a heavy heart

I am still thoroughly enjoying my time in Sighi... I still feel so blessed to be here! I enjoy the 15 minute walk from the apartment to the House on the Rock (the coffee shop/offices of some of the Veritas staff) that Amy and I make every morning and evening. There is this one section of stairs that still leaves us very out of breath..hopefully it will improve! :) There is also a house with a scary dog we avoid every time... It seems to have just appeared out of no where. The first few walks back and forth were fine, but then one day it barked really viciously and scared us...and made Amy run a little :). 

Yesterday I went on the first home visits for some of the teenagers. It was really hard for me to see the conditions that they live in, since when they come to club, they always come clean and fashionable. Some of the kids have alcoholic parents, some have been kicked out of their homes, some kids are told to beg for their parents so that they can buy food, or buy something like alcohol. Many, and I mean MANY, of the teens and adults smoke. One friend told me that some of the teenagers will get drunk before school. It reminded me that we are all broken...

It is hard because I want to build relationships with these teens and show them love. I know that that does not require language...but honestly it is so frustrating not being able to communicate in this way. That might be the hardest thing for me. I feel like I cannot make a difference because of the language. I know this is not true--because I have seen people who only speak English make a difference in the D.R. and build lasting relationships! But, it is still somewhat discouraging and you could pray for me and the rest of the team in that area. Thankfully we have a lot of opportunities to practice our Romanian, and our teacher is excellent! She is a lot of fun and we really enjoy her! Also, today I am going to try and use some Spanish to communicate with some of the teen girls who I know speak Spanish. Even though my Spanish is not the best, it is better than my Romanian :) And who knows, maybe my Spanish will improve during my stay here! :)

Even though it was a little bit harder for me this week, I am still so so excited to be here and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I know God has a wonderful plan and I just need to trust and follow him :).

Busy days!

I am sure that everyone can probably agree that their days are busy...especially with fall and the start of school. I (also Shari and Amy) are pretty busy here in Romania, but finally, I have a couple hours to spare and I have access to the Internet! So I decided to update this blog...just in case anyone is reading ;). I mean, besides my Mom.

Since so much has happened, I will obviously not go into every detail, but I thought I would share some highlights from our time so far in Romania.

• First: We made it safely! Yay! No lost luggage or people...although I did almost lose my passport at one point... oops. Amy and I are living together in an apartment on the fifth floor, and we LOVE our host family. There is Imi, our host mom, Maria, our host sister and then there is also Jeremy, who is recently married to Maria. They will be leaving to the US in a few days to celebrate their marriage with his family. We feel really blessed to be living with them! Also--Imi is an amazing cook! Just thought I would throw that out there...
• Last week I went on an outing with the disabled group here at Veritas. We went up to this mountain and had a picnic. We also played soccer, which was fun because when we picked teams I was like the second person picked...That is probably the first time that I have been picked so close to first, so it was a really good moment for me. Haha :). Honestly though, I really enjoyed my time with them and I am so excited to get to know the group more! 
• There is a village nearby with a church we are able to volunteer our time in. I found out they actually have a sewing program. Some women make dolls, purses, and a few other things, and then sell them. I was so excited when I heard about this because it is something I have considered helping out with in the future! They have asked me if I would like to volunteer to teach them some new things, as well as help them improve other things. I honestly cannot even believe how goooood God is! I read my personal devotion journal the other day and noticed that a few weeks before leaving Romania, I had written that one of my dreams is to help women in the area of sewing. I did not know it would happen so soon and I never imagined it happening in Romania!
• Finally, we are beginning to make Romanian friends, and I am very excited about that! The people here have been so friendly and kind, I feel so blessed to be here!

Alrighty, in a little while I will be helping out with the teen program, along with Shari, and so I had better get going!

If you would like to pray for us, you can pray that we would continue to transition well into the culture and the new activities.
We are also going to the Veritas retreat for the staff from Wed to Sat so you can pray that goes well and everyone gets the rest and refreshment from God that they need.
Thank you for reading and praying :) We are praying for all our friends and family back home in Michigan (and other parts of the world!) :)