Four Day Count Down

Yes, it really has been almost 10 weeks since I left my home in the states and arrived at my new temporary home here in Romania! As I look back on my time spent here in Romania I am once again reminded of how blessed I am. What an amazing summer it has been! I have been able to spend time building friendships with Romanians all while serving God on the Cinema pe Roti team. I can’t think of any other way I would have wanted to spend the summer of 2013.

This week we have had the opportunity to serve in the village of Carceni. The drive to this village took us 15 minutes down a dirt road into what appeared to be ‘the middle of nowhere’ however when we arrived we were greeted be 100+ kids! Nights one and two where typical ministry format. Tonight, night three, will look a lot different. Our goal is to try something new and create a camp type atmosphere. We’re going to divide the children and teens up based on age and gender then spend some time singing songs, playing games, sharing testimonies, and praying together. There are three Christian churches in Carceni and to our understanding most of the individuals who attend ministry the past two nights are from those churches.

For the remainder of my time here in Romania… Friday I will be packing my suitcase and relaxing. Saturday has been declared ‘Lauren Day’ and hopefully we will spend the day at the pool. Sunday will be church and Monday…I head to the airport! Wow! I can’t believe it! This is CRAZY!!!   

Where Do I Start???

What a wonderful week we were blessed with this last week! We made the city of Vulcan our home base Monday through Saturday. In Vulcan we were blessed to have two wonderful host families provide us with comfortable beds to sleep in and cook us delicious meals. Our team cannot say ‘Thank You’ enough to express our true gratitude to these families for opening their homes and lives to our team for an entire week.
Each night ministry was well received by the people of the cities we visited. Ministry while staying in Vulcan took place in small cities rather than tiny villages. Ministry in cities can look a lot different than village ministry just because of the volume of people and location differences. Each night after ministry we left with smiles on our faces because we saw God move in big and small ways.
After returning home(to Craiova) in the early morning hours on Sunday we got a few hours of sleep before heading off to church to celebrate the baptism of one of our teammates. What a joy it was to celebrate with our Sister in Christ and her extended family.
We are now enjoying some down time to rest and relax before heading into three villages this week Wednesday through Saturday. I’m on the ‘less than two weeks’ count down now and my head is full of many mixed emotions. I would appreciate your prayers as I make the transition back to the States soon. I’m sad to leave Romania yet very excited to be home.