Mission Trip - Saturday

Today was an easy day. We slept in a little and finally got out to walk street around 10:30 am. We shopped there for about an hour, then we loaded back in the van and headed for Pelesh Castle (which is an hour away). I've never had the opportunity to visit the castle, but it was worth the trip. Pelesh is a wonderfully ornate place. Built in the lat 1800's with collections from around the world. It was a neat tour. Bought the book on CD.

There's a lot of shopping at Pelesh as well, so we all pretty much finished up buying what we needed to get for you guys ;-) When we arrived back in Brasov, we stopped by Metro and picked up chocolate to bring back to the states, as well as coffee for Bro. Brent and my sister. Brother Jerry dropped a few of us off at the park up past the house, and we hiked through it before returning to the house at 6 pm for a dinner by Sora Vica (Bob's mom). She made meatball soup, chicken snitzel (that put the 4 Roses' snitzel to shame) and country potatoes. It was wonderful.

After supper we all packed our stuff for the return trip. Then at 10 pm (it was 2 pm there), we had a short memorial service for Ron. Brother Mike shared some scripture and we all shared memories before Mark led us in prayer. It was a good service. Then we shared thoughts about the trip. About 11:30 pm we all turned in for bed.

Tomorrow, we will go to church at Brasov, then head for Bucharesti after lunch to catch the plane Monday morning. See you in a couple of days.

Mission Trip - Friday

We got up pretty early so we could leave the house this morning by 8:30 am. We went by Metro to pick up a few groceries, then headed up to camp. It was a work day. Camp is a long way from the house....nearly 2 hours and the construction on the roads made it even longer. Several from the group slept most of the way. When we arrived, we got to work cleaning out the basement so we'd have a place to put the new generator. It's dark with no lights, musty, damp, and piled full of scraps from different building projects, but about 6 or 8 of us got busy and had it knocked out in about an hour. Several of the group (along with several of our Romanian friends) got to work moving some dirt/rock piles (with pick axes, shovels, and wheel burrows), and by the end of the day, we'd moved 2 of them. Many of the ladies worked on cleaning out the dorms, and kitchen to prepare the camp for the kids. There were also 2 weedeaters in continual use throughout the day (remember last year Staton?) and this year a lawn mower as well. It was really funny watching all the Romanians with that small push mower. They don't mow much over here....well they don't mow at all over here, so they all wanted a turn pushing it around. Most of them had never used one before.

The generator arrived around 1 pm, and it was BIG. It's a 17 ton generator (it didn't weigh 17 tons, though it did weigh several hundred pounds). We finally decided we were going to push/pull this thing from the truck on boards and scoot it into the basement. It took 8 or 10 men about 30 or 40 minutes and some realy big boards to move it. It was easier than expected (there were some people praying about that one), and we got it in there with no major problems. The generator ran like a champ.

About 2 pm we had a lunch of grilled meach (a cross between hamburger and pork sausage), chicken, and vegetables. It was a good lunch, and we worked for several hours after lunch.

We left the camp about 6 pm and headed for home. When we got home all the ladies pitched in and we had chicken spaghetti, toast and a cake. It was delicious, and the men cleaned up after supper (we can be sweet occasionally ;-). The card tricks, laughter, stories, and foolishness continued until late into the night.

It was a good day, sleep well my friends.

Mission Trip - Thursday

We slept in this morning - until 7:30 or 8:00 am ;-) After a great breakfast, we loaded up and went to Bran Castle for the tour. The place was extremely crowded. So crowded in fact that we weren't able to get a tour guide to accompany us, but between the 3 Chandlers, we managed to have a really good tour. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees today, and by the time we got out of the castle, it was raining. The area around Bran has some great shopping, so we did...in the rain. Most everyone managed to spend some of their money (Lei).

After leaving the Castle we went up to the top of the mountain (one of the most scenic mountains around) for some pictures, and thankfully the rain had stopped before we got there. We grabbed some shots, while we were shaking from the cold, then climbed back in the van and headed back for Brasov. We had an early supper at 4 Roses (we skipped lunch today), and about 6 pm, we headed for Harman.

When we got there, we had a service in the parking lot of some old apartment block houses, and the people seemed to be genuinely listening. Lucra and Raluca, along with a few others, took the kids off to the side and taught them a lesson. From our group, we sang some songs, brother Mike preached, and brother Wayne gave his testimony, then brother Petru preached. After about a 50 minute service, we loaded back up and followed brother Petru's van down through town to a very busy street (there were a lot of cars on the road) until he stopped where about 3 people were sitting on a park bench. He stopped and we couldn't figure out why, but he got out, so we did too. We started singing and he started talking. It took about 10 minutes for the crowd to grow to 10 or 15 and in 20 minutes there were probably 30 listening all along the road. We sang several songs (both in Romanian, and English) and the people were very attentive. When Petru started preaching, God moved in him and through him, and we all just stood back in awe of what HE was doing. One woman cried the entire time, and several other people never looked away the entire 30 minutes he was preaching. After his sermon, he led them in the sinner's prayer, and asked if any had prayed with him. 5 raise their hands, and Petru, Lucci, Lucra, and Codruts spend the next 15 or 20 minutes counseling them. We know for sure that 1 of the people truly received Christ, and several others promised to be at church Sunday. After he finished speaking Petru told brother Jerry that when he drove by he didn't think this looked like a good place to stop, but he "felt the Spirit of the Lord very strong in this place." The moral of the story: sometimes we don't see but a couple of people on a park bench who probably won't listen, but God has other plans. Listen for His prompting.

After leaving the side of the road we were invited to go down into Groapa (at 8:30 pm).....so we went. Again, just as last year, these poor gypsy people were the most welcoming wonderfully fun, happy people we've had the pleasure of being around in this country. You just can't understand Groapa unless you've been there and visited the people who live there. They served us drinks and boscotti, and we started singing. Some of the women noticed our ladies looked cold, so they started bringing sweaters, and jackets out for them. Then they noticed our guys looked cold as well, so they started bringing out suit jackets for them. Mark Cooper looked like he should start preaching ;-) After singing and visiting for about 30 minutes, brother Petru (who we've learned is never at a loss for words) grabbed his megaphone and started talking. He kept it short, this time, since it was dark. We hugged them all, and exchanged much laughter before leaving.

Harman.........my favorite village in Romania. God seems to move in mighty ways every time we go there. I love this place.

Jim and Sherry Black have come to the house tonight to stay with us and go with us to work at the camp tomorrow. It's been an amazing day.

Sleep well my friends, we will.

Mission Trip - Wednesday

We woke up this morning to thunderstorms and hard rain which made sleeping easy, but we feared would make VBS difficult. When we arrived in Harman (late) there were several kids waiting for us - about 20 - that were all soaking wet. Lacra started the lesson while Petru went to Grapa to pick up some more kids and soon we had nearly 60 young people in attendance. The rain broke, as the lessons were being finished, and we started crafts. After craft-time, we went outside and played in the street....I know that doesn't sound like a good idea, but it's par for the coarse here. After VBS was over, Petru loaded 25 kids in his 8 passenger van to take them back home, and we sat outside waiting for the other kids to come out. After 30 minutes when they were still in the back, we found out that Raluca, Codruts, and Lucci were witnessing to several kids. When they came out smiling, we learned that 10 girls and 9 boys were saved this morning...HALLELUJAH!

We left Harman, and came home to eat lunch about 2 pm. After lunch, most everyone layed down for a nap. About 3:45 pm we got the call about Brother Ron. Brother Wayne asked that we all meet in the living room, and he told us all the news. Brother Silvey led prayer and we all shared memories and many tears for the family. Brother Jerry made the observation that Ron made it to Heaven just in time to hear the jubilation over the 19 souls that were saved in the Harman VBS. :-)

We loaded up later in the afternoon and went to Zarnesti for the services. Once there, we walked around town handing out tracts, preaching and singing for a little over 2 hours. It was a wonderful outreach that attracted much attention. Again today, we sowed a lot of seed and we ask that you pray with us to see the increase. After leaving Zarnesti, we went to KFC for the best chicken strips around. Now we're home visiting, about to turn in for the night (it's 11:30 pm here.)

It was a day of rejoicing and a day of tears. Sharon, Matthew, Thomas, and the rest of the family....we love you all very much, and our prayers are with you. May the thought of your father - whom everyone loved - walking on the golden streets of Heaven, visiting with old friends and family, and standing in the warm embrace of his Lord and Savior be of some comfort to you in the days ahead.

We love you all

Mission Trip - Tuesday

We got up early (though considerably slower than yesterday) and met the workers at the church again. They got the supplies together, and we went to Cellgrose (a store very similar to Sam's Club) where we bought groceries for the next couple of days. Then we went to Harman for VBS Day 2. The lessons and music were great again, and the crafts and games went much smoother than yesterday (we kinda figured out what we were doing and we learned some vital Romanian words;-). It was Arkansas kind of hot today, and humid. And we were all sweating buckets. After VBS was over, we went to McDonald's on walk street for lunch. I may be prejudice a bit, but the Micky D's over here is much better than in the states. It's cleaner, the food's better, just all around a nicer place to eat. Then we went to the Piatsa, where we had 2 services using the new sound system we brought over. Brother Doug gave his testimony, and brother Mike preached at each one. The whole group sang a couple of songs. And Peter (Brother Petru) preached in the market place. We had 1 saved that we know of and many more show interest. It was a great afternoon...hot, but great. Then we went to the church where we regrouped, had a special prayer service, then fanned out over different parts of Brasov. We handed out several hundred tracts, and several hundred of the coins that Brother Hile got for us. It was a great evening. About 8 pm we returned home to a home-made meal of Sister Kim's fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, home-made biscuits, green beans, and chocolate cake.......um, um good. Let me rephrase uuuummmmm, uuuummmmmm goooood!

Now it's raining outside. Maybe the heat will break tonight and tomorrow will be cooler. Pray for us and for all the outreach we're doing. Tomorrow will be the final day of VBS in Harman, then an evangelistic service in Zarnesti.

Have a good night my friends.

Mission Trip June 21-July 2nd

Sorry I haven't been updating this, but I'll try to do better from now on. Let's start from the beginning:

Thursday: Our check-in and flight from Little Rock to Cincinatti went without a hitch (well, for everyone but brother Wayne who was wanded at the airport due to his suspenders.....he refused to take them off because his pants would fall down ;-) The flight from Cincinatti to JFK in New York went fine...no problems. We got to New York on time, and got so we had to grab a quick bite at Burger King and the Wok to make our final flight. We made it and were on the plane by 6:45 pm. Then we proceeded to sit on the runway for about 4 hours because of traffic backup on the runways, and a thunderstorm coming in. So our final flight (which was supposed to be 9 hours in the plane) lasted for 13 hours in the plane, but we made it here completely worn out and were met with the Chandler's smiling faces.

Friday: When we got to the Skye house (4 hours after landing in Bucharesti) Sora Kim had prepared spagetti, and we all ate until we were full then hit the sack.

Saturday: We all woke up around 8 am (not the smartest thing we've done up to this point) to a rainy day, so we sat around the house for several hours. The rain broke around lunch, and we all went down to "Walk Street" and changed money. We had a coke and an ice cream cone, then we loaded up and went up the mountain to some overlooks for photo ops and prayer. We kept going up, and up, and up, until we reached Poiana and "The Bear" restaurant (actually it's called "Colba Haducilor" but the bear is much easier to pronounce ;-) We feasted on wild boar and some chewy pui - chicken that wasn't really chewy but it sounds neat - potatoes and rice.....oh and the bread, don't forget the bread. Then we came home, and after a few hours of visiting hit the sack.

Sunday: Church day - right.....right. We arrived at the Brasov service about 9 am, so Brother Jerry could go to Feldioara and bring some folks back. Church started about 10ish, with some singing. Then Brother Petru brought the Sunday School lesson/Sermon. It was wonderful, but Bob had a hard time keeping up with him translating for us. Then we had music....a lot of music and specials galore. Our group sang "At the Cross" - there were probably 8 or 10 specials total, then by the time Brother Mike got in the pulpit, it was already noon. He preached a wonderful sermon on the "Grace of God" and worked with the translator like he'd been doing it all his life. We ate pizza (not with tuna on it this year) then we all loaded up and went to Zarnesti. When we got there the women stayed at the church and had a lesson with the kids (that's all that showed up) and the men walked through some of the town handing out tracks and the coins Brother Mike Hile got for us (those coins were a big hit.) Brother Petru said they were better than money - on one side the coins have John 3:16 in Romanian, and on the other side they ask "Where will you spend your eternity?" in Romanian. We left Zarnesti and went to Feldioara and had our 3rd service of the day. There Brother Aaron preached and did a really good job and didn't seem nervous at all. He hasn't had a mountain dew in about a week now, and if you know Aaron, that's a big deal ;-) That night we came back to Brasov and ate at the 4 Roses restaurant, with the best bread and red sauce in Brasov - eat your heart out Brent ;-) Then we came home and crashed....a very tired group of people.

Monday: VBS day 1 - We were at the church at 9 am and met with the Romanian workers and left for Harman. We had about 50 kids and 12 adults show up for the first day of VBS. Lacra and Raluca taught, Codruts did the music, and we were in charge of crafts and games. It all went very well....at least as well as can be expected with the language barrier ;-) Brother Mike was entertained most of the morning by a drunk who took him to his shop where he made tombstones. When we left Brother Mike said, "well maybe I'll see you tomorrow" then I pulled him aside and told him, "brother we'll be here for the next 3 days ;-)" so he's looking forward to today. Then we went back to Brasov and prepared crafts for the 1-day vbs in Feldioara that afternoon. We ate lunch, and came home for a nap. Then we left at 5 pm and went to Feldioara, where we repeated what we'd done that morning in Harman with yep about 50 kids present. Then we came home to a fabulous meal that Brother Bob's mother had prepared (Bob is the music man/translator at the Brasov church). We had dumpling soup, corn, potatoes, fried pork and pui...i mean chicken, and fried pumpkin patties which tasted surprisingly like funnel cakes. It was great, and I hear she'll be cooking for the 23 of us (our group + the workers) again on Saturday night.... I can't wait. We all finally got to bed sometime between 11 and midnight.

Tuesday: I'll let you know what happens tonight.