Day 2 with Red Page

Our 2^nd day with the Red Page mission team involved more home visits and distribution of groceries/shoes/clothing and VBS.  The group we were in visited 5 homes, only one of which had a child (11 months old).  Most of our visits were to older people.  We were greeted at the courtyard entrance and invited into most of the homes (some we chose not to go into because of the size of our group, and the size of the home).  One family of three (mother, father and adult son) invited all of us into their home (one room about 10’ x 10’).  The even brought in chairs so that everyone could sit down.  The family was very warm and friendly, and glad to have us as their guests.  The lady of the house made some powdered sugar coated doughnuts (very similar to beignets).  Knowing that this family is very poor, we didn’t want to eat their food, but also knew how important it was to them to share with us.  We ate the goodies and thanked them tremendously for their hospitality.  It was a great time!

As we left another home, the great-grandmother gave each of us a pair of knitted socks that she had made.  We were all so excited to receive something that was special to her.  The glow in her eyes was priceless, for she got to share with us.  What a blessing!!!

Across the street for this family, we met a man in a wheelchair and an older woman; they were sitting outside their gate.  They both began to speak to Adina (the pastor’s wife who translated for us) and then they both began to cry.  We found out that they had both lost a loved one recently – the man his wife, the woman her daughter (both of them sharing the same loss).  My heart broke for them both, as their pain was still so fresh.  The man explained that his wife (daughter of the woman) had died in January of 2011 and he had his leg amputated in October of the same year.  He was suffering from not only one loss, but two.  All I could do was hold the hand of the woman and cry with her.  It doesn’t matter how old your child is, when they’re gone, your heart breaks.  Mine was broke again.  As I type this update, I’m still crying tears of sadness for them.  I don’t know if the daughter/wife was a believer, so I couldn’t give them comfort in knowing that they would be reunited again.  I just pray that they will find comfort and peace, and know that there is still joy to be found.

Later in the afternoon, the youth went out into the village to pass our invitations to the evening VBS.  About 50 kids showed up around 5p for a Bible story and game (the armour of God).  There was a craft time planned, but it was decided that it wouldn’t be well received.  We were also running out of time.  The kids seemed to enjoy both the story/application and game.  Afterwards, pizza was served!!  Everyone enjoyed the pizza and drinks, with some taking the extra pieces home for siblings.  It was a great time to visit with the kids and encourage them to continue coming to activities at the church.

Wednesday morning, Dennis and I said our goodbyes to the group and headed home.  But, along the way we detoured to a town named Hunadoare.  Why, you asked?  Castelul Covinolor.  It’s a 14^th century castle built with Baroque, Renaissance and Gothic styles of architecture.  It is said that Vlad the Impaler was held prisoner there.  We enjoyed touring through this massive structure and would recommend it to anyone who visits the area.

 

 

We finally arrived back home around 6:30p.  After unloading all the bags, and sorting through dirty laundry, I was ready to sit down and write my blog.  NO……our internet was down.  Bummer.  Well, I did get all my pictures unloaded off the camera card and materials ready for classes today.

Next adventure………Larry and Celieta Leifeste (former coworkers at Llano ISD, who are now living in Prague, Czech Republic) are coming to visit the last weekend of the month!!!

Day 1 with Red Page Ministries

We began the day with a flat tire :(    Much to our surprise, the spare was a regular sized tire - no doughnut.  Thank goodness we were running ahead of schedule.  Changed the tire and headed for the vulcanizare to get it fixed.  Total cost - 12 lei (about $2.85).

After our early morning exercise in tire changing, we met with the mission team from Lubbock to purchase groceries for the families that they serve in the Susani area.  After purchasing the food, we returned to the church to separate into bags.  80 bags were filled with 1 bottle of oil, 1 bag of flour, 1 bag of beans, 2 bags of sugar, a small can of porc pate, 1 bag of pasta, 1 roll of salami, 1 bag of cereal, 4 apples, 1 tub margarine, 1 tub of hazelnut spread and a bag of wafer cookies.  The team also picked out shoes and clothing, along with some personal hygiene items, for 10 families.

After lunch, we divided up into 3 teams with specific families to visit.  We loaded a bag of groceries, the clothes and shoes for each of the families, then headed out to make a home visit.  The 1^st family that “our” team visited had 13 children.  We were greeted by one of the older girls, who was taking care of the smaller children.  We entered a courtyard area, with pig stalls to the left.  Ovidiu, the local pastor, shared with us his concern about the health of the children – the pigs are usually out in the courtyard.  This becomes an area contaminated with fecal material, and the children are running around in it with no shoes on.  Also, they will play with things outside (getting it on their hands) and then go inside and eat.  Or, as in what we saw today, they bring the feces inside on their feet/shoes and track it in on the floors; the baby dropped his apple several times on the floor and then picked it up and ate it.  The bedroom was about 12’x12’ and held a crib, 1 toddler size bed, and 2 double beds.  The only other room I saw was a kitchen area that we entered the home through.  I’m not sure if there was another bedroom, or if the entire family slept in that one room.  Anyway, the children were excited to get a new pair of shoes.  The baby acted as if this was the 1^st pair of shoes he’d ever had.  What a joy to see the excitement on the children’s faces!

 The 2^nd family consisted of 10 children.  Their home was a one-room shack about 10’x’10’, where all of them lived.  The father is currently in Germany where he is working.  As I took some pictures of the kids, the mom pulled out their school pictures to show us.  The pride in her face and eyes was amazing.  The family is attending a local church, where the children are learning to play instruments – mainly guitar, with one drummer.

 

We visited 3 other families, each with their own stories.  It was great to meet new people and share with them.  What a wonderful ministry that Red Page is doing with these families.

The last visit today was to a new family.  Since this was the 1^st contact, we thought it best if just Ovidiu made the initial visit.  When he returned to the van, he said it was good and he thought they could be some help to the family again.  As we were backing out of the yard…..as we were backing out of the yard………….as we WEREN’T backing out of the yard………we were stuck!  Dennis and one of the college students got out to push……….didn’t work.  So the rest of the group got out to lighten the load………..no good.  Now several are pushing and we’re all laughing at our situation.  Bet the other teams didn’t have this much fun!!!!

 

Returned to the Precept Ministries for supper and plan out tomorrow’s VBS.  Will do more family visits and deliver food/shoes/clothes in the morning.  Can’t wait…………..

A Trip to Serbia

We began the day, yesterday, trying to find our way out of Timisoara.  The streets here, like most other large Romanian cities, are not marked well L  This makes it very difficult to figure out where you are, where you’re going, or where you’ve been.  We did, however, luck into a route sign that directed trucks towards Belgrade.  So, off on another adventure………..

The drive to the Serbian border only took about 30 minutes.  Once at the border, we went through the Romanian checkpoint, then the Serbian.  Both times we had our passports stamped.  Unfortunately for me, the officer was holding my passport in his hand when he stamped it, so you can’t tell that it has a Serbian name on it – bummer.  Oh well, there’s always the stamp leaving the country.  We made it through the checkpoint with no problems and headed into a new country, culture, currency, and language.

The country was pretty unimpressive.  Reminded us somewhat of south Texas…flat, with a lot of agriculture.  The first town we drove through greeted us with the landfill.  Unfortunately, they don’t do a very good job with containing the trash, and stuff was all over the place.

We stopped at a MOL service station to top off the car…..cost for gas = 153.9 dinar per litre!!  How many times has your gas total equaled 3920.00?  Thank goodness we only needed 25 litres.   As we were getting ready to leave, we noticed this guy putting air into the tires of his contraption.  Talk about ingenuity.

Our drive into the city of Belgrade took us over the Danube River.  We were so excited and I was all set to take a picture of the sign………………no sign, nothing.  What a disappointment.  There was nothing that identified the river.  Once on the bridge, I couldn’t take a good picture due to the fence.  Oh well, at least I can say I drove over the Danube River.

 

Belgrade.  Known as Beograd to the Serbians, it is Belgrade to other languages..  But you can also find it spelled Belgrad.  Wonder what counts on a spelling test?

  Our first task was to find the Kalemegdan Castle, then parking.  Thank goodness it is a tourist sight, that meant signs directing you to the right location.  Now that we found it, where do we park?  We found a small area off the main street that looked like a parking area.  We drove in to find it one way and the same way out.  We parked the car and then began looking for a place to purchase a parking ticket.  Dennis went to a local business, but no one spoke any English.  Back to the sign to see if it could provide any help.  Dennis met a man who explained that you call a number and register your license plate and the amount of time you want to park.  Somehow, you are charged 35 dinar per hour (guess it’s put on your cell phone bill).  Anyway, the man helped Dennis to dial the number and enter the information, but the call wouldn’t go through.  After trying a couple of times, the man called from his cell and put the charges on his phone.  We offered to pay him, but he wouldn’t accept.  Instead, he said, “Welcome to Serbia!”  That was a very nice way to start.

Across from the parking area is where we started our exploration on foot.  Located on a hill, Kalegmedon Castle (actually a fortress) overlooks the Sava and Danube rivers.  Most of the fortress has a park setting within the walls; there is also a Military Museum, and lots of military equipment.  There was also a lower fortress. 

 As we walked and looked, we realized that our 2 hours was almost up.  As much as we’d have liked to stayed and looked more, we had to head back to the car.  On our way back, though, we did stop by a couple of vendor carts and look for souvenirs.

Now it was time to find our way out of Belgrade and head back towards Timisoara.  We decided that we’d go back a different way and see what else the country had to offer.  The route we chose was quite lonely.  We only passed through about 5 small towns before we hit the border.  We did, however, stop in Zitiste, where we ate a very late lunch (3p).  While walking into the restaurant, I noticed a statue across the street…….Rocky Balboa.  Go figure!  Dennis and I were trying to figure out what Rocky had to do with Serbia.  I’m still not sure.  Guess we’ll have to google it.

Made it back to the border with no problems.  Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get a return stamp from Serbia on my passport.  Guess I’ll just have to show the pictures.  Another adventure taken; more yet to come.