Missing Minsk and Romania

I talked to Bruce today, my traveling partner through Belarus before we joined up with Dave and Romania and my roommate for the whole trip, for the first time since we returned. We had emailed a couple of times but not talked since my return from Romania alone as he traveled onward to Turkey for several days. As I talked to him, my mind was flooded with memories of our trip and what an amazing time it was. I am really missing Minsk and Romania today. It's not quite the love and adventure of travel that I'm missing, although that sparks in me always, and I wouldn't dream of leaving my family again any time soon. It's somethingdifferent...

Here's why I'm missing Eastern Europe: I felt so close to God. Each day while we traveled, Bruce and I started our day with prayer and sharing what we thought God was telling us for the day and what we expected Him to do. At the close of each day, we huddled in our room and talked over the day, what God actually did versus what we anticipated He would do, and prayed. Every day was such a wonderful time of walking in God's presence and direction. That's what I miss. I suppose that I can't really describe how it felt. Our team was having such a good time, laughing with each other, taking in all of these experiences, and God was almost tangible to us. His discernment was given to us all the time, and the prayers that we offered up each and every day seemedeffortless and answered swiftly. Amazing.

Since I've been home, I've had moments of that same thing, and I take that as evidence that God really did a work in me during the trip. The Godly fog that I was able to walk in "over there" has stayed with me in part. However, real life has certainly taken its toll now that I'm back home. It makes me disappointed that I don't seem to have the same grasp on God and His direction for my daily activities back home as I do when I'm on one of these trips. Perhaps that's just the nature of missions and reformation work and others have experienced the same thing. I don't know. I do know one thing, however. The emails I've received with prophetic words and the confirming devotional times I've had have certainly encouraged to reach that plateau here at home as well! I knowthat's what God desires for me, and I know that's what I want, too.

More to come...

Time for reflection

Unfortunately, as is often the case when one returns to real life after a vacation or trip like the one I've just completed, the piles that accumulated while I was away from home and work have left little time for reflection on what God did in the last two weeks. Until yesterday, I honestly hadn't given more than five minutes' thought at a time to my trip to Belarus and Romania. Perhaps now is the time to start.

Over the extended Veteran's Day weekend, my family and I went to Lynchburg to visit my younger brother, Christopher, and his wife, Bethany, and their little daughter, Rylee, who was born only six days before Andrew, my youngest. Also in Lynchburg is my youngest brother, Kent. We didn't have as much time with Kent but did see him a few hours around mealtimes. On Sunday, I attended their church, Brentwood, and it was during the worship time that I really began to reflect on the trip. You know the typical, "one week ago, I was..." Well, one week ago, I was in Timisoara, Romania, delivering a "sermon" at one church and participating in a wonderful worship and communion time at another. The worship there was so rich, and I found myself there thinking that this Reformation work is exactly what I am called to do. When you go to a guidance counselor in your high school or college years to plead for help in determining a career path, they usually ask you what excites you, what are you passionate about, etc. That is supposed to be the thing that you should pursue and will be the happiest in. As a Christian, it would follow that this is perhaps also the calling God has for you, and it is natural that it should be the most fulfilling. Well, that is exactly what the Reformation ministry I've been able to be involved in is for me! You know that crossroads ideal I talked about in my previous post? God used my education, work experience, and all of my strongest interests to prepare me for the calling He has, and I'm only now starting to walk in it. All of that starting hitting me at church yesterday.

Shortly after I returned from my trip, I emailed the address of this blog to the administrator at my church who booked all of the travel for this trip and handles all of the missions admin for KPC (Kempsville Presbyterian Church). She evidently passed it on to others in the office, and I received an email from a lady who has been designated the Prayer Liaison for KPC. She had been reading my posts about the trip and felt that God was giving her a word and showing her a picture for me. Her words were:

"And God has given you a "taste" of what lies ahead and stirred a new passion up within you! You will return to this country and people that you have grown to love. You will be stretched and God will begin to use you in mighty ways that you could not think or imagine..."

"For, as I write this the Lord has shown me a picture--and rather than having physical properties like a pitcher, you have become more fluid in nature and God is pouring you into a new vessel that He will use to reach new people. This vessel you are being poured into is bigger than the 'container' you once were. I hear the words of Jeremiah 29:11--I know the plans I have for you--new plans, says the Lord."

Wow! And to top it off, on the morning that I read that, I read in my quiet time Isaiah 42:1-16! Go read that passage, and you'll see how it spun me up quite a bit. It seems that God definitely has more for me to do and is beginning stretch me even more! It's the stretching that can be painful, though.

I am now facing some turmoil at work that I see as a part of that stretching, and it could be very unpleasant to resolve. I saw so many amazing and good things on my trip and things that encouraged me to return and continue the Reformation work. I came home extremely happy to have gone and fired up for more work! I remain that way despite things that have come up. I covet your prayers for a favorable outcome, for the Lord's favor, and His continued work in my life. May I stretch without breaking!

More reflections as I have time. I've only scratched the surface.

More to come...

Still here

Believe it or not, I did make it home safe and sound on Monday night. I've been trying my best to play catch-up this week and am just now finding a couple minutes to write.

My trip home was much more eventful than I thought it would be. I flew out of Timisoara on the 6:00am flight. On that flight were two other Americans, a middle-aged guy from North Carolina and a younger guy (mid-20s) who was a Romanian native but has lived in California for the last 14 years. He was going back to California to visit his fiancée. I didn't sit by or talk to either of these guys but took note of them as they chatted to each other while we waited to board our flight to Vienna.

I enjoyed Vienna thoroughly as you no doubt read, and I boarded the flight to Washington along with all the other passsengers for our scheduled 10:40am departure. Everyone was aboard and waiting for pushback from the gate when the captain came on the intercom and said that a security situation had arisen and that a "suspicious person" was refusing to fly to Washington. So, everyone had to deplane, all baggage was removed for re-screening, and the whole plane had to undergo a full security sweep! While all the passengers were waiting at the gate for everything to be completed, I found myself close to the North Carolina guy who had traveled from Timisoara to Vienna on my same flight. He was continuing on to Washington, too. As it turns out, the "suspicious person" was our other American friend! Mr. North Carolina relayed the whole story. Apparently, Mr. California was quite agitated all morning and was talking to Mr. North Carolina all the way from Timisoara and during the wait for the connecting flight in Vienna about how he wasn't sure if he wanted to fly, didn't know if he would board the plane, etc. Well, he did board after all, but as the door was closing, he jumped up and said, "I'm not flying on this plane!"

As a result of his boneheaded move, my flight from Vienna was delayed for two hours. We didn't take-off until 12:35pm, and landed at 4:10pm instead of 2:50pm in Washington. I knew that I was going to be pushing it, but thought that I had enough time to make my next flight at 5:16pm. Ha! Oh ye naïve fool! When one arrives at Dulles on an international flight, you have to take a bus from the plane to the Customs hall, then you go through Passport Control, pick up luggage from the carousel, take it back over to be re-checked, go through regular security, and then go to your connecting gate. Passport control was snap and took only a minute. The luggage carousel was a different matter, though. My suitcase was literally the last one off the plane, and I stood there 35 minutes before getting it. I rushed over to re-check my bag and boogied upstairs. I reached security and then had to wait another 15 minutes. After undressing and redressing, I made it past the TSA and pushed onward to Terminal C. But wait, there's more! To get to Terminal C from security, you have to take another bus across the airfield--ten more minutes! I finally arrived at my connecting gate at 5:25pm, and the flight to Norfolk left at 5:15pm. I nearly cried right then and there!

After a couple of phone calls to my wife and working with a couple of United customer service agents, I was re-booked on US Airways flights connecting through Charlotte to Norfolk. So, instead of arriving back home at 6:30pm on Monday evening, I got home at 10:30pm with an extra flight thrown in for good measure. At least it wasn't on Tuesday! That looked to be the only possibility with the first customer service agent I worked with. What a day! It's like the old axiom says, never travel with a shifty Romanian who has lived in California for fourteen years...

More to come...

All good things must come to an end

When one has to get up at 3:30 in the morning to get to the airport in time to catch three flights across Europe and the Atlantic Ocean for twelve hours, it's a little tough to remember that the last week and a half have been life changing! I've known since the start of this trip that my last morning was going to be a toughie and start really early. Fortunately, I was able to block out that little bit of misery to enjoy my last day in Romania and in Timisoara.

After Dave and I finished at House of Worship yesterday, successfully conquering our test for substitute preacher, we were hustled back to Agape Church to rejoin Bruce and Florin as they finished up the service there. Agape was incredibly responsive to Bruce who was, as always, very fired up about his message of reformation! It was encouraging to see all the people who came up to him after church with questions. One was an especially key contact, though. Calin is a lawyer and trial attorney in Timisoara. He told Bruce that he doesn't typically attend Agape Church but just "happened" to be there yesterday. He has been waiting for years, apparently, for the reformation and Biblical worldview message to be preached in the churches of Romania and was thrilled that Bruce was there to deliver such a message. Cool! Calin, Bruce, and Dave are supposed to meet today to talk about further opportunities to work together. Exciting!

We said our sad goodbyes to Florin Suciu who was nothing less than a Godsend to us and then went to lunch with Florin Dorobant, the associate pastor, and his son. I had goulash, cucumber salad, and chicken cordon bleu. It was (too) filling and delicious!

In the afternoon, we had a couple hours to ourselves to re-walk the main square of Timisoara and see the revolution sites in the daylight. I got several pictures. We'll see...

We wrapped up our time in Romania with an absolutely perfect worship and communion service at Agape Church. On the first Sunday of every month, they have an evening service to serve communion. Last night happened to be the night. The worship was just what I needed. It really ministered to me after being away from my family and my church for two weeks. (I tried my best to sing it all in Romanian and finally started to wrap my brain and tongue around the pronunciation. Easy? No. Standard and without exceptions? Yes.) I really enjoyed singing some choruses I already knew and some that I didn't. God showed up for me in a powerful way.

The church ordered pizza for us after the service, and we spent about half an hour eating with the pastor's wife, a few associate pastors, and a few staff members. Very sweet people, and, of course, the video of Jonathan and Andrew was again a big hit! We got dropped off at the hotel by 9:00pm, very early for this trip, and I was out like a light by 10:00pm. Just what I needed for an early morning!

The trip is over, but, alas, the updates are not. I want to post one about initial impressions of Belarus. I know that this was my second trip there, but still. I also anticipate at least one update sharing my overall thoughts about what God did for our team and in me with the whole trip.

More to come...

Timisoara part two

Okay, back to Timisoara after a short Vienna excursion. So I went to bed on Sunday night knowing that my first go-round as a preacher was forthcoming. A few years ago, I began to grasp this Biblical worldview stuff, and God began to work into me the desire to teach others based on my experience and education. Then, early last year, I got thrown in with a wonderful group of people from my church that provided me with the opportunity to see in Lithuania and Belarus just exactly what this teaching would be like. Even then, however, my role was primarily one of support, taking part in some panel discussions, maybe even speaking for a few minutes. There was no direct teaching from me, though, and that was okay. Last summer, I had the chance to start in on the teaching role by being a part of a team that taught Biblical economics at church. That really wet my feet and got me excited. Then came this year's trip. The structure of the trip didn't really include much opportunity or obligation for me to teach directly. My role this year was to present ideas in the midst of meetings and answer questions as they came up. I was, in my mind, trying to run not walk through the doors that God has opened to me, and I anticipated, even looked forward to helping in a primary role this year.

None of that prepared me to preach in a church, however! To be fair, I wasn't expected to do it alone. Dave and I were pairing up while Bruce was at another church. I went to bed on Saturday very nervous, but not terrified. It was a two or three hours before bed that I found out about the preaching, so I had time for God to prepare me, and He did!

I Peter 1:13 and Colossians 2:8 have really been on my mind during this trip, and I felt like God was giving me the word "crossroads" as a theme to share at House of Worship. A few years ago, I was at a personal crossroads. My Christianity was intact, my family was wonderful, my career was fine, I wasn't struggling with any moral failures, but my worldview wasn't fully and Biblically formed. I am thankful to the Lord that He had led me in conservative thinking and education my whole life, so there was not a lot of garbage to sort through. Nonetheless, I needed to fully inform myself about how the Bible speaks to every sphere of life. I have traversed a personal crossroads.

Secondly, I felt like the members of House of Worship and the Christians of Romania are also at a crossroads. The revolution was 16 years ago, but there is still so much work to do to make Romania a free and prosperous country. They stand at a crossroads between Communist bondage and Biblical freedom. It is time for the Christians there to rise up, prepare themselves, and change their country. They are at a crossroads.

Finally, Timisoara is a crossroads city. Like I explained in my previous posting, the city is a crucial gateway between east and west. It is a true example to the rest of Romania and can be likewise for the rest of Eastern Europe and the continent in general. It is a crossroads city that can be a city on a hill.

So that's the message I brought. The people were responsive, and I felt like God really gave me a good speaking ability and the words as I needed them. All in all, not too bad for my first day in the pulpit. Not that I'd want to do it again. I'll take teaching over preaching. But, in season and out of season, right?

More to come...

A short excursion

Ooo, but I do love Austria! The Vienna Airport has a City Airport Train that leaves right from Terminal B and arrives at the center of the city in 16 minutes. I bought my round-trip ticket before I even left the States and had an opportunity this morning to spend a couple of hours tromping around Vienna between my connecting flights.

For us Americans, most of Europe is like stepping back in time without leaving modernity behond. Vienna is just that. It is an enchanting place. I left the train station, walked two blocks, and I was in the 19th century. A few streets more, and I was in the 18th or 17th century. My planned destination was Stephansdom, a enormous gothic cathedral whose spire I could see from a half mile away at the train station. I just love cathedrals--Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, it doesn't matter. Stephansdom was no disappointment. It has obviously been scarred by fire at some point in its history and much of the exterior is black. Hopefully, the pictures will turn out. The morning light was just peeking out of the fog and clouds, so we'll see.

I have always appreciated the Catholic church for their reverence and awe of the Lord and they way that permeates Mass. Obviously, the theology of the Catholic church is way off, but I've always wanted to sit in on a Mass in Europe. Well, this morning was my chance. There was a Mass in full swing when I got to the church. Two priests in beautiful cream and pale green robes were saying Mass to about 30 congregants. It was kind of sad to see this massive cathedral so empty inside. But, the interior was absolutely beautiful.

I headed back to the airport and everything was sailing smoothly along until everyone was aboard the plane and waiting for pushback and take off. All of a sudden, there was an annoucement that a security situation had developed. A passenger had checked in, checked their luggage, boarded the plane, and then told the crew that they refused to fly today. The passenger was removed from the plane, and everyone else had to de-board while Austrian Airlines did a full security screening. Aargh! Two hours later (!), we were cleared and allowed to re-board. While we were waiting, I talked to a guy from North Carolina who was on my flight from Timisoara. The suspicious passenger turned out to be another guy who flew with us from Timisoara, a friend of the N.C. guy. Apparently, he is Romanian but has lived in California for 14 years. He was flying home to visit his fiancée but decided to bail out and leave us all in the lurch!

Austria has certainly sold its soul to the EU and is as morally bankrupt as the rest of western Europe. But, I'd like to think that it is a little different in some way. Today was my second visit to Austria, and I am smitten. I'm flying on Austrian Airlines right now on the way to Washington. Great airline; they handled the security situation perfectly--plenty of announcements, drinks in the waiting area, and information regularly. The airline is just a reflection of the country. Hopefully, I'll see both again soon.

More to come...

Timisoara

I'm writing from seat 7F on the plane headed to Vienna, the first leg on the journey home. This is really the first chance I've had to remark on Timisoara, and I'm only now collecting my thoughts on the trip as whole. A few more updates will surely follow this one.

We rolled into town about 7:00 on Saturday night, having reached Timisoara after a 3+ hour drive from Hunedoara County. While Timisoara wasn't exactly a shock to our system, it was readily apparent that we were back in the west again. The city lies just inside the western border of Romania and only a three-hour drive from Budapest, Hungary. It boasts the largest mall in Eastern Europe, several Romanian universities, and is the primary entry point to Romania from Western Europe. So, you can imagine how it looked to us after traversing the countryside for most of the week. The hairstyles were western, the clothes were nicer, the cars were newer, and the city itself was more modern and clean.

Timisoara is also the most progressive and prosperous city in Romania (though Bucharest probably has more total wealth), and that was visible in the building of Agape Church. The church has a great story, though they've struggled, too. Fifteen years ago, they began to build a large, really large, church on the corner of a vacant field at the edge of town. Since that time, a major bank has been built (four or five stories) almost abutting the church, many apartment buildings have risen, and that large mall has been completed directly across the street! This all makes for great exposure for the church, though it has brought some unwanted headaches as well.

The church building sits uncompleted, because the church ran out of money before they could complete it. It rises six stories with a huge red tile sloped roof and a tremendous prayer tower at the top. The auditorium seats 2500 now and could be expanded to 3000 if necessary. Because the building is essentially only rough concrete with electricity--no interior finishing--only summer services can be held inside. In the winter, the church crams all of the people back into their original building which seats maybe 300. You can imagine what that does to their attendance.

Upon our arrival, we met Florin Dorobant, an associate pastor at the church. He got us to our hotel--the nicest yet, by the way--and then took us on a short waling tour of the Revolution sites around the main square.

If you're not up on your Romanian history, here's your chance. In 1989, Ceausescu, or "the dictator" as everyone here refers to him, was ruling with an iron fist. However, in early December, a priest has begun preaching freedom from his apartment. He was arrested, released, placed on house arrest, etc., but he continued to preach from his window. Between the days of December 16-25, there was building unrest and riots in Timisoara. The military was called in, and upwards of 40 people were killed, many on the steps of the Orthodox Cathedral, which we visited, at the head of the main square. On the 22nd, it got so bad that Ceausescu flew from Bucharest and gave a speech from the Opera House. That was the final straw. Instead of quelling the revolution, it threw it wide open, and Ceausescu broke. He ended up fleeing Timisoara but was caught, tried, and executed with three days. Romania was free!

The Orthodox cathedral is beautiful, all lit up at night with a chill in the air. It was remarkable to stand on the steps and look 200 yards down the square to the opera house, knowing that I was standing where someone gave their life for freedom. We continue to walk down the square and saw the hotel and buildings that still bear scars from the bullets of tanks and military fire to scatter revolutionaries.

We stumbled to bed late and prepared ourselves for church on Sunday. In the midst of it all, I got a surprise. Dave and I were scheduled to deliver the morning message at House of Worship! Just the two of us, without Bruce. He was to be at Agape Church, and the sermon times overlapped. Gulp! Just a little nerve-wracking.

More to come...

On the road again...

We're in the middle of yet another late afternoon/early evening drive between towns. This time, we're traveling from Deva to Timisoara, our final stop before heading home. I'm so glad that this trip enabled us to travel to several towns and cities rather than staying in one place. By doing that, we've been able to get a better feel for Romania overall and meet a variety of people. The neatest thing about the drives themselves, however, has been the opportunity to see a real cross-section of the country that we wouldn't have seen if we simply stayed put in Bucharest or Timisoara. Our journey has taken us through countless small towns and little villages. Each looks similar, but it is always such an experience to come upon a new one and enjoy the "national geographic" feel--as Bruce said--of everything. This current drive is the second we've made through rolling hill country with the sunset off one side and the air filled with smoke from the wood fires of peasants in the villages. It gives the whole land a mystical feel that can't be described fully. Magical.

There is true poverty in Romania to be sure. We've estimated that the villages are about 60 years behind us when it comes to infrastructure, utilities, etc. Some of the places we've gone through still have only gravel roads. They have electricity, but many lack indoor plumbing. Most people have some small amount of livestock for sufficiency not just enterprise. The towns here are about twenty years behind. Really rather mind-blowing when you think about our busy and technologically advanced lives as Americans.

This morning, we traveled throughout Hunedoara County, visiting several sites of importance to Dani Raducanu. First was the House of Hope, a home that he and his wife started to care for children who have been abandoned or are from broken homes. They currently care for nine kids besides their own three. What a giving heart they have. They opened the home simply because they felt like that's what true Christians would do for a community they love. The government has shut them down at least once in the past, but they are thriving now. After seeing that and having a great breakfast, we went a few roads over to see a church that has stood in the village since the 1700s. It really sits in someone's backyard and has as much wood as stone in its construction, so it's wonder it still stands at all.

Leaving Baru Mare, we drove back through Hateg and on back to Deva. Along the way, we passed a true Communist graveyard. During the Soviet era, Hunedoara County was one of the industrial centers of Romania with mining, refining, steel production, etc. Now, all of that has collapsed. There is a half-mile stretch of road that is surrounded on both sides by decaying buildings, half-toppled cement structures, rusting hulks of machines, etc. It is eerie driving through there, and it really looks like a nuclear holocaust zone. What a testament to man's failure when he tries to do things his own way instead of the Biblical way.

Before reaching Deva, we stopped at Corvin Castle. Very cool! It has stood there since the 1300s--this is a very old land--and it remains in great shape. We spent about twenty minutes climbing all over it and visiting little chambers here and there.

Our time in Deva concluded with a 30-minute meeting with the President of the County. He is on par with a state governor as we know it, so it was a rather crucial and "divine appointment" meeting. He thanked us profusely for visiting his county and was very excited about the prospects of our return with teams to teach Biblical principles of business, leadership, and politics. I don't know that he was a Christian, but he certainly recognized our principles and resonated with their value. He also repeated an interesting line that we have now heard three times now. He said that we as Americans are 60 years late in coming to save Romania, meaning that we failed the country when we gave it to the Soviets at the end of WWII. Interesting. There is some disappointment here toward the historical relationship of the States and Romania, but there is also a tangible excitement about the prospects for the future relationship.

More to come...

This is the guy!

There are so many things that I want to write about from today that I really can't decide what to start with. So, let me start by describing my surroundings right now. I am in a private room with a private bath in a homey inn. The room has a double bed; the bathroom is bigger than my bathroom at home. I'm on the second floor with live modern Romanian folk music pumping up from the restaurant/bar below me. Our team just finished a tremendous meal of spicy pork with mushrooms, potatoes, cucumbers, bread, juice, and ice cream. Yet, we are in the midst of all of this in a little town of a few thousand called Baru Mare. It's described to us as not quite a village, not quite a town. It's really out in the middle of nowhere and quite surreal. Our inn is the only one in town, and our waitress tonight is the wife of the vice-mayor!

Isn't it just like God to bring encouragement right after a time of frustration?! Yesterday brought some frustrations, as I wrote, so we didn't really know what to expect today. The whole trip has been one of figuring out the plans for the day about 24 hours ahead of time. We don't know any of the people we're scheduled to meet with, and they don't really know us. It's been a real faith walk. And yet today was so good.

The day started with Bruce, Florin, and me leaving Brasov for a two hour drive to Sibiu to pick up Dave who went there last night to speak at another military academy. The booking service for the pensione tried to overcharge us by $27 but Florin was watching out for us and corrected the clerk's "mistake." The drive to Sibiu was really pretty but bone-jarring on terrible roads. We passed countless peasants working in fields in traditional dress or driving around on horse carts. We arrived at Sibiu around 10:30, picked up Dave and headed to Deva, our next scheduled stop. Along the way, the throttle cable of the van broke twice. We finally fixed it with some strategically placed packing tape that we had stuck in my suitcase upon leaving Norfolk! Deva was a really pleasant little city of about 75,000. We had lunch in a fancy restaurant with the County President, City President, County Vice-President, and County Secretary of the Christian Democratic Party. Two of them pretended to be interested in what we discussed with them, but it was pretty apparent that they really only wanted business investments. The County President was great, though, and he is genuinely interested about teaching and changing the Romanian culture through principles like the ones we bring.

When we first got to lunch, a reporter and cameraman from the local TV station were there to interview us. Look, honey, I'm on TV! They taped about a minute of interview footage and asked questions about us for about twenty minutes. It's supposed to air tomorrow evening. Interesting, huh?!

After lunch, the County and City President led us, along with a member of the Christian Democratic Youth Party up to the citadel overlooking the city. It sits on a hill 500 feet above the city and was built in the 14th century. But it was blown up accidentally by the townspeople in the mid-1800s! Oops. Anyway, the ruins were cool and the views were spectacular. Plus, we got a good look at the Romanian national gymnastics training academy which is in Deva. Pretty cool!

We left Deva to head to Baru Mare where we are now and wondered if the meeting we had just had was genuine or profitable at all. We had a real sense that the County President, Emil Danci, was a Christian and genuinely interested and simply set our sights ahead to meeting the mayor of Baru Mare, Daniel Raducanu. Well, about 2/3 of the way to Bare Maru, Florin got a phone call from Emil who was in a car directly behind us. He got in our van and led us the rest of the way to Baru Mare. I talked to him a little bit about the Party, and he joined us for dinner. We really like him; he's the real deal.

Dani Raducanu! What a breath of fresh air! He is the mayor of Baru Mare but also a pastor and evangelist. He just returned on Thursday from a one month vacation in the States where he had an invitation to remain and take a pastorate. He turned it down because he was born and raised in the Baru Mare area and knows that God has called him to be mayor and minister here in Romania. As he started to share about his town and his view of governance and ministry, I really felt like God was saying to me, "This is the guy for Romania." By that, I mean that Dani is the guy that gets it, Biblical worldview, here and that we can work with to do great things for the Lord! It was so encouraging. And this feeling came before Bruce even began to share about us and what we teach. That just brought further agreement, and I think that Dani and we were getting more pumped up the longer we talked. We will be meeting again tomorrow morning before heading on to Timisoara. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our partnership with him. What a tremendous encouragement after a rather unsure last 24 hours!

More to come...

Good bookends

I didn't plan to write this update in the way it has come about, but it will be appropriate. I've written already about our afternoon meeting yesterday when we had a little resistance in the feedback, but I've not written about the morning and evening. They made good bookends to the day.

We woke early to find that we had no hot water (or heat during the night before). We stayed in a pensione at the crest of a hill and the top of a very narrow road. It was a cool setting, and we were assured that we would have hot water. Oops. So, no shower for me yesterday, only a frigid shave and a scalp freezing shampoo under the sink. We drove down to town and had chicken sandwiches for breakfast. They were enormous and had french fries and shredded cabbage in the bun with the meat. A little different for us but typical here. The saurmas that we had in Bucharest that were so delicious were the same way--french fries and pickles all in the wrap. I suppose there is some efficiency here after all.

Anyway, we met after breakfast with Adi Stanciu. He is a pastor in Brasov as well as a leader of the Romanian Missionary Society in Oradea. Plus, he is a member of the board of BIG Impact Romania. Everyone we've met here wears multiple hats. BIG Impact is a pastoral training organization that gives training on church leadership, organization, and planning. It equips pastors for the other side of pastoring besides the theological.

The organization has purchased about 22 acres of land on a mountainside above Brasov near a little village called Sacele. The land cost $50,000 (for 22 acres!), and they have begun efforts to construct a training center. The goal is to create a Master's and Doctorate school for pastors from throughout the country. Another big vision these people are operating within!

We drove up to the site and talked for a while with Adi. It was a tremendous visit as, at the end, through normal conversation, we found out that he has some very key contacts that would fit perfectly with our ministry. Divine appointments! Some are in the States and some still here in country. He also told us of a publishing house that the Society runs. When we visited a bookstore in Brasov later in the evening, we saw some of the books they publish. Most are authors and resources that we have recommended in our travels to people who want more information on Biblical worldview. God really encouraged us with all of that.

After our afternoon pastor's meeting that I wrote about earlier, we had the late afternoon and evening free. So we took the opportunity to visit the old town center of Brasov. Just beautiful. It's the stereotypical European town, big central square, old baroque buildings and houses, and a massive central church. The Black Church sits in the middle of it. It is a still-operating Lutheran church built in the 14th century. Huge! The name 'Black Church' comes from the appearance of the church after a fire in the 17th century. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we could only see the outside. Good enough for a first visit, though.

We walked the main street of the city and stopped in a bookstore, a traditional crafts store, and finally made our way to a restaurant for pizza. All during our stroll and at dinner, we were talking to Florin about worldview, Romania, his studies, the EU, Western Europe, etc. It was a tremendous time. We even found a copy of "Intended for Pleasure" in Romanian in the bookstore. Florin got so excited as he had been looking for that book for a while. He pulled back a little at the price and was going to wait to buy it cheaper at the book fair that comes to Bucharest twice a year. So, we bought it for him as a gift which he humbly and reluctantly received. It cost all of $6.

To finish our night, we went to an Internet café. I was able to check my email and respond to Karen. She sent some pictures of the boys from the Harvest Party at church that were adorable! I miss my family lot, and I feel so bad that Andrew seems to be having a very hard time with his reflux while I'm away. Karen is worn out, and I pray that God will give her rest and encouragement.

One more quick thing that I keep forgetting to add. On the way from Bucharest to Brasov on Wednesday, we passed a horrific traffic accident. Two cars had apparently hit head-on at about 60 mph. The fire and rescue crews were swarming all around trying to free a person from one of the cars. Lying on the road in the middle of everything, covered with a thin blanket, was a man who was obviously dead. His arms and legs were sticking out from under the blanket. Chilling.

More to come...

Initial impressions of Romania

A few quick impressions of Romania after three days here:

The people are very polite but very direct. Florin is unafraid to talk to anyone about anything and ask questions for anything.

There is zero efficiency in any commercial transaction. Ten minutes to order a simple dessert in a cafeteria with five extra workers standing around doing nothing. Other stores are the same way.

Pink toilet paper; bathrooms that have separate facilities for the sexes but common wash areas.

The language sounds very much like Italian to my ear, only not as pretty. Not very pretty at all really.

Most of the people look very Italian, only with slightly darker complexions. Many have jet black hair.

The people are either very attractive or very not, not too many in between. A good number of the women are rail thin but very shapely at the same time. A good number of the men are swarthy but some are very mousy.

In Bucharest and Brasov, the two cities we've stayed in, the women were very natural with little hair color or makeup. But, in the little villages and town we've driven through, some of the women are very made up with ghastly reddish hair dyes and too much make-up, trying to play "big city," I suppose.

Lots of stray dogs in the streets, though apparently many have been "removed" in the last few years. Not too many street children visible, though that is a big problem here. We did see one girl at the train station who was obviously homeless sniffing glue from a bag.

Once out of the cities, a lot of horse carts. Not something we see everyday at home!

Beautiful countryside. Our drive between Bucharest and Brasov looked a lot like the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Most of the roads here are terrible. Just another reason most people take the train.

Very orderly, if dilapidated, villages and towns.

More to come...

The first resistance

Today was a very interesting day. We had the first meeting that could be construed as resistant. Going into this trip, we knew that Romania was going to be just plowing and seed planting. The idea was to come here and make relationships to see if there was anyone in the country that shared our vision. To enable us to do that, Isaac Matei arranged meetings with those he is connected with that he thought would be supportive of our vision and the reformation message. So, we met at lunchtime today with a group of pastors who pastor several churches from around the country. They meet together two or three times each year to share what is happening in their congregation and ministries and to lean on each other as pastors. As it turns out, we probably caught them on an off day which didn't help our cause or theirs. Prior to this meeting today, they had been having twelve to fifteen pastors in attendance. Today there were only four, and the opinion amongst them was that their little group is withering. That certainly had to be discouraging for them.

Lunch was fantastic with traditional Romanian food, a chicken and vegetable soup, a potato and ham dish, shredded cabbage with vinegar (almost slaw-like), and breaded chicken breast. Umm umm! After lunch, they wanted us to share who we were, why we were at their meeting, and what we were all about. They were exceedingly gracious and welcoming, but it was obvious that they knew practically nothing about us or our mission. Bruce gave his testimony and the basics of the reformation message that we teach. I suppose resistant is a little strong of a word to use for their reaction, but it was apparent that they couldn't wrap their heads around just how they could implement the things we teach in Romania. A German is sort of the head of the group, and he had some encouraging words to share about his agreement with our principles and our vision. But he and another pastor were concerned that we were proponents of "Kingdom now" theology, that of a Christian takeover of the world immediately as this is the kingdom of God on earth now and we have forceful dominion. Bruce did an artful job of explaining how we don't have that idea but stress instead self-government and bottom-up change of self, family, church, and state and long-term transformation of the nations through the example and witness of the successful application of Godly and Biblical principals. That explanation helped and we ended on agreement, but it was just apparent that they had more questions about our theology than a grasp of the vision. All promised to email with questions, and that should be interesting. There was one pastor who seemed really open in private, and I pray that he is a spark for this group and Romania.

More to come...

It's just one day after another

This morning after I got out of the shower and got dressed, I took a moment to open cards that Karen had packed for me. They were intended for me to open at the halfway point or when I needed encouragement. I'd reached both. My wife is the most wonderful woman in the world, and she had written such sweet words of encouragement that truly lifted my spirit. Thanks! Then, I opened the cards from my boys. Karen had made one card from each and put Jonathan's handprints on his and Andrew's footprints on his. Of course, I got all teary over all three cards. i can't wait to be home with them!

But while I'm here, it is just one day after another that we see God moving and His message of reformation taking root. We had the privilege of ministering at two churches last night. The first was a gypsy church pastored by Pastor Calin Ion. The gypsies in Romania are much like the most impoverished of inner city dwellers in America. They are highly discriminated against, very poor, and mostly uneducated--even to the point of never attending school. Some of their reputation is justified by their actions throughout history and today, admittedly. However, Pastor Calin is doing great works within the gypsy community. His church has about 100 members. Last night was a special service, and there were perhaps 30 people there. Bruce gave a timely message affirming their worth as people while still pointedly challenging them to reform their communities, live differently from the world, and use their unique identity to change gypsies throughout Romania. It was powerful and being amongst them was certainly eye-opening. They were a very emotional people, and the message we brought was certainly challenging for their circumstances and mindset.

We left the gypsy church after 45 minutes and went a few streets away to New Beginning Church, a small house church under the umbrella of Agape Church, the main church in Timisoara we are working with. They are connected with Isaac Matei. On a regular Sunday, they cram 100 people into a room about 12x20 and an adjoining courtyard. The attendance last night was a mix of youth (early college age) and middle age parents/grandparents. They were incredibly responsive to Bruce's message and several of them came up to us afterward with questions about law, creation science, etc. The idea of an all-encompassing Biblical worldview was somewhat new to them, but they grasp the basics already and were obviously eager for more. So uplifting! Florin, our guide, is a member of that church and preaches on occasion. (The regular pastor and his wife have eight children!)

More to come...

Welcome to Romania!

Welcome to Romania--land of crazy traffic! It is unbelievable the way people drive here. People part on the sidewalk, literally! Whole cars entirely on the sidewalk! Traffic lanes exist only in theory, though stop lights are fairly observed. There is no way I would attempt to drive here.

We arrived from Vienna late last night amid confusion about who was meeting us and how we were to got to the hotel reserved for us. We ended up taking a taxi (which we overpaid for-$15 should have been about $6) only to find out after several unsuccessful calls to Florin Suciu ("suit you"), drive/guide/interpreter, that he had been waiting at the airport for us for an hour! Oh well. What can you do? The hotel was only moderately helpful but nicely furnished. About the same as our Comfort Inns or such.

We've spent the morning touring Bucharest while waiting for Dave Bottorff to arrive from home. The city is interesting. The architecture is very Baroque, a throwback to the Austrian influence and rule. In combination with that is the Communist influence evidenced in wide boulevards, monumental buildings, and endless apartment blocks. I wouldn't say that it is pretty overall--a lot of disrepair, dirt, and grime--but it is enjoyable.

Part of our morning included a brief tour of the Palace of Parliament. Indescribable! The building is the second largest in the world behind the Pentagon and was built by Ceausescu in the late '80s as the "Palace of the People." It was billed as a testimony to the greatness of the Romanian people and land but was essentially a monument to meglomania and insanity. More than 1,000,000 square feet with halls that are easily 10,000 square feet. The galleries run 500 yards on each floor, and the rooms have an average of 15 chandeliers each, that I could count. Carpets that weigh four tons! It is almost unfathomable. If totally functional and used, the building would consume enough electricity in one day to power a city of 400,000 people! However, full construction remains incomplete, and the building is virtually unused. It is just too big and too impractical to maintain. Ceasescu had executed any architect or engineer connected to construction (to preserve security and secrecy), so many of the building's design secrets and features remain unknown. In fact, with the floods Romania had this summer, secret, and hence unknown, tunnels were discovered leading from the palace to the subway stations nearby. 16 years later! Amazing.

More to come...