Thursday, March 20th, 2008

Today was again packed with activity, being the last full day of ministry of our trip. We awoke to snow falling again this morning! Though it didn’t stick around for long, the flakes were big and fluffy and a site to see amongst a mostly grey backdrop of winter in Beius. Ana Lucaciu and Buna Marie (Ana’s mother) cooked us up a hearty pancake breakfast which of course made us feel right at home (nothing like a little Delma and syrup to make you feel alrightJ). In Romania it is difficult to get fresh fruits and vegetables in the winter and even so they are very expensive. We paid almost $10 USD for a bunch of bananas, 2 kiwis and an apple at the local market…crazy! But sometimes getting a little fruit in a weekly diet is worth sacrificing for!

The team visited Catrina’s elementary school again this morning and had a wonderful time with third and fourth graders. We presented them with some small gifts, our skits (the wise man skit and the translator skit are now part of our permanent repertoire!), lots of songs, and even more laughs. Catrina is an amazing woman with a deep love for Christ. She became a Christian at one of the first outreach events that Peter Lucaciu did with the early medical teams that visited Beius, and has been a faithful helper for their ministry ever since. We are continually impressed with how she teaches her students the story of the gospel. Elliot was invited to meet with the school principal for a long visit and to discuss open doors for future team visits, which is very encouraging. It is quite uncertain how much longer the public schools here will be open to allowing groups like ours to come in and share their Christian faith with students. If Romania follows the trend of its EU neighbors, the timeline may be short, so we feel blessed to have this privilege to build lasting relationships with students, teachers, and administrators.

Thursday is “market day” in Beius, which means that vendors travel from towns and villages all around the area to sell their goods – all kinds of goods from fruits and vegetables to hardware to handmade items to clothing. It’s an excellent snapshot of Romanian life to walk amongst the vendors and buy a few souvenirs for friends and family. With a little help from Andrea Lucaciu, Stephanie apparently even found her prom dress for this year (surprise, surprise!).

We had another blessed devotion after lunch lead by Carol. The scripture was John 17:20-23 where Jesus prays for the unity of believers with God the Father and the Son. We had a rich discussion and prayer time. The guys headed back to Casa Josef for another fierce game of soccer with new and old Romanian friends. Though we got “schooled” yet again, it was great fellowship.

Shortly thereafter, we met all of the Casa Josef girls for our final night with them. It was a bittersweet time as we giggled and laughed while presenting new Easter dresses and spring outfits (thanks to the team from Wyoming for the dresses!)...

...then cried upon having to leave....Each little girl at Casa Josef is so precious and we really do become so attached to them in even a short trip.

Please continue to pray with us that international adoption would re-open so these girls could be joined with a loving forever family.

Our Thursday came to a close with Game Night at the Bridge. We invited many Romanian high-schoolers over to the coffee house to fellowship and play a game of “Mafia.” It was loud and funny and then got louder and funnier as the evening wore on. Each of our students really enjoyed hanging out and getting to know other students from Romania.

The Bridge certainly fulfilled its purpose of providing a place to build bridges and make community happen.