It's time I be up front with you...

I don't even know where to start.

Some nights I have been awake sobbing into my pillow for hours. On these nights I have been lied to by the Devil himself that I am all alone. It has only been when I have truly turned to the comfort of the One who says "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you" that I have been able to calm down and rest in His grace. Each time, His promises are loud and clear in my heart, I lean on them and trust Him, and He fulfills them.

Some days I have asked what on earth I am doing here. Since arriving, many circumstances have led me to asking myself, and God, this question. Sometimes it is a sense of lack of purpose here. Other days it is an intense longing to be with dear family and friends again. Each time, though, He has said, "Be still and know that I am God." I have no choice but to trust Him.

I have been able to meet some great people and observe a couple of ministries, but since being in Bucharest, I have not become attached to any one thing in particular. This has left me very discouraged at times, but again, I have had no choice but to trust Him and His perfect plan, even though I don't know what tomorrow may hold. I know that this has all been a part of His plan for me here. I have had many opportunities to grow in my walk with Jesus. I believe He has purposed these past five and a half months for this exact reason. He becomes More to me every single day.

I believe that what I am about to share with you has been in His purpose all along for me to come to this place of complete dependence on Him.

In prayer and seeking purpose for my time here in Romania, I have wondered if I was too hasty in taking this job simply because the Lord had made it crystal clear that He had placed Romania on my heart before I even started the Journeyman process. There has been a twinge of doubt. But this last weekend, the Lord again faithfully confirmed that He has me here for a purpose. He has opened the door for me to participate in an amazing ministry that is going on here in Romania. Ever since experiencing just a taste of this ministry back in January, I have been drawn to it. I really fell in love with what is being done, and cannot wait to get started.

I will give more details as time goes on, but please keep me in your prayers. I feel I have a new energy and a confirmed purpose here in Romania. Who knew even a week ago that I would not have a doubt that I am right where He wants me.

I'm about to make this post twice as long, but I can't leave you without sharing some pictures of my recent trip to the mountains. I went back to the town of Sinaia, and this time got to tour the castle there. I went with 2 American girls (one who lives here in Bucharest and one who was visiting from the States) and 2 Romanian girls who are sisters.

A monastery...


On the way to the castle...

Yep, a castle...


A mural painted on the walls inside the courtyard...

...And what you've all bee waiting for, the castle in all her glory!

Update...

What can I say?

I have not had too much going on the last couple of weeks that has been worth reporting. I was sick for about a week and am now better. The weather was bad the week I was sick, so it wasn't too miserable to stay home. Besides, being sick really throws me off my groove, so it's taken me a while to get back on track here. Hopefully next week I will have more to report.

I guess mostly I want to thank you all for your continued prayers. I will get details about the ski retreat I asked you to pray for and update you on that as soon as I can.

Please pray specifically for a couple of things over this month. Two families who have been here in Bucharest for many years are packing up their homes and following the Lord back to the States. Please pray for the transition for these families. One of them is the family of my supervisor since I got here. Pray for their kids as they transition back to life in the States and back into the school system there. Much of the reasons that both of these families are making the transition back is health-related. Please pray that the Lord will place them in the care of qualified physicians who will be able to help them along back to restored health.

Please also pray for a family that lives in another part of the country who will be leaving this Summer. They also have children, so pray for their transition back to the States, as well.

Please pray for each of these families that the Lord would guide them to the life He has for them back in the States. Pray that He will restore them physically, emotionally, and spiritually upon their return as they need.

I have had several good weeks without any major meltdowns. This is a good thing for me. I am thankful for the Lord's constant provision of comfort from His Word. Only He gets me through every minute of every day. I have learned that utter and total abandonment to dependence on Him is the only way I am ever going to make it. But you know, it's a relief to know that He can handle it and I don't have to.

I know this is like a bunch of random statements, but I really just wanted to type my heart to you tonight. Thank you again for your faithful and fervent prayers for me. Now that Spring is coming, I plan to get out and take more pictures so that you all can see more of where I live, so stay tuned!

Ski Retreat

I am posting to ask my readers for prayer for a Ski Retreat that is going on starting today. I am not a part of it, but I have been attending a Bible Study through the same organization that is putting on the retreat. It is an evangelistic effort for University Students to have invited some lost friends to go skiing and also to hear the Gospel. There are around 15 students on the retreat that do not know the Lord.

Until this week, we had not had snow in about a month. Therefore, only one slope has been open for a while, and this is a concern, considering they need snow for skiing. It snowed here in Bucharest once this week and has been on and off today. While I know that the Lord knows best what is needed at this time, the staff does not want the students to be bored and to think that they are not getting to have any "fun" on their retreat. My prayer is that the Lord will provide snow, but more, if He chooses not to provide snow, that the time that would have been spent skiing will be spent for lost students asking questions and hearing more about the Gospel.

Please pray for safety for travel for these students and also on the mountain that there will be no injuries.

Please pray that the Spirit will stir their hearts and open their ears and minds to hear and understand the Gospel that is being given to them over the course of the next several days.

Please pray for those students who know the Lord, that they will take opportunities to share with their lost peers on this retreat, and that they will not alienate themselves, but that they will all mingle and have uplifting conversations.

Please pray for the leaders on the retreat that they will be sensitive to the Spirit's moving and that they will be flexible and work with what the Lord puts before them.

....thank-you for joining me in prayer this week.

Counting My Blessings...

Ok so I haven't blogged in a while, mostly because I've been too lazy to try and put in to words what I have been thinking and feeling the last few weeks, but I will pretend that there's another reason I don't know yet.

Just kidding.

Remember in the Fall when I visited a Bible study for university students? Well I have been back now, twice in a row, and I'm really liking it. I'm meeting some people there and beginning to make friends. One of the young ladies on staff with the organization that holds the Bible study is in the small group that I'm a part of on Sunday nights through my church.

Oh, I just have so much to tell.

I've gotten involved in a small group on Sunday nights through the church that I have been going to here. It's really a nice time for fellowship and studying the Word more intimately with a smaller group of people. There are people from several walks of life in our small group. It is held in the home of some missionaries, who actually also work for the organization that the university student Bible study is through. There are 4 married couples, an older lady, a single guy and 3 single girls. One of the married couples is the missionary couple. Another one is a young couple who work at a British school here in Bucharest. He is British and she's Romanian. I'm becoming fast friends with her, and hope to be able to spend some time getting to know her outside of our small group. She told me one evening that all she does is work and then go home and cook and clean, and she really desires to make friends. She is my age, and I think this could be a good thing.

One of the other single ladies is a teacher at the local MK school in town. She's been here for about 5 years.

So as I said, the other single lady is on staff with the university student ministry that I'm hoping to partner with in local ministry opportunities when I have "down time." She invited me over to her apartment yesterday afternoon for lunch, and I visited with her and with another young lady that's on staff. They asked me about my growing up as an MK and about my testimony, including how the Lord called me to Romania. I enjoyed hearing their testimonies and just being around more examples of single ladies who are just doing life with the Lord and serving Him. They do a great job with the university students. I hope to be able to visit with them some more.

Amanda (congrats on sweet Annabeth, by the way!!), I will say that all of these new friends that I'm making are a direct answer to your prayer that the Lord would make people here as precious to me as those I left behind in Irving. I am certainly seeing His hand in this.

Funny story...so this evening I was at the student Bible study, and they offered my some tea. Well of course I accepted, but I set the mug on a shelf kind of behind me to let it cool. As I was talking to some girls, they asked me how one earth I had learned Romanian so quickly. Of course my answer is almost always automatically that I speak Spanish fluently, and that that helped a ton. One of the girls got so excited and started speaking to me IN SPANISH. She's Romanian, but she has studied Spanish and told me she feels called to go to Peru. So we agreed that she could practice her Spanish with me, and this is good for me, too, since I've had the fear that I would forget my Spanish while I'm here. This girl also goes to the church I go to, and I had seen her before but never talked to her. She sings in the choir and often recites Scripture during Worship. Yes, I said recites, not reads. I can tell that she has a true love for the Word and strives to hide it in her heart.

So back to my tea. Remember I put it on the shelf? Well this girl got so excited that I spoke Spanish, and I got so excited to speak Spanish to her, that I turned to put my tea back on the shelf after checking if it was cool enough for me to drink, and IT TIPPED OVER, FELL OFF THE SHELF AND SPILLED ALL OVER THE FLOOR.....RIGHT AS WE WERE GETTING STARTED. I was so super embarrassed, but oh well. What could I do??

Ok...what else??

I have been offered the opportunity (and accepted) to talk to the Seniors at the local MK school about re-entry in to the States and what it's like to live there for college, and just about my experience in college after being an MK. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity and hope that I can be of some help. I've always wanted to work with MKs and I think this is a good opportunity for me.

I am also currently helping a sweet 9 year old with her 3rd grade math 3 days a week while her mom teaches her brother his Math. They home-school, so I think it's a big help to them. Who'da thought that I would ever end up "teaching" Math?? I'm really enjoying it and am having fun working with her and helping her learn the essential basics of Math.

Ok so now that I've written a novel about what I've been up to, I will leave you. I'm off to bed and hopefully will get up in time tomorrow morning to go do some more Math!

20 Things That I Love About Romania, and a Few Things I Don't...

I love....
1. Public transportation
2. My apartment, though I miss having roommates
3. The mountains
4. When my internet works
5. Cooking more than eating out
6. Public transportation
7. Walking wherever public transportation doesn't take me
8. The piata where they sell fresh fruits and veggies
9. The church I'm able to be a part of and the small group I've been going to
10. Public transportation
11. The language and the fact that I've been blessed to learn it not perfectly, but quickly
12. New opportunities that are presenting themselves
13. Did I say public transportation???
14. That I've lost weight since I got here...Maybe by the time I'm done I will be back to my pre-college weight
15. New friends
16. When it snows
17. Beautiful days like today, when the sky is blue and the sun is shining...in what is supposed to be "the middle of Winter"...
18. Spiritual growth that I have experienced
19. That I'm not the only person that plays games on my cell phone on the metro
20. Oh yeah, and public transportation...

I don't love...
1. Nasty stuff on the sidewalks
2. Feeling like I have to push people out of the way in the grocery store
3. Getting pushed out of the way
4. When people talk fast because they think I'm fluent in their language
5. Not having roomies
6. When my internet doesn't work

My Prayer Update

Friends,

I have been in Romania now for more than three months. I can't believe it.

I finished language a couple of weeks ago and have since begun working on some mobilizing of students and preparing for one group that is on the way here in May for three weeks. I got 100 on my language evaluation, and I'm thankful for the gift of the language. Now if I just had more opportunities to use it, that would be good for me to practice.

I went to Galati (pronounced Galats) the weekend I finished language. Galati is a city in Eastern Romania close to the border with Moldova and Ukraine. I was very encouraged by what I saw my colleagues doing there and am excited to be able to hopefully work with them some during my time here.

Thank you for your consistent prayers for me and I ask that you continue lifting me up. I have seen the Lord work in my life in many ways over the last three months and I know it is because of your prayers for me.

I will be meeting this week with my new supervisor and talking about some options for me to be involved in ministry here in Bucharest. We are having a lot of changes in the whole organization as well as a change of personnell here in Bucharest. A lot of coming and going of people is happening within the next few months and I'm sure that this will pose a change in the dynamics here in Bucharest, which may not be a bad thing.

I apologize for not keeping you all updated as I should. Hopefully some super exciting things will start happening soon and I will be able to keep you more up to date.

For now, please join me in praying for all of the changes going on in the IMB as well as here in Romania. Also please pray that the Lord would be clear with me in showing me His purpose and plan for me here in Romania and how He intends to use me in impacting lostness here. Pleas pray for the students that He is calling to join us here in ministry. Pray that they would hear the call, recognize it, listen to it and obey it.

Blessings,

Angela
http://2yearsinromania.blogspot.com

The last couple of weeks...

God has certainly blessed me already in 2009. I have never seen His hand move in my life in such a short amount of time than just the time between Christmas and now.

I made it through Christmas, like I said, without any major crises. He was truly good to me. And then He blessed me with a fun relaxing time with friends, which I posted about a couple of weeks ago.

Soon after that, He handed me some friends here in Bucharest.

I finished language last week. I scored 100 on my evaluation, which is crazy. I had never tried to learn a language before now, since Spanish comes as naturally as English, and I learned both of those at the same time. Romanian has come easier to me than I expected, and the great advantage of having Spanish is that it helps immensly with my pronunciation as well as understanding concepts in the language that don't make sense to those who speak only English. For example, I understand the concept of masculine and feminine (though it threw me off when they threw the neutral in there), and I understand the conditional form and how it is to be used, as well as the subjunctive. Some lessons, my teachers would tell me that Americans have a hard time with this, and it usually doesn't come until the next book (which I wasn't going to get to), but they would teach it to me anyway. More often than not, my response was, "we have that form in Spanish, so I know what circumstance I need to use it in." Now I don't have any excuse not to use my language. I'm thankful for this gift.

On Friday, I heded East to Galați (pronounced Galats), on the border with Moldova and Ukraine to see what's going on out there as far as ministry goes. I came back so encouraged. The team out there has a very specific plan that has cost a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get off the ground, but after almost three years is picking up momentum. I was tempted to stay there and not come back to Bucharest because it got me so excited for what's going on out there. Major props to the Galați team. I think I can honestly say that after catching their vision, my life and thinking of how to do ministry in Romania, and Europe in general has completely changed. Not that I had any thoughts on it before, but I will say, I have seen the light. Check out their website if you have time here.

Now I must be off to run errands. Have a great rest of the week, dear friends!