Buna ziua - Good Day! From Romania!!!

I arrived here in Medias, Romania on Thursday night at about midnight. That seems like weeks ago! My time here has been just amazing. I am going to find it hard to describe in words what I have already experienced here. One thing that I know - I feel so very blessed and honored and thankful that God has given me this amazing opportunity.

The first day we met a few people and got oriented with our living quarters - we're staying in the "Cabana" - it used to be a chicken coop! It's been renovated into quite a nice place for field workers to room in. My friend and I have a room upstairs. There's a bathroom downstairs and a fully equipped kitchen as well. We are supposed to be responsible to feed ourselves but have been pretty spoiled and have been invited for meals pretty much every day. One of the first things we experienced was a Romanian market. How can I describe this to you? There are many stands and there are all these people selling their produce. It was really amazing. So many people - old, young, everything all trying to sell their veggies, fruit, flowers, etc. so they can feed their own families. What impressed me most was the little grandmas in their babushkas (head coverings) - sitting their trying to sell. It was so neat.

To contrast, we then went to a supermarket - similar to Superstore, I guess. Totally normal - you can pretty much get anything you need. That pretty much sums up my impression of Romania so far. It is a country of contrasts. Very old, dilapitated buildings beside gorgeous villa- type homes with ornate gated properties. Little old men and women wearing clothes that are probably 30 years old walking beside young people with cell phones and ipods. Very old little vehicles driving beside new Mercedes and Audi cars. Or even better, horse and carts (they are everywhere) beside SUVs (I've actually only seen a few).

Another contrast I experienced yesterday was the two church services I attended. In the morning we attended a service in a very remote, poor village called Prod. It was very simple but the people were so thankful to be there and the preachers spoke with such passion and the children sang with gusto! Then in the evening we went to a huge pentecostal church. It was quite the experience too but so different than the little church. There were lots of young people but you could see they were much better off. They were the type to have the cell phones and the ipods. Both services were a huge blessing in different ways.

Saturday was a special day because I got to meet the Father's House families. But - oh dear, I will have to write about that another time because I've just been told we will be leaving.
I'll try to write again soon. Thank you so much for those who are praying for me. God bless.