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Monday, August 24 - #5 Day 13
Dear Romania Trip Supporters,
As I am writing this, Cheryl and the Cross Trainers are almost certainly on their way home from Logan airport. Their return odyssey started almost 20 hours ago, and it is fitting that the plans changed once again. Rather than flying home through Paris, they were re-routed through Amsterdam, but I imagine they all took it in stride.
My day, while long was very different. It involved giving a talk about my book to two very different audiences. This morning it was a group of Romanian Pastors, and this evening it was a group of church lay people. Both times I presented with a translator, and both times the message seemed to really resonate with people. Many took books, and I am delighted that plans are underway to have it translated into Romanian.
Emotionally, however I resemble a dishrag tonight. Exhausted, spent, wrung out, yet also thrilled in the core of my being. There is much that we did, that we have not reported, though I will save further description of all of that until we present our trip on Cross Training Sunday, which is the first Sunday in October. I hope you can all attend.
This is my last blog of this trip, and I am afraid it may seem anti-climatic. I am like the Cross-Trainers who no doubt do not yet possess the words to come even close to fully capturing either what we did, what we saw, what God taught us and how He spoke to us. It will take days and months to process. In my case, I have been to Romania over 20 times, and yet I still do not know how to describe what it has meant to me, or how God has used it to grow me.
Maybe this lack of “resolution” is as it should be. No one in the scripture who encountered God could find words to describe “He who shall not be named.” We can no more understand the presence of God in the State Prison, than we can anywhere we encounter God. If we claimed to fully understand and explain God, attributing the divine to our observation would not ring true. This was not a trip to be conquered, any more than any aspect of our pilgrimage is the conquering of it. This was another step on the narrow road on which God calls us to traverse. Nothing more and nothing less.
It was for that reason that Scotty, Emily, and Tori impressed me deeply. They did not “conquer the trip” any more than did Cheryl and I. The trip presented each of us with the opportunity to take the next step in our pilgrimage, and what impressed me about Cheryl and the Cross Trainers is that they each did. They did what was laid before them to do each day, whether easy or not.
I trust I was able to do the same and that today’s seminars were just another step on my own walk down the narrow lane.
I guess that is the lesson I take away from this day and this trip and this group of Cross Trainers. The question we face each day is not whether we have made it, but whether we took the step put before us.
I was inspired to do so with the other 4 members of the team.
My prayer, is that we learned enough to take the next step tomorrow.
Thanks to all of you for your friendship, love, support, and prayer.
We cannot walk this road alone, and thankfully we do not have to do so.
The team arrived, safe and sound at Logan International Airport at 2:46 p.m. They cleared customs and were on their way home with their families at 4 p.m.
It could be that Cheryl has already contacted Ken to discuss this, but given the hour, I thought I’d send this heads concerning a possible flight delay.
The team’s flight out of Budapest was delayed. While they are listed with an Air France flight on the trip itinerary, they are actually flying Malev flight 550 from Budapest-Paris. They were due to arrive at Noon, but because of a delayed departure, they are presently in the air and are not scheduled to arrive until 1:54 pm.
This would mean that if their connecting flight leaves on time 1:40pm, they will miss it.
The next Air France flight to Boston if flight 322 that leaves Paris at 7:10pm and arrive in Boston at 8:50pm.
If there is space, I believe it is most likely they will be rebooked on that flight. It is, however, also possible that they will book them back to Boston on another carrier.
My belief is that Cheryl will communicate to Ken once they land in Paris IF they miss their connection. The assumption is that Ken will update all of you.
If I hear anything I will let you know, but I think it will be Ken or your kids who will connect with you as I have no access to anything other than flight schedules.
It’s 4:00am and Cheryl and the Cross Trainers are on the minibus headed to Budapest for their flights home.
It’s 4:01am and Pastor Dale is headed back to bed so he can find some coherence with which to present seminars on his book to Baptist pastors this morning and to lay people this evening.
We just returned from worship, and I have to relay the following story. It says so much about God’s ways and our ways.
Before the trip I asked the Cross Trainers to each write a testimony to give in church.
If you would have asked me before the trip which of the Cross Trainers was most likely to give a testimony in a church, it would have been Tori, no question about it. She is a poised public speaker who has something to say and can say it well. I could easily see her give a sermon in church on Cross Training Sunday and enjoying it. She wrote a very good testimony before she left, and wrote another one last night. She was ready and willing. The clear choice.
Emily does not fancy herself a public speaker, but wrote a great testimony about how God met her in the auto accident.
The testimony Scotty wrote before the trip was potentially excellent, but really only first draft material.
I promised the kids I wouldn’t make anyone give a testimony, but I told them that we would need at least one today and that if they didn’t do it Cheryl would.
On Friday I asked Emily if she’d consider it. I thought that given the auto accidents that many in today’s congregation have recently experienced, her testimony was the right one.
So when we were leaving the first church we visited this morning (where we worshipped but had no role), I asked Emily if she’d do the testimony, and she declined. I confess I was disappointed, but I genuinely wanted to honor her decision, so I decided Tori was the one to do the testimony and I was confident in her.
Scotty, however, having hearing Emily decline says, “I want to do it.”
Moreover he said it over and over again in the car on the way over to the church.
After looking out the window to see if pigs were flying, and saying a prayer, I said, “Absolutely Scotty.”
“Oh good” he replied enthusiastically.
So we get to church, it comes time for the testimony, and Scotty delivers a terrific testimony about God’s work in the life of Dick’s mother. He did it without notes. Many in the congregation, who are grandparents were visibly moved.
After church, I thanked Scotty for stepping up. He is still smiling.
I then let Emily know that I think she did the right thing by not saying yes, and she replies, “I prayed about it, and while I wanted to do it, I didn’t feel like God was telling me to do it.”
Tori, who would have loved to have done it, remarked, “Nothing in the 12 years I have known Scotty would have led me to believe he would have done that.”
Indeed.
I couldn’t be more impressed with all three kids. They played the role they were asked to play with grace and humility.
My head exploded again this morning. I hope when I put it back together I will leave out the control-freak part of it.
“Where 2 or 3 are gathered together I will be there also.”
“Don’t worry about what you will say, on that day, my Spirit will enter into you and give you my words to speak.”
“The kingdom of God is not for the philosophers, but for the fools. It is not for the strong, but the weak. It is not for the rich, but the poor.”
This speaks more clearly to God’s work in the life of these kids and what has happened on this trip than anything else I can say.
Tori, while disappointed, was very large in how she handled it.
Emily, heard God not say “yes.”
Scotty heard God say “yes.”
Cheryl, as she has done for months, worked behind the scenes praying and making everything possible and letting the Cross Trainers step up.
I do not know how God will really bring this world of ours to himself.
I do not know how the lion will ever lie down with the lamb.
I do not know if swords will ever be beaten into ploughshares.
I don’t know how God will answer the cries of the poor or bring light to the valley of the shadow of death.
Well, we’ve reached the part of the trip where each of us begins to experience, in differing degrees, exploding head syndrome. Like Spontaneous Human Combustion, it happens when all of the sights, sounds, tastes, and conversations literally overwhelms our head and the heart, and “poof, “ one team member after another is catapulted into another dimension where we will stay until sometime after we return.
Using lay terms, “exploding head syndrome” is simply “human growth”, though there is nothing simple in the least about human growth.
Change is hard. St. Augustine said that “humans would rather complain about bondage, than take the effort to free themselves from it.” He is so right. Every single one of us who came on this trip, came in bondage. As Bob Dylan sings, “You gotta serve somebody.” When you see all we have seen, tasted all we have tasted, heard what we have heard, been elevated by love, and been brought to our knees in sorrow and something that approaches despair, it is apparent that a response is demanded of each of us. We now see ourselves in a new and more honest way. We see our idolatry and disobedience and selfishness in new ways. We understand more clearly what it means to follow Jesus, what is demanded of us, AND the love, joy, and peace that HE offers.
We know we are not returning the same. Ignorance was bliss, even if it wore invisible chains. Now that light has been cast on our chains, we can never really go back. We can pretend nothing has happened, but we will be so aware of the lie of such a life that to try and live that life will be to exile us permanently to the shadowlands. No, as we drove 6 hours today, enjoyed a tour of the Bear Caves, and had 4 meals together, we reflected deeply on all that we have been confronted with, our heads exploded and we responded by growing increasingly quiet.
Each one of us knows we must change. We know things we can do, but more importantly, we know the change must begin deep within us. We can change our habits, but not our soul. That requires relinquishing ourselves to the Holy Spirit more deeply than we ever have. It means surrendering in a way of which we were unaware when we signed up for the narrow road.
Tonight is not about the problems we have confronted in Romania. Tonight is about God is confronting us about ourselves and the demands of His calling. We can’t change others. We can’t save a country, a family, or a person, but we can pledge undying loyalty to our King.
Pray for each of us as the trip winds down in the next 48 hours. We each have come to a new fork in the road of our lives. Do we take the narrow road or not?
Be patient with us when we return. We won’t really know how much we have changed until we come home and find ourselves, in some areas of our lives, unable to be satisfied with a banality that we had confused with living.
A funny thing happened on the way to serving God and others.
Our heads exploded.
Since I’ve spent the evening telling Tori how stupid the Yankees are, and Scotty has spent the evening writing a sermon, I think he and I have to resort the pieces we have collected, to say nothing of making sense of our new selves.
What is interesting about life is that when one starts to look at it through the eyes of our soul, we find that it is not as “thin” and obvious as it appears with our mind’s eye. There are many things that make sense, but are not deeply true, and there is much that is deeply true that does not make sense.
The more we look at the world through the eyes of our soul, we find color where before we only saw black and white. We see possibilities, where before we only saw dead-ends. We see hope where before we saw only despair. We see within that which appeared thin, a richness and texture that didn’t seem possible.
Yesterday’s blog described what we encountered as deeply and as honestly as I could.
I don’t think anything in the lives of virtually any of the poor and oppressed changed overnight, yet nevertheless, the sun rose on Romania, and hope rose in our hearts. On this day we were given the opportunity simply to engage the tasks at hand with perseverance and joy.
Hope is one of the most profound expressions of our faith. It says that we believe perseverance is worth it, and that joy in the perseverance is not a form of delusion. Hope allows us to look at reality with our eyes wide open, because it believes that God is sufficient to the task. Hope is an acknowledgement that we cannot do it, but a belief that God can and will.
If adulthood is wasted on many if not most adults, perhaps the solution is simply to be born again, and learn to live as children do, albeit with maturity. Young men and women do dream dreams. Which must explain why Scotty can crawl out of bed, stare at his food as if it is a suspicious object he has never before seen, take the leap of faith to eat it, and when you add to him 4 prednizone pills, he is transformed into a colt ready to tease Emily and Tori at first sight, and fully embrace the new day with hope. Tori and Emily, in turn, show up on time, relieved Scotty is once again being annoying, and also ready to embrace the new day, no questions asked. (especially Tori who takes delight in once again being able to try and annoy Scotty). It must explain how Emily is able to climb into cars day after day despite the very real memory of the accident earlier this year. It must explain how Tori is able to do everything, despite an ankle that I would rationalize into a time-out on a sofa for the day. It must explain how Scotty can walk right through undergrowth that could retriger his poison ivy.
So, rather than living as if the laws of economics were fixed, and that our world’s destiny is injustice, the kids approached today with faith. Faith that despite the fact the day holds the unknown, as well as the known, there is more to be said for learning and belief, rather than ignorance and apathy.
So we loaded our cars with supplies for VBS and clothes for multiple poor families and drive 2 hours to a new village (Secash) to do VBS and whatever else may come our way.
For me the VBS was pure joy. Cheryl and the kids put together a plan, and we executed it together with everyone fully engaged, and for over an hour we received the gift of forgetting what the world would have us believe about ourselves and our life prospects, and enjoyed singing songs, telling Bible stories, doing a craft, and passing out a present, all in the name of God, who met us with the blessing of more kids. We were gifted with over 70 children completely engaged by the program, and who constantly showered God and us with smiles and squeals of laughter, even as they remembered that:
1) God can use us all, no matter how small we may be. 2) God can provide when we cannot. 3) God will never leave us or forsake us.
Then, after VBS, we enjoyed another delightful banquet under the shade of a vineyard courtyard, and many families came in the afternoon to pick out clothes and shower us with presents of potatoes and peppers.
Unexpectedly, Scotty, Emily, and I were rewarded with an hour to take a 3 km walking tour of the meadows, hills, and dales of the area.
All day God was present and accounted for. The world, while under strain, did not break, and the fruits of the spirit were lavished upon us, even as it is hard to see how the few loaves and fishes we distributed today could make any measurable difference in the whole scheme of things.
To an adult’s way of thinking, little was accomplished today.
Yet that is because an adult can only see problems that cannot be “solv-ed.” A child does what they can and takes joy in the presence of God and others, and the beauty that presents itself moment by moment.
So today, Scotty, Tori, and Emily, and 70 children in VBS, reminded Cheryl and I yet again of what it means to follow God, instead of instruct God.
To enjoy what God has given, without seeking to own it (or Him), and to do what we are called to do on this day, demonstrate our ability to laugh in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death. For Satan will not prevail.
Does our world and Romania still face today, all of the problems that sought to overwhelm us yesterday? Most assuredly yes.
Are we any less oblidged to act? No, adulthood is a terrible thing to waste.
But Cheryl and I were shown a way forward, that is superior to any we can divine on our own.
The Kingdom of Heaven does not alone belong to the poor, widows, and prisoners. It also belongs to the children.
It brings new meaning to the U2 lyric from “Breathe” that is becoming my mantra, “Every day I die again, and every day I am reborn.”
Scotty, Tori, and Emily get it, as do 70 kids in Secash.
It was a day to listen to our boys and girls, and see that God is very pleased to honor the faith of a child.
What a gift. A strategy for approaching every day.
For it is God who will bring all things under the subjection of his throne, and it is God who will use us as He wills, if we are pliable in reality, and not merely in the fantasy of our intentions.
Thursday, August 20 #3 Day 9 (Late PM Edition - Dale)
On Oranges and Youth
Dear Romania Trip Supporters,
How does one “blog” a mission trip? How does one “blog” life? Reality is so much more nuanced than any of us can capture. I will report a day in a certain way and others will report it very differently, and we will all miss something. This blog will, to quote “This is Spinal Tap,” provide a little too much perspective, but perhaps when taken with all of the blogs and our reflections after the trip, it too can be put in the proper context. Still, it is what it really is.
The Scripture speaks of God able to provide us with Joy, Peace, and Hope that surpasses understanding. Therefore any description of life with God must take this into account. It is, however, not something we create, but a gift from God. The scripture also speaks of justice/injustice and care for the lest of these (Matt. 25). Not because God is not with the poor, He is. But because on this side of heaven injustice and poverty carries with it an enormous human cost, and therefore God expects His followers to be where He is.
It is easy to make our world very small, compare ourselves only with those more well off than ourselves, and settle for pity.
Today we took a ride that provided all of us with a sobering amount of perspective.
I’ve taken this ride before.
In 1999 when I was teaching in Cluj, Romania, I remember one night I was at the local store buying some mineral water. I had $2000 cash concealed on my person and my laptop in my backpack. I stood waiting in line while two female students in front of me tried to find enough coins in their pocket so that they could buy an orange and share it for dinner.
Today, all of us were able to rise and ride to a village about one hour away where we enjoyed a delightful Romanian lunch outside under an enormous Walnut tree. It was a hot, but low humidity day with a nice breeze. The meal consisted of homemade chicken noodle soup, fried chicken, French fries, tomato and cucumber salad, and gogoush for dessert. Along with it came coffee and carmel tea. The tea was among the most unusual and excellent the team had ever tasted. It was made from carmelized sugar. Moreover, it lasted about 2 hours, in the very best tradition of Romanian hospitality and meals. (and yes Mom’s, your kids were very conversant and well-behaved)
We left there to visit 2 poor families.
The first family was a family of at least 9 children. The father must work in a city far-a-way and can only come home a couple of weekends a month at most. The family lives in what appeared to be a 2 room house. We brought them clothes and a packet of many special things for each child, Saint Cheryl’s planning was an absolute blessing today! Thanks to all of you who donated crayons, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. The smiles of the kids and mother were captured on film which we will gladly share. We spent an hour with them in their living room, which is clearly the room most or all of them sleep in. They have no indoor kitchen that we could see, and were cooking dinner on an open fire outdoors when we arrived. To say that they are finding it difficult to make ends meet would be an understatement. The younger kids, who were not self-conscious were delighted by our presences, as was the Mom. The oldest daughter and son, both in High School, were withdrawn and wore a face of sadness or shame or both. They knew what the situation looked like, and they knew what their future looked like. There was nothing to say to either. The only answer to despondency is a concrete response. The Medrea’s will do all they can, for this and the 100 plus other families they are helping, on the $1000 per month in donations they currently receive. In this family the older son and daughter need more than clothes and what we brought today.
The second family we visited, in the same village, was a Ukrainian family of at least 8. They are subsistence farmers, who live in a small log cabin. They farm their land by hand. They eat what they produce and they have nothing left over to sell. The oldest daughter, a junior in High school was telling of her situation at school. She cannot learn English because they only have 3 English books for the entire school. Her math teacher goes out and smokes and drinks during class, doesn’t teach them anything and gives them good grades. But not the knowledge she needs to be accepted to University. Again, the young children and Mother were delighted without presence. The kids positively LOVED a bag of clothes and second hand toys. But the oldest also knew the pain of being stuck on a treadmill, and while she could put forward a brave smile ….
These two pictures are not easy ones to look at and contemplate. Who knows how much we missed because of what the eyes of our souls could not behold.
We returned back to home base in Arad. After the sun set and our dinner was done, Gheorge Medrea shared with us all what life was like under communism. In an understated way he began the talk by speaking not of the difficulties, but of how God helped them meet the trials.
As he did so, however, he was measuring how much our group could take at one sitting.
As he continued he spoke of the torture pastors and others endured for their faith, including Maria’s 27 year old pastor that she saw beaten so brutally he would die from the injuries.
He spoke of the tremendous economic hardship and lines for food, and the price paid for professing faith
He spoke of the Christmas in which he and Maria could each give their three children one orange each as a gift.
It was at that moment that despite the fatigue that was heavy on everyone, the eyes of the kids grew wide. It was the same spontaneous response these three kids gave when they said they wanted to go to Romania last March.
At that moment of complete attention Gheorge said.
“The suffering for many has not stopped. Those families you have visited so far, and not in the hardest circumstances.”
What he didn’t say, but we all heard. “There are others we serve that you are not yet ready to see.”
And, of course, he is right.
10 years after my encounter of the orange in Cluj, all 5 of us were confronted with a Christmas memory of three oranges, several families we can barely contemplate, and others ….
The kids didn’t say much tonight. None of us did. But the wheels were turning.
As Scotty is my roommate, I know he was writing long into the night in his journal (it may already be 1/3 full). I can only imagine Emily writing as much or more.
Someone once said, that “youth is wasted on the young.”
I think not.
I think if anything is wasted, it is adulthood on adults.
Tori, Scotty, and Emily know that the world need not be this way, and they are dreaming the dreams of the young tonight, even as they may be sowing more than a few tears.
I think Cheryl and I will wrestle long into the morrow.
As we should.
There is no good reason for there to be an orange shortage in this world of ours. Only bad ones.
Thursday, August 20 #2 Day 9 (PM Edition - Cheryl)
Emily and I are the only ones that have not had anything wrong, but everyone is now on the mend.
We did go to Cher where the Ukrainian family lives. They remembered that I was there and when they saw two of the cars and everyone get out but me they thought that I was not coming for some reason. Surprise, I was in the third car. I love the fact that we are starting to build a relationship with this lovely family. I told them we would pray for them and I asked Joanna (Uanna) to pray for me.
They dug up some potatoes and showed Emily and Dale how to do it and then had them try it themselves. I must admit they where champions!! We saw a little colt today next door to them...so cute!! We took lots of videos and pictures of them and another family with 10 kids.
We listened to Ghetza's story of what it was like to live under Communism....WOW, I am sure that he only told us as much as he thought the kids could handle and that was something.
We took the kids to look at the city and to get gifts for people back home. I think they had a good time.
The sun has risen on the fair city of Arad, even as the New Moon resides over New England.
I am sitting on Scotty’s bed, and Scotty having just consumed his first full meal in 36 hours and successfully injested his morning dose of steroids is drifting back to sleep. The gift of healing, for that is what it is, is indeed a blessing.
The Team women are out doing some shopping for additional supplies to bring with us to families the next two days, and lord willing we will all be able to go together this afternoon as we visit some poor families.
As Scotty drifts I am reminded of a incident earlier in the trip.
Last Sunday I went to get some khaki’s with which to go to church, I was surprised to learn that I had accidentally packed Ryan’s. No problem, I figure, as Cristina would not wish me to wear khaki’s to church.
The next day we have a vigorous day of working in the village. When I get home I decided to tidy up the room a bit, and curiously I found a second pair of jeans (in addition to the one I was wearing). Since I was sure I only packed one this was a curiosity, though the ones I was wearing were a bit tight..
As I examined the one I was wearing, it looked strangely unfamiliar.
I asked Scotty, if the jeans I was wearing looked familiar. He replied, “Those are mine.” I said what about these khaki’s?” “Oh, those are mine too. But its OK, you can wear them.”
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Relatively speaking that is.
Scotty and I have resigned ourselves that neither of us will win the the Ironwoman/man competition on this trip.
When we last left the MASH ward Tori had passed out on Cheryl’s bed and Scotty had made a dignified exit of the Medrea’s apartment.
Alas, it was not the best of days for the Mission Team Men. Scotty was destined to share the same virus that had plagued me the day before, so today was his day in sick bay, with me serving as his would-be medical advocate. After several bouts of that which shall remained unnamed, Scotty fell asleep. When he awoke, he would have a fever, which would send the Romanian Mom’s into conference. Scotty would tell me to tell them not to worry because “he always has a fever when he wakes up.” So I would tell the Romanian Mom’s this, and thankfully 15 minutes later his fever would dissipate. I will spare everyone all the details, but it was an interesting day of Pastor Dale and Scotty having opinions and Romanian Moms having opinions. The good news is that as I write this I am finally recovered from my malady and Scotty is on the road to recovery as well.
While we thank God for every good gift, and especially for Romanian Moms, we also thank God for Gheorge Medrea tonight. For those of you have not met Gheorge (Cristina’s father) he is a quiet, steady soul who only speaks when he has something to say. When he came home from work he asked me what the problem was. When I told him he paused and said, “I did not know the problem. This can be solv-ed.” He proceeded to prescribe the following (you will want to save this for posterity):
1) Swallow one tablespoon of unused ground coffee with NO liquid. (never complain about dry mouth until you do this!) 2) Wait ½ hour. Drink one cup of the worst tasting tea I’ve ever had. (Unfortunately I do not know the recipe, but it comes from plants that apparently grow on earth. As Gheorge says “It must-ed be all natural) 3) Wait ½ hour. Drink one shot glass of a mixture of natural honey and home brewed Romanian Sweeka (Plum Whisky, 110-120 proof—really, as Gheorge says, “it must-ed be strong-ed and it must-ed be all-natural.”
When the task is completed Gheorge looks with quiet confidence and says, “problem solv-ed.”
(Moms please note that since Gheorge is Romanian Baptist, the sweeka was probably transformed in plum juice before we drank it)
And of course, I feel all better, and Scotty is snoring away.
When I told him it worked, he merely said, “You should have told me the problem before.”
Indeed. Tomorrow I will mention world peace to him and see what we can do about that.
So while Scotty and I were very pleased to advance the cause of medicine in the West, Cheryl, Emily, and Tori were advancing the cause of Christ.
It was the best of days for the Romania Team women. Tori awoke this morning in Cheryl’s bed with only the impression of Cheryl’s cell phone (upon which she slept) tattooed to her body. Tori’s being ready to go out of the starting gate keeps all three women engaged in the iron woman competition.
They spent much of the morning packing bags for poor families, spent the day in Zarand distributing them, beautifying the church grounds, and bringing flowers to the grave of Maria’s father. Tonight they were up until close to midnight packing bags to distribute to poor families tomorrow.
Fortunately, Scotty and I were both sufficiently recovered that we could all join together tonight for prayer for all of you, the many we have met, our host families and each other.
There is no question Scotty and I would have preferred to have spent the day otherwise engaged, but I can’t help thinking it was good for us to allow our Romanian brothers and sisters to care for us, and teach us. Not merely about medicine, but what it means to love one another. Moreover, I suspect God was pleased to use Cheryl, Emily and One crutch Tori as He did.
While Scotty and I don’t wish to contemplate what all of this must mean for the relative strength of the sexes (though it is safe to say neither of us feel up to child-birth), we can conclude this day with the firm recognition that Emily is definitely Scottish.
While Cheryl, Emily, and Tori were out on their mission to Zarand, one Romanian man finally beat Emily’s best score in computer pinball.
When told after supper that she's now second, she just smiled and said, “for now.”
It is clear that the pinball game is not over, and neither is our trip.
Please continue to pray for us, and we will pray for you.
If the world seems to be a more peaceful place tomorrow, thank God and Gheorge.
It kind of looks like a MASH ward here tonight. Today was another day of 90 degree weather with much humidity and little or no air conditioning.
After congratulating everyone else all trip long about persevering despite the challenges, I succumbed to Montezuma’s revenge today. So I didn’t go with the team but stayed close to home (among one other thing).
The team, however went to Petris, visited several poor families, another elderly home, and enjoyed the wonderful Romanian donuts, gogosh.
They did an absolutely terrific job, with all the Cross trainers and Cheryl fully entering into everything.They did, however, come back from Petris, just a bit tired.
Scotty and Tori looked exhausted, but whenever we would wake them up at dinner they insisted they were fine.
Tori, however, fell asleep after dinner in Cheryl’s bed, and when I woke her up to ask her how she was, she said fine twice. When I suggested I take her home to Radi’s she ignored me and fell asleep. Since the plans change in Romania, Cheryl will adjust, no questions asked.
Scotty, however, being on a steroid treatment due to the poison Ivy, was able to make it back to our apartment, and had the presence of mind to wish Gheorge and Maria Happy Anniversary on his departure. (Many Romanian women swooned at this point, but Scotty was too tired to notice.)
Scotty has, however, made quite an impression on the Romanian medical establishment. After refusing to get better without steroids, once they were administered, presto, he began to get better.
Emily is positively driving the men of our host families crazy, merely because she was able to get the high score in a computer pinball game, and despite hours being devoted to dethroning her, they can’t come close.
Emily is also winning the sunburn/suntan award (though she insists she is not trying), and Cheryl and Emily are even up for iron women of the trip. With Pastor Dale MIA for today, I am out of the competition. Scotty and Tori cannot be counted out, though if Scotty makes it through to Monday, there will be an appeal to International Federation for Drug Testing.
All of this levity is secondary in comparison to the good things God is doing in and through us. I could see today in the faces of the team members the impact all of this is having, and that they are having.
Lord willing I will be back in motion tomorrow, and have something of more substance to report.
Still, one sign of faith is the ability to laugh. For laughter demonstrates the existence of hope, and God has filled us with much hope, even as he is doing the painful work of expanding our hearts.
Dear Romania Trip Supporters, Good afternoon.Like is the case with every Romania trip (probably every mission trip) there is no way to fully explain what we have done and are doing, or what impact it is having on others or ourselves. Moreover, knowing how much time to take to write is an issue, because it means removing myself from the experience.
But, it is good and important to write.
First and most importantly, the “kids” and Cheryl and I are doing well. I use “kids” with reluctance because they have been stellar participants in the trip. They came to engage with this experience fully, and they are. A severe case of poison ivy hasn’t stopped Scotty from engaging in anything. A severely sore ankle hasn’t deterred Tori either. Emily hasn’t let the spectre of what may lie around the corner stop her. I’ve never been with a team that was more “present” and more engaged” than this one (though that may be a statement about the new “me” more than anyone else).
Yesterday we went to a three hour church service/baptism and everyone stayed engaged despite the fact it was outdoor and in the hot sun (Emily bears witness to this). Today we packed and delivered over 200 care packets to the residents of the nursing home in Arad. I’ve never been with a team that stayed so long. We were there over 2 hours as the team not just delivered the packets, but stayed to shake every hand, look in every eye, and converse the best we could. The “kids” even were willing to go into the part of the home with those who are most ill and deformed, and while tears were shed later, they stayed fully engaged while present. (they did better than me)
We just had lunch (it started at 4:00p) and we will soon be going to visit some poor families in Arad. Tomorrow we will be off to Petris to visit more poor families and the elderly.
Thanks for your prayers. I don’t want to take all that is good for granted.
Thanks for your prayers, as it is very hot, and we aren’t all adjusted to the time shift in our sleep patterns. Moreover, there is much left to do and surprisingly few days to do it.
Thanks for your prayers as this trip is impacting each of us in ways that are too deep for us to presently decipher. What this undoubtedly means is that it is going to take each one of us some time to decompress and find the words to talk about it when we return. Moreover, returning will cause all of us the inevitable re-entry confusion. We are confronted daily with the beatitude “Blessed are the poor.” We are finding economic poverty, but MUCH spiritual and emotional wealth. Each of us finds ourselves to be among the most economically wealthy people we have met since arriving in Romania, yet we are encountering richness and depth we never knew existed. We won’t finish sorting this out, until after our return, which is why our first debriefing meeting on the night of Sept. 2nd is so important.
This is, however, really good news. It means God has/is/will answer the prayers that have been prayed as well as intentions he has that we knew to pray. It means that we have each found new ways to grow and new questions to ask. It means we are finding a way forward where we don’t know one existed, and it is changing us, Lord willing, for the better. We are not ignorant of that fact that if we are changed it carries forward to all we love and encounter.
Please continue to pray for us and all we encounter.
Good evening. There does seem to be a different physics that operates here in Romania. It is a spiritual physics, kingdom of God physics, where power is weakness and weakness is used by God.On the face of things, this is the most unlikely mission team, and it is growing more unlikely by the hour.
Tori is suffering from a very swollen and hurting ankle, and we will probably have her on crutches tomorrow. Scotty is suffering from a severe case of poison ivy on his feet and legs that is gaining attention in the medical community of Arad. Emily is still recovering from the injury to her spleen and can’t be involved in contact sports (though we haven’t decided what kind of limitation that really means for her, though it is possible she possess abilities in tackle football we haven’t yet discerned).
Additionally, we are sleep deprived and the Cross trainers are learning precisely what jet lag means.Even so, we had a terrific day.
The Cross Trainers entered into everything, not begrudgingly, but of good cheer. I have heard them laugh more today that I have the entire time I have known them. Despite fatigue, they attended a 1 ½ hour worship service and stayed engaged.
Tonight’s team meeting was marked with some levity, much profound spiritual and personal reflection and an eagerness to engage the week to come. Gheorge Medrea summed it up best when he said, “God is strong in our weakness. He will work in ways we do not understand in the week to come.”
This I truly believe.I don’t have time to write more or be witty, lest I keep up my host family.
Please pray for us. For health, for continued openness to the leading of the spirit and the instruction of God, and for the maturity to let God work through our weakness, rather than fall into self pity. And for tomorrow, in which it seems certain some of the kids will be giving testimonies in churches. The latter is much more difficult in the love with which we are surrounded.
After spending the night in Budapest, Hungary, this was a Continued Travel Day by van. The Team arrived in Arad, Romania at approximately 4:45 P.M. That's 10:45 A.M. EST.
Wednesday, August 12 - Thursday, August 13 Day 1-2 - Travel Part 2 - Dale
Well sometimes the plans change, for the better.
At lunch on Wednesday when my sister-in-law Bonnie mentioned that “everyone at the Botel Hotel loves Dale Kuehne” I didn’t pay much attention. I haven’t been here for 7 years, and assumed no one would remember me.
Well, I was wrong and Bonnie was right.
After I sent the earlier email Cheryl and I got to talking, and while it was clear to us that while Scotty ought not to be walking, it seemed to us to be such a shame to come to his ancestoral capital, only to not see it. So I went to front desk to see if we could hire a taxi to give us a driving tour.
The attendant looked, at me, got a big smile on his face, and said, “You are Mr. Kuehne (and even pronounced it the incorrect way we do)!” I greeted him and explained to him what we wanted to do, and he said, “You don’t want to do that, I’ve got a better idea.” So for the next half hour he makes phone calls, and then proceeds to tell me that he has arranged for a professional English speaking tour guide to give us a private 2 hour mini-bus tour of the city, after which he will drop us off at a restaurant for dinner, and he had arranged with the maitre’de to get a taxi back to the hotel at the conclusion of the meal.
Since it was now 7:00pm and since the tour bus would come at 7:30pm I wasn’t so sure this was a good idea, as the Romania team was looking a bit wilted and Emily was describing a world in her mind that had a quality of spinning to it. But since we are the stage of the tribe where no one wants to admit they have limits, we decided to forge ahead. We bolstered ourselves nutritionally by sitting around the ships deck drinking Coke and eating Starbursts. I’m not sure that’s legal, but it had the desired effect, and the tour bus arrived and off we went.
We had a spectacular 2 hour tour of the city. It seems clear that the Botel told the driver I was a Rev., as the driver spent much time talking about religion in Hungary, and brining us to some of the key Synogogues and Churches. The tour took place at sunset and the fall of night, and if there is a more beautiful city on earth at nightfall I’d love to see it. It was a spectacular night, with all the kids taking pictures non-stop. The highlight was ending the tour on a bluff in Buda overlooking the Danube and Pest. The clear sky, cool breeze, and brilliantly lit city, made Scotty say, “this is totally worth it even though I am tired.”
The tour leader left us in the heart of the city, at a very special restaurant that was pure Hungarian cuisine , and featuring a Hungarian gipsy band going table to table playing music.
Needless to say we had a terrific dinner, highlighted with Tori tasting everyone’s food and having a serious debate with herself about which was best because they were all so good. Emily had no need to debate, she just savored. Cheryl and I meanwhile looked at each other and communicated the sense that this clearly did not feel like a mission trip.
The goodness of the evening seemed to prepare Emily for her first Hungarian Taxi ride. The most I can say about it was that no one spoke the entire way back to the Botel. But the ride went so fast we didn’t have much time to talk. I think we collectively decided this was a good moment to have our quiet time with God.
We got back to the Botel about 11, and we are all turning in of the night.
The front desk attendant asked me if his arrangements were satisfactory. I said he did a terrific job. He looked me in the eye and said, “I am so happy.”
And so are we. This was not the evening any of us expected, but it was a great gift. Like Babette’s feast it was an evening we did not deserve. Like Babette’s feast it was probably so good we still don’t understand it all. But, sometimes you have to tell the front desk attendant and God, “Thank You,” and not argue about how undeserving we are. We all are wondering how we square such a gift with a mission trip, but that’s a good question to grapple with. We are truly coming to serve, and if Christ decides he wants to wash our feet before, during, and after, who are we to say no.
Only God knows what tomorrow will bring. Based on my experience, it will only get better in Romania. The trick there will be finding words for it, because sometimes love and goodnees defies categorization and language.
Wednesday, August 12 - Thursday, August 13 Day 1-2 - Travel Part 1 - Tori
After a quick group hug, Pastor Dale went off to catch his flight.
The rest of us, Cheryl, Scotty, Emily, and I headed to the food court to burn time and, well eat. We had sandwiches from a place called Earl of Sandwich. They were loved unaminously.
Scotty then produced food from his bag, we ate the delectable chocolate chocolate chip muffins, and munched on the other little snacks. When all stomachs were full, and there was still time to waste, I took out my mini Uno cards. We played a few rounds of Uno before switching to Texas Hold 'Em, with a regular deck. After learning and making make-shift chips from Starburst, we played a few rounds and before we knew it, it was time to board. We got seated and settled quickly and just had to wait for lift-off. Once we left the ground, I started to feel better, but it still didn't seem real.
The entertainment on the flight was pretty well stocked. There were several good movies to watch, and lots of music. Plus, there were shows and games.
Around midnight, we received dinner. We each had a choice of chicken or salmon. I picked the salmon and it was pretty good. It also came with bread & butter, pudding, a brownie, and some sort of salad. It was all better than I had expected.
After they collected our trash from dinner, they turned down the lights. I finished my movie and prepared to go to sleep. I pushed my seat back and immediately got snapped at in French by the man behind me. I went to apologize, but he had already started talking to his wife. I know common insults in French and boy was he using them on me. I was the stupid American girl who was too big to fit in her chair. And then he went on about stupid Americans. I didn't understand all of it, but I knew the idea. And he had no idea I understood.
Then, his wife stood up and asked Scotty and I to turn out the light. I told her we didn't know how, in French. Her face dropped and she sat back down.
So, because I didn't want to get snapped at again, my seat stayed in upright position, thus, I barely slept. However, I wasn't alone. Scotty and Emily didn't really sleep either.
We got breakfast around 3am. It was pretty basic, just juice, a scone-thing, and plain yogurt. It wasn't all that great. Shortly after, we landed.
We got into Charles de Gaulle airport, and it is in fact "not too shabby." There were birds flying and it was really nice. However, it was confusing, and we had to go through security again. Our gate ended up being changed, but no one told us that so we walked around for a long time until we found it. And security was a pain to go through again. But, we made it and we left on time.
The plane was mostly empty and very small. On this flight, we also got food. Again we had an option, but this time it was between cheese or salami sandwiches. I had the salami and it was a little dry, but still good. The trip flew by because we all more or less fell asleep. And, soon we were descending into Budapest airport.