Romania 2009: Day 8

Well today was an interesting day. On the way over to the church Alanah shared with us that Jesse had had quite a lively night. Apparently half way through the night Jesse sat up in bed from a dead sleep, started a running motion sitting down on the edge of the bed. When Alanah asked if Jesse was okay Jesse said yes but then asked where the “Machina” was, not the machine but the “machina”. Jese then got up and went to the bathroom but she remembers nothing about it. We have now gone from Hunter to Jesse with the talking in the sleep but Jesse was definitely more active. I headed over to the church for breakfast and sat and read the newspaper as always. After breakfast we went to Fieni for VBS. For the games and the tricks (i.e. me) we went to a small playground area. I did one balloon trick for them and then they played a game with the 40 kids who turned up. During the game the local police came over to ask if we had a permit for having the kids in a group outside?! Not sure about this one - a permit to have the kids play a game outside as a group. Apparently there is still a lot of hold over from the communist days. Also the Orthodox Church has a lot of influence and so the police I think were just creating a presence.
As the game wrapped up and the police were walking off the kids sat on a wall and started shouting for “George Bush, George Bush”. I was waiting for the police to come back over to see why George Bush was in Fieni. All week the kids had been waiting for me to eat fire and today was the day. I really don’t mind doing the fire eating but there is still something weird about putting car gas in your mouth. Well today I had a little problem in that when I pushed the burning stick onto my tongue to light my tongue on fire, the liquid ran down my face. In about 2 seconds flat I had the fastest beard trim I had ever had as the front of my beard caught fire. Luckily no serious damage was done. One more time to do this before we leave.
During VBS Mark played the part of Goldilocks a part he played very well I might say. So from a butterfly last year to Goldilocks this year. I don’t even want to guest what he will be next year. After VBS in Fieni we went back to Pucioasa where they had had 70 kids. Again both teams had a great time working with these kids. Tomorrow is our last day.
Almost as soon as we were back a small group of us went to the Crisis Center where a group of orphaned young adults spend their days. Some of the people also struggle with a mental disorder and I think these are the ones that live at the center. One of the men there, obviously taking me for the linguist in the group, started to explain to me in Romanian about something with the building. I wasn’t sure what I agreed to do (“Da” being the standard response) but I think it entailed painting and fixing up a dilapidated 2 storey building. Hopefully he was satisfied with the balloon animal I gave him instead. At the end of the visit the team loaded up in the van and voted to leave me there. Apparently they felt I would fit in better.
After a trip to the Crisis Center we were invited to lunch in different houses again. This time Hunter and I split up and he went with a group of youths to Sister Avi’s house. I joined the Holland’s at Niku and Daniella’s house. It was interesting to hear from him about some of the challenges he faces as a Pastor in Romania. Each time you sit down with the Romanian people you learn more about them and how they came to Christ and how they live there life. To live outside of the hotel environment could definitely be a challenge for someone used to American standards but as a whole there is nothing that is not bearable.
In Pucioasa Church is on Wednesday night like 99.99% of Churches in America (Harvest being the 0.01%) and it is about 2 hours long. We did get some English bits but at times it was completely in Romanian. In Church “Da” is not really appropriate but “Amen” (pronounced Amin) seems to work as well.
Tonight being the last night in Pucioasa the tears were flowing and my guess is that tomorrow will not be much better. A fire was built for Samores and a few were made before a massive storm blew in. At that point everyone retired to Vienna, the restaurant on the street level of our hotel building. I have a feeling that restaurant is going to go into withdrawal tomorrow night after 4 or 5 straight nights of a large crowd sitting there for a few hours.
Just some random thoughts for the last night – the food has been good but I do miss the moist, chicken breasts and cinnamon apples. The crevice between living in America and Romania is not as wide as I thought.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 – “So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.”