The Saturday we left Iosif's I was looking forward to sleeping in. However, his dogs, Zeus and Marley, had other plans. They thought 6:30 am was a wonderful time to play tug-of-war with a plastic water bottle. So, I laid there for about 1/2 an hour trying to ignore Zeus' massive jaw chomping relentlessly on the 1 liter bottle before I finally gave up. But, at least we weren't rushed to leave and were able to take our time getting ready and packing up our stuff.
Dany picked us up around 11:00 and we left Timisoara and headed to Arad. Since they only have one guest room, we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast. After dropping off our stuff there we went to Scott & Carolyn's apartment and got to meet their girls. Alina was not home from church camp, but Ramona and Fifi were both there. We also got to meet Liviu and he and Charlie immediately hit it off by talking about soccer. After lunch (mmmm.... shawarmas) we headed back to our hotel (I know it was a bed & breakfast - but hotel is faster to write). I was exhausted from the previous week so I took advantage of the down time and took a nap.
I awoke to the guys laughing and Keith saying something about, "Boobies!" Some inside joke that I think is better off left ignored. He, Charlie and Randy had gone for a walk around town while the girls relaxed. That night we ate dinner at the apartment with the girls. They had fixed us dinner (stuffed mushrooms - my FAVORITE!!!).
At some point, Ramona noticed Keith's toenails that I had painted the week before. Somehow that turned into her getting out ear rings for him to wear. Then suddenly he was in a wig. It was hilarious - and also a little disturbing! But, in true Keith fashion, he let himself be the butt of the joke so as to break down barriers. The girls were not timid around us at all after that. Once we got Keith to look like a man again we played Sequence with them until about midnight.
Sunday I thought for sure I'd get to sleep in since we weren't going to church until the afternoon. However, the rooster in the yard next door thought 6:45 was as good a time as any to awake. This was the day we were headed to the gypsy church in Vinga. I was giving the message from our group. I had planned on talking about loving your enemies, but as I tried to write out what I wanted to say, it just wasn't coming to me.
After prayer, it became clear that I was to talk on the Roman Road. This was one of the instances where I saw God's hand at work. You see, ever since going to Haiti I've felt I am supposed to teach God's word in some form. On top of that, I've always wanted to write. I've felt that maybe I'm supposed to write a Bible study. Well, when my co-worker, Sharon, learned this she said, "I'm throwing down the guantlet. Why don't you write a study for us [co-workers] to do?" So I accepted that challenge and have spent the past several months writing a study on the Roman Road. I finished it the week before we left for Romania. So, as I'm preparing what I'm going to say in the gypsy church, God told me, "You already know what to say. You just wrote a six-week study on it!"
After lunch, we headed to the villiage of Vinga. All the other places I visited, though rural, did not look "poor." Vinga reminded me of Haiti. There were people just sitting outside their unkempt houses, which were made from mud with dirt floors. Some had only a blanket for a door. There was trash just kind of dumped where ever. The roads were hard and pitted with pot holes. There was one water pump for the tiny village. Before church, we helped Jackie pass out food to some of the widows in her program. The women were very grateful. Without Jackie's help, I'm not sure how they would get enough food.
The church was held in a one room building. I don't know if it may have been a house at one point, but I do know that the one room is not much bigger than my living room. I'm not good at estimating numbers so I couldn't tell you for sure how many were in attendance. I would guess there were about 50 people total. The service was interesting, though not unfamiliar. A group of the older members stood to sing a song. It didn't sound bad, but I swear it had about 20 verses. :) The youth group aged kids got up to sing a couple songs and one of the songs they sang was, "Blessed Be Your Name." We also took communion. Though there wasn't enough juice for everyone to have a cup, so we shared.
Jackie pastors the church in Vinga. She has tried to get another pastor to take over there, but no one wants to teach at a gypsy church - so she does. There is a strong racial tension between the gypsies and the Romanians. We saw it some in Gataia as well. The best way to describe it would be to think of the segregation between blacks and whites in the US about 60 years ago.
After a brief message from Jackie it was my turn to speak. I told them that from what I had seen during the service so far, that this was a message they had probably heard before, but that it was one I felt God was telling me to share. So, I shared the message. While I was speaking, about five different people got up and walked out. I asked later if this was common. Carolyn said it wasn't uncommon. I wasn't sure what to think though. On the one hand, I didn't want to offend anyone, but on the other, I wished they had stayed because maybe they were missing something God wanted them to hear.
After the service, Jackie provided us with pop and cookies while she had a church leaders meeting to attend. I'm not sure how long we sat there, but after a while we finally had to leave because Jackie was still in her meeting and the girls were waiting for us in Arad. It was weird being served snacks while all the poor kids were outside. Keith and Charlie took some of the cookies and a bottle of pop out to the kids while we waited on Jackie.
We headed back to Arad so that we could take the girls out for a special treat. Keith found out the night before that Fifi had only been to the movie theater a couple of times and Ramona had never been. So, we took them to the movies. Alina came home right before we left so we were able to take her as well. We let the girls choose the movie, so we got to see Ice Age 4 in 3-D. We went all out and also bought them popcorn and sodas. It was so fun to sit next to Ramona and see her reaction the first time something "jumped" out at her. Interesting note on the movie theaters - they have assigned seating! You can actually be fined if you don't sit in your assigned seat. It's basically like going to a fancy theater where you choose where you're going to sit when you buy your ticket. That was a new experience for me.
After the movies we headed back to the apartment for a late dinner and then went back to our hotel.
I could keep writing, but since this is already a long post, I'll just stop right here. Until tomorrow...
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