Friday, June 26, 2009

Let me first finish out day 2. After spending 30 mins posting the blog Nate and I returned to “camp”. It seems as though volleyball is the chosen sport. David, one of the Romanian teenagers and I did break off for a game of 1 on 1 basketball. After spotting him a 7-0 lead (the kid doesn’t miss a shot) I cut him a break and called the game when the basketball hoop fell off the board. Little did he know I was just warming up. Truth be known I was already sucking wind and that was just from collecting the ball after he scored and checking the ball back to him.
We did the first devotion with all the youth and the challenges of language translation were there but it is still amazing how God can get through. We have decided to just pray and not translate and we take turns to pray in each language. I am not positive about this but the Romanian prayers all contain the word for “American” and I question whether they are asking God when these Americans are going to leave them alone. “Please deliver us from these Americans, let the bears be abundant when they are outside”. Luckily they have realized I am English and don’t include me in that prayer.
The fire eating went well. The main objective is not to burn myself and I didn’t. The next is not to swallow too much gas/petrol. Now let me explain, in the US I use camping fluid in the fire eating. I didn’t think transporting a highly combustible fluid through airport security was a good idea. I was worried enough that I had two barbecue spits (for the fire eating), a bunch of balloons (for balloon animals) and a rubber chicken (a long story) in my suitcase and I was going to have to explain this to TSA. As such I had to buy a combustible fluid over here and the only option was car gas/petrol. The Romanian gas has definitely got a different vintage than Coleman’s camping fluid but it definitely still burps up the same way. Overall it went down well – at least for me.
Despite the storm that blew through overnight we all seemed to get enough sleep. I was rather worried because of the reputation my wife had set for me through Nate’s blog that I snore rather loudly (which is obviously highly exaggerated – it is my dog). The pastor of the Romanian church, Niku, and I were in the same room on different couches and the last thing he said to me before going to sleep was that he was a very light sleeper and wakes up at the smallest noise. I think all night I only half slept because I didn’t want my purring to keep him awake. He is still talking to me this morning and so it seemed to go well. Apparently I may have been a little louder than I thought as he shared with others about my “noring”. I guess he was just being very polite.
Friday has been a day of devotion and sports. After the devotion time it was time for kickball. I’m not sure who won but I did pull a muscle. One day I am going to learn to stretch before trying to play soccer or any soccer derivative. With the heavy rain a few people did get a little muddy. Isabelle stepped in a decided to put a wash on for us. Now most Americans know the phrase measure twice, cut once, and I think this applies to this. My iPhone has a converter on it and Isabelle asked me how much 106 milli-litres was in teaspoons. The answer is about 0.7 of a teaspoon. When her response was “oops” we had to go and look at the washing machine. Isabelle had pretty much filled the draw up and you actually couldn’t see any clothes because of the soap bubbles. Maybe asking before putting the liquid and turning it on would have been a better path. Thankfully there was no overflowing.
The afternoon was another devotion and then volley ball. It really is interesting to see how this youth struggle with the things the world is telling them is okay. As parents, as friends, as mentors we need to be walking alongside them as they struggle with seemingly simple issues but when asked it really is eating away at them.
Tonight we introduce the Romanian youth to Tacos which should be interesting. Not sure when I will have the chance to post next as we head back to Pucioasa tomorrow.
Ephesians 4: 21-24 – “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians 3:12-14 – “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”

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