Thoughts on Romania - Part 4 - Iabalcea

Wildflower in Iabalcea

The honest truth regarding missions' trips is that sometimes you feel completely useless and in the way. It is not always full of activities that make you feel good about yourself. Sometimes you wonder if your money would have been better spent just sending it to missionaries in the field rather than spending it to observe them there. Sorry to burst your idealized bubble of what mission trips are like, but there it is.

That was pretty much how I felt the first full week we were in Romania. After having a few days with the Pouncey's and their girls, we traveled with our friend Iosif and his wife Lanuta to a small village in the mountains. Every year Iosif puts together a week-long camp for kids from an orphanage. They play games, have puppet shows, go on hikes, sing songs, and most importantly hear the gospel. Iosif is incredibly good at what he does.

The name of the village is Iabalcea and it has a population of a few hundred people. A water tower was recently installed in the village so they now have running water. Up until a year or so ago they were still getting water in buckets from their wells. Outhouses are the norm. In fact, I'm not sure if there are any indoor bathrooms at all in the village. There were several stray dogs that roamed the gravel roads that ran through town. There is one school building. I can't remember for sure, but it either went to 4th or 8th grade. Either way, to continue education beyond that the kids would have to travel to the nearest town with a high school. There was one general store (called a magazine) that we made sure to visit everyday to get ice cream. Iabalcea is representative of most villages in Romania.

Walking through Iabalcea

We decided to join Iosif and Lanuta at camp to help them with whatever they needed, but more so because we thought it would be a good experience for Jaedon and Emma. I had to keep reminding myself of that throughout the week because I felt like there was little I could do.

View of camp looking down from the top of the hill.

Sixteen kids came to camp (plus our two and Iosif's grandson). In addition to the kids, Iosif's brother Adi (so sorry, but I never learned how to spell his name so I'm guessing), his mom (Mommi), 2 helpers from the children's home, Edith and Lydia, and Pastor John and his wife Ligia joined us at camp. Of all those people, Iosif, Adi, Edith and one of the kids spoke English. (John & Ligia spoke a little bit, but were not fluent). In a weird way, I think it was easiest and hardest on Emma. Easiest because you stick her in a room with 17 people who speak 17 languages and she'll come out with 17 friends, and hardest because she felt like an outsider - even though all the kids liked her and played with her. She got to the point where instead of trying to take part in the lesson times she'd help me with dishes. Jaedon struggled a little bit with fitting in with the boys. There were only five boys at camp, but they were all more physical than Jaedon is used to.

Since I speak very little Romania I couldn't do any of the teaching or talking with the kids to get to know them. But, we did play games with them every afternoon and we went on all the hikes with them. At first. Mommi wouldn't let me help with dishes. Not because she didn't think I could do it, but more because I think she looked to us as being guests. But, I managed to keep sneaking in to dishwasher duty and eventually she just smiled and let me do it. I think she understood my need to feel like I was earning my keep.

I loved our time in Iabalcea, but it took me a while to be okay being an observer rather than a doer.

I loved watching our kids interact with the other children. (By the end of the week Emma even had 2 boys that liked her... oh my... teenage years are going to be tough!) I had a lot of really good conversations with Iosif. He works so hard for these kids! God is using him, there is no doubt about it. I enjoyed getting to know Edith and introducing her to things she'd only ever seen in the movies like American football, rock skipping and S'mores. I loved going on the long hikes and seeing snails big enough to eat (though I don't think I'd ever want to try). I loved seeing Mommi become a grandma to Jae & Em. She "spoiled" Emma with extra cups of sweet tea whenever she wanted it. I loved our walks to Nikka's magazine to get ice cream and pop. I fell in love with the countryside of Romania. By about midweek Jaedon asked, "Can we come here every year?"

In the end, yes it was worth it to spend our money to be observers to Iosif's ministry. It didn't matter if I didn't do any "work" at all. It mattered that my kids now have a love for the simpler things in life and that our friendship with Iosif and Lanuta has been strengthened.