Soaking it all in

      Picking up where I left off... Saturday morning Joanna, Jess, & I joined David Pratt and some kids from Bucharest Christian Academy for their Christian service at an orphanage.  It took close to an hour to get there by the public transportation.  It was game day so me and Jess got to play 18 rounds of chutes and ladders with some of the kids.  It helped me learn my numbers though!  The kids loved my blonde hair and kept coming up behind me and messing it up.  Also, they loved to have their picture taken and when they saw my camera instantly posed and then rushed to see it on the screen.  

chutes & ladders!

For some reason they loved my blonde hair :]

      Then we went to the Bucharest Mall which looks a lot like an American mall, but of course can't compare to our amazingly huge mall in Lynchburg...not.  We ate at McDonalds and they were right, it's better here than in America.  Doesn't seem as greasy or something.  Then we walked around the 3 story mall until Narnia started.  It was my 1st 3D movie, but sadly jet lag won the fight of keeping my eyelids open so I pretty much napped the whole movie.  After the movie, we had dinner at the Graef's and heard endless stories of Tom's wrestling days.  Then Joanna took me to Kaufland, which is the big grocery store within walking distance of our apartment. That evening it was just me & Joanna in the apartment and we had a nice little chat about Bucharest life and what brought us there. She's leaving us tomorrow after her 7 week trip! :[

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The 3 level Bucuresti Mall

Watching Narnia in 3D

Kaufland grocery store on my street

      Sunday morning we went to a "village church," which wasn't really the kind of village church that you are thinking.  It was right on the edge of the city and held in the top floor of a Winnie the Pooh kindergarten.  There were probably about 30 people including our gang.  The pastor spoke for a little while in Romanian, while Gela tried to translate for me, Tom and Joanna.  We took communion and we had to drink the real wine which tasted like nail polish remover.  Then we sang a couple songs including Mighty to Save and Hosanna which were translated into Romanian.  The pastor played the keyboard and had a bass drum at one foot and a tambourine at the other! Then they turned it over to us and Joanna played and sang the song she wrote "By My Name."  Then Tom, Joanna, & Jess sang a song called "Still" and before they were halfway through the 1st verse, the pastor recognized the song, pulled it up in Romanian on the powerpoint, and all of the Romanians joined in singing along.  It was so powerful and just a reminder that we don't have to speak or sing the same language to worship God together!  It's a little picture of what heaven will be like!  Tom preached about Pricilla and Aquilla while the pastor translated it into Romanian.

Winne the Pooh Kindergarden where we had church

Check out the keyboard, drum, & tambourine combo

Practicing Joanna's song "By My Name"

      We then headed back into the city, stopped and McDonalds, and made it to AlfaOmega church before it started at 1.  Their church is mostly people in their 20's and there were about 80 people there.  I recognized half of the people from the Friday night Bible study at the Graef's.  Their style of music reminds me a lot of campus church and I felt right at home.  We also sang Mighty to Save, and also We are Free by Hillsong, Awakening by Switchfoot, and another song by the Newsboys, of course all translated into Romanian.  I picked up on a lot of words as we were singing because I already knew the English words and it helped to see them spelled out and pronounced correctly.   The pastor was great and  passionate about the vision of the church.  A new friend Amy sat behind me and Joanna and translated for us for the whole service.  I am really looking forward to going to this church regularly and I already love all of the people there!

      After my Sunday afternoon nap, me and Jess headed to sports night with the AlfaOmega gang at a gym they rent every Sunday night.  I got to play some basketball, volleyball, & soccer and had a blast!  But also realized how out of shape I am!  There was a short devotional in the middle and I ended up sitting next to Iulia who started translating for me. After the devotional we got talking for a long time and I found out she was the pastor's wife and had 3 kids.  I would've guessed her to be in her upper 20's and I didn't believe her when she told me she was 40 and her oldest son was 17!  I learned a lot from her about how the church started in their home with 13 people 8 years ago and how they've grown since then.  She explained to me how evangelical Christians were less than 1% of the Romanian population and seen as a cult by the 99% orthodox Christians.  She told me stories  of how some of the people there were pretty much disowned from their families for converting.  She explained the school systems and a little of how life was under communism before the revolution in 89.  She really helped me to understand more about the people and the way they were taught and their worldview.  And all while sitting in the gym watching the guys play soccer.  

      I am just soaking it all in and trying to learn as much as I can right now.  After 5 days I've picked up a few basic phrases and words, but I do want to possibly take language lessons and put forth effort into learning the language since I will be here so long.  Most younger people know some English, but it will still be very helpful even in building relationships with people.  I'm excited to get to know the people from AlfaOmega on a deeper level and make so many new friends!