Craiova - Day 3 of 4 - by Brooke!

Hello Families and Friends,

Brooke here. Hmmm... where do I even begin. I am absolutely in love with Romania, the culture, and the people. Everyone is so nice and loving to all of us. They definitely make us feel welcome. I am so happy to be here!!!!!!! Sometimes I do catch myself being selfish and complaining about the heat and being tired. But I realize that this is a part of the journey here. Being uncomfortable pushes you mentally and physically. I think God is using this trip already to change me. I am already seeing in myself a change in the way I am reacting to cultural differences. Today I didn’t get a shower because Natalie and I woke up extremely late. Let’s just say we woke up at the time we were supposed to be ready. Haha…oops. But I don’t mind it really. I am greasy-faced, sweaty, smelly, which is pretty much what the whole team is like. Hahaha (sorry guys but its true). The food here at first was a scary thing for me…since I am a picky eater. But let me tell all of you, the food is absolutely delicious!!!!!

Today we came to the church at 9am to have breakfast. Church followed at 10am. I loved the service. It was neat to hear everything in Romanian and then English. Their language is beautiful…It sounds like a mix of Spanish, Latin, etc. BEAUTIFUL. The people who came to church were friendly and very welcoming. I love meeting more and more Romanians everyday. :) OH! And when they sang worship songs in Romanians I got chills, and found myself very overcome with emotion. I felt God in this little church in Craiova. It may be little, but it has a community of Romanians with BIG hearts, and a GREAT love for the Lord. They are inspirational to me.

Our Blackhawk team is getting closer and closer each day. We spend our free times talking with each other and the Romanians and bonding. We are fulfilling one of the goals we set for ourselves, we are bonding and becoming one big team who will work together to lead camp. AH!!! We leave tomorrow night :) I am so excited! I know that God has some amazing things planned for us at camp. I just know it!!

I have some prayer requests for everyone who reads this:

Please pray for Daniel (The Romania Team Leader), that God will give him peace and rest as he prepares for camp. (when we were in the park yesterday, he was pickpocketed and lost a good amount of money).

Prayer that we are successful in teaching English at the camp, and that our final spots at camp get filled - we are very, very close.

Thanks Everyone for listening to me ramble! Haha.

Brooke

P.S. Mom, Dad, Christine, Laura (and family), Lindsay and Steve, Andy (and family), Marmie, Grandpa, and everyone else. I love you all very much. I sincerely appreciate all of your support!! Momma- I miss your stinky head!!!! :) Dad- “Shoo Shoo Shoo”


A note from Lief: Brooke wrote this around lunchtime today. We spent the rest of the day resting - as a day off. After lunch, we went back to the park with Daniel's team - what an awesome park they have here - it's HUGE! We went to the lake and rented some row boats. Some got more wet than they wanted - splashing! After that we found an open space to lie down, nap, talk, listen to music, and about 20 people played Ultimate Frisbee right there. After the park, we went to "Cramaolteniei" with our host families, the intern team, and Daniel's leadership team (like 50 of us!). We had a traditional Romanian meal at a HUGE table that fit all of us! We had a great time. After that we walked a few blocks to the City Center Square. The huge and complex "dancing" water fountain which is set to the tone of traditional Romanian music. We danced and enjoyed ourselves in the centre for almost 2 hours! Finally, most people walked or drove home to their host families and a few of us stopped by the HPD apartment - a ministry of Daniel's here that reaches out and provides living arrangements and life skills training to young adult orphans no longer allowed to live in the state run placement centers (orphanages) Read post from last year on HPD for more info. We met with Valentin and Lavinia and three of the boys who have just successfully finished the first 2-year generation of the program. We were touched by their life stories and how God has used HPD and other circumstances to redeem their lives to be lived for his glory. We got all of it on video for the rest of the team and the entire Blackhawk community. After all that - it's time for bed! We go to camp tomorrow!!! (pray that the 2-3 open spots to until our 100 limit are filled by 10pm, when we plan to leave!) - much love and peace, Lief