Greetings from Kristen in Bucharest, Romania. We are transferring from one train to another -- from our time in Craiova to debrief in Budapest, Hungary.
Let me just start by saying: our students are amazing. I have been amazed at their eagerness to approach students on the fringes; find translators to engage the students who don’t speak English well; effectively convey love to our new friends; remain flexible when plans change or we have unexpected down time.
On Monday night we had an awesome camp reunion. What a fun conclusion to our time in Romania! We met at the park to play games and ride in row boats (poor "Megawatt" got quite wet). Afterwards, we went to the church for a dance party with our favorite camp songs (“Magic” and “Made to Love”). A major highlight was sharing stories about camp. People expressed how they felt incredibly loved by God. Others shared how close they felt about their small group and how thankful they were that everyone opened up about their lives. It was powerful to hear how different people saw God working – especially in the lives of many students who were raised in an Orthodox setting and grew to be curious about Jesus Christ while at camp.
Lief summarized our feelings well. He described how the Romanians make our team feel incredibly loved. Americans are quicker to say, “I love you,” but we've noticed that Romanians are often quicker to act it out and share their love.
This is why it is difficult for our team to leave our Romanian friends. As we departed Craiova a few hours ago, I was making sure everyone from our American team was accounted for at the train station. I quickly was confused. After two weeks with these people, we have become one big family. I have practically forgotten the labels or divisions between American and Romanian; together we are one group, one church. (When we worship together, we catch a beautiful glimpse of heaven and the different languages.)
We are taking an overnight train from Bucharest to Budapest (finally I’ve learned the difference) for about 15 hours. We are SOOOO ready for the 6-person sleeping cabins! This should be our first night of extended sleep in a long time! In Budapest, we will reflect on our trip – thinking about ways we have changed or want to change as a result, preparing for re-entry to the United States.
Reminder: You are invited to our Show & Tell on Monday night (August 15) at 7 pm at Blackhawk to hear stories and see pictures! We can’t wait to share our experience with you.
5 comments:
Have safe travels home! We can't wait to hear in person!
Will be praying for all of you as you debreif and begin re-entry. It sounds like you all radiated God's love and spirit in amazing ways. I am so glad that you are all there to do that.
Love and miss you like crazy Megan Watts. Wet or not I can't wait to hug the daylights out of you!
Great post Kristen. I love the picture you paint.
Love Mom Watts
Oh no, the train! haha I hope you guys enjoy it. Ill be praying for your debrief. Cant wait to hear all your stories!
Te iubesc, Megan Smiley
Oh My...I cannot imagine how hard it must have been to say good-bye. I too am praying for you all and for the Romanians, for God to graciously prepare you all to return to your lives here and in Craovia, and that He will guard all that He has entrusted to you.
Cassidy & Hailey...I miss your sweet faces!!!!!!!!!
Hunter, my long lost son! Can't wait to see you. I got your call last night. I should have picked up the phone, but I did not know who would be calling at 3:00 A.M. in the morning. Thanks for the voice mail; I loved at least hearing your voice. Sounds like you had an incredible trip. Can't wait to hear all about it! Love, mom
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