Blogs from Romania, Europe - page 101

Chegamos em Paris no meio da manhã. O dia estava bonito e ensolarado. Lembro de sentir aquele bafo de calor gostoso quando descemos do avião. Depois de 12 horas de ar condicionado, nada melhor que isso. Já sentia meu nariz melhorando. Embarcamos para BUCARESTE (Romênia), em outro vôo da Air France. O avião era bem menor e com menos atrativos também. A viagem era curta (2 ou 3 horas), mas foi bastante agradável. Ao sobrevoarmos o Lago Balaton, na Hungria, a vista do alto era belíssima. Impressionou o tamanho do lago. Chegamos em BUCARESTE por volta das 14hs. Trocamos dinheiro no aeroporto e tivemos nosso primeiro contato com os lei romenos. As bagagens devem ter chegado bem antes de nós, pois minha mochila não estava na esteira, mas encostada num canto. Bizarro. A mala do Márcio ... read more

Wednesday, January 5, 2005 Ten pairs of hopeful eyes waited quietly in the remarkably pleasant coolness (for mid-winter) of the Romanian city. Each one of them so full of joy, though we each knew that behind that joy lay a unique painful story. They were the children of the orphanage that we had heard so much about- the House of Hope. Today, the fifth of January (or Ianuarie, as the Romanians would have it) of 2005, the team traveled to Oradea for a life-changing experience, and Marios and Alina came with us. From a trip to the piata (marketplace) in that town, a brand new way of looking at a McDonald’s meal, and a heart-wrenching tale of tiny tots, we will never be quite the same. Besides doing a bit more souvenir shopping (or fake name-brand ... read more

Monday January 3, 2005 Hello All! Well if today is any indication of the week to come I can’t wait to see what the Lord is going to do in us and through us over the next few days. Our day began with a delicious breakfast of omelets, cereal, toast and juice prepared for us by the wonderful Alina. Since our fearless leaders were away for the morning we were on our own for our devotional discussion time, and may I say (not as a result of the absence of any of our members) that it was one of the best sharing times yet. There is nothing like discussing the strengths and struggles of one’s Christian walk and learning that we are not alone on this journey (but more about that later). We readied quickly and ... read more

Jan 1 2005! Buna ( Hello ) from Romania. Today was a slow start as we recovered from a lack of sleep and an abundance of fireworks. Really, this one firework shot over our heads, missing by inches, bounced off the wall and exploded on the front porch. It was the best night of my life! We started around 11:30 and ate a late breakfast. The vans showed up at 12 as we went to visit another Gypsy village. The village of Nusfaleu has one of the more established Gypsy churches and a large congregation. The cold drizzle started early and stayed the whole day. But nobody was discouraged; in fact they hardly seemed to notice. The church had gathered all of the families in the village so we had a very large group. How large? ... read more

Thursday, December 30, 2004: Well, we have just completed day three in Romania. Today was the day we hit the ground running. After a wonderful breakfast consisting of tasty Romanian fruit, Hungarian cornflakes and milk straight from the cow (it was very good!), we went straight to work. The vans arrived after breakfast full of packages of flour, sugar, oil, rice and cookies. Though the weather outside was frightful, our assembly line was quite effective. Nearly 300 bags were assembled in 45 minutes! We took 50 of those bags, along with 50 loaves of bread to the people in the village of Ciezer. What a sight that was! We walked up a muddy, frozen ramp to meet a group of about 70 gypsies who were waiting to meet us and receive their supply bags. Before we ... read more