Drumming for Jesus

Taylor and I had a drumming stand off...I'm not really sure who won, but I think all that had to listen pretty much lost!

To Wifey

I just want you to know how much I love you and miss you!

Of all my experiences, both at home and around the world, you are my greatest blessing from the Lord. I have found that a wife is to be an encourager, looking into the heart of her husband to cheer him on and uplifting him, ignoring all the faults and praising all his successes. She is to be his biggest prayer supporter when the road ahead is difficult for him and his greatest earthly joy amist all of his celebrations. She is to be his best friend, sharing in laughter so much he cries, as well as joining in the passions of his heart. A wife treats her husband with the utmost respect because of the man he is trying to be, and it can be seen by the proudness of him in her eyes. I know all of these things to be true because you live them every day. You are a blessing to my life and I thank my King daily for loving me enough to give me a wife like no other! Thank you for being the woman you are, and the wife I've always wanted!

Father, who am I that you care for me this much??? Glory be to Your Everlasting Name!!!

Romanian Food w/the Missionaries

Yesterday was a great food day for us. After church we went out for a shuaorma (sh-warm-uh) which has to be one of the tastiest foods I've had in Romania. It's kinda like a pita bread burrito filled with wonderful chicken meat and seasoned french fries; I had mine with some shredded cabbage and some 'spicy ranch' dressing. Other options are tomatos, peppers, ketchup, dog, mayo...I'm just kidding about the dog...or am I??? But it really was quite exquisit! Yum!



Here is Justin, the missionary, devouring his shuaorma. But I'm confident that more ended up on the ground than in his mouth. He will soon have half of the dogs in Romania following behind his every step if he keeps this up!



However, Marty, the missionary, lets nothing go to waste! Even with this gigantic chocolate shake (which was more like a chocolate milk), it was good until the last drop! Go Marty Go!!!

Even the horses got in on the action. True, they're not missionaries, but who am I to discrimitate? Eat up little fellas, you deserve it!

Doing that thing we do...

As I'm sure you already know, our mornings are spent prayer walking and our evenings are filled with evangelism. Well, as is usual with everything else in life, we're running out of time to finish all the work our team is needing to accomplish. On top of that, the weather is getting hotter and our bodies are getting tired faster. But is that going to stop us? NOT A CHANCE! We're here, not for our glory, not for our neat stories, not for our comfort (though the beds are quite nice), and not for vacation. We're here to work, to glorify our King, to share the gospel with souls who's time is really running out! So we will endure, despite the heat and the exhaustion, until our committed task is done. For all of you at home reading these blogs, please be in prayer for our team, for our new friends Justin and Marty, for the Youth at Holy Trinity who have been awesome in helping out every night - even giving up their Bible study time to join us tonight on the streets (I am extremely proud of these young people!!!), for the Romanian leaders like Bogdon & Mihai, for Randy & Teresa, and for Troy & his family. Please pray that our strength will be in the Lord. Please pray that our hearts will continue to hurt for these lost people. And pray for the members of our team to be thinking about how they can make evangelism a real part of life once we get back home. Thank you to all of you who are lifting us up daily!!!

Here is the team gathering together before going out to do evangelism. We meet every night at Holy Trinity around 6:30 and usually end here around 9:00.

Here is Justin sharing the gospel with a bunch of kids who just showed us why American adults should never play 'football' with Romanian kids...EVER!!! We got whooped!

One of the young kids following along, reading the Scriptures from a Romanian Bible. They were absolutely sharp!

Here is our soccer group. I'm not sure why the American's are the only one's really smiling. We were the one's who lost horribly and got schooled on the playground by people three times younger than we are. (Maybe even 6 times younger than some members of our team...not to mention any names!)

But don't let the Romanians fool you. Not all of them take serious pictures. Here is Ioana (Titi, the Youth Pastor's daughter) and Diana (my homegirl and friend of Ioana). These are two of the coolest young ladies I know and are absolute goofballs! Pray for me!!!

Drinking Buddy

Today is a new day in my life. You get two Youth Pastors together and it's only a matter of time before things start to go down hill. Today, Titi, the Romanian Youth Pastor, invited me to go do some visitation with him. They've had some elderly church members that have not been able to make it to church due to illness, and therefore have missed the Lord's Supper. So, we visited three different homes to sit and administer the Lord's Supper with these brothers and sisters in Christ. As we were driving, Titi told me that it would be good for us to take the Lord's Supper at every home with these church members so that they will feel a part of the fellowship. I agreed. He then told me that in America we used the grape juice, but it was their custom to use the wine. I told Titi that I've never had alcohol before. He almost crashed when I told him that! He said that he would only fill my cup with a little and he will make sure I get the least amount. So sure enough, as we went from home to home, both of us sharing from the Word, we both partook of the Lord's Supper.

This was a wierd experience for me. All my life I've had such a bold stand against any type of alcohol so as not to destroy my witness; and now, in a different culture, it was almost as if NOT partaking would have been a bad thing. It was awkward and definitely a taste I do not prefer.

Turn About is Fair Play

The glorious and Almighty Lord presented an opportunity that I just couldn't pass up. As Lanny has shamlessly posted pictures of me sleeping, the Lord humbled him to the point of being caught up in his own vices! And not only did we catch this picture, but I am proud to say that it was taken during church! But to his defense, after 3 preachers, 1 wedding, and a hodge-podge of youth choir specials, he was required to rest his top lids on top of his bottom lids for a short moment in time. So to all out there reading this, check out this picture which vindicates my actions!!!

"I was checking my eyelids for holes!" -Lanny Wake

THE WEDDING CRASHERS!!!!

I'm sure the others have already blogged about it, but thought I'd jump in on it too, seeing as how it was so awkward! We were asked to join the youth in singing for church Sunday night, since things went so well on Saturday night. We agreed, not quite knowing what we were getting ourselves involved in. Andrew of course played the keyboard, Tayor played the guitar, while Whitney and I carried the vocals.

So we showed up to church to find it all decorated for this wedding. We went inside and spoke with Titi (the youth pastor - who is actually a really cool guy...as are most youth pastors!!! ;-) who told us, Da, we will be singing for the wedding. For those of you who are not married, never plan to get married in Romania. Apparently you have to sit up on stage for the entire service, through 3+ sermons, lots of songs (including one's sung in English), and the vows...all totaling about 3 hours.

So this is how the songs went: the first song was all Romanian; the second song started with the first verse in Romanian followed by the chorus in Romanian, however, during the chorus in Romanian, we started the first verse again in English. So it was a nice hodge-podge of sounds and languages. When Whitney and I started singing in English over the Romanian chorus, the bride looked at the groom with a mixed look of wonder, disgust, awkwardness, and dispair. But we just kept on singing. The third song started the first verse in Romanain only, the second verse in English only, and the thrid verse as 'all skate.' Let's just say it will be a wedding they'll never forget...no matter how bad they may want to!

Andrew playing the keys in Romanian...lol...(I think that's a funny musical joke). And sitting next to him is Diana, who seems to be a little miffed that Andrew took her keyboard. LOL!!!!

Whit and Tay with the youth choir. The girl in pink infront of Whit is Dora and has an amazing voice. The girl in white behind Whit is Ioana, who is Titi's daughter.

This is a picture of their minister of music. I couldn't stop laughing thinking that his little bald man will be Steve one day! LOL...love ya buddy!

I think I held the title as the oldest member of the youth praise team. Yet Ioana, who is almost 15 takes the award for being the tallest of the team. Some things just aren't meant to be won.

And finally, here is Marcel and Anna, the couple who's wedding we destroyed. May the Lord bless them....by erasing the American wedding factor from their minds!

This is a praise and worship song the youth group sang that was so cool sounding. I have no idea what they're saying, but it is powerful and beautiful. By the end of our time of worship on Saturday night, we just about had the chorus down. I don't know that I've ever tried to sing something so passionately without actually knowing what on earth I was singing. But again, the song was great! Dora (the girl in pink in front) sings it really well!