We're in Craiova!!! (and hitting the hay hard)

Wow! It is hard to believe that only 30 hours have now passed since we met in the Blackhawk parking lot. At the same time - it feels like the end of a VERY long day.

Since I (Lief) only got about an hour and a half of sleep (there were some dang good movies on that flight), I am going to post a quick update and fall right asleep - allowing some other team members to write more details tomorrow when we gather at the church.

For now, what you need to know: after a late, but smooth flight from Paris to Bucharest, our bag count dropped unintentionally from 48 to 46 (with one personal bag (Brenda's) and one team bag of clothes donations (and possibly, but hopefully not, Paul LeFeber cds) left behind in Paris. We are assured they'll be sent to us tomorrow. We just walked easily right out into Bucharest to the welcoming embraces of our 11 Romanian greeters (many whom some of us know so well!). It was a really great welcome to find them all there waiting patiently for us and then loving on us so well! Then we began, about 2 hours later than schedule (5:30pm), the trip west to Craiova. With a stop in Pitesti for dinner (we had to forgo our traditional Romanian feast due to tight schedule and instead went all out at the classy European MacDonalds! I got a "Big Tasty" - one of the best one's ever had, if you don't mind me sayin. Once everyone seemed satisfied, we loaded back on the big bus for the final stretch. Some slept (though all wearied), some heard stories of Romanian history and culture from Daniel, Stephi, Bianca, and the others, and some were catching up on the latest Romanian (and American English) phrases - the Romanians were learning a bit more advanced vocab though. Within a few hours (around 10:30 or so), we had arrived to Craiova - finally!!!

We unloaded our personal bags and were split all throughout this large city with host families - most of them with members of Daniel's leadership team. And just like that people head out to find a bed to crash in. That's what I'm about to do right now.

Tomorrow we meet for breakfast at the church at 10am, join together with the rest of the leadership team to plan camp, have a team time with worship and prayer, and spend the afternoon and evening with games in the park as a marketing event inviting more people to come to camp. We still have about 10-15 spots to available to fill! Because some are not yet done with exams and the camp is bigger this year (100+ people!) - there are a few open spots at this point. Please pray that our events in the park and coffee house this weekend give us opportunities to meet more people who we can take with us on Monday night - that we would fill EVERY SPOT available. And also, please pray that Brenda's bag (and the team bag) would arrive as soon as possible tomorrow morning!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. This would not be the same without you. God has been so good to us - we trust and look forward to the many ways He will use this week to stretch, challenge, and mold each one of us these upcoming days and weeks.

With love - noapte buna (good night!),
Lief for the 2009 Romania Team

p.s. pictures and daily shoutouts on the way tomorrow... :)