Romania journal #3

Day 3 - this was a good day, the best yet for the Bethany team. After breakfast we visited the home of a church family for coffee at 9am, where we sang songs, then shared a discussion on Matthew 2 before praying in pairs in the yard among the dogs, kittens and chickens.

Then we got into the ministry for the day... Charlotte and Terri were on the team doing games with the children in the village. Within 10 seconds of setting up, they had 30 children buzzing around them like bees round a honey pot. I laughed as I realised they were trying to teach them 'Knights, Horsemen and Cavaliers' despite the language barrier. Somehow it worked and the kids had a blast. Some more organised games followed then Charlotte gave an object lesson using a multi-coloured football. She did this at 5 minutes notice and Rafael later told me how impressed he was with the job she did. I told the story of Legion and the kids got sweets/'bonbons' if they were good.

Meanwhile Gwynneth, Tom, Rachel and Claire were off round the village trying to open up gospel opportunities along with some of the Romanian believers. They were able to give some John's gospels to some of the villagers.

Lunch was a beef con carne while dinner was a traditional Romanian meal of polmenta, feta cheese and sour cream. Mixed together, it was quite tasty. The team also had the treat of fresh watermelons today which they were delighted with. Charlotte's hydration levels are heading in the right direction again as she went back for seconds. She was also pleased, we all were, to find a shop selling bottles of 2litres Fanta. We now have shares in the shop and the owner is booking his holidays on the strength of the daily Bethany order.

For Tom, he had his first opportunity to show off his football skills as the local lads had a kickabout. He taught them how to scream, 'man on', 'switch', and 'nil', as in, 'Sunderland nil'.
Charlotte is in her element teaching some of the girls a dance. I did a pastoral visit with Marian to a man who has been an enemy of the church, and who beat his wife up when she started attending. A challenging one, but God gave me the words when I needed them.

Points from today:

1. There was more life in everyone today. Perhaps the travel-tiredness is wearing off, but having more of a routine -hah, that's a laugh- maybe helped too...

2. Tomorrow we will do more of the same, though we will mix the teams slightly, putting Tom with Charlotte and Rachel with Terri. Terri is primed to give her testimony tomorrow and I have great confidence in her.

3. We had some Bethany team time and sang and prayed in Gwynneth and Rachel's room. As we sang, Marian came, intrigued by the music, but then stayed and prayed through tears as we had a time of prayer. We didn't understand the words, but we sensed his heart was glad to have fellowship with other believers. Yet another reminder of something we take for granted so easily yet is so precious to this dear brother and his little family.

4. Time continues to be an enigma here. A 15 minute meeting today lasted 1 hour and 25 minutes. And you know how much I like meetings...

5. The Terri-ometer was back up to full today and my head was lowpin'. It was already sore from Terri's incessant hypernonsense when Tom decided it would be a good idea to open a window at top speed into my skull. My loving, caring team looked after their pastor the only way they know how. They laughed long and loud. Nice people.

6. For you worried about such base matters, I managed to go today. Yay. Others are still holding out. We will see what effect the watermelons have.

7. Quote of the day from Tom - 'I wish my granny had the internet.'

8. So to tomorrow, with the revised plan that we will go to Bucharest on Wednesday so that we do not clash with the visit of the Bulgarian Gypsy group. I can't help but think that we are being strategically 'removed' for the day... But we are all excited about getting to the city and maybe seeing some sights. I particularly want to visit the People's Palace, built by Ceaucescu, and still the 2nd largest building in the world, after the Pentagon. Many Christians died during its construction.

Bring on Tuesday!