara, ci sa aiba viata vesnica.


If you can not read that sentence, it would be difficult to share it with a Romanian.

Learning a language and culture means that you can sit down and share what really matters, and have meaningful relationships.

The Romanian sentence above says For God so loves the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

2006 Christmas in Germany

I was recalling memories of the return to school after winter break as a kid. It was so much fun to share about all the holiday activities and Christmas gifts. In sharing our Christmas vacation with you I get that same little excited feeling.

Christmas 2006 was a different experience for us as can be expected when living in a different country. However, we were not even in Romania, but traveled to Germany to visit friends from Phoenix, Don and Jennifer. It was a joy to see and spend time with them during Christmas.
We visited Christmas markets with so many beautiful things, crafts, and foods, all on display for the senses to take in.

We did some sight seeing along the Rhine River with its numerous castles and grape vineyards.

Christmas meal was at Don’s parent’s home and was a traditional one with turkey and all the trimmings. On the 25th and 26th businesses were closed, and we all played board games and ate great German food. It was different being away from our family at Christmas. Sending cards/e-cards and some on-line ordering was handy, but we missed being there in person.

The Kehren family opened their home up to us and had a few surprises. Jen was able to pack in her luggage a few gifts from family back in the states. Steve especially liked his socks and comfy long underwear.

Sharing so many new sights and experiences made wonderful memories to cherish. Hope you enjoyed some of the pictures.

Half Empty or Half Full

In Romania New Years is a huge holiday. We looked forward to celebrating our first New Year’s in Romania.
However, we came home on Friday the 29th from Germany sick with a little cold. We decided we were going to stay home and recover rather than spent the night in the center of town until the weee hours of the morning. Disappointing!

After a week vacation, we needed groceries and so we had a little adventure at the shopping market. Saturday morning on January 30th was like black Friday after Thanksgiving. The whole parking lot was full of cars and all the shopping carts were gone. That has never happened in seven months since we moved here. The store was wall to wall people and shopping carts, getting ready for New Years Eve and preparing for everything to be closed on New Years Day. Exhausting!

That evening we watched the raising of the EU flag on TV which initiated Romania’s entrance into the European economy. Even though we stayed home with the sniffles, we had the fireworks brought to us by light shows all over the sky, and one at the end of the street in the nearby field. It was a trill to have 4th of July in 30 degree temperatures.
Ok – Getting Better!

New Years day there were no cars on the road. It reminded me of Christmas morning in the states. When preparing to go spend the evening with friends we called one after another taxi companies to hear, “nu masina.” – meaning no taxi, sorry tough luck.
Ok, no problem we started walking and eventually found a cab about 8 blocks away.
That night we ate dinner at played take two (a scrabble game), Yatzee, and Uno. Fun!

To top the New Year off, I was able to watch the second half of Nebraska against Auburn using Fox Sports Online. Yea, yea, Nebraska lost. Bummer!!

But, I will be able to download and watch the bowl games on our new Christmas ipod. Getting Better!!!

Lastly, I found out, Oklahoma lost to Boise State. Priceless!!!!!

Why Be Happy for Christmas

At Caritatea last weekend in Cluj, we were blessed to partake in the their bible group’s Christmas gathering. The members of this group have experienced pain and rejection due to limitations with a disability. Here everyone is accepted and has genuine fellowship. A poem was recited with each person presenting different verses. The beautiful Romanian language was uplifted as a gift and praise.

A message was given and the question was raised, “why be happy for Christmas?” The reason of the hope and joy of Christmas all stems from the perfect gift already given. It was evident being among this group that whatever pain was experienced among them it was not their focus in life. An eternal hope and peace was clear to see and feel.
Merry Christmas!

Lost a Language Instructor

Recently, we lost Nuţi, one of our language instructors. The picture shows Kristi holding the reason why. Yes, Nuţi and her husband Alex had a beautiful, healthy boy. We accepted this as a good explanation for her absence. He was born on November the 5th and was named Elias Cadmiel.

In Romania they do not throw baby showers like in the United States. Instead, the weeks following the birth, family and friends visit the home bringing gifts and visiting the newly numbered family. We were overjoyed to participate in this tradition. Kristi loved being able to feed him a bottle, and then rock him to sleep. The other picture is of Tania, his proud older sister giving him a hug.

Babies: precious, little, fragile, and a miracle.

Learning to Wait

It is Christmas time again, and we all wait like children in anticipation of special treats, gifts and family gatherings. We find ourselves in a time of great waiting, and not just for the celebration of Christ’s birth. We wait for paperwork with our visa process, paperwork for the van we purchased, the plumber to come fix the radiator for heat, and for our new language to instantaneously become effortless. Hmmm, I’m sure there are many lessons to be gained through these experiences.

We need to be more like children, anticipating the great things yet to come. We hope in the good for Christ is good. It is good to see the way in which God works out all the little details that appear as large hurdles to us. It is good to be renewing our mind again and again on the upcoming birth of Christ. Thinking about the many years of waiting for a Savior, then the 33 years of lessons He gave on how to live a godly life, and finally that perfect sacrifice for our sin. Waiting always has purpose! Will you join us in praying for God’s will in the above matters, and that we can be patiently renewing our hope in this process.

During this Christmas season, we lift all our family and friends up with prayer and blessing. We miss you and think of all of the gatherings we can not attend. Yet, we are hopeful of building our own new traditions within this new culture. Our Christmas plans consist of traveling to Germany to visit friends from the states who will be vacationing there. This kind of anticipated wait is exciting. We will experience a German Christmas Market, and spend time with close friends. December 15-17 we will be taking a short trip to Cluj to visit people who are involved in Wheels for the World Romania.