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!

Sunday Morning Church

These are pictures from church on Sunday morning down in the valley (i.e. the mission church that Troy began, not Holy Trinity Baptist Church - which is the bigger church we've visited in the past.)

Outside in the courtyard was where all the children met. They had approx. 30 children out there and they were going through VBS material & playing games. Some of our team was out there helping.





Inside, after singing in Romanin, Troy preached in English while Bogdon translated for all the Romanians. We then split into groups to discuss the prodigal son. One group took the story from the perspective of the Father, one group the perspective of the older son, and our group took the prospective from the younger son. We came back together to report our findings, then had the Lord's supper. Though church was 2 hours long, it was pretty good.

Here is our team in our Sunday best.

Here I am with Andrew and a youth that Whitney so lovingly renamed "Bob." He received this nickname because none of us could pronounce his name. And now, we've got the other Romanian youth calling him Bob. Poor fella. But he is a young man with a servant's heart. He fixed the coffee for church on Sunday. Maybe we should rename him "Kelly." ;-)

Here is Roland and I at lunch after church...as good Baptist should. To be an American eating Chinese in Romania is something to think about. If only our waitress were Mexican!

Casa de Romania

Usually on a mission trip, you end up sleeping in some run down old hole in the wall. Well, this vacati.....um....mission trip, the Lord has blessed us with some wonderful accomodations. So after working hard, we can sleep in comfort (i.e. air conditioner). And all God's children said...AMEN!

As you walk into the training center, you head up the stairs to a landing where you find this glass entry way. Through the glass you can see the door to the area where we're staying. If you were to go through the door and to the right, there is another compex for people to stay in as well.

Once through our front door, to the right you'll find this kitchen area. We've got a small fridge, a sink (where Lanny does the dishes...of course!), table & chairs, and of course a coffee maker. Amen!!!

Here is a view of our hallway looking into the kitchen. I think we've got enough footware for an entire village. You can also see from this picture the floormat that leads into the girls' room (on the right). The guys room is right behind me.

After walking through our door you'll find this! Andrew passed out for an afternoon siesta! (I must pick on him...and Lanny later...because they've got plenty of pictures of me sleeping. May the Lord bless their hearts!!!

And of course the bathroom of all bathrooms. Have you ever seen the movie 'The Fly'? Our shower feels a little like that. It's a cool space capsule type set up, standard with overhead lighting, a fan, and of course the built in radio which picks up all Romanian music all day long!!!

So when you think of missions and how difficult it is to "rough it" in another country, don't be fooled too much. However, the afternoon sweedish massages and the exfoliation treatments aren't quite as good as the one's you'd get in the states, but who am I to complain. So next time we've got a missionary in our church looking for help, feel free to follow in the words of Isaiah, "Here I am Lord, SEND ME!!!!!!" (note: massages and exfoliation may not be accurate)

Diving in at a moments notice...

As our day continued on, we were invited to join the youth group for their weekly Bible Study! Their Youth Pastor TT is a great guy who I have really enjoyed speaking with. He seems to be doing well with these Romanian teens. And being a teen "worker" myself, I really enjoyed joining them tonight. It started off with some praise team practice which was proceeded by a meeting with TT. He 'encouraged' both Lanny and I to give a message tonight, as well as have our youth lead in some worship. Last minute is our kind of timing! And wouldn't you know it, we just so happen to have a few youth that are good at leading worship and playing instruments. It was fun to hear the same tunes to songs and to have all the youth singing in different languages!

TT (the Youth Pastor) and his youth praise team practicing for the night.

Ummmm....(so many phrases to input)...how about...a puppet doing Lanny ministry! That's a safe phrase!

Andrew playing that instrument thingy he plays. He did awesome...as usual! ;-)

Taylor played guitar while her and Whitney joined Andrew in singing.

Lanny was asked to give a short message during Bible study. (His was short because mine went long...leave it to a pastor to be long winded a coach to get to the point!)

And to round out the day, we were asked to come back to join the youth group in singing tomorrow night in church. Holy Trinity's youth will be singing in Romanian, while our youth accompany in English. The words may sound different to our ears, but hearts in worship sound the same to our King! Also, a few of their youth volunteered to go out with us this week as translators (because they are really good at their English). Teens joining teens across the globe as one family to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, my job doesn't get any cooler than to see that!

So, for all of you that are praying, let me say a huge THANK YOU all for all your prayers! And this is just day one of this awesome adventure with Christ. Glory to my King!

Day 2: Pizza for breakfast & rush hour traffic!

We've had a pretty good day so far. We had a nice relaxing morning, not getting out of the training center until about 10:00am. And of course, by then, we were all hungry for some authentic Romanian food...so we went out for pizza!

Lanny of course had no hesitation about diving into 'breakfast'!

The team and little Meihi at the "breakfast" shop.

We then got a tour of Rany & Teresa's home, a tour of the small church, met up with Bogdon, went shopping, did some more shopping, and finally came back to the training center for lunch (around 4:00pm). Oh, and we did take a small trip to Praktiker, the Home Depot of Romania...I drooled a little.

This is the map in the small church. Each pink arrow represents a Bible study that is currently taking place in a home. The blue arrows represent homes where people have been baptized. And the yellow arrow (which you really can't see) shows where the church is. In a place where the general midset is orthodoxy, to see this many Bible studies taking place is a true witness to the power of our King!

That rush hour traffic consisted of various vehicles all over the road, multitudes of people "sprinting" across the street, and these horse drawn carriages not quite exceeding the speed limit.

Lunch was actually pretty awesome! We had some great sandwiches, yummy chips, the drink of our choice, and to finish it off....(dum dum dum dum dum ~ dessert theme music) CHOCOLATE!!!!

For all those that are praying, I just want to say a special thank you! Today I think we've had such an amazing prep day to get settled, have some fun, and get our feet under us! Tonight, we've been invited to go speak at the youth meeting at the church and to share what we're here for and how the students can help. Please continue to pray for our work here and that we stay hydrated and aware of our own physical fatigue. As a young & vibrant team, Troy has asked us to prayer walk every zone in Galati! A large task, but one that we are pumped to step up to! So again, thank you for all your prayer! Keep it up, we'll need it!

And to my Wifey: Know I love you, and am thinking about you! I hope you're having fun in Texas! I miss you and can't wait to see you! Talk to you later, baby! Love, Hubby!