ooo man...
i just got done saying goodbye to Doina and Costy.
the past three days have flown by and i can't believe that in 6 hrs i will be leaving for the airport.
we have spent most of our time the past days back at the park just spending time together, laughing a lot, talking a lot...
Saturday James flew in and we went to pick him up from the airport. then Saturday night there was a Christian concert at Costy's church that we all went to.
yesterday after church Viorica cooked lunch for Costy, Doina, James, Tony, Ionica, and I. it was so much fun being with Tony and Ionica again--even though we can't speak many words to each other--just like before somehow we manage to communicate.
thank you for your prayers so very much--the Lord is in control. He has calmed my heart over the past few days and given me moments with these dear girls that i will never forget.
I am sorry I can't write much more--I have to go try to get some sleep.
please pray for my flights tomorrow--i fly out of Romania at 6 am and almost 24 hrs and four planes later i will arrive in Dallas :) pray that none of the flights are delayed because then i mostly likely won't get home...well tomorrow at least.
my bags are packed along with about 10 crepes filled with finetti, 4 snidel(basically chicken fried steak romanian style), 4 pieces of cake bread, a whole circle of cheese...o dear...well at least i won't have to spend any money on food tomorrow :)
signing out of Romania again...maybe not for the last time--God only knows :)
much much love
Monday, July 9, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
He is worthy.
"I love you, Lord, my strength
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies."
Psalm 18: 1-2
well....
I am going to be honest. The past three days have been hard. full of lots of emotions...anger, sadness, frustration, lonliness...
yesterday the girls and I went to the store because I wanted to buy some things for the orphanage...and then we decided to go to the park/lake.
after sitting by the lake for a while we decided to rent a boat and go rowing :) I praise God for giving us Joy and laughter. I want you to know that even though I feel very attacked by the devil and many problems are facing me--God is faithful to allow my time with Costy and Doina to be full of love and conversations and questions and goodness :)
here are some pics and videos from the lake...enjoy!
the beauty of My Father...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx039d2Md1A
last night i got to go to Friday night church with Costy, and it was so good. so refreshing to be with other believers praising God. and even though i am very lonely...He is near. He is all i need and is faithful to use His people and His word to comfort and strengthen me.
He is worthy to be praised. worthy for me to be uncomfortable. worthy for me to feel lonely. worthy for me to be selfless when that is the last thing i feel like doing. worthy for me to praise him even when i honestly don't feel Him at all at times.
He is worthy.
thank you for your prayers. i love you,
em
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies."
Psalm 18: 1-2
well....
I am going to be honest. The past three days have been hard. full of lots of emotions...anger, sadness, frustration, lonliness...
I don't know why I am here.
but as my dear friend Juliette reminded me...I am here in Faith.
and according to scripture that means that i don't see what God is doing i might not ever know the answer to the question why...but I am called to trust him and have faith--
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. "Heb. 11:1
I don't know exactly how to explain everything that is going on...but I wanted to ask for your prayers. more than anything right now I want to be on a plane home...and i never thought i would type that.
so we went to the mountain: Costy, Doina, Ionica, Niki, and I and well. basically anything that could have gone wrong --did.
honestly...it was so hard for me to love. the last thing i wanted to do was be patient, self-less, kind, generous, joyful, etc. but even in the midst of all of this God is Faithful. Costy, Doina, and I had conversations and moments together that I will treasure forever and I pray that the Lord is working in their hearts and minds. I pray He is changing them, just like He is changing me.
i knew before coming that the only thing on my agenda was to love. period. love them. anyone i came in contact with. and so i want to ask you to pray for me to stop looking at Emily and what she is doing, but remember that Jesus has called us to BE. to Be love. to love Him and to love people.
here are some pics from the trip:
me and the driver Mr. Niki
I don't know exactly how to explain everything that is going on...but I wanted to ask for your prayers. more than anything right now I want to be on a plane home...and i never thought i would type that.
so we went to the mountain: Costy, Doina, Ionica, Niki, and I and well. basically anything that could have gone wrong --did.
honestly...it was so hard for me to love. the last thing i wanted to do was be patient, self-less, kind, generous, joyful, etc. but even in the midst of all of this God is Faithful. Costy, Doina, and I had conversations and moments together that I will treasure forever and I pray that the Lord is working in their hearts and minds. I pray He is changing them, just like He is changing me.
i knew before coming that the only thing on my agenda was to love. period. love them. anyone i came in contact with. and so i want to ask you to pray for me to stop looking at Emily and what she is doing, but remember that Jesus has called us to BE. to Be love. to love Him and to love people.
here are some pics from the trip:
me and the driver Mr. Niki
costy and I on one of the smallest streets in all of Europe :)
yesterday the girls and I went to the store because I wanted to buy some things for the orphanage...and then we decided to go to the park/lake.
after sitting by the lake for a while we decided to rent a boat and go rowing :) I praise God for giving us Joy and laughter. I want you to know that even though I feel very attacked by the devil and many problems are facing me--God is faithful to allow my time with Costy and Doina to be full of love and conversations and questions and goodness :)
here are some pics and videos from the lake...enjoy!
the beauty of My Father...rowing lesson #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx039d2Md1A
rowing lesson #3
last night i got to go to Friday night church with Costy, and it was so good. so refreshing to be with other believers praising God. and even though i am very lonely...He is near. He is all i need and is faithful to use His people and His word to comfort and strengthen me.
He is worthy to be praised. worthy for me to be uncomfortable. worthy for me to feel lonely. worthy for me to be selfless when that is the last thing i feel like doing. worthy for me to praise him even when i honestly don't feel Him at all at times.
He is worthy.
thank you for your prayers. i love you,
em
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Joy :)
romania is hot. very very hot.
maybe it was this hot in sevilla but i didn't realize it....i don't know if i remember being this hot in a long time...
sooo yesterday constanta and doina met me at around 11 in the morning and we headed to Santa Maria together. the feeling of being back there is unexplainable. the girls running up to me screaming my name--i honestly didn't think they would remember me... after i unattached them from my legs and arms Constanta decided it would be a good idea to have a bible study time together with the young girls--side note: if anyone knows of how to get children teaching materials in other languages(romanian) please let me know, i am searching the internet as well--but Costy desperately needs more materials
during the bible study i didn't really do much...can't really speak the language...:) so i just held them and tried my best not to distract the girls and make them listen to Costy. She is an amazing teacher! the girls look up to her so much and you can see how they run to her for everything.
afterwards Doina, Costy, and I headed to a park to meet up with the missionary team from California and a group from Costy's church to help pass out flyers about the concert on Saturday night. The team set up and performed their songs and dramas in the middle of the park...welllll until the police came and told us we had to leave...seems to be some law against loud music in the park or something--honestly they were more upset that we were promoting christianity than anything else
but I had a chance to meet so many people that night--Costy's church, "Mustard Seed", has a sort of foundation that is in a building connected to the church. this foundation serves as a sort of half-way house for orphans to live in between the time they leave the orphanage and get on their feet by themselves. it is through this foundation that the missionary team from Cali came. Teresa is a woman who we met during January--she has served here for almost two years...it was great talking with her again--hearing more of her stories and receiving advise from her. I also got to talk with a few other people from the group and from her church which was so encouraging!
I don't have much time so here are some pics from monday :) and a couple of videos...enjoy!
here are the links to the videos :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTrh2p-JIm0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD8H825uYyQ
...and today i went to Pinnochio to see Tony and Ionica and play with all the kids!
Viorica and I bought lots and lots of soft pretzels on our way so we could give the kids. honestly the orphanage has gone from bad to worse...I took some pics but the director spotted me and i think because i was by myself she thought i was maybe with a newspaper or something...but anyways she took my camera away. I explained with her that i could delete the pictures and then I could have my camera back....so it all worked out but i wish i had my pictures. Viorica and I gathered some of the kids and went outside to their 'playground' which in america would be referred to as a dump yard...maybe not even that-- we gave the kids some jump ropes and coloring papers. Viorica read to them the story of creation in Genesis 1, while they colored pictures of trees and animals. i spent the next couple of hours playing hand clapping games and jump rope and teaching the kids songs!
then i saw a bus pull up and a mission team came and did skits and dramas! during this i got to snap a few pics with the kids :)
sooo here are some pics from today...
constanta and I walking home...:)
maybe it was this hot in sevilla but i didn't realize it....i don't know if i remember being this hot in a long time...
sooo yesterday constanta and doina met me at around 11 in the morning and we headed to Santa Maria together. the feeling of being back there is unexplainable. the girls running up to me screaming my name--i honestly didn't think they would remember me... after i unattached them from my legs and arms Constanta decided it would be a good idea to have a bible study time together with the young girls--side note: if anyone knows of how to get children teaching materials in other languages(romanian) please let me know, i am searching the internet as well--but Costy desperately needs more materials
during the bible study i didn't really do much...can't really speak the language...:) so i just held them and tried my best not to distract the girls and make them listen to Costy. She is an amazing teacher! the girls look up to her so much and you can see how they run to her for everything.
afterwards Doina, Costy, and I headed to a park to meet up with the missionary team from California and a group from Costy's church to help pass out flyers about the concert on Saturday night. The team set up and performed their songs and dramas in the middle of the park...welllll until the police came and told us we had to leave...seems to be some law against loud music in the park or something--honestly they were more upset that we were promoting christianity than anything else
but I had a chance to meet so many people that night--Costy's church, "Mustard Seed", has a sort of foundation that is in a building connected to the church. this foundation serves as a sort of half-way house for orphans to live in between the time they leave the orphanage and get on their feet by themselves. it is through this foundation that the missionary team from Cali came. Teresa is a woman who we met during January--she has served here for almost two years...it was great talking with her again--hearing more of her stories and receiving advise from her. I also got to talk with a few other people from the group and from her church which was so encouraging!
I don't have much time so here are some pics from monday :) and a couple of videos...enjoy!
here are the links to the videos :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTrh2p-JIm0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD8H825uYyQ
...and today i went to Pinnochio to see Tony and Ionica and play with all the kids!
Viorica and I bought lots and lots of soft pretzels on our way so we could give the kids. honestly the orphanage has gone from bad to worse...I took some pics but the director spotted me and i think because i was by myself she thought i was maybe with a newspaper or something...but anyways she took my camera away. I explained with her that i could delete the pictures and then I could have my camera back....so it all worked out but i wish i had my pictures. Viorica and I gathered some of the kids and went outside to their 'playground' which in america would be referred to as a dump yard...maybe not even that-- we gave the kids some jump ropes and coloring papers. Viorica read to them the story of creation in Genesis 1, while they colored pictures of trees and animals. i spent the next couple of hours playing hand clapping games and jump rope and teaching the kids songs!
then i saw a bus pull up and a mission team came and did skits and dramas! during this i got to snap a few pics with the kids :)
sooo here are some pics from today...
constanta and I walking home...:) after pinnochio Costy, Doina, and I walked around the city for a while and then headed back to Viorica's for dinner.
today all the girls at Santa Maria left to go camping for a vacation sort of thing for a week and so Niki and Viorica decided that we would take a trip to see Dracula Castle and spend the night in the mountains! (maybe it will be cooler there) Costy, Doina, Ionica, and I are all going! I am so excited! mostly because i know they just need to get away from here, they need a break from their life for a few days.
ha and i asked Niki how long it takes to get there...possibly 8 hrs in a car....this is going to be very interesting...riding in a car in Romania with Niki and Ionica in the front for 8 hrs....say some prayers :)
Sunday, July 1, 2007
His steadfast love.
I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to the abundance of HIS steadfast love.
(Isaiah 63:7)
sometimes words don't possess meaning. or the right meaning. or enough meaning. i don't know but right now i have no clue what to write.
His love is overwhelming. it is uncomprehensible. i can't begin to describe it. His love.
never thought i would be writing on this blog again.
I arrived here in Romania at about 1a.m. this morning. Viorica and Niki were there to greet me with open arms! Viorica and I held hands the whole way to the car laughing and talking about what has happened in our lives since our last time together.
Jenn, its crazy how familiar it all looks. as we were driving so many memories were running through my head. it feels so normal for me to be here so natural--which i really hard to explain
sleep and food was basically all i could think about. the food problem was cured very quickly with a chicken sandwhich AND non other than our beloved fresh crepes and finetti :)
I got in bed around 3a.m.
at about 8:30 I woke up to Doina and Constanta knocking at my door and wrapping their arms around me....joy, excitement, peace, overwhelming love, compassion, happiness--does not begin to describe.
they told me i had about 10 minutes to get ready for church and so i threw on some clothes and we ate breakfast together and then hand in hand headed for the metro. it felt like nothing had changed. except the amount of love between the three of us. we only have to look into each other's eyes to know what the other is thinking.
we speak in three languages. my mind is so confused right now. i'm saying Hola! Cha faci! adios! how are you? Vale! cuplacere! gracias! Constanta and Doina have had to stop me while speaking spanish about 10 times today..because i forget that i dont' have to speak spanish here.
we got to the church a little late but as i entered i realized it was jam packed full of people. and the speaker was speaking in english! come to find out there is a team here from california on a mission trip. about 17 are staying here for two weeks working through/with Constanta's church. so the whole service was either translated into english or the speaker was speaking in english! ahhhmazing :)there were about 3 pastors from the states and they all had their turn to share/sing.
during the random spurts of praise as i was standing listening to the mix of english and romanian words fill the air--all bringing glory to God..i thought in my head..i could be home here.
its the same feeling i felt when i spent time at Emilio's house in Sevilla with 4 other believers until 4 in the morning singing praise songs in spanish....i could be home here
here in the midst of people who love Him. who have realized their depravity. their utter nothingness and have decided to become vulnerable and fall in love with the one who chose to pour His love on us. i feel at home.
church ended about 2pm :)
after church Constanta, Doina, and I started home. ahhhh there is no way for me to describe how refreshing how incredible it was to spend the day walking around the city with them. we went to Santa Maria first for a little while. i walked into the hall and Caitalina ran towards me shouting Emily!!!! we stayed there for a while just talking and hanging out with the girls...we walked a lot and took a lot of buses and finally about 5 pm got back to Viorica's.
we ate dinner together and decided what the plan is for the rest of the week.
this weekend the mission team and constanta's church is putting on a big concert Saturday night. so tomorrow night we are going to go with them to the park and help pass out flyers. wednesday i am going with Constanta with a foundation called "Children to love" to another orphanage, mostly all little kids, and we are going to spend the day there.
ahhhh
sometimes the bible comes alive to me.
and phrases like...
"many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand" (proverbs 19:21)
and
"my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord, For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."(Isaiah 55:9)
they are more than just words when they start to describe your life.
over the past couple of years of my life i feel like i have said a million times in my head or heart "who am I? and whose life am i living? is this reeeeally me?"
and as i was reading in matthew on the plane out of Italy early this morning...this thought was crossing my mind yet again.....and the words of Jesus suddenly resonated in my heart within a verse that i have heard my whole life and...it came alive to me.
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (matt.10:39)
this isn't my life. this isn't me living. i honestly feel so out of the picture sometimes it scares me. as if i was living inside of someone else's body.
but now it makes sense. what Jesus said and what i've heard my whole life makes sense. and most people would say well yea thats not that hard to figure out. well it was for me. and it still is for me. but...it is in this weird feeling of not living that i feel the most alive.
irony at its best.
the moments when i feel like screaming "somebody pinch me!!" because i feel like its not really me doing the action or experiencing whatever it is i'm experiencing. i love those moments.
i am having to fully run on faith right now. rely fully on the Love of my God to pour out of me. and i love it because i don't feel alive....yet i feel like i'm actually living.
a;dlkjaowiefjaw;ejfawoeijfawokejfaowijfawejfawoi
a;sdlfjawoeijf
letters do not do justice. words can not even pretend to proclaim what is in my heart.
i love you all very much!
and i am glad to be back..eating crepes, listening to the bird chriping, and looking forward for tomorrow because i have no idea what it is going to bring...
jenn i miss you. wish you were here with me. everyone misses you very much
(Isaiah 63:7)
sometimes words don't possess meaning. or the right meaning. or enough meaning. i don't know but right now i have no clue what to write.
His love is overwhelming. it is uncomprehensible. i can't begin to describe it. His love.
never thought i would be writing on this blog again.
I arrived here in Romania at about 1a.m. this morning. Viorica and Niki were there to greet me with open arms! Viorica and I held hands the whole way to the car laughing and talking about what has happened in our lives since our last time together.
Jenn, its crazy how familiar it all looks. as we were driving so many memories were running through my head. it feels so normal for me to be here so natural--which i really hard to explain
sleep and food was basically all i could think about. the food problem was cured very quickly with a chicken sandwhich AND non other than our beloved fresh crepes and finetti :)
I got in bed around 3a.m.
at about 8:30 I woke up to Doina and Constanta knocking at my door and wrapping their arms around me....joy, excitement, peace, overwhelming love, compassion, happiness--does not begin to describe.
they told me i had about 10 minutes to get ready for church and so i threw on some clothes and we ate breakfast together and then hand in hand headed for the metro. it felt like nothing had changed. except the amount of love between the three of us. we only have to look into each other's eyes to know what the other is thinking.
we speak in three languages. my mind is so confused right now. i'm saying Hola! Cha faci! adios! how are you? Vale! cuplacere! gracias! Constanta and Doina have had to stop me while speaking spanish about 10 times today..because i forget that i dont' have to speak spanish here.
we got to the church a little late but as i entered i realized it was jam packed full of people. and the speaker was speaking in english! come to find out there is a team here from california on a mission trip. about 17 are staying here for two weeks working through/with Constanta's church. so the whole service was either translated into english or the speaker was speaking in english! ahhhmazing :)there were about 3 pastors from the states and they all had their turn to share/sing.
during the random spurts of praise as i was standing listening to the mix of english and romanian words fill the air--all bringing glory to God..i thought in my head..i could be home here.
its the same feeling i felt when i spent time at Emilio's house in Sevilla with 4 other believers until 4 in the morning singing praise songs in spanish....i could be home here
here in the midst of people who love Him. who have realized their depravity. their utter nothingness and have decided to become vulnerable and fall in love with the one who chose to pour His love on us. i feel at home.
church ended about 2pm :)
after church Constanta, Doina, and I started home. ahhhh there is no way for me to describe how refreshing how incredible it was to spend the day walking around the city with them. we went to Santa Maria first for a little while. i walked into the hall and Caitalina ran towards me shouting Emily!!!! we stayed there for a while just talking and hanging out with the girls...we walked a lot and took a lot of buses and finally about 5 pm got back to Viorica's.
we ate dinner together and decided what the plan is for the rest of the week.
this weekend the mission team and constanta's church is putting on a big concert Saturday night. so tomorrow night we are going to go with them to the park and help pass out flyers. wednesday i am going with Constanta with a foundation called "Children to love" to another orphanage, mostly all little kids, and we are going to spend the day there.
ahhhh
sometimes the bible comes alive to me.
and phrases like...
"many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand" (proverbs 19:21)
and
"my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord, For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."(Isaiah 55:9)
they are more than just words when they start to describe your life.
over the past couple of years of my life i feel like i have said a million times in my head or heart "who am I? and whose life am i living? is this reeeeally me?"
and as i was reading in matthew on the plane out of Italy early this morning...this thought was crossing my mind yet again.....and the words of Jesus suddenly resonated in my heart within a verse that i have heard my whole life and...it came alive to me.
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (matt.10:39)
this isn't my life. this isn't me living. i honestly feel so out of the picture sometimes it scares me. as if i was living inside of someone else's body.
but now it makes sense. what Jesus said and what i've heard my whole life makes sense. and most people would say well yea thats not that hard to figure out. well it was for me. and it still is for me. but...it is in this weird feeling of not living that i feel the most alive.
irony at its best.
the moments when i feel like screaming "somebody pinch me!!" because i feel like its not really me doing the action or experiencing whatever it is i'm experiencing. i love those moments.
i am having to fully run on faith right now. rely fully on the Love of my God to pour out of me. and i love it because i don't feel alive....yet i feel like i'm actually living.
a;dlkjaowiefjaw;ejfawoeijfawokejfaowijfawejfawoi
a;sdlfjawoeijf
letters do not do justice. words can not even pretend to proclaim what is in my heart.
i love you all very much!
and i am glad to be back..eating crepes, listening to the bird chriping, and looking forward for tomorrow because i have no idea what it is going to bring...
jenn i miss you. wish you were here with me. everyone misses you very much
Friday, January 12, 2007
We are HOME!
We are HOME! We made it home after an 11 hr plane ride last night around 9:30! We hugged and loved on our parents and then headed back to the Crouse house only to find ms. blaire and ms. juliette sitting in my living room!!!! What a precious surprise they were!
We were able to share stories, laugh and finally hit the sack at 2:00AM. Em and I had been up for well over 25 hours :).
Emily & her family just left and I had some time to upload pictures! I wanted to give you my yahoo photo website for you to enjoy. So far two albulms are of Romania - but I have a few more pictures to get.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jennyc579/albums/
Love you all. Thanks for all of your prayers. We got home and had already received emails from our precious romanian friends. God has been so good to us!
Keep checking the blog because we may update in the coming months!
Love,
Jenn
We were able to share stories, laugh and finally hit the sack at 2:00AM. Em and I had been up for well over 25 hours :).
Emily & her family just left and I had some time to upload pictures! I wanted to give you my yahoo photo website for you to enjoy. So far two albulms are of Romania - but I have a few more pictures to get.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/jennyc579/albums/
Love you all. Thanks for all of your prayers. We got home and had already received emails from our precious romanian friends. God has been so good to us!
Keep checking the blog because we may update in the coming months!
Love,
Jenn
Monday, January 8, 2007
We're leaving on a jet plane...
Hi! I just sat down to write one last time from this little wooden corner desk in the Duta apartment!
We are excited because tonight we have been able to hang out with Doina & Constansa - a trip to the "mall" for some last minute things, coffee and ice cream (2x) haha - we were able to buy some computer items for Doina (James you should be excited ;) ) - she didnt want a bag (well the one she sort of wanted was just like one she had) so we bought some blank CD's, headphones and a USB cord. Hope that is okay!
We also got manicures with Viorica today and Emily got her hair done. She looked beautiful! A great way to finish our trip! Mom - my nails are long! You will be impressed :).
We are hoping that Doina & Constansa will spend the night with us until 4 in the morning (when we head for the airport!)
Emily and I are feeling a little bit better (health wise) so we are praying it is a lot better tomorrow when we leave!
As most of you know, Emily and I head to Paris tomorrow for a day and a 1/2. We had a lay over there anyway and dad suggested that we just stay a day or so to "detox." Pray that Emily and I would be able to do just that. To gather our thoughts about this trip and to relax a little bit. On the plane we are hoping to put together a "chronological schedule" of all that happened here - so pray that we can remember all the little details :).
We are excited because we got the recipe for our favorite food here & we want to fix it for all of you when we recap our stories for you!
Thank you for your prayers, your tears, your love , the deep care you have poured onto us and for walking hand-in-hand with us through the trip! You have been used in mighty, mighty ways!
We love you! We will see you soon!
Jenn & Emily
We are excited because tonight we have been able to hang out with Doina & Constansa - a trip to the "mall" for some last minute things, coffee and ice cream (2x) haha - we were able to buy some computer items for Doina (James you should be excited ;) ) - she didnt want a bag (well the one she sort of wanted was just like one she had) so we bought some blank CD's, headphones and a USB cord. Hope that is okay!
We also got manicures with Viorica today and Emily got her hair done. She looked beautiful! A great way to finish our trip! Mom - my nails are long! You will be impressed :).
We are hoping that Doina & Constansa will spend the night with us until 4 in the morning (when we head for the airport!)
Emily and I are feeling a little bit better (health wise) so we are praying it is a lot better tomorrow when we leave!
As most of you know, Emily and I head to Paris tomorrow for a day and a 1/2. We had a lay over there anyway and dad suggested that we just stay a day or so to "detox." Pray that Emily and I would be able to do just that. To gather our thoughts about this trip and to relax a little bit. On the plane we are hoping to put together a "chronological schedule" of all that happened here - so pray that we can remember all the little details :).
We are excited because we got the recipe for our favorite food here & we want to fix it for all of you when we recap our stories for you!
Thank you for your prayers, your tears, your love , the deep care you have poured onto us and for walking hand-in-hand with us through the trip! You have been used in mighty, mighty ways!
We love you! We will see you soon!
Jenn & Emily
Sunday, January 7, 2007
ahhh it is getting hard to think about leaving--not as much leaving as saying goodbye to the people we have a close relationship with
Yesterday after the pinochio experience we headed to Santa Maria to hang out with the girls :)
We played cards (we taught them 'go fish' and 'speed' ! ) and sang and danced~ The atmosphere at Santa Maria is very much like a summer camp feeling--all the girls run in and out of the rooms, they share clothes, etc.
Then we got a group of about 6 of the older girls and headed downtown to eat pizza together. Jenn and I made a notebook for each girl. Inside we wrote them a letter and put a printed out a 'Read your Bible in a Year' outline for them to follow. In Constanta's we put a sort of devotional about Beauty and what it means to be beautiful in the Lord's eyes for her to talk to all the girls about.
So after pizza we came back to the orphanage and went to Constanta and Doina's room. It actually ended up just being Jenn, Constanta, Doina, Andrea, and me in the room. I know that God was sovereign over the people who ended up staying for the sort of prayer and bible study time.
We gave them their notebooks, shared scripture together, and shared the gospel story again. At the end we held hands and prayed together. I couldn't stop the tears...I honestly don't know how to explain to you how I am feeling. These girls have changed my life forever--if we didn't come to impact them, they have for sure impacted Jenn and I.
crazy to think that we have only been here a little over a week--it feels like a year ago I left and came. God has done so much spiritually even though naturally speaking we haven't been here long at all.
This morning we went to church with Viorica, Nikki, Doina, Madalina, Ionica, Tony, Jenn, and I. (Jenn's random story that brought her joy: there was a guest speaker who gave the sermon and guess what? Though he spoke RO, he could not give an entire sermon with it - so he gave the sermon in english and there was a translator!!! Em and I were exhausted from only 4 hrs of sleep so listening to a 2 hr service in RO was quite the daunting task. As we both fought to keep our eyes open - i prayed that God would bring some english our way. Then - all of a sudden the man opened his mouth and emily and i bright eyed turned our heads and smiled! God is so good! I was actually able to stay awake then! haha. )
Afterwards we headed to McDonalds again. :)
I held hands with Ionica and Tony on the way to McDonalds--they had many conversations in Romanian with me in the middle not understanding any of it. However, every now and then Tony would look up at me and say, "Big Mac...Fanta...French Fries"--in that standard American voice. Just through those words we communicated! crazy huh--although I did find out that he doesn't like pepsi but he LOVES sprite and fanta! ...maybe my romanian is getting better!
After McDonalds Jenn and I wanted to go to pinocchio and give the two little brothers (we wrote about them yesterday) happy meals! The problem is that we were only with Ionica and Tony--both don't speak english--and we had never been there without Viorica and Nikki. Doina did not want to come with us, in all honesty she was too scared to go. Like I said before this place is an animal house. Regardless, Jenn and I decided to pray and go! I knew that Jesus was protecting us and His angels were around us.
So after riding a few buses we finally arrived at Pinocchio. As we were walking on the street by the entrance a few 10 yr old boys came out of the gate. Jenn was holding Tony's hand and the boys began to kick and punch Tony. Right there before our eyes we saw what happens probably more than once a day to the kids who live there. One of the boys got a pretty good punch in--Tony's face turned bright red and he started crying. It was a very surreal scene--I mean Jenn was holding his hand and this happened. I can't imagine what happens behind closed doors.
Needless to say this did not help calm our nerves...
We entered the orphanage, praying to get passed the guards without talking (since you know, we don't speak RO).
We did--we just walked right in. We ran up the stairs looking for our two friends from the day before. We found them and then led them to their room, trying to not let anyone notice us. We hid the happy meals in our jackets because if the other kids saw them there was a chance that they would either beat up the two brothers or come after Jenn and I.
...I can't really call their room a bedroom... there was a couch that looked as if two giant dogs had torn it apart...there was trash all over the place...the door was broken off of the hidges...
So we pulled out the food and gave it to them! ahh the relief of finally getting it in there hands!
I really wanted to stay and watch them eat it so that I knew that the other kids would not have taken it, but Jenn and I decided to leave as quickly and quietly as possible. I prayed that even if they didn't get to eat the food, that God would simply use the fact that Jenn and I came to give it to them, to hug them, to kiss them--and that through that they might know they are loved and cared for.
So here we are typing on the computer--so don't worry we are alive ;)
Tonight we went to Constanta's church again--it is very encouraging to go into a church and from the first moment feel at home though we were thousands of miles away. The people there loved us incredibly even though some of them didn't know our language. I believe the Lord provided this community of believers as a constant source of the body of Christ during our time here in Romania.
After church it was just Constanta, Doina, Jenn, and I. I was thankful the Lord allowed us to spend this last night in Romania together with the girls who we are the closest to. We went to McDonalds (yes 2 times in one day...). ahhh I am so thankful--the Lord blesses our time together so obviously!
So tomorrow we are packing up--going to buy a few more things for the girls--and tomorrow night we head to Santa Maria to say goodbye.
Please pray for us. Tommorrow is going to be hard. I dont want you to think that we are ready to pack up our bags and move here (although I have had that thought a few times). It is just the Lord has blessed our time with these people so significantly--and we are sad to leave them.
Also pray because Jenn and I are getting sick. symptoms: cough, really sore throat, achy body, achy joints, and really just physically exhausted. We are getting a chance to sleep in tomorrow--Praise the Lord! He knew we needed it! pray that even though we are feeling awful that we are still able to encourage the girls and fully communicate with them the things the Lord has laid on our hearts.
I love you very much--thanks mom and dad for calling me tonight--it was an answered prayer :)
thank you for your prayers!
Yesterday after the pinochio experience we headed to Santa Maria to hang out with the girls :)
We played cards (we taught them 'go fish' and 'speed' ! ) and sang and danced~ The atmosphere at Santa Maria is very much like a summer camp feeling--all the girls run in and out of the rooms, they share clothes, etc.
Then we got a group of about 6 of the older girls and headed downtown to eat pizza together. Jenn and I made a notebook for each girl. Inside we wrote them a letter and put a printed out a 'Read your Bible in a Year' outline for them to follow. In Constanta's we put a sort of devotional about Beauty and what it means to be beautiful in the Lord's eyes for her to talk to all the girls about.
So after pizza we came back to the orphanage and went to Constanta and Doina's room. It actually ended up just being Jenn, Constanta, Doina, Andrea, and me in the room. I know that God was sovereign over the people who ended up staying for the sort of prayer and bible study time.
We gave them their notebooks, shared scripture together, and shared the gospel story again. At the end we held hands and prayed together. I couldn't stop the tears...I honestly don't know how to explain to you how I am feeling. These girls have changed my life forever--if we didn't come to impact them, they have for sure impacted Jenn and I.
crazy to think that we have only been here a little over a week--it feels like a year ago I left and came. God has done so much spiritually even though naturally speaking we haven't been here long at all.
This morning we went to church with Viorica, Nikki, Doina, Madalina, Ionica, Tony, Jenn, and I. (Jenn's random story that brought her joy: there was a guest speaker who gave the sermon and guess what? Though he spoke RO, he could not give an entire sermon with it - so he gave the sermon in english and there was a translator!!! Em and I were exhausted from only 4 hrs of sleep so listening to a 2 hr service in RO was quite the daunting task. As we both fought to keep our eyes open - i prayed that God would bring some english our way. Then - all of a sudden the man opened his mouth and emily and i bright eyed turned our heads and smiled! God is so good! I was actually able to stay awake then! haha. )
Afterwards we headed to McDonalds again. :)
I held hands with Ionica and Tony on the way to McDonalds--they had many conversations in Romanian with me in the middle not understanding any of it. However, every now and then Tony would look up at me and say, "Big Mac...Fanta...French Fries"--in that standard American voice. Just through those words we communicated! crazy huh--although I did find out that he doesn't like pepsi but he LOVES sprite and fanta! ...maybe my romanian is getting better!
After McDonalds Jenn and I wanted to go to pinocchio and give the two little brothers (we wrote about them yesterday) happy meals! The problem is that we were only with Ionica and Tony--both don't speak english--and we had never been there without Viorica and Nikki. Doina did not want to come with us, in all honesty she was too scared to go. Like I said before this place is an animal house. Regardless, Jenn and I decided to pray and go! I knew that Jesus was protecting us and His angels were around us.
So after riding a few buses we finally arrived at Pinocchio. As we were walking on the street by the entrance a few 10 yr old boys came out of the gate. Jenn was holding Tony's hand and the boys began to kick and punch Tony. Right there before our eyes we saw what happens probably more than once a day to the kids who live there. One of the boys got a pretty good punch in--Tony's face turned bright red and he started crying. It was a very surreal scene--I mean Jenn was holding his hand and this happened. I can't imagine what happens behind closed doors.
Needless to say this did not help calm our nerves...
We entered the orphanage, praying to get passed the guards without talking (since you know, we don't speak RO).
We did--we just walked right in. We ran up the stairs looking for our two friends from the day before. We found them and then led them to their room, trying to not let anyone notice us. We hid the happy meals in our jackets because if the other kids saw them there was a chance that they would either beat up the two brothers or come after Jenn and I.
...I can't really call their room a bedroom... there was a couch that looked as if two giant dogs had torn it apart...there was trash all over the place...the door was broken off of the hidges...
So we pulled out the food and gave it to them! ahh the relief of finally getting it in there hands!
I really wanted to stay and watch them eat it so that I knew that the other kids would not have taken it, but Jenn and I decided to leave as quickly and quietly as possible. I prayed that even if they didn't get to eat the food, that God would simply use the fact that Jenn and I came to give it to them, to hug them, to kiss them--and that through that they might know they are loved and cared for.
So here we are typing on the computer--so don't worry we are alive ;)
Tonight we went to Constanta's church again--it is very encouraging to go into a church and from the first moment feel at home though we were thousands of miles away. The people there loved us incredibly even though some of them didn't know our language. I believe the Lord provided this community of believers as a constant source of the body of Christ during our time here in Romania.
After church it was just Constanta, Doina, Jenn, and I. I was thankful the Lord allowed us to spend this last night in Romania together with the girls who we are the closest to. We went to McDonalds (yes 2 times in one day...). ahhh I am so thankful--the Lord blesses our time together so obviously!
So tomorrow we are packing up--going to buy a few more things for the girls--and tomorrow night we head to Santa Maria to say goodbye.
Please pray for us. Tommorrow is going to be hard. I dont want you to think that we are ready to pack up our bags and move here (although I have had that thought a few times). It is just the Lord has blessed our time with these people so significantly--and we are sad to leave them.
Also pray because Jenn and I are getting sick. symptoms: cough, really sore throat, achy body, achy joints, and really just physically exhausted. We are getting a chance to sleep in tomorrow--Praise the Lord! He knew we needed it! pray that even though we are feeling awful that we are still able to encourage the girls and fully communicate with them the things the Lord has laid on our hearts.
I love you very much--thanks mom and dad for calling me tonight--it was an answered prayer :)
thank you for your prayers!
Saturday, January 6, 2007
pray for Jenn and I--today was a hard day
I wish I had time to tell you the whole story...even if we did it still wouldn't explain
We gave away the gifts at Pinochio this morning. I think we have already explained to you the animal like atmostsphere of this particular orphanage. Before we even left the building the older boys(17&18 yr olds) had already taken the little boys toys away and some of the girls perfumes--i guess to sell for money.
After giving the gifts away I noticed a little boy much smaller than the rest of the children I had seen. He was standing along side his older 12 yr old brother... long story short...we found out later that they had only been there for two days...the police found them in a train station alone. Jenn and I spent about 15 minutes holding them and sobbing over them as the older boys surrounded us and laughed at us...i tried so hard to not cry but it was impossible.
As the little boy was being ripped off me, we headed out the door and cried, leaning on viorica for strength.
So. pray for us. we have soft hearts and need our Savior to strengthen them & comfort them.
Little Tidbits that brightened our day ....
1) Earlier in the day we got into a taxi cab only to hear "Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance, I just wanna praise Him, I just wanna Praise Him... " blasting through the speakers.
2) One of the boys @ the orphanage was wearing a pine cove T-shirt. And not only was it PC - it was an A&M pine cove shirt with a big WHOOP on the back!!!!!
3)Watching Alina fold & refold her new shirt, shorts, underwear & socks while singing Book-a-waka
I wish I had time to tell you the whole story...even if we did it still wouldn't explain
We gave away the gifts at Pinochio this morning. I think we have already explained to you the animal like atmostsphere of this particular orphanage. Before we even left the building the older boys(17&18 yr olds) had already taken the little boys toys away and some of the girls perfumes--i guess to sell for money.
After giving the gifts away I noticed a little boy much smaller than the rest of the children I had seen. He was standing along side his older 12 yr old brother... long story short...we found out later that they had only been there for two days...the police found them in a train station alone. Jenn and I spent about 15 minutes holding them and sobbing over them as the older boys surrounded us and laughed at us...i tried so hard to not cry but it was impossible.
As the little boy was being ripped off me, we headed out the door and cried, leaning on viorica for strength.
So. pray for us. we have soft hearts and need our Savior to strengthen them & comfort them.
Little Tidbits that brightened our day ....
1) Earlier in the day we got into a taxi cab only to hear "Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance, I just wanna praise Him, I just wanna Praise Him... " blasting through the speakers.
2) One of the boys @ the orphanage was wearing a pine cove T-shirt. And not only was it PC - it was an A&M pine cove shirt with a big WHOOP on the back!!!!!
3)Watching Alina fold & refold her new shirt, shorts, underwear & socks while singing Book-a-waka
Friday, January 5, 2007
A cold day in the park!
It has been a great day so far! We took the little girls to what I can only compare to a carnival like park (the ones that come in town randomly). They jumped, played, ate chips & coke - it was great! The little ones do not get to go out very much so they were all giddy!
Climbing over this bridge - it was quite the obstacle.
Our precious friends - Doina, Me, Emily, Constansa.
Too cute!
Yay for chips and fun rides!!
Alina is cute but whew! you should see her when she is angry!!
Jumping! Jumping! Jumping!
Two girls enjoying the "carnival ride."
I cannot believe that three days from now we will be headed home. Time has flown by here! Just today, on the way home, Emily & I were dreaming about future possibilities here & all over the world. Emily was talking to me about how insane it is that God uses us just being here to change lives. We aren't doing anything - we are just living two weeks in RO and loving these girls. It's crazy how He uses that!
It will be very hard to leave on Tuesday morning. These girls are dying to be loved. That's all they need. I so wish I could move here for six months or a year and just love them. A few girls have mentioned that they don't like to get close to "girls like us" because they know we will just leave anyway. But praise God they have opened up!!
Last night was providential. God used ice skating to bring the older girls not only close to Emily & I but also close to each other. They said they had never really been out of the orphanage together before! I delighted in the Lord as I saw them laugh with each other and want to skate with each other!!! I pray for community there. Constansa is being used in incredible ways- and I praise God for the encouragement Emily has brought her - but I so desire in my heart to see her have community with other girls that know Jesus.
Well. I guess I must go! Time to go shopping for the kids at Pinocchio! We get to deliver the gifts tomorrow! I am excited to give the kids all of the hand knitted items that we brought!
With much love,
Jenn
Thursday, January 4, 2007
it snowed yesterday!!!
we want to extend a special thanks to all who gave to this trip--we cannot wait to share with you the stories about how your money was used!
yesterday we took Constanta and Doina shopping :)
yesterday we bought a new bed for Nikki and Viorica! Their old one was over 30 years old!
Tonight we took 6 of the older girls to McDonalds and ice skating in downtown! It was incredible to see how God used this gesture to soften the girls hearts and build community among us.
God is MOVING!! He is guiding us in even the smallest ways (many stories to come!)
pray for salvation--pray that God would give us the words to say when sharing the gospel with these precious girls--We are learning even more that Jesus' name is very powerful (many stories to come!)
ps--for more information on our wreck with a car full of gypsies see James' blog
http://takingtheliberty.blogspot.com
we love you,
jenn and emily
we want to extend a special thanks to all who gave to this trip--we cannot wait to share with you the stories about how your money was used!
yesterday we took Constanta and Doina shopping :)
yesterday we bought a new bed for Nikki and Viorica! Their old one was over 30 years old!
Tonight we took 6 of the older girls to McDonalds and ice skating in downtown! It was incredible to see how God used this gesture to soften the girls hearts and build community among us.
God is MOVING!! He is guiding us in even the smallest ways (many stories to come!)
pray for salvation--pray that God would give us the words to say when sharing the gospel with these precious girls--We are learning even more that Jesus' name is very powerful (many stories to come!)
ps--for more information on our wreck with a car full of gypsies see James' blog
http://takingtheliberty.blogspot.com
we love you,
jenn and emily
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
sorry this is a very long post...
nothing is better than sitting in Viorica’s kitchen listening to Frank Sinatra, watching the lovebirds interact (aka-Viorica and Nikki), eating fresh bread with turkey and butter while drinking homemade wine out of a fanta bottle…
we honestly could make this trip into a movie!
but I ‘sacrifice’ (Romanian inside joke) and come to computer to write blog. haha do you hear how my English is getting worse and worse—I apologize, if I haven’t before, about my poor grammar.
We have only been here for four days...four days is such a short time but after only the first day it felt like I had been a part of this life for at least a month or more.
I agree with Jenn—I have an array of emotions running through my body it is hard to explain what or how I am really feeling. And posting on this blog has become hard and frustrating because there is so much to say and these words do not suffice. I want to be able to explain to you all that we have done, what we learned, what we felt…but its impossible. When I get home, get ready for many stories, probably along with many tears.
So here is my attempt at an acceptable update…
I honestly have some time, so this might be a long one it is a summarizes Sunday, Monday, and Tues!
On Sunday (New Years Eve) and we had the privilege of attending church with Viorica and Nikki. James, Jenn, Viorica, and I all took a taxi to church while Nikki went around to the orphanages to pick up some kids. Constanta and Doina met us at the church.
Walking in their church was just like walking in a traditional American Baptist Church. Actually everything here is a lot like America. I mean this seems so obvious to say—but the only real difference is they speak a different language. From my experiences the life in South American countries is quite different from my life in Texas—but here it feels the same. (well as much as ‘same’ can be…if that makes sense) Although we didn’t understand what the preacher was saying, the style and routine of the church was the same. Even though we didn’t understand the language and we didn’t have a translator, it was powerful to see how the spirit of God united us.
After church we went to Mic Donalds (as they say in Romania). Jenn, James, Constanta, Doina, Tony(10yr old boy from Pinocchio), Ionica( about 15 yr old boy from Pinochhio), and I all walked together to eat! Another boy did come to church with us who is also named Ionica (if you went to James blog—he is the one who is in need of foot surgery). However, this Ionica was late getting ready for church and so he wasn’t allowed to come to eat with us. Viorica and Nikki are amazing teachers, they love the children with such intensity and passion. In order to actually love them they see the need for discipline, and the children respect them and try to become better because of this discipline. It is amazing to watch in action.
Walking hand in hand to McDonalds with Tony warmed my heart. Although I could not understand when he would try to speak to me, I smiled with him-laughed with him-hugged him-squeezed him-and we connected
During this McDonalds experience Tony stole my heart and has since become a very dear boy to Jenn and I. I wish I could take him back home with me. He was such a gentleman. He cleaned up our table and threw away all our trash. I noticed that Tony didn’t have a jacket(as Jenn mentioned in her blog), and remembered that Doina let him use her gloves as we walked. I asked him if he had a jacket (with the help of Doina translating). He did not. I asked him if he would like one, and if so what color and size. There is a big problem with stealing at Pinocchio and the little kids are sometime beat up by the older ones. Tony’s knuckles were stratched and really red. So I told Jenn and James and we decided to find the closest store and buy him a jacket right then!
Jenn and Emily’s new motto has become, “You need, we get!”
Oh and before leaving McDonalds the Lord placed two more boys in our pathway that were in need. Jenn said as she was throwing away her half empty drink a little boy said he wanted it. He was with a friend and they were eating some French fries together. We asked them if they would like a hamburger and their own drink. Constanta stayed and talked with them and talked to them about Jesus while we went and ordered their food. We added two strawberry Mcflurries Constanta invited them to come to her church too!
This trip has taught me a lot about giving and being intentional with my giving. It is amazing to think about how the holy spirit convicted me throughout this past semester about this. The Lord revealed many things to me in this area. Now I am able to attempt to put it into action Regardless of what it is, my time, my love, my money, conversations with people, or anything at all—the Lord is teaching me more about being a servant and more about letting go…
Canstanta and I have become very close. You know how sometimes when you meet someone, the second you meet them you know that somehow you were meant for each other. Pray for our relationship—the Lord is working in amazing ways! But while I am talking about giving I wanted to share with you a little about Constanta. Every time I ask her where she got something (ex: shirt, shoes, bedspread, book, etc) she responds, “someone gave it”. Now it has become funny to us because I keep asking her where she has gotten things in a sort of humorous exasperated manner she replies, “Eeeemmm-uuhhh-leeee someone gave it!!” She has friends from all over the world because they have come to the orphanage to serve. One woman came with a group called ‘Children to Love’. She stayed for a year I think. This woman will never fully know the impact she has made on Constanta’s life. It is encouraging to hear and see. The saying is true, ‘ To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.’ Never think that anything you do is in vain, and never grow weary of doing good. Galations 6:9, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up”. Sending small packages full of things as simple as shampoo and toothbrushes makes an overwhelming impact. Constanta mentions this woman at least once a day, speaking of things she gave her or things she learned from her. Even people from churches who send her things in the mail that don’t even know her—she remembers. It is crazy to see how the Lord has provided for her. She and I were talking last night. She told me that even before she knew God she prayed for friends to come.
She said even though she didn’t know Him--He knew her and heard her prayer. Wow.
New Year’s eve night I also had a chance to talk with a 24 yr old young man named Ionutz. He has never been to America but he said that he met a few Americans in Italy. He told me that they were so surprised to see how happy he was yet he didn’t really have that much. They had a lot, but were not happy or satisfied at all.
Ionutz loves Jesus and is a solid believer. We had a chance to talk about how we don’t find our joy in anything else but serving Jesus. This really isn’t fresh news or an inlightening story. I’ve heard things like this a million times it is still something to ponder. Please don’t take this story as a guilt trip for our American materialism, but as a challenge as believers. Materialism is so hard to fight, even here I can feel its pull on the inside of me. Pray for me. Pray that I will continue to fight this spirit of greed and materialism that seems so much harder for us as Americans. Pray that I will not grow apathetic towards fighting it.
…So after McDonalds we headed down the street to find a store to buy Tony a jacket. When we got there the store was closed. So we told him we would come to Pinocchio on Monday to see him and give him the jacket…
At about 7pm we headed to the middle of Bucharest to the New Years Celebration! James, Jenn, Constanta and I went together. The city was full of excitement. Romania joined the EU as of January 1, 2007 so the people of Bucharest were gathered together to celebrate this new life for Romania.
We stayed there for about two hours enjoying the live concert. Then we headed to Constanta’s church for their New Year Celebration.
I cannot begin to describe the feeling I had after being in the church only a few minutes. The spirit was very powerful. It was a very small church with about 50 people in attendance. The Lord provided an amazing translator, named Christian, for Jenn and I during the service. He was only 20yrs old but was the best Romanian English speaker we had met so far. It was a breath of fresh air for me to talk to someone and they honestly understand every thing I said. Dad--their pastor reminded me so much of you! He was full of energy and excitement—he never stopped dancing or singing to the top of his lungs! He stayed up the entire night with everyone—throughout the night he would get on the stage and start singing with his whole heart! They told us that he would never stop, he just keeps singing and praising God until someone makes him stop! Mom, the pastor’s wife got up and spoke for a while and even though she was speaking Romanian I have not doubt that you and her were cut from the same cloth! She was preaching about a Tommy Tinny book she had read recently—and just like you she always got the last word ;)
Their praise and worship was overwhelming! Most of the songs Jenn and I knew—they had translated Hillsongs and other contempory American praise and worship bands. While they shouted and praised God in Romanian there Jenn and I were shouting in English! We danced and danced and danced! My heart was so full of joy as Constanta stood beside me dancing and singing! At midnight exactly we took the Lord’s supper together. What an amazing way to start off the new year. I was so touched by the passion and intensity of the pastor and his family. He has 8 children and most of his sons made up the praise and worship team. After communion we sang and danced some more! Jenn and I stayed up all night talking to the kids there who were all mostly our age or a few years older. Lots of stories to share from this night!
Needless to say Jenn and I walked in the door of Viorica’s house at about 8a.m. the next morning! We never slept!
We started finishing packaging the gifts for Santa Maria. Afterwards, we found out that we would not be able to go give the gifts until later that night—so Jenn and I got to sleep from about 11a.m. to 5p.m.
There is not a way for me to express to you that night as we gave away the gifts…I cannot wait to share pictures with everyone!
This morning (tues) we woke up and went to buy the jacket for Tony and some other gifts for children that we have been around a lot and have realized what they need and want.
Pray for me—it is very hard to see Tony and not burst into tears. However, Jenn and I crying in our beds at night won’t help his situation at all…pray for us to have strength and peace even though all we see is darkness around us.
Then we headed to Santa Maria to spend time with Doina and Constanta. On the way we had a car wreck. We ran into the side of a car that didn’t yield. Don’t worry no one was hurt and everything is ok. I only tell you this so that you can know to pray. Pray for Nikki and that everything with the insurance will work out. Nikki has a very strong character—even in the midst of crisis he stood strong and did not overreact. I pray for the Lord’s favor as he works everything out with the police. I praise God for protecting us!
Satan is throwing darts, as you say Andrei. Pray for us—God is bigger!
God provided a man at the scene who was nice enough to walk Jenn and I to Santa Maria so that we could get to the girls. What Satan had planned for bad, God turned into good and we were able to praise Him through it all!
Jenn and I had the amazing opportunity to wrap our arms around Viorica later in the night at the orphanage and pray over her as she held onto us and leaned on our shoulders. Thank you Lord for using us in that situation! It was another moment I will never forget…
We spent the evening with the girls there as James worked on the computers. He was able to install anti-virus programs.
At about 10pm we left the orphanage hand in hand with Doina, Isabella(her twin sister), and Constanta—they walked us to the highway to get a taxi. As we walked we sang “Open the eyes of my heart Lord” and “I will give you all my worship…”
Ahhhh there is too much and this is already too long!!! After reading it over again, it doesn’t even begin to encompass all that I want you to know and feel.
We have less than a week left…pray that I God will give me wisdom and discernment. I need help knowing what to be intentional about while spending time with Constanta and Doina. I need prayer because now even when I see them my eyes fill with tears—I don’t want to cry around them. I mean I know I will when I leave—but now I don’t think I could clearly explain to them what is going on in my heart.
Tomorrow we are taking Constanta on a shopping trip--pray for our time together with her and Doina. We want the gospel to be shared always.
Pray for Jenn and I that we would not believe the lies Satan tells us at times…Pray that we would continue to want to please God and not man!
I love you. You are each such a blessing to us—when we check our blog and see that we have comments it makes us so excited! I feel like I can hear your voices talking to us!
Thank you,
Emily
we honestly could make this trip into a movie!
but I ‘sacrifice’ (Romanian inside joke) and come to computer to write blog. haha do you hear how my English is getting worse and worse—I apologize, if I haven’t before, about my poor grammar.
We have only been here for four days...four days is such a short time but after only the first day it felt like I had been a part of this life for at least a month or more.
I agree with Jenn—I have an array of emotions running through my body it is hard to explain what or how I am really feeling. And posting on this blog has become hard and frustrating because there is so much to say and these words do not suffice. I want to be able to explain to you all that we have done, what we learned, what we felt…but its impossible. When I get home, get ready for many stories, probably along with many tears.
So here is my attempt at an acceptable update…
I honestly have some time, so this might be a long one it is a summarizes Sunday, Monday, and Tues!
On Sunday (New Years Eve) and we had the privilege of attending church with Viorica and Nikki. James, Jenn, Viorica, and I all took a taxi to church while Nikki went around to the orphanages to pick up some kids. Constanta and Doina met us at the church.
Walking in their church was just like walking in a traditional American Baptist Church. Actually everything here is a lot like America. I mean this seems so obvious to say—but the only real difference is they speak a different language. From my experiences the life in South American countries is quite different from my life in Texas—but here it feels the same. (well as much as ‘same’ can be…if that makes sense) Although we didn’t understand what the preacher was saying, the style and routine of the church was the same. Even though we didn’t understand the language and we didn’t have a translator, it was powerful to see how the spirit of God united us.
After church we went to Mic Donalds (as they say in Romania). Jenn, James, Constanta, Doina, Tony(10yr old boy from Pinocchio), Ionica( about 15 yr old boy from Pinochhio), and I all walked together to eat! Another boy did come to church with us who is also named Ionica (if you went to James blog—he is the one who is in need of foot surgery). However, this Ionica was late getting ready for church and so he wasn’t allowed to come to eat with us. Viorica and Nikki are amazing teachers, they love the children with such intensity and passion. In order to actually love them they see the need for discipline, and the children respect them and try to become better because of this discipline. It is amazing to watch in action.
Walking hand in hand to McDonalds with Tony warmed my heart. Although I could not understand when he would try to speak to me, I smiled with him-laughed with him-hugged him-squeezed him-and we connected
During this McDonalds experience Tony stole my heart and has since become a very dear boy to Jenn and I. I wish I could take him back home with me. He was such a gentleman. He cleaned up our table and threw away all our trash. I noticed that Tony didn’t have a jacket(as Jenn mentioned in her blog), and remembered that Doina let him use her gloves as we walked. I asked him if he had a jacket (with the help of Doina translating). He did not. I asked him if he would like one, and if so what color and size. There is a big problem with stealing at Pinocchio and the little kids are sometime beat up by the older ones. Tony’s knuckles were stratched and really red. So I told Jenn and James and we decided to find the closest store and buy him a jacket right then!
Jenn and Emily’s new motto has become, “You need, we get!”
Oh and before leaving McDonalds the Lord placed two more boys in our pathway that were in need. Jenn said as she was throwing away her half empty drink a little boy said he wanted it. He was with a friend and they were eating some French fries together. We asked them if they would like a hamburger and their own drink. Constanta stayed and talked with them and talked to them about Jesus while we went and ordered their food. We added two strawberry Mcflurries Constanta invited them to come to her church too!
This trip has taught me a lot about giving and being intentional with my giving. It is amazing to think about how the holy spirit convicted me throughout this past semester about this. The Lord revealed many things to me in this area. Now I am able to attempt to put it into action Regardless of what it is, my time, my love, my money, conversations with people, or anything at all—the Lord is teaching me more about being a servant and more about letting go…
Canstanta and I have become very close. You know how sometimes when you meet someone, the second you meet them you know that somehow you were meant for each other. Pray for our relationship—the Lord is working in amazing ways! But while I am talking about giving I wanted to share with you a little about Constanta. Every time I ask her where she got something (ex: shirt, shoes, bedspread, book, etc) she responds, “someone gave it”. Now it has become funny to us because I keep asking her where she has gotten things in a sort of humorous exasperated manner she replies, “Eeeemmm-uuhhh-leeee someone gave it!!” She has friends from all over the world because they have come to the orphanage to serve. One woman came with a group called ‘Children to Love’. She stayed for a year I think. This woman will never fully know the impact she has made on Constanta’s life. It is encouraging to hear and see. The saying is true, ‘ To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.’ Never think that anything you do is in vain, and never grow weary of doing good. Galations 6:9, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up”. Sending small packages full of things as simple as shampoo and toothbrushes makes an overwhelming impact. Constanta mentions this woman at least once a day, speaking of things she gave her or things she learned from her. Even people from churches who send her things in the mail that don’t even know her—she remembers. It is crazy to see how the Lord has provided for her. She and I were talking last night. She told me that even before she knew God she prayed for friends to come.
She said even though she didn’t know Him--He knew her and heard her prayer. Wow.
New Year’s eve night I also had a chance to talk with a 24 yr old young man named Ionutz. He has never been to America but he said that he met a few Americans in Italy. He told me that they were so surprised to see how happy he was yet he didn’t really have that much. They had a lot, but were not happy or satisfied at all.
Ionutz loves Jesus and is a solid believer. We had a chance to talk about how we don’t find our joy in anything else but serving Jesus. This really isn’t fresh news or an inlightening story. I’ve heard things like this a million times it is still something to ponder. Please don’t take this story as a guilt trip for our American materialism, but as a challenge as believers. Materialism is so hard to fight, even here I can feel its pull on the inside of me. Pray for me. Pray that I will continue to fight this spirit of greed and materialism that seems so much harder for us as Americans. Pray that I will not grow apathetic towards fighting it.
…So after McDonalds we headed down the street to find a store to buy Tony a jacket. When we got there the store was closed. So we told him we would come to Pinocchio on Monday to see him and give him the jacket…
At about 7pm we headed to the middle of Bucharest to the New Years Celebration! James, Jenn, Constanta and I went together. The city was full of excitement. Romania joined the EU as of January 1, 2007 so the people of Bucharest were gathered together to celebrate this new life for Romania.
We stayed there for about two hours enjoying the live concert. Then we headed to Constanta’s church for their New Year Celebration.
I cannot begin to describe the feeling I had after being in the church only a few minutes. The spirit was very powerful. It was a very small church with about 50 people in attendance. The Lord provided an amazing translator, named Christian, for Jenn and I during the service. He was only 20yrs old but was the best Romanian English speaker we had met so far. It was a breath of fresh air for me to talk to someone and they honestly understand every thing I said. Dad--their pastor reminded me so much of you! He was full of energy and excitement—he never stopped dancing or singing to the top of his lungs! He stayed up the entire night with everyone—throughout the night he would get on the stage and start singing with his whole heart! They told us that he would never stop, he just keeps singing and praising God until someone makes him stop! Mom, the pastor’s wife got up and spoke for a while and even though she was speaking Romanian I have not doubt that you and her were cut from the same cloth! She was preaching about a Tommy Tinny book she had read recently—and just like you she always got the last word ;)
Their praise and worship was overwhelming! Most of the songs Jenn and I knew—they had translated Hillsongs and other contempory American praise and worship bands. While they shouted and praised God in Romanian there Jenn and I were shouting in English! We danced and danced and danced! My heart was so full of joy as Constanta stood beside me dancing and singing! At midnight exactly we took the Lord’s supper together. What an amazing way to start off the new year. I was so touched by the passion and intensity of the pastor and his family. He has 8 children and most of his sons made up the praise and worship team. After communion we sang and danced some more! Jenn and I stayed up all night talking to the kids there who were all mostly our age or a few years older. Lots of stories to share from this night!
Needless to say Jenn and I walked in the door of Viorica’s house at about 8a.m. the next morning! We never slept!
We started finishing packaging the gifts for Santa Maria. Afterwards, we found out that we would not be able to go give the gifts until later that night—so Jenn and I got to sleep from about 11a.m. to 5p.m.
There is not a way for me to express to you that night as we gave away the gifts…I cannot wait to share pictures with everyone!
This morning (tues) we woke up and went to buy the jacket for Tony and some other gifts for children that we have been around a lot and have realized what they need and want.
Pray for me—it is very hard to see Tony and not burst into tears. However, Jenn and I crying in our beds at night won’t help his situation at all…pray for us to have strength and peace even though all we see is darkness around us.
Then we headed to Santa Maria to spend time with Doina and Constanta. On the way we had a car wreck. We ran into the side of a car that didn’t yield. Don’t worry no one was hurt and everything is ok. I only tell you this so that you can know to pray. Pray for Nikki and that everything with the insurance will work out. Nikki has a very strong character—even in the midst of crisis he stood strong and did not overreact. I pray for the Lord’s favor as he works everything out with the police. I praise God for protecting us!
Satan is throwing darts, as you say Andrei. Pray for us—God is bigger!
God provided a man at the scene who was nice enough to walk Jenn and I to Santa Maria so that we could get to the girls. What Satan had planned for bad, God turned into good and we were able to praise Him through it all!
Jenn and I had the amazing opportunity to wrap our arms around Viorica later in the night at the orphanage and pray over her as she held onto us and leaned on our shoulders. Thank you Lord for using us in that situation! It was another moment I will never forget…
We spent the evening with the girls there as James worked on the computers. He was able to install anti-virus programs.
At about 10pm we left the orphanage hand in hand with Doina, Isabella(her twin sister), and Constanta—they walked us to the highway to get a taxi. As we walked we sang “Open the eyes of my heart Lord” and “I will give you all my worship…”
Ahhhh there is too much and this is already too long!!! After reading it over again, it doesn’t even begin to encompass all that I want you to know and feel.
We have less than a week left…pray that I God will give me wisdom and discernment. I need help knowing what to be intentional about while spending time with Constanta and Doina. I need prayer because now even when I see them my eyes fill with tears—I don’t want to cry around them. I mean I know I will when I leave—but now I don’t think I could clearly explain to them what is going on in my heart.
Tomorrow we are taking Constanta on a shopping trip--pray for our time together with her and Doina. We want the gospel to be shared always.
Pray for Jenn and I that we would not believe the lies Satan tells us at times…Pray that we would continue to want to please God and not man!
I love you. You are each such a blessing to us—when we check our blog and see that we have comments it makes us so excited! I feel like I can hear your voices talking to us!
Thank you,
Emily
Monday, January 1, 2007
so this is probably the most hilarious thing ever.
meet Alina. my new best friend :)
there is no commentary needed.
prepare yourself.
you are about to experience something that can only be explained as bookawaka.
oh and after this video,this young beautiful and energetic girl tackled me to the ground and 'styled' my hair...pictures to come soon :)
love you all very much--
emily :)
meet Alina. my new best friend :)
there is no commentary needed.
prepare yourself.
you are about to experience something that can only be explained as bookawaka.
oh and after this video,this young beautiful and energetic girl tackled me to the ground and 'styled' my hair...pictures to come soon :)
love you all very much--
emily :)
Jenn's post for 1/1/07
We've made a little change. For blogging purposes - Emily & I are going to enter 2 entries a day - one mine and one hers - sometimes it is hard to write together because we both have different thoughts.
Here we are - still alive :). Isn't it beautiful?!
Ionica and Jenn - hehe Ionica does not know ANY english haha but we still communicate some how. its funny. he laughs with us :)
Diona and Emily - Diona is one of the girls we have gotten very close to. She is a sweetheart.
The two cutest, most in love couple that Emily & I adore. Mom Viorica & Dad Nikki.
Emily, Castansa, Jenn, Nikki - at church!
Emily & Toni -
pray for toni. he is precious. we love him. he often gets thigns stolen from the bigger guys at the orphanage. him and emily were talking and he said he didnt have a jacket - so we get to buy him one tomorrow. he works so hard and emily & i are so excited Jesus showed us this opportunity. pray no one would take it from him. pray that we would get to encourage him and love him. he is precious to us.
Jenn & Toni - we all went to McDonalds after church!
wow. Words cannot explain how i feel right now. I'm overwhelmed. I'm saddened. I'm so happy. I'm confused (with language barrier). I understand. I'm frustrated. I'm peaceful. I feel at home. I feel far away. Its strange.
God is so good. I feel as though now, day four ( i think), He translates in my heart the words that people are saying. I dont feel weird around Romanian anymore becuase i havent heard anything BUT that for four days. However, its weird - sometimes (often times today actually) I just "knew" what they were saying. Granted I have context and watch nonverbals - but its just so neat that God is bigger than language barriers.
I wanted to ask for prayer though.
Today we got to deliver our first stash of presents. Romanians do not show happiness on their face in the same way "americans" do - but as they were opening their presents; nikki said "ohh they are so happy." thank you to all who donated crayons, books, knitted items, money, and more. they LOVED it. its crazy to me that when asked what is the one thing you want if you can have anything - kids would say "underwear" "toothbrush" "shampoo." wow. we are so blessed in america.
Speaking of faces - its funny. Emily & I always ask the kids"can you tell we are american????" they always say "da! da!" (yes! yes!) haha. HOWEVER, i will say last night emily passed for a romanian!!! but - Constansa & Viorica both told us it is becasue of our countenance. we smile. we have a natural smile on our face even when we are 'plain faced.' people here (i am not making fun or saying this is bad - just factually saying) that they all look sort of sad - like you can stare right at the wall in their eyes. BUT. its neat because when i see brothers & sisters in Christ - i can tell. they smile and their eyes have light!
I feel like my favorite moment from yesterday was when we asked a kid "do you know starbucks" and the face i got back was hilarious. she said "starbucks - what means starbucks?" i told a guy to buy stock in starbucks if he ever hears about it :).
its incredible here. point being. its hard and time is running out. i never thought 2 weeks would seem so short. i cant imagine leaving. my eyes fill up with tears everytime i think about the plane ride home. i dont want to leave these kids. nor nikki & viorica.
pray. pray that we would be filled with purpose. pray as each day passes that God would utilize our individual abilities. pray Jesus would show Emily & I directly where we individually fit here. pray that the gospel would ring LOUD and these key orphans would be big players for years to come. that we could encourage them to take heart, be strong and remember God overcame the world! we tell them often of the many christians in college station and in "the states." pray that emily & i would get time in the Word too. that we would make time for it.
keep checking james' blog & picasaweb for photos!
thank you to everyone who comments. it encourages us so much! we really do look forward to checking our blog each morning. blaire - meg => I will introduce yall in the spring. You two need to know each other outside of the cyberspace community :).
oh one last prayer request. beeler here i go with the crazy requests ;) - pray for my camera. i use batteries but they die really quickly. like crazy quickly. its weird. pray they would last longer and my camera wouldnt go psycho on me :). thanks!
Here we are - still alive :). Isn't it beautiful?!
Ionica and Jenn - hehe Ionica does not know ANY english haha but we still communicate some how. its funny. he laughs with us :)
Diona and Emily - Diona is one of the girls we have gotten very close to. She is a sweetheart.
The two cutest, most in love couple that Emily & I adore. Mom Viorica & Dad Nikki.
Emily, Castansa, Jenn, Nikki - at church!
Emily & Toni -
pray for toni. he is precious. we love him. he often gets thigns stolen from the bigger guys at the orphanage. him and emily were talking and he said he didnt have a jacket - so we get to buy him one tomorrow. he works so hard and emily & i are so excited Jesus showed us this opportunity. pray no one would take it from him. pray that we would get to encourage him and love him. he is precious to us.
Jenn & Toni - we all went to McDonalds after church!
wow. Words cannot explain how i feel right now. I'm overwhelmed. I'm saddened. I'm so happy. I'm confused (with language barrier). I understand. I'm frustrated. I'm peaceful. I feel at home. I feel far away. Its strange.
God is so good. I feel as though now, day four ( i think), He translates in my heart the words that people are saying. I dont feel weird around Romanian anymore becuase i havent heard anything BUT that for four days. However, its weird - sometimes (often times today actually) I just "knew" what they were saying. Granted I have context and watch nonverbals - but its just so neat that God is bigger than language barriers.
I wanted to ask for prayer though.
Today we got to deliver our first stash of presents. Romanians do not show happiness on their face in the same way "americans" do - but as they were opening their presents; nikki said "ohh they are so happy." thank you to all who donated crayons, books, knitted items, money, and more. they LOVED it. its crazy to me that when asked what is the one thing you want if you can have anything - kids would say "underwear" "toothbrush" "shampoo." wow. we are so blessed in america.
Speaking of faces - its funny. Emily & I always ask the kids"can you tell we are american????" they always say "da! da!" (yes! yes!) haha. HOWEVER, i will say last night emily passed for a romanian!!! but - Constansa & Viorica both told us it is becasue of our countenance. we smile. we have a natural smile on our face even when we are 'plain faced.' people here (i am not making fun or saying this is bad - just factually saying) that they all look sort of sad - like you can stare right at the wall in their eyes. BUT. its neat because when i see brothers & sisters in Christ - i can tell. they smile and their eyes have light!
I feel like my favorite moment from yesterday was when we asked a kid "do you know starbucks" and the face i got back was hilarious. she said "starbucks - what means starbucks?" i told a guy to buy stock in starbucks if he ever hears about it :).
its incredible here. point being. its hard and time is running out. i never thought 2 weeks would seem so short. i cant imagine leaving. my eyes fill up with tears everytime i think about the plane ride home. i dont want to leave these kids. nor nikki & viorica.
pray. pray that we would be filled with purpose. pray as each day passes that God would utilize our individual abilities. pray Jesus would show Emily & I directly where we individually fit here. pray that the gospel would ring LOUD and these key orphans would be big players for years to come. that we could encourage them to take heart, be strong and remember God overcame the world! we tell them often of the many christians in college station and in "the states." pray that emily & i would get time in the Word too. that we would make time for it.
keep checking james' blog & picasaweb for photos!
thank you to everyone who comments. it encourages us so much! we really do look forward to checking our blog each morning. blaire - meg => I will introduce yall in the spring. You two need to know each other outside of the cyberspace community :).
oh one last prayer request. beeler here i go with the crazy requests ;) - pray for my camera. i use batteries but they die really quickly. like crazy quickly. its weird. pray they would last longer and my camera wouldnt go psycho on me :). thanks!
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