Friday, July 17, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Team Romania
Ready...set...JUMP!
oops...looks like Charis got the wrong memo and is playing charades, acting out "being terrified"??? Who knows...
oops...looks like Charis got the wrong memo and is playing charades, acting out "being terrified"??? Who knows...
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Summer in Romania update # 2
Dear friends,
If I were to describe Romania to you, here are some of things I would probably talk about:
Hot and humid weather, smell of honeysuckle in the air, stray dogs everywhere, reckless drivers, good food, beautiful language, friendly and hospitable people, never on time :)
We, as a team, have been facing opposition and definitely have felt God’s protection on many levels! From sickness and injuries, to miscommunication, to a car accident....two car accidents actually. Both non-injury accidents!! Two weeks ago we were in Craiova for our first church visit, and our car got rear-ended. Everyone was ok but the car was totaled. To make matters worse, the guy that hit us had no insurance, and ended up getting it after the accident (how is that possible you may ask? I really have no answer for you). Tudor, a camp director here in Romania that travels with our team, was driving his car, and is now dealing with the insurance company to get money back. It has been a frustrating process. We are praying that God provides a car (or finances) for Tudor and his family.
Yesterday, we ended our third and last church visit in Seleus. The youth pastor from that church, Emi, was driving us to our next location, a city of Timisoara, where we will be for the next couple of days before heading to training and camp on Friday. We got rear-ended, again. We really praise God for no injuries, just sore necks and backs! After the accident, I called Mel, my boss, to tell him what had happened, and was told him and his wife Amy had prayed for safety for our team that morning. We also found out that Tudor’s daughter had woken her mom the night before and asked to pray for daddy because she thought he would be in a car accident again! Tudor’s wife told him this when he called home to tell them he was ok.
We have been here for one month now, experiencing the culture, meeting the people, and attempting to learn the language. I have to tell you that I am very proud of the team. They are doing a great job!! Plans change often, and usually we find out at the last minute, and have to adjust quickly, but it has not been a problem and everyone's been really flexible and gracious! Definitely a God thing I feel like!
Church visits – Craiova, Galati, Seleus
I definitely am seeing how God has paved the way, and been preparing things for us to enter into. All three of our church visits went so well and we had a chance to connect with the youth group and the team we will be working with. It is good to be on the same page and the visits have definitely accomplished that!
{Left: Advertising camp in a local park in Craiova, Right: Hanging out with the team from Craiova}
What do we do during a church visit?
Each visit was four to five days long, and we got to stay in the homes of the people from the church. We had multiple meetings discussing logistics of camps, meeting the teams, and setting things up for training before camp. We advertised camps in public places, and invited students to come. All the teams are really enthusiastic about the camp theme “Stories” as well as an opportunity to do an evangelistic camp. We shared at church services, and J got to preach at a church gathering in a Gypsy community on one Sunday. We feel very blessed to be here to share God’s love with people!
A couple of times we got to go and serve the poor. Poverty is all around here in Romania. We met a family of seven who lives in a small tent next to a cemetery, outside of the city of Craiova. Parents and their five little children live there because they have no jobs, no other place to go, nothing. We brought lunch to eat with them and got to play with the kids. The cool thing was to see the local church reach out to this family, to accept them, and to start helping them....trying to figure out the living situation, find a job, etc. We saw a very practical side of love and care from the church!
June 20th is World Refugee Day. The church in Galati has a large group of refugees from Congo attending their church. Together with the Romanian youth group, we got to celebrate with these Congolese men at a worship concert held in a local theater.
{Left: World Refugee Day worship concert, Right: Gypsy church in Galati}
Story time:
Dan Vieru is the youth pastor of the church in Craiova. While there, he shared his story with us. He and his wife Dana adopted a little girl about five years ago. It was awesome to hear their story of trying to have kids and how they couldn't, and then they finally decided to adopt and they now have a beautiful daughter, Brianna. A few days after we left for another church visit, we got a note from Dan saying that his wife went to a doctor and he told her she was pregnant! He kept saying how it was a miracle, and it truly is! After 11 years of not being able to have children, little Brianna will now have a sibling :D
We are leaving tomorrow to go back to Seleus. The American youth group that is coming to help us flies in tomorrow as well. Friday and Saturday are training days. On Sunday we will travel to camp location to start setting up to be ready to begin camp on Monday morning! Camp number 1 is here!!
Prayer requests for camp # 1 (3villages-Seleus, Ineu, Sebreus; July 3-14 including training days and follow up)
~That we will trust in the power of the gospel!
~Students who will hear the story of God
~For unity for all these different teams coming together – the intern team, US youth group team, Romanian teams from Seleus, Inea, and Sebreus, and a group of leaders from B.I.G., the national organization JV partners with
~For health
~Life after camp – that the church would continue to reach out to the community, and care for new believers
Thank you on behalf of our whole team :)
Love, Katka
If I were to describe Romania to you, here are some of things I would probably talk about:
Hot and humid weather, smell of honeysuckle in the air, stray dogs everywhere, reckless drivers, good food, beautiful language, friendly and hospitable people, never on time :)
We, as a team, have been facing opposition and definitely have felt God’s protection on many levels! From sickness and injuries, to miscommunication, to a car accident....two car accidents actually. Both non-injury accidents!! Two weeks ago we were in Craiova for our first church visit, and our car got rear-ended. Everyone was ok but the car was totaled. To make matters worse, the guy that hit us had no insurance, and ended up getting it after the accident (how is that possible you may ask? I really have no answer for you). Tudor, a camp director here in Romania that travels with our team, was driving his car, and is now dealing with the insurance company to get money back. It has been a frustrating process. We are praying that God provides a car (or finances) for Tudor and his family.
Yesterday, we ended our third and last church visit in Seleus. The youth pastor from that church, Emi, was driving us to our next location, a city of Timisoara, where we will be for the next couple of days before heading to training and camp on Friday. We got rear-ended, again. We really praise God for no injuries, just sore necks and backs! After the accident, I called Mel, my boss, to tell him what had happened, and was told him and his wife Amy had prayed for safety for our team that morning. We also found out that Tudor’s daughter had woken her mom the night before and asked to pray for daddy because she thought he would be in a car accident again! Tudor’s wife told him this when he called home to tell them he was ok.
We have been here for one month now, experiencing the culture, meeting the people, and attempting to learn the language. I have to tell you that I am very proud of the team. They are doing a great job!! Plans change often, and usually we find out at the last minute, and have to adjust quickly, but it has not been a problem and everyone's been really flexible and gracious! Definitely a God thing I feel like!
Church visits – Craiova, Galati, Seleus
I definitely am seeing how God has paved the way, and been preparing things for us to enter into. All three of our church visits went so well and we had a chance to connect with the youth group and the team we will be working with. It is good to be on the same page and the visits have definitely accomplished that!
{Left: Advertising camp in a local park in Craiova, Right: Hanging out with the team from Craiova}
What do we do during a church visit?
Each visit was four to five days long, and we got to stay in the homes of the people from the church. We had multiple meetings discussing logistics of camps, meeting the teams, and setting things up for training before camp. We advertised camps in public places, and invited students to come. All the teams are really enthusiastic about the camp theme “Stories” as well as an opportunity to do an evangelistic camp. We shared at church services, and J got to preach at a church gathering in a Gypsy community on one Sunday. We feel very blessed to be here to share God’s love with people!
A couple of times we got to go and serve the poor. Poverty is all around here in Romania. We met a family of seven who lives in a small tent next to a cemetery, outside of the city of Craiova. Parents and their five little children live there because they have no jobs, no other place to go, nothing. We brought lunch to eat with them and got to play with the kids. The cool thing was to see the local church reach out to this family, to accept them, and to start helping them....trying to figure out the living situation, find a job, etc. We saw a very practical side of love and care from the church!
June 20th is World Refugee Day. The church in Galati has a large group of refugees from Congo attending their church. Together with the Romanian youth group, we got to celebrate with these Congolese men at a worship concert held in a local theater.
{Left: World Refugee Day worship concert, Right: Gypsy church in Galati}
Story time:
Dan Vieru is the youth pastor of the church in Craiova. While there, he shared his story with us. He and his wife Dana adopted a little girl about five years ago. It was awesome to hear their story of trying to have kids and how they couldn't, and then they finally decided to adopt and they now have a beautiful daughter, Brianna. A few days after we left for another church visit, we got a note from Dan saying that his wife went to a doctor and he told her she was pregnant! He kept saying how it was a miracle, and it truly is! After 11 years of not being able to have children, little Brianna will now have a sibling :D
We are leaving tomorrow to go back to Seleus. The American youth group that is coming to help us flies in tomorrow as well. Friday and Saturday are training days. On Sunday we will travel to camp location to start setting up to be ready to begin camp on Monday morning! Camp number 1 is here!!
Prayer requests for camp # 1 (3villages-Seleus, Ineu, Sebreus; July 3-14 including training days and follow up)
~That we will trust in the power of the gospel!
~Students who will hear the story of God
~For unity for all these different teams coming together – the intern team, US youth group team, Romanian teams from Seleus, Inea, and Sebreus, and a group of leaders from B.I.G., the national organization JV partners with
~For health
~Life after camp – that the church would continue to reach out to the community, and care for new believers
Thank you on behalf of our whole team :)
Love, Katka
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Romania
Hunched over a piece of paper, team Romania is trying to figure out what to do next. The text is in German, and none of us have a clue what it says.
May 27, 2009, Vienna, Austria, 14:00 Central European Time – JV interns fly in and the Amazing Race begins!
Sixteen teams competed over the next three days, finishing tasks in many different places like Vienna - Austria, Budapest - Hungary, Bratislava – Slovakia, and finally arriving in Malenovice for a week-long training. The purpose of the race is for the individual teams to bond, to discover people’s personalities, and to see how people react under stress. This is all very important and useful information given the teams will spend the almost three months together. Our team did well. We definitely bonded quickly and had fun running around [leisurely walking to be more accurate] to find clues, figuring out tasks, and riding trains!
{Compete: strive to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others who are trying to do the same}
I have to laugh when I read this definition. While we had a great time going through the race, there definitely were times during the race when we got too distracted [beautiful places, great conversations, laughter], and completely forgot we were racing. Fourth place in the race came as a shock and a pleasant surprise! :) We had a great time as a team, and it was an awesome start to serving together this summer.
Yep, four girls and one guy. [from L to R: Katka, James, Charis, Irina, Alina] James is from California, Charis is from Delaware, Irina and Alina are from Romania.
After a week of intense training and teaching in Malenovice, Czech Republic, we got on a train [five trains to be exact] and arrived in Arad, Romania on Friday night. We will be in Romania till mid August, working with local churches doing English Camps.
We walked around the city of Arad today, and learned more about the orthodox church. It was heartbreaking to hear about how most people are taught to believe that the way to God is through their deeds. No grace there.
Our desire and prayer is that God uses us to communicate love to people everywhere we go. We want to be tools used to spread His truth. We are here to love, to serve, and most of all to share the hope of Christ!
The month of June will be spent traveling around the country, visiting the churches we will be working with. We are working on our English lessons, preparing materials to train the youth groups, meeting people, learning about the country, attempting to learn the language [conquering it really] all the while praying that God uses all this for His glory!
Please, pray for:
boldness and humility as we talk with people, team unity, love among our team that would be a testimony of Him to people around us, health, communication with Romanian leaders, the churches we will be working with - Ineu, Pancota, Seleus, Craiova, Galati, the rest of the finances to come in for our Romanian interns
On a more personal note: This whole summer is full of challenges. I do not see myself as a leader and am praying that God shows me how to lead this team well this summer. While at training, God revealed some areas of insecurities I had to confess. I realized I sometimes give in to the lies and focus too much on who I am not rather than on how God can use who I am. I want to be a woman that God can use. Not a woman hiding behind her fears, defeated by lies and doubts!!
One thing that is always a (huge) step of faith is financial support. I realized that I would not have enough to cover my expenses for this summer and needed to raise additional $1,500. As I prayed, I really felt that God wanted me to raise this money in Czech. I talked to people and it was so encouraging to see their excitement, their desire to be a part of what God is doing in Romania! Eight hundred dollars were raised before our team left Czech. On Friday, sitting on a train somewhere in Hungary, I received a text message saying another $700 came in! God provided all the money and I really love the fact that the church in Czech is a part of this ministry down here in Romania, sending and supporting our team!
I am thankful for you. Thank you for lifting our team up in our prayers! It is so humbling and beautiful to be a part of God’s story and I cannot wait to share more with you as it unfolds... I am really humbled by all that God has done already!
Love,
Katka
May 27, 2009, Vienna, Austria, 14:00 Central European Time – JV interns fly in and the Amazing Race begins!
Sixteen teams competed over the next three days, finishing tasks in many different places like Vienna - Austria, Budapest - Hungary, Bratislava – Slovakia, and finally arriving in Malenovice for a week-long training. The purpose of the race is for the individual teams to bond, to discover people’s personalities, and to see how people react under stress. This is all very important and useful information given the teams will spend the almost three months together. Our team did well. We definitely bonded quickly and had fun running around [leisurely walking to be more accurate] to find clues, figuring out tasks, and riding trains!
{Compete: strive to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others who are trying to do the same}
I have to laugh when I read this definition. While we had a great time going through the race, there definitely were times during the race when we got too distracted [beautiful places, great conversations, laughter], and completely forgot we were racing. Fourth place in the race came as a shock and a pleasant surprise! :) We had a great time as a team, and it was an awesome start to serving together this summer.
Yep, four girls and one guy. [from L to R: Katka, James, Charis, Irina, Alina] James is from California, Charis is from Delaware, Irina and Alina are from Romania.
After a week of intense training and teaching in Malenovice, Czech Republic, we got on a train [five trains to be exact] and arrived in Arad, Romania on Friday night. We will be in Romania till mid August, working with local churches doing English Camps.
We walked around the city of Arad today, and learned more about the orthodox church. It was heartbreaking to hear about how most people are taught to believe that the way to God is through their deeds. No grace there.
Our desire and prayer is that God uses us to communicate love to people everywhere we go. We want to be tools used to spread His truth. We are here to love, to serve, and most of all to share the hope of Christ!
The month of June will be spent traveling around the country, visiting the churches we will be working with. We are working on our English lessons, preparing materials to train the youth groups, meeting people, learning about the country, attempting to learn the language [conquering it really] all the while praying that God uses all this for His glory!
Please, pray for:
boldness and humility as we talk with people, team unity, love among our team that would be a testimony of Him to people around us, health, communication with Romanian leaders, the churches we will be working with - Ineu, Pancota, Seleus, Craiova, Galati, the rest of the finances to come in for our Romanian interns
On a more personal note: This whole summer is full of challenges. I do not see myself as a leader and am praying that God shows me how to lead this team well this summer. While at training, God revealed some areas of insecurities I had to confess. I realized I sometimes give in to the lies and focus too much on who I am not rather than on how God can use who I am. I want to be a woman that God can use. Not a woman hiding behind her fears, defeated by lies and doubts!!
One thing that is always a (huge) step of faith is financial support. I realized that I would not have enough to cover my expenses for this summer and needed to raise additional $1,500. As I prayed, I really felt that God wanted me to raise this money in Czech. I talked to people and it was so encouraging to see their excitement, their desire to be a part of what God is doing in Romania! Eight hundred dollars were raised before our team left Czech. On Friday, sitting on a train somewhere in Hungary, I received a text message saying another $700 came in! God provided all the money and I really love the fact that the church in Czech is a part of this ministry down here in Romania, sending and supporting our team!
I am thankful for you. Thank you for lifting our team up in our prayers! It is so humbling and beautiful to be a part of God’s story and I cannot wait to share more with you as it unfolds... I am really humbled by all that God has done already!
Love,
Katka
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Editor's (not so serious) note
Dear blog readers,
it is always very disheartening when one expresses excitement over something (anything, really), in any form (long or short), and the first word out of the reader's mouth is Lame!....hmm, let's be happy for me, right?? So as much as I appreciate comments and am glad that someone is actually reading this, I would also love some support. Just saying...... :) And I do promise....more of the excitement story to follow soon!! You won't be disappointed, my faithful friends (a.k.a. Britt and LO) Love you!!
PS. If this comes across as serious, I apologize....sometimes expressing humor in written form is a lot harder than one (a.k.a. ME!) would think.
it is always very disheartening when one expresses excitement over something (anything, really), in any form (long or short), and the first word out of the reader's mouth is Lame!....hmm, let's be happy for me, right?? So as much as I appreciate comments and am glad that someone is actually reading this, I would also love some support. Just saying...... :) And I do promise....more of the excitement story to follow soon!! You won't be disappointed, my faithful friends (a.k.a. Britt and LO) Love you!!
PS. If this comes across as serious, I apologize....sometimes expressing humor in written form is a lot harder than one (a.k.a. ME!) would think.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Excitement
I am excited! Excited about Romania this summer. God has brought a great team together and I am so looking forward to our many adventures together! I'll write more later....for now, let's just enjoy a moment of pure excitement (well, it may be a little longer than just a moment till I post again but you know... :))
Monday, April 6, 2009
just living life :)
The date today is April 6, 2009 and I am happy to say the sun is up and shining again! Spring is here. This past weekend was gorgeous and I spent most of it outside enjoying the warmth. Aaaahhhhh! What a difference. Winter was long and cold. We got a lot of snow this winter, and it was fun for a while...but I think I am the person who enjoys it for a couple of weeks, and that's that. Let's move on.
I did not really travel anywhere the past four months. I got to be in Frydlant and do the routine thing. I actually enjoyed that for a change. Life has been busy. I have been spending every moment possible with the high school students. It has been great! we've been going ice skating almost every week, gone sledding a few times, and mostly just hung out and talked.
God has been giving me many opportunities to talk to them about different things. Lately, most conversations have been centered around relationships, dating, sexual purity, and all that. It has been great to discuss all of these issues with them. We went into the Bible to study what the Word says, and it was amazing. They told me that that was the first time they were hearing something different. Everyone (friends, teachers, even families) tell them it’s ok to be sexually active. With the country being mostly atheistic there is very little or nothing holding people back except maybe fear of pregnancy or diseases...but that's about it. What the Bible teaches is too radical for most people, and they think it’s not relevant. I pray that as we spend time in God’s Word, He opens their hearts to His truth and helps them understand! He's definitely been challenging them! And I pray that they respond to the challenge in a way that's glorifying Him!
Now that the weather is improving, I am getting ready to start going rollerblading with the students. Hopefully there are no injuries in my near future...definitely lots of space for improvement :)
Happy spring to you all!
I did not really travel anywhere the past four months. I got to be in Frydlant and do the routine thing. I actually enjoyed that for a change. Life has been busy. I have been spending every moment possible with the high school students. It has been great! we've been going ice skating almost every week, gone sledding a few times, and mostly just hung out and talked.
God has been giving me many opportunities to talk to them about different things. Lately, most conversations have been centered around relationships, dating, sexual purity, and all that. It has been great to discuss all of these issues with them. We went into the Bible to study what the Word says, and it was amazing. They told me that that was the first time they were hearing something different. Everyone (friends, teachers, even families) tell them it’s ok to be sexually active. With the country being mostly atheistic there is very little or nothing holding people back except maybe fear of pregnancy or diseases...but that's about it. What the Bible teaches is too radical for most people, and they think it’s not relevant. I pray that as we spend time in God’s Word, He opens their hearts to His truth and helps them understand! He's definitely been challenging them! And I pray that they respond to the challenge in a way that's glorifying Him!
Now that the weather is improving, I am getting ready to start going rollerblading with the students. Hopefully there are no injuries in my near future...definitely lots of space for improvement :)
Happy spring to you all!
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