Exploring Romania

This past week has flown by so fast! We have had a very nice week teaching in Brādāshanca. Though it was very difficult to control some of the kids sometimes, especially with the language barrier, it was very encouraging when the kids that were trying to listen and learn answered a question correctly. In chapel everyday, we would try to review what we had talked about the previous days and, for the most part, the kids were eager to tell us what we had talked about each day. It was very frustrating to keep the others who weren't behaving quiet so others could listen, but once they were under control, they would actually work and pay attention. I hope that after this past week we have planted a seed in Brādāshanca so that God may work in those kids' lives and they may one day come to accept Him into their hearts.

Through all the craziness of the classes everyday, we managed to still have some energy to go geocaching and exploring through the mountains. Sometimes on the way back from Brādāshanca during the week, we would stop for geocaches on the way. We found one in these really cool ruins of some sort of castle. We also found one at this memorial for the first Romanian to fly. It's really cool to learn some history about Romania while searching for the geocaches too.

Friday was a lot of fun because we not only had graduation for our students, but we also got to explore a mountain! Graduation for the kids went really well. Not many parents showed up, but I think they enjoyed getting a diploma and other little gifts for completing the class. Amongst those gifts was a small version of the New Testament in Romanian, so I though that was really cool to be able to give each of them. After classes in Brādāshanca were officially over, later that evening, what started as a walk across a nearby bridge ended up being an adventure to the top of the mountain! The mountain wasn't all that tall, but it had a nice road up most of it that we could walk up. Once we got to where the road ended, there was a slightly worn trail up the rest of the mountain so we figured since we made it that far, we might as well go all the way! It was beautiful from the top! We thought we could see all of Câmpina from the top of that hill we climbed the other day, but at the top of the mountain, you could see the village for miles! Unfortunately, by the time we got to the top, it was already starting to get dark so we couldn't spend a lot of time up there, but it was really cool just to be up that high and seeing everything below. It was even cooler walking back to the house and looking behind us to see the mountain we climbed and how big it looked. It really is amazing how big God is and how beautiful all of His creation is!

Yesterday, Saturday, was also a pretty exciting day. The whole team, Christina, Dan and a couple from South Carolina had the opportunity to drive up into the mountains a good ways and visit Dracula's Castle. It was a pretty neat castle. We got to go in it and look around at all the interesting architecture and furniture. We also got to take some time to shop for a little. People were selling all sorts of interesting things. The table cloths were very pretty and a lot of the other hand-made shirts and things were also very impressive. Once we were all done shopping, we all piled back into the van to head back. We got some sweet break for the road, which was pretty good. We had three flavors: chocolate, cinnamon, and sugar. It was an interesting kind of bread because it was kind of in the shape of a tube where it was hollow in the middle and the outside was glazed. It was very good though! On the way back from the castle, we must have stopped four or five times to get geocaches. Dr. G is definitely trying to recruit some Romanians to become just as obsessed with gocaching as he is...

Finally, today started our day of "lasts". Today was our last Sunday in Romania and our last time going to church. It was pretty special today because our team sang some songs and gave testimonies and then Dr. G preached this morning. And then in the evening, we sang some more songs and shared what we teach in our chapel sessions for our classes and then the guy from the couple from South Carolina preached. So it was very nice to be able to understand most of the service without a translator, but it was also nice to be able to worship God with Romanians, in Romanian one last time. It truly is powerful when a group of people from different places and cultures all come together to worship God in two different languages.

As we go about our last week of classes, please pray for the kids we will be encountering and teaching. Please pray that God will give us the words to teach theses kids the Gospel in a clear manor so there it little confusion. Also, please pray for our team, that we would keep high energy going into this last week and that we wouldn't take any of the time we have with the kids or the missionaries for granted, but that we would use it to glorify His name.