Romania's Independence Day

  We experienced our first Romanian Independence Day and parade (December 1).  It was so much fun!  We got there about 10am and walked down to "Arcul de Triumph" to find a good spot to watch the parade.  How you might expect a parade to be, with candy and such, is not how this parade was!

Generals prepping before the parade began.

  When we arrived in the vicinity of where we wanted to watch the parade from, we tried every angle within the crowds so we could see the best.  We even tried to cross the street thinking we could get the best view being as the politia were beginning to close off the walkway.

About to be apart of the parade!

    Well, when we crossed, no one was budging an inch so we decided to turn back around where the fun began.  In Romania people do not have much of a boundary line like Americans do...you know, where you have your little bubble of perfect distance between you and the next person, well this country is all up close and personal!!  : )  Anyway, we ended up being pushed back into the crowd we just came from.  We continued to search for the perfect spot...we even tried one at a time, to stand on one foot on those little posts that are on the sidewalk.

Wax on...Wax off!

 We could see everything, but it hurt and there was no way we could balance for even a short while.  Soon after we noticed people were standing on the little fence back from the sidewalk and thought that would be the PERFECT spot!!  We hopped up there, with each other's help, and NO-ONE FELL OFF!!  We stood up there for 2 hours, leaning against and holding on to the nearby trees of course!

Great view, but not a lot of room to move.

   So, after we watched all of the cool tanks, secret service (all women, I might add), different army, navy, swat, bomb squad, missile and rocket vehicles go by.  We went back to the metro from where we had come, knowing that most everyone would be taking public transportation.  EVERYONE...I mean EVERYONE!  Again, the pushing began although we really got through pretty quickly and our ride really wasn't crowded!

we moved like fish in the sea!

  And so this was our first Romanian Independence Day parade.  La Multz Ani Romania!!  : )

A month of giving THANKS

  We pray you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  A time with loved ones and memories of the blessings you have.  This month Josh and I stopped to give God thanks for so many fulfilled dreams that He has opened up and given us throughout this year especially.  We are so thankful to each of you that support and love on us through encouragement and prayers.  Your words help us to continue to strive through the hardships of missing home (family & friends) and the complexities of the Romanian language and culture.  Thank you for your sacrifices to which allows us to be here in Romania fulfilling God's plan.
  Although Thanksgiving is not a Romanian holiday, we do celebrate it with our family here.  It was a great, huge party of giving thanks with 70+ people in one place!  It was so great to see graduates that we had met over our internship and new family that we hope to get to know better over the years.  We had a small team from America that made it feel more like "home".  We had 3 turkeys, green bean casserole, salads galore, cheesy potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, bean dip and chips, rolls, LOTS of sliced bread (one thing you come to learn very quickly, Romanians LOVE their bread!!), pretzel/jello dessert, pecan pies, pumpkin rolls, pear/cinnamon pie...  The list could go on!  When you have seventy or eighty people, you HAVE to have plenty of food!  : )  Romanians are not used to eating turkey, however, the graduates from Heart2Heart's Transition Program have come to like it over the years.  Here are a few pictures from the festivities!

Look at all the food! The salads and desserts aren't even in the picture!

The pretty settings before everyone arrived.

Us eating Thanksgiving dinner with friends.

L to R; Marietta (graduate), Me, Mirela (graduate), Kirsteen (a.k.a. my Scottish twin as Josh says!)

   
  This month has marked our second complete month of language learning!  We are 1/3 of the way there.  Most of our time is spent learning and studying the language.  We do feel that we are continuing to understand more and more when we are with others and at church.  Some parts of the language learning have gotten a bit easier but it has gotten more difficult as we have felt like we have forgotten some of the vocabulary that we learned at the beginning of our lessons.  I am having more trouble as I am more afraid to speak and make mistakes, as well as learn differently than the others.  I am continuing to find what works better for me to study and remember what we have learned.  Learning another language definitely takes some time and patience!  : )
  As the holiday season is in full swing, we are definitely missing home (friends and family) more and more.  Thanksgiving didn't seem to be so bad for us as we celebrated it like 2 weeks early and with friends and family here.  I do think that Christmas will be a bit more difficult, however, we are trying to begin our own traditions.  We recently learned that Romanian's celebrate their union of Transylvania on December 1st.  They also must have a parade or celebration as they blocked off some roads while we were traveling to church on Sunday.  We thought they were possibly practicing for the parade on the 1st.  We are hoping we will be able to see this and celebrate with them as we learn more about their culture.
  As time goes on, we have become more involved in the ministries as well.  I have continued to visit the babies at the hospital and being a part of the Pre-K/K program at the orphanage.  In the program we finished Thanksgiving lessons with the kids completing "A Handful of Thanks" art project.  We helped them trace and cut out their hands, where we wrote down the things they told us they were thankful for.  The kids then created their faces and glued their hands around their face.  We even helped them make one hand tracing into a turkey.  It turned out very well!  I am very excited about helping out more with this group of kids and helping with the lessons.  Below are a few pictures of me at the baby hospital.  (We are not able to put pictures on the internet where the children are seen which is why you are unable to see us.) 

Baby cuddling with me, as we look out the window.

Showing the baby the trees, cars, birds, etc outside.

  




































  This weekend we were able to go visit "Dracula's" (a.k.a. Vlad Tesps) tomb as a staff.  It was very cool to be able to learn the history of Vlad and the great things he did for Romania.  Although he is known most (from tourists) as Dracula, a vampire who sucked blood, he was a prince who helped this country become free.  He did have a very harsh way of making examples of people who fought against Romania, but even to this day he is known by the Romanian people to have been a great leader.  Here are a few pictures the beautiful church where his tomb is and of us all having a good time!

This church was built before the U.S. was EVEN DISCOVERED!  

How crazy is that to think about!

Us in front of the church!

A picture of Vlad ("Dracula").

His tomb. With one candle lit for him, the dead.

Beautiful paintings covered the entire inside of the church!  All original, restored, but original!

Us all spending time together in the sun.

Josh and I.  It was chilly but decent in the sun.  : )

  
  Upcoming events include lots of Christmas parties for the kids.  We have begun to help with ideas for games, making decorations and practicing for our short program for the kids.  We have decided to sing a couple of songs for this kids, then sing carols along with them and a grand finale of a "rap" version of Jingle Bells with choreography and all!  : )  It should be fun and the kids will NOT expect it in the least!  : )  It will be a great time for sure!
  We have begun to really see the needs within this country as it has gotten much colder.  One week during this month alone, we saw several disheartening things that we were shocked to experience ourselves.  One day after language lessons we stopped at the market for a few things.  When we came out and began walking to the metro (subway station) we witnessed a lady and a man with a couple bags open a sewer cover and proceed to go down.  We were almost shocked at the sight, we both felt heaviness in our hearts for these people.  We discussed this as we were walking about how we see homeless people about every day but never really thought about where they lived or slept.  We were on our way to the maxi taxi station to go home when we got on the bus and there was this older man who was clearly homeless.  He only had with him a small grocery bag of, all I saw, had bread and another bag of an alcohol bottle.  He seemed to be "traveling" only to have a warm place to rest for a while, as more than half the time we were on the bus he was resting his eyes.  My heart breaks for these people over and over when I come into contact with them.  All I want to do is empty my pockets and lunch box for them!  These are some things that we have become familiar with seeing day in and day out.  However, we are always challenged to continually pray for them, as we know some of "our kids" may end up like this one day.  We challenge you to really pray about these people and those that may even be in your community, especially as it begins to get colder and wet out.  Look for ways to lend a helping hand and be God's love to these people.


PRAISES:
- So much to be thankful for this holiday season!
- For technology of Skype, Facebook, e-mail, etc so we can stay in touch with loved ones in the U.S.
- For the Skype session with our family at CCC!  : )  It was so great to see you all and be able to worship with you all again!
- It seems like we have been sick since we have gotten here, but feeling so much better now.
- For the cold air but the shining sun.
- For our H2H team and being a part by helping where we can.
- Encouraging notes we have received from friends and family.
- For our language professor and others on H2H staff that help us learn the language.

Prayer Requests:
- That Christmas parties will come together quickly as we have a lot to do and that they are a success!
- That the container (from the States) will arrive on time for Christmas.
- That we may stay healthy and strong.
- For God to keep our kids and the lost and homeless in His arms throughout the night and as it gets colder outside
- For God to show you ways that you can be His hands and feet in your community or around the world

Strange place or Home?

  We are finally getting into our routine now since we have been in Romania.  On mornings we go to language learning, we have time to stop for coffee and pastries at a nearby pastry shop.  Here we are at one of the two places we usually go.  We like this shop because there are seats where we can study before our lesson. 

Can you tell the coffees in Romania are mini?!  They are!

   In language lessons, we have begun writing small paragraphs in just over one month with our profesoara!  Here is a short paragraph about what we did Halloween weekend, in Romanian:

 Sambata trecuta, noi am dormit pana tarziu.  Am mancat cereale cu lapte si fructe apoi am facut dus.  Toti ne-am intalnit pe strada si am mers la fabrica de geamuri cu masinele.  Cand am ajuns am cautat ceva frumose.  Dupa ce am mancat la pranz lat KFC, am mers la petrecerea, unde am intalnit prietenii mai si am jucat 2 jocuri.  La ora 10, am plecat spre casa.  Cand am ajuns, am dormit.

Duminica noi am mers la slujba cu masina.  Dupa slujba, noi am mers la moll la masa.  Cand noi am ajuns acasa, am studiat lectie de limba romana.

Translation:

Last Saturday, we slept in late.  I ate cereal with milk and fruit then I took a shower.  We all met at the street and went to the glass factory in the cars.  When we arrived we looked for something beautiful.  After we ate lunch at KFC, we went to a party where I met my friends and played 2 games.  At 10, we left for home.  When we arrived we slept.

Sunday we went to church in a car.  After church, we went to the mall to eat lunch.  When we arrived home, I studied for Romanian lesson.

Our profesoara definitely pushes us but we have gained so much knowledge and are able to understand more and more as the lessons fly by.  It has gotten a bit easier as we are getting more used to the format and rules of the Romanian language, although our vocabulary continues to overwhelm us.  

  We did go to a Halloween/Birthday party where we all dressed up.  We all put together and made our own costumes.  We had a lot of fun mingling with friends from church and new friends and playing games.  Here is a picture of the six of us in our costumes:

L to R: Josh, Me, Mark, Rebecca, Haley & Steven

  I, Missy, went back to the hospital to see the babies after a week or so (we had a team here so I stayed home and got in some extra studying, so the team could have some time with the babies) and to my surprise a couple of babies had gone into foster care (to be adopted) and we got a few new ones!  I wish I could take pictures to show you the precious faces I have come to love, but unfortunately I am unable to at this point.  There is one little girl who I became fond of and she me, over the past couple of times I had been there.  Over the time I wasn't there she had grown quite a bit!!  She was baptized, a common occurrence throughout Romania even with these little ones, and got a bit heavier!  This is a good thing because she has definitely been getting fed more, as she is more than likely going through a growth spurt.  This last week, she also got to go upstairs to a playroom and roll around on the floor and play with others!  The older babies get to do this but this was the first time I had seen her be taken up.  : )  It was funny though, when I was holding one of the new babies and walked into the room she is in and I could tell she was completely jealous!  It feels good to know she recognizes me and that she knows I love her.  Although, she is a liked baby in the hospital, as she is BEAUTIFUL, but some of the others are not so I try to spread the love around and hold them all.

  Also, I am becoming more involved in the pre-k/"Kindergarten" program at the Voluntari orphanage.  We have 10 children in this program ranging from ages 5'ish to 7'ish.  I was almost shocked to learn that these kids do not know the letters in their names and do not know how to write their names.  They do go to a class, but we are not exactly sure what they do, if anything, related to teaching/learning.  I am beginning to put together worksheets to help the children learn and practice writing their names and will be planning different things to help them know their colors, numbers, etc.  This week we read a book about leaves and made leaf prints.  Here are a few pictures of the kids hard at work:

They absolutely love to color!

Here is Alex showing off his leaf prints!  : )

 

 We have been in some need of rest as it has really been setting in what we are doing in Romania.  Bucuresti is known for it's rather unappealing block housing.  However, scattered all throughout the city they have put in hard working hours and lots of money into beautiful parks!  Josh and I had a time of relaxation with one another and rejuvenation in devotion last week.  Here are a few pictures of this awesome place!

Cool view across the lake of the newspaper press from the park!

Josh and I in front of a beautiful yellow tree!  : )

  As an entire Heart2Heart staff, we are reading Francis Chan's "Crazy Love".  If you know nothing about it, I encourage you to check it out!  Both Josh and I have been really stretched by this book as Francis puts things bluntly but very truthfully.  Even here in Romania doing missions work, we are reminded that we are to daily sacrifice everything and worship God in all that we do!  Even here, it is easy to get into a steady routine wanting all the control in our lives.  No matter where you are in the world or what job you have, we have to live by faith and look for those opportunities that God has laid perfectly in our paths, that He may use us for His glory and kingdom.  May you be encouraged by this in your walk with the Lord!

Praises:

- We are feeling stretched and stronger in our relationships with God

- We are feeling more at home in this "strange" place

- We are SO thankful for our partners and loved ones back home who support us in so many ways!

- Ready for our upcoming Thanksgiving feast a week from TODAY!  : )

- Feeling more at peace with our Romanian language process

- We have learned so much and I (Missy) have gotten so much better at cooking...this is a big accomplishment! 

-  For packages from home filled with things we miss from America

- For the continued monthly financial support from you all!  This makes God's work that much easier!

Prayer Requests:

-  Continued health as the season changes and we work closely with the kids

- That all the kids we work with will feel God's presence more and more 

- Continued strength and confidence in learning Romanian

- Continued closeness in our daily walks with the Lord  

- Continued unity with our Heart2Heart staff

- Boys Transition Program: the boys moved in on November 1!

- For our 80 person Thanksgiving dinner next Saturday!

Thank you and love you all! 

Finding our routine...

  We have been in Romania for a month now and have been trying to get into a daily routine.  Our language lessons begin at 10am (which is a pretty good hour to start classes), but we have to be up at 6:30am and out of the house in about an hour, in order to arrive on time.  And although our language lessons are only 3 hours (jam packed with information) we can spend 7 to 8 hours, including our class, away on the days we do not help in a ministry.  We have learned quickly that this is "normal" in Romania and try to use that time to study our notes.

  Here we are with our Romanian language "profesoara".

  Speaking of language, we completed our first and second weeks of language learning with "The Doamna" and are beginning to feel the pressure.  The first couple of days were exciting, but it has gotten harder and in our classes we are already trying to have conversations in Romanian...this takes time and can get frustrating at times!  Since beginning language lessons, we have already begun to recognize several words more frequently and speak a bit more with the kids at the orphanage.  

  Although language learning is first priority for us we have begun helping within the ministries at the orphanages two days in the week, and the baby hospital one day in the week.  These days are great reminders of just why God called us to this place and are encouraging to us when we are feeling down about our inability to speak their language.  It is great to see their smiling faces and interact positively with them showing God's love for them!  They are so precious and special and it has already been such a pleasure to see how they have grown into individuals.  With the classes that H2H provides for these children, they are able to find their abilities and find something they enjoy, whether it is art, music, character class, and being a part of a youth group for the older children. 

Here are a few pictures of us with the kids at the orphanages.

 





  And so the language bloopers begin...  These can be really funny, upsetting and frustrating, or can be really embarrassing.  Thankfully they have only been really funny thus far!  So we were at the metro station trying to find our way to the baby hospital we go to.  I had called one of our Romanian missionaries to find out what stop we needed to get off of the Maxi Taxi.  I tried to say it out loud phonetically as I heard it, she asked me to say it again then told me it sounded correct.  I told Josh and the other couple (Steven & Haley) that she had told me the stop we are to tall the driver is "Lac Pultay".  Josh repeated it a few times and he said it as I had heard over the phone.  The driver pulled up and we got in and Josh told him we wanted to go to "Lac Pultay"...and the driver's facial expression was PRICELESS!  The driver asked where we wanted to go so Josh said again, "Lac Pultay" and again the driver did not understand the driver turned to me (like I knew) and repeated the words I heard from the Romanian missionary over the phone, so I said "da".  When the missionary met up with us near the hospital we told her what we said and how the driver reacted and she lost it!!  She then pointed to the sign that said "Lacul Te".  After seeing it, no wonder why the driver did not exactly understand what we were wanting.  I'm sure this is only the first of many many language errors, at least it was clean but hilarious!

  After both Josh and I getting ill and beginning language classes we have thought more about our families and the fun we had while we spent our last weeks with them before coming to Romania.  Here are few memories we often think of... 

 

Prayer Requests:

  - Continued progress with the language learning

  - Continued growing relationships with teammates/H2H family

  - The Boys Transition program will begin November 1st

  - That we find our daily routines with individual devotions, travel, studying, etc.

  - That we can continue to look toward God in amazement and worship Him in everything we do

Praises:

  - We are both feeling so much better!

  - We have made it through the first couple of weeks of language learning!!  : )

  - We have had some great times with Steven & Haley and others...some rest is definitely needed.

  - Programs have begun at all orphanages and have seen great interest from the kids.

  - Grocery trips have been much easier and taken less time.

  - Cooking for ourselves and the others has gotten easier.

  - Our great team of partners from home (friends and family) have been very encouraging  : )

Our first week in Romania...

  Josh and I have been in Romania now for almost one full week!  We received more orientation after getting here and have already had our first staff meetings to plan things out for the year to come.  It is incredible to hear all of the plans Heart2Heart has for this year and that we will be a part of what they have established here already.  

  We will begin language learning on October 3rd and have been anxiously anticipating this.  We were able to visit one orphanage we had been to in the past and were presently surprised how many kids remembered us!  It was awesome to see how much they have grown over the past 3 years!  : )  We cannot wait to start learning Romanian so we can communicate more with these children. 

  We have gotten settled in our new home with two amazing couples, Mark & Rebecca and Steven & Haley.  We are so excited to be on this journey with them and to learn alongside them.  We have a decent sized yard with a big garden in the backyard.  We hope to learn more about this and how to tend to it.

 The front & back of the house.

 Our room...still needing some work!

  Here at the house we also have 2 dogs, Lola & Mila, which we are becoming familiar with and finding that we are not able to even communicate with them.  We are hoping to train them basic commands; back, sit, stay.  In the Romanian culture, we are kindergarteners when it comes to the language.  We are humbled by this and ready to learn. 

 Top: Lola, Bottom: Mila.

  We still cannot hardly believe we are here, in Romania!  We have dreamt of this for 7 years and felt God preparing us along the way.  Josh and I are thrilled to be the hands and feet of Christ to the orphans and Romanian people.

Prayer Requests:  

- Health: we both have colds and Josh's ankle is still healing

- Marriage: "stress will bring out the uglies (in a marriage)"

- Unity: with our new family H2H, to work together and put others first

- Patience/Anxiety: our trips to the grocery store, etc. have at least taken 2 hours

- Language lessons: God to continue preparing us for this and travel to and from lessons

Praises! :

- Safe travels to Romania and within Romania...we again need to get used to the driving : )

- We are blessed to be able to rest and rejuvenate ourselves on the weekend and also have time to communicate with partners and loved ones back "home".

- Josh's ankle did awesome on the planes and is healing and getting better as the days go by!

- The little bits of language we did learn 3 years ago on our internship have flooded back to us over this week of being here.  We are excited to have the opportunity to learn more with the language and culture more in depth.

- Jen & Jenny: Missionaries here in Romania.  They were so incredibly patient with us as they took us and the other new couple (Steven & Haley) to Ikea and other stores to get furniture and things we were in need of.

- Mark & Rebecca: They have been here for 2 years and have been able to help us and give guidance in little things such as where things are around the house, to traveling with us to the grocery store and being patient with us as we searched for items we needed.

- Steven & Haley: That we have another couple to relate to as we journey together in this new culture.  We will also be completing language lessons together, so we are thankful to having someone else to study with and struggle with.

- God's continued faithfulness through the "desert" and bringing Josh and I to the land He has called us to.

- For all of our family and partners back "home" who have shown us their support and love and opened their homes, etc. to us before we left.  

Thank you and may God bless you all!  : )