Time to Party!!!

PRAYER REQUEST: Good sleep for both of us.....the last couple of nights, I've slept fairly well, but now Lisa is not, so restful sleep and continued good health. Also, if you would pray for us to truly be a blessing to those we encounter. The Eclesia church is in great need of some encouragement, and we'll be at their church picnic tomorrow (Saturday).

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who come alive." I know that I come alive when I'm on a mission trip. God has put it in my heart to love meeting new people, finding out about their culture and life, and their needs. Today was another chillin' day....though I was up early, I just had some coffee and my devotions while Lisa got some extra sleep which she needed. Breakfast was again a huge buffet and as usual, very tasty! Mihaela also washed some of our clothes for us.....she is such a delightful person and is quick to serve wherever she can. Mid-morning someone rang the gate bell, and Miha brought someone into the guest house.....it was Felix! I was so hoping to see him because when we were here in June, we met Felix and the other 4 of his brass quintet...in fact, they wanted Terry to play with them when we visited their church.....got to chatting, and the next thing we know, there's an email from Felix asking Terry to arrange some music for a CD the quintet is going to record! They were so grateful when both Terry and his copyist told them there would be no charge, and they've begun practicing.....when Ter asked them what style they wanted, they told him just to do different styles.....and they absolutely love what he's done. (well after all, he's MY favorite arranger!) Felix presented me with a gift for Terry for all his work, but of course, I cannot tell you what it is because I'm keeping it a surprise so Terry can see it first!
Shortly after Felix left, Beni walked in....he's back from Ploiesti and would take us to the Law School where he, Eugenia and Carla all study. Terry and I had been there in June, but we didn't get to see all the classrooms because of exams, so this time I got to see that part of it as well. Beni is so proud that WorldTeach has several of their published books being sold in the bookstore at the Law School! We usually stop in the snack shop before we leave, and the owner Cyrus showed Beni something new! Dr. Pepper! Beni was so excited and bought 4 of them because his family all love Dr. Pepper. Cyrus is the very first and only distributor of Dr. Pepper in all of Timisoara....he's very proud of that. During the next 5 phone calls Beni received, we picked up the words "Dr. Pepper" in every one of those conversations!
From the Law School we went to see the ministry "Jesus, Hope of Romania" and Onesimus House, run by Ligia Dugulescu, another place that I had seen in June with Terry. However, each time a person visits and hears the story, more of it sticks....at least in my case, so I was very happy to take the tour again, seeing some of the same boys Ter and I had met previously. Peter Dugulescu, Ligia's father, was the very 1st evangelical in the Romanian Parliament, and is thought of as the Romanian Billy Graham. During communism, abortion was illegal, and the women couldn't afford to keep their babies, so they took them to orphanages, because - think I mentioned this before - Ceaucescu was paying families a monthly stipend to keep their children in the orphanages....his plan was to indoctrinate the children and train them to become his army. So Peter Dugulescu started several different works that his family continues to administrate after his death. 3 of his children, Ligia, Marius and Eunice all live here in Timisoara.....his 4th daughter Christina lives in No. Carolina. We spent about an hour in Ligia's office where she reiterated much of her father's story for us, and read us some of his poems....translated, of course. Even in English it is such beautiful poetry. Marius - Ligia's younger brother, is the member of Parliament who ran the entire Committee Launch on Tuesday, and Eunice was the one who was in charge of inviting me and the speakers. Just an aside, 3 days later, Marius is still being attacked by the press (surprise, surprise!!!) and I'm sure you'll never guess which issue is the most explosive.....could it be unborn children? Yup, one lady in the press is just beating THIS particular dead horse over and over again, but there are many people emailing and asking her to write about some of the other issues.....she, however, refuses to give them "equal time" in her column.....one man said if she wouldn't publish his email, he'd plaster her pictures all over every porn site he could find! "In this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33) ...... can't say we didn't expect this. But I'm always encouraged by the fact, that, in the end, WE WIN!
Also at Onesimus House there is a shop that Ligia runs to make money for the ministry......yes, we did shop till we
dropped..... several lei for a couple of items each!
It seems that every morning we eat a big breakfast and then starve until 3pm when we finally stop to eat something.....today was not an exception.....after Onesimus house we drove over to our favorite hangout......Iulius Mall, went to the Food Court, and had some gulash. That has to be one of my favorites.....of course it's a Hungarian dish, but many places, especially in this western part of Romania, serve it and it's delicious! That "saved the day" for us.....at least me! (I learned early on to bring a little snack bag of sunflower seeds or almonds. Then, lo and behold, we went back down to Starbucks. I'm not kidding....I really think Alex is a part owner of the place......one thought Lisa and I had is that rather than sitting in one's tiny apartment for hours, it may be more pleasant to hang out at Starbucks! This is the newest and most recent store to open, and Alex was the first person to apply for a job, but he's only 17......he has the manual practically memorized and knows everyone on the staff. He only has to wait till December till he turns 18, and then I'm sure he'll be working there. Today Ioana gave us a tasting of their newest coffee....Sumatra Siborong-Borong..... instructing us on the proper way to first cup your hand over the coffee and breathe deeply......"what do you smell?" Then of course the slurping sip....and finally she gave us each some rocky road cake and had us take a sip, take a bite, take a sip........ well, you can figure out the rest! She was so cute....you could tell she loved doing this, and she has been friends with Alex for a long time.....last night we dropped her off after work. She's a newlywed and hopes to move to Canada with her husband. Anyway, we (whenever I say "we" I'm usually talking about Beni, Eugenia, Carla, Lisa and me......most often Alex, and sometimes Christiana, but today she was tired after tennis so just stopped by to say hi and then go home) stayed for quite a while.....just talking.....till time to PARTY!
The pastor of one of the local churches was giving a birthday party for his friends and we were invited.....the Dugulescu sisters were there, as well as Theresa.....and this time I met Ligia's mother Mary.....ended up sitting next to her at dinner and we had a great conversation. She speaks excellent English and after her husband Peter Dugulescu died, the 2 sisters and their families moved in with her. What a lucky mom! For dinner we had french fries and 4 kinds of meat.....well, chicken breast and chicken wings, pork, and sausage meatballs.....great grillin'....... 2, count 'em 2 kinds of cake, and yes, I had one of each!!!!!...and then the music began! At first it was Shania Twain, Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing), Abba, people dancing......then some typical Romanian music - some of them formed a "conga line" and began to dance the hora........(yes, the same as in Greece). Suddenly Ligia's younger daughter Jaclyn ran over and grabbed Lisa and me by the hand.....I think we laughed more than we danced, but we had a ball. Ligia's adopted daughter Georgi, who is 21 now, broke out of the line and turned on the video in her cell phone! She then told Lisa, Theresa and me that we'd each have to pay her $1000 or she'd put us on youtube! Of course she'd donate all the money to her mom's ministry, but still!
In America we call that blackmail! But she WOULD be the cutest blackmailer ever. Yesterday and today, both Lisa and I were feeling a bit of disappointment that we haven't been visiting more ministries.....we've been mostly having "down time". Yet, tonight, at the pastor's birthday party, both of us came to the separate conclusion that what God wants us to do in these last few days is connect with people, not just communicate. Many Americans seem to be of the mindset that if it's not big, impressive, or shiny that it really isn't worth doing. Tonight chatting with different people at the party, it was a good feeling thinking that I could bless them just by listening. Even Christians are too busy networking and trying to impress everyone with their latest book, CD, or corporate project......while people, many of them friends or family, are hurting inside, lonely, and just want to feel loved and cared about. Someone once told me that to be a great conversationalist, keep the other person talking about themselves instead of talking about yourself. May I ever remember that it's far more important to care about people than to puff myself up telling them about my latest achievement. Don't think Jesus went around saying, "hi, I'm Jesus and I'm a carpenter, what do you do?" ........ just sayin'......
Darkness set in, the air got cooler, trash was put in bags, tables folded up and stored, music off, and people beginning to leave. On our way home, Beni received a call, then hung up and told us that the church we were to go to on Sunday night had called apologetically saying that 2 different people had invited 2 different pastors to preach, so in effect, Beni was "un-invited". I don't believe there are any coincidences with God, and just today Ligia had practically begged us to come to Eclesia....her church, because they are in great need of encouragement. So, guess where we'll be Sunday night??? God knew before we did! A GOOD day was had by all.....at least, by me for sure. I'm still writing notes about what I want to do when I come back with my teams, but I'm trusting that God is going to give me the wisdom to plan just the right balance of ministry - "go-go-go" periods with time simply to connect with people's hearts. I do so love the Romanian people.
Time to call Terry.......good night my friends and family, and as always, thank you for your prayers. they have made a real difference in my life and in the lives of my new (and old) Romanian friends.