Okay, I hope I will make this short, but the chances are pretty slim. You all know how verbose I can be. I will put things in bullet form to help me be concise:
- I’ve so loved this trip for so many reasons – most importantly, it is because I had a heightened awareness that it is always about relationship in the Body of Christ. No matter where we are located, and no matter what “ministry” we are involved in, it is all about people and our relationships. The Lord has faithfully moved the ministry projects “stuff” to a closer place of completion and has given me wisdom and direction to make some needed changes. I could not have accomplished it without being here face to face with everyone. So, I am very thankful for this trip. Thank you again to all of you who faithfully prayed and financially supported Beautiful Gate Translations. You truly are my heroes!!
- I head to the airport just after midnight tonight and will be in Houston around 2:00PM on Tuesday. It is around 2:00AM right now on Monday morning. After I wrap this blog up for the night, I’m hitting the sack. It will be my last night of full sleep before I get home.
- Saturday, I attended the wedding of the daughter of dear Romanian friends, Liviu and Mary Neagoe. I was thankful to be able to schedule this missions trip which encompassed the wedding date. It was a blessing to be a part of the celebration, but very difficult as well. It was extremely hot in the church with a two hour ceremony. The reception was in a lovely restaurant, but became horribly hot very quickly. A storm blew through which knocked out the power. The ten air conditioning units (stand alone) which Liviu bought specifically to help cool the restaurant weren’t able to be used. No power, no A/C. He dashed home in the raging storm to get a generator. It worked, but only for a few lights. Eventually, when the rain stopped, they pulled back the walls of the “tent” to let in the cool night air. I have added some pictures here.
- One totally cool thing happened in the midst of so many neat things at the wedding/reception. Mary asked one of her relatives, Laura, (a single young lady with a delightful spirit and heart for God) to sit with me at my table and translate for me. Very quickly, we discovered why we both thought we had met before. She had traveled by train in the middle of a snow storm across Romania to attend my first Women’s Leadership conference in Bucharest – Feb. 2008. It was so amazing! Small world!! Her parents also attended the wedding and sat with us. Turns out that her mother had also done the Bible study with another lady – a new believer. All three had fabulous comments to make about the study and how excited they were about what God was doing amongst the women of Romania with the translated Bible studies. They can hardly wait until the next one is introduced this Fall. Laura used to minister with Campus Crusade, but now is seeking the Lord for direction in the next season of her life and ministry. Please pray for her as she seeks God’s heart in the matter. She and I are with the bride and groom, Anca and Beni.
- The wedding began at 4:00PM and the reception ended around 4:00AM. Romanian weddings go for many, many hours. I can’t even remember how many courses to the meal.
- As a result of getting to bed around 5:00AM, I slept through church. However, I attended The Rock Church this evening. My hosts, Iosif (Joseph) and Lenuta (the “t” has a “ts” sound) made a lovely lunch for Scott and me. Grilled beef, french fries, grated cucumber salad with cream sauce, and watermelon/cantelope/honeydew melons for dessert. Yum, yum!! We headed to their church’s cookout at 5:00PM, and we visited briefly with several folks. Then I changed clothes there and walked to The Rock Church at 6:00PM. I had made a promise to a darlin’ woman named Nella to be there. We had visited at the wedding, and it was sooooooo awesome to see her. She was beaming!! The last time I had seen her was in October 2008, when she was very downcast and discouraged. Her then 4 year old Down Syndrome son, Timothy, was having such developmental delays. Weariness and discouragement had been weighing her down. After hearing part of my testimony on the Friday night women’s meeting back in October, God touched her greatly and encouraged her heart. She has been praying for me since then, and I have been praying for her. When I saw her husband at church tonight as well, he was beaming. All glory to Jesus!!!! Little Timothy is now five and doing much better – even speaking!!! I’m having an emotional thing going on at this moment. His grace is sufficient for all of us – in all things.
- Came home from church and stopped in briefly to visit Debby one last time before I leave for the US. She gave me a lovely slice of watermelon which has helped my swollen ankles.
- Been packing and talking with Carolyn (Scott’s wife) on skype as she readjusts to her time zone in the Chicago area. We had such a wonderful time together while in Arad. Please continue to pray for them as they search for just the right property for the Solid Rock Youth Ranch here in Romania.
- I’m ready to close up and go to sleep. I need to kill at least one more kamikaze fly, so I can rest easily.
- Blessings to you all!!! Much love! Paulette