Thoughts on Romania Part 1

I have been struggling to get excited about writing my thoughts about our recent Romania trip. It's not because we didn't do fun stuff or that I don't have thoughts to share. I've just really struggled with seeing this last trip as a mission trip. I guess I've always assumed that missions work should involve some type of sacrifice or feel like a sacrifice. I don't know if its because we took a week at the end of it for a family vacation in Germany or because the work seemed too "easy." But this trip, unlike when we went 2 years ago, did not seem like a sacrifice to me.  Maybe I've just learned that I'm home wherever my family is, no matter the circumstances. It felt like our only sacrifice was money, and even that didn't feel like a sacrifice, but a blessing that God has been providing to us for the past year (yay for overtime pay!).

Each trip I take affects me in a different way. My Haiti trip in 2010 was life changing. I truly feel that God used that experience as a spring board to get me and my family moving towards missions work. I can honestly say those 9 days in Haiti were the most intense, heart-breaking, scary, exciting, & emotional days in my life. I'd say it was probably the most "spiritually high" (there's a good church phrase for you) that I've ever been. I feel like every trip since then has been trying to recapture those moments of clarity when I felt God's presence so close and tangible. That's not to say that I haven't felt God's presence on other trips, it's just... different. 

Romania in 2012 was just Keith and me with four other people. That was hard because we left the kids at home. That trip was also an answer to prayer for me because it was our first trip together overseas. We have done mission work together in the states, but being out of your comfort zone is a whole different experience and it was one I wanted to share with Keith. It was also the first time I felt compelled to return to a place (in the states or abroad) where I've served. I know it sounds weird when I say how much I loved my trip to Haiti and how life-changing it was, but I can honestly say, I do not have a desire to return. But Romania... I can see myself returning there yearly, Lord willing.

As I ponder these past trips I'm starting to realize maybe that is why this one did not feel like a sacrifice. Maybe when you are in the mission field that God has called you to (whether it is working with handicap kids, traveling to foreign countries, working in a soup kitchen or being a stay-at-home mom), the sacrifice seems minimal because your heart is in line with what God called you to do. And really, isn't that what we're all looking for? To feel like we are walking with God rather than trying to figure out where God is? Isn't that where true peace lies?  Until next time...

 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7)

And God remembered...

I'm not promising that this post will make sense. We just returned from a month-long stay in Europe. I have been back in my own house just barley more than 12 hours. I'm tired, slightly cranky and feel a bit overwhelmed with the catching up I need to do. However, the same thought keeps rolling around in my head: "God remembered...."

When Noah was floating on the rolling seas, "God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded" (Genesis 8:1). At the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, "when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived." (Gen. 19:29) When Rachel was barren and unable to have a child, "God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive." (Gen. 30:22) When God's people, the Israelites, were enslaved in Egypt, "God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob." (Ex. 2:24).

What does this have to do with my being jet-lagged? Well, this is the same phrase that was rolling around in my head for most of the last month. Our family was very blessed to be able to spend about 3 1/2 weeks in Romania on a mission trip. (We took the last week of the month to have some family time in Germany). We returned to an area that Keith and I had visited 2 years previously. As we met up with old friends I kept thinking, "God remembered..."

Knowing you're not forgotten gives hope. Knowing you're remembered breaths life into a lifeless soul. Being remembered can be life changing.

I'll try to be concise as I give a run down of those we remember.

Iosif: He is a Romanian that we met during our last visit. He used to smuggle Bibles into Romania while it was still in communist hands. His passion is for reaching out to children with God's love. He runs camps, VBS, kids' club, anything he can to reach out to children and give them the hope that comes only through Christ. One of our last nights with him, we had just returned from a week-long camp in the mountains. We were all tired. Somehow, his wife, Lanuta (pronounced Lahnootza) still managed to make us dinner before she went to bed. She apologized for being tired. I think she felt like she wasn't being a good hostess. We would have gladly walked to a market to pick up bread and meat. We didn't want her to feel put out. We weren't special guests who had come to visit, we had come to work alongside them. We told Iosif something along those lines. In return he said, "No, you're friends." That simple title, "friends" struck me. Because we had remembered him and Lanuta and come back to work alongside them, we had moved beyond the acquaintances we were after the last trip and became friends.

Our "family" in Gataia (Denissa, Denisa, Marius, Mada, Christi, Ligia, Mariana, Marcel, Elvira, Ramona, Florian, Andra to name a few). Last visit we spent a week in Gataia helping Iosif run VBS. We made connections with several of the youth leaders there and have been able to keep up with them via Facebook. We wanted to visit them if we could. We were able to attend church there one Sunday. Even those we have not been able to keep up with on Facebook, we were able to see face to face for the first time in 2 years. There were tears of joy and lots of hugs shared. Our time with them was short (too short), but we were able to reaffirm what we had said the last time we were there. In response to being asked why we had returned to Romania I said something like this: "Last time we were here, I told some of the teenagers that I felt like I was leaving part of my heart in Romania. You have become family to us. That is why we have returned."

Scott & Carolyn: They have been serving as missionaries in Romania for 8 (?) years. That is a long time to be away from friends and family. By returning it gave them encouragement, letting them know they are not forgotten by those still in the States.

R: I won't post her full name to protect her privacy, but she knows who she is. There is nothing she needs to hide from, but she is extremely introverted and I don't know if she would like a bunch of strangers reading about her. We met her last time we stayed with Scott & Carolyn and there was an instant connection between her and Keith. Towards the end of our stay this time she told Carolyn that she felt like we were her parents and Jaedon & Emma were her siblings.

Gabbi & Samina: We met them briefly last time. They are partners with Scott & Carolyn in their ministry. Keith said several times that if Gabbi lived in the States he was sure they would be really good friends. Good thing you don't have to live in the same country to be friends!

And there were others - Bogdan, Jackie, Levu (sorry - I probably spelled your name wrong), the kids in Dud (pronounced Dude), and the church in Vinga (that we didn't get to visit this time). We remembered them all. As we met with each one of these people I kept thinking, "God remembered," and it was like God was letting me know that I need to keep these connections strong. I need to let these people know that I will not forget them.

And then God did something special for me. The last week we were in Romania I spent a day in Dud helping out with a VBS. Well, I didn't actually do anything... which really bothered me at first. Without going into details, we weren't sure how VBS would turn out because we didn't have a lot of information going into it. But, it turned out great. The team from St. Louis had a plan. Between them and Bogdan everything was covered so I was not needed. (I was kind of there to fill in the gaps since I had done it before and knew from experience what needed to be done and how the schedule typically works). But, I wasn't needed so I just sat back and watched. Then something pretty cool happened. One of the kids that had been there 2 years ago said, "Ceau Naomi!" He said my name! He remembered me! Even in a moment when I felt unneeded and slightly in the way, God let me know that I was remembered.

I don't think God ever forgets his people. It's not like he went, "Oh, whoops! Noah is still on that boat. I better take care of that!" Just like all those I've met in Romania have a place in my heart, we all have a place in God's. It's just that sometimes those face to face visits can't happen as much as we would like. Just because we don't have those face to face times with God does not mean we aren't important to Him. Maybe it's just that someone needs Him more in that moment than we do. But He still remembers us.

And now, my list of Romanian friends and family has grown much longer. My heart is getting bigger simply because there are so many more people that are being held there. I think that is what this whole trip was about. It wasn't about camp, or doing construction work on the ranch. It was about remembering those God has placed in my life and being remembered in return.