Some things must be said

      Fair person in Romania, I write this to you as a way of staying respectful while still being objective. I do not wish to down-talk your country, however some things God is calling me to write about, maybe for my own sake just as much for yours.

     Dear Romanian,
God told me this would happen. God told me that nothing could stay the same. He warned me that tears would fall and depression would consume me. The storm has hit. Now where do I belong? I thought that coming BACK to America would be easy! Yeah, BS. It hurts to see rich people complain, It hurts to see "POOR" Americans complain. They have it so much better than those in your country, Romanian, yet they still question why God would send them through a "hardship". I dont want to be a part of this "American Dream" any more. I would call it the American Nightmare, You cannot serve two masters Romanian! Either you live for that Dream, or you live for Jesus. And dont try to fool yourself, you cannot persue both equally hard. The human heart falls too quickly for that! Blessed are the Poor! For their's is the Kingdom of Heaven! Dont consider yourself good by giving what you have American, but consider yourself blessed to BE ABLE to give what you have!

      Romanian, your country is a dark one. The more I look back, this is the more I see. So many wandering, seemingly emotion-less, through their depressed lives. A spirit of Evil resides over your country fair Romanian. I tell you this, not to provoke anger, but to provoke leadership. Look around you! Have you not seen the churches? They are the most corrupt! They scare you into giving them money! They encourage that which is contrary to the Bible! Dont you listen Romanian? I dont even speak the language, but I was able to hear a corrupt preacher! You know what I talk about! The man, fatter than a fattened calf, beautiful fitted suit, bifocal glasses, brand-new mudless shoes, and a voice that will break your ear no matter how far away you are! They reached far down into my inmost spirit, and tapped into the flow of anger from inside of me. They are so deceptive, they will go as far to cry even if they must convince you of something. Just look at them Romanian, and then turn your eye to the town. Do they belong in such a poor, muddy town? You make the call Romanian, but the answer is easy to see. You also bicker among yourselves in such childish ways! Someone hurts you so you dont talk to them, you also decide you dont want to stand close to them either. Do they even know that they hurt you Romanian? For it is to one's glory to overlook an offense! (Proverbs) Can you do more than just yell at the children Romanian? They will not respond well to that. Encourage them to do right! Dont bash them for doing wrong. You will lead them in the wrong direction. Please for their sake Romanian, hear my plea! Lead them in the right path! And you, practicing tongues in the church, shut up and read 1 Corinthians 14:27. Seriously, if there is no interpreter, then I want you to shut it and dont make no blabbing peep.

    Why do I tell you this Romanian? Because it is time to step up. God has a plan for your country, and God wants YOU to initiate it. It all starts here: I dont give a crap how much you read your Bible, pray, or go to church IF you have NO FRUIT! The last thing I want for you is to listen to a sermon and then go right back to living your life. Please Romanian! Step it up!

     MEN. Listen to me, listen to my words, apply them! It is time to stop acting like boys over women. I know who you are, you who call yourself pure, yet do every woman you meet. And you who gets so jealous when another guy hangs out with a girl you find attractive, that you treat that man with disrespect and you hate him for it! Grow up you petty boy. Treat women like a princess. No matter how much they want to do you, say no to a kiss. When a girl asks you to do something, do it not to gain their favor, do it to show them the love of Christ. And you, in the church. Above all, practice what you preach. Dont be a hypocrite. Persue God in everything, Love those who hate you, only then can the country turn around. But it is up to you.

     WOMEN. Just stop it! You are not the only ones who love money. Yet you still take advantage of men with open hearts to get at their pocket? You lying, thieving generation! And you, in the church, why do you act all holy at church, just to act like everyone else outside of the church? And please grow up. You dont solve a problem by deciding to not talk to that person. Oh yeah, and dont keep your legs open for every single guy you meet. Seriously. Saying no is the best thing you can do for yourself.

     To all you Virgins, CHERISH THAT! Why do you think of it as bad?! EVEN YOU IN THE CHURCH think it is bad! Save yourself for the person you are married to! And while you are at it, flaunt your virginity. Show them that Christ conquers all desire and all evil!



     Romanian, is it hard to believe that I wish to come back to your country? After all that I have said? That is the longing in my heart, and that is where God is calling me to go. I want to come back Romanian! I want to see you again! I love your country! The darkest countries are where the crops are the most ripe! I love you Romanian! I love your language! You all have a special place in my heart. I feel home there, I miss it even now. Dont take what I have said as hate against you. Take it as rebuke, take it as hate against sin. I only want you to find everything you need in Christ!

     Peace be with you Romanian, and may you follow where God leads you as I wish to follow where God leads me!

This is where I must apologize...

      As you may or may not know, my time here will be ending shortly. I have just broken the "3 weeks left" barrier. I do not have a ton of free time because things are really getting busy. Spring is starting, work needs to get done, and shananigans like that.

     So unfortunately, I will not be updating the blog very often anymore for the last couple weeks. I feel like I really need to devote my time to the things here. So continue to check, but dont be expecting much more. So this is where I say I am sorry.  

      I will "try to" continue to post pictures on facebook. And I may write some little blog posts here and there. =]

Would you like some tea and crumpets for the Trolley?

    So the team from England was not quite what I expected, yet exceeded all my excpectations! The team consisted of two older gentlemen. Here they are! (John on the left and Steve on the right?) I think, but am not sure.

     They only stayed for two days, however I wonder if God sent them here to encourage me because oh my goodness! They were so encouraging and I learned a TON from them. They told me that they were just like me at one point, working and not very happy. Then all of a sudden an opportunity came up to go to Romania on a missions trip, and they took it (with some amazing help from God)! They have been coming to this orphanage for 23 years! I'm not even that old! Some of the grown men here today were just little boys when the two first came around. They left me with this: Dont worry about the next step, dont worry about the future, God probably wont even show you the next step until you have finished the one you are on currently in life. But trust in Him! It is like jumping out of a plane without a parachute, taking that step and then relying on God to work it out. John said that people, even strong Christ followers, will still try to strap that parachute on your back, but dont let them! Our God is amazing, we dont need a parachute when we have Him! Take each day, one by one, because it might be the last time God has you doing that in that chapter of your life. As you complete your step and enter a new one, God might never have you do that again. So enjoy what you are doing now! Live!   <- advice from the two.

     So today I said goodbye to them and thoroughly enjoyed cleaning black mold off of walls around the orphanage with a spray can of Russian bleach and a washcloth. I really did! I made a very bad mistake and sprayed some bleach on the ceiling right above me and a large amount got into my eye. However what should have been terrible pain was little more than a small sting for a few seconds and I was able to walk to my sink and rinse out my eye. I am positive that God just protected my eye because I dont know if I should be able to see right now, but nothing is wrong with my eye. So that is awesome! =] And yes I can pronounce that Russian on the bottle. =]

     I played my second game of Dota 2. It sucked. Andy Hold, and Swadagers! I want to come hiking with you guys this summer ok? And I want to go hiking a lot! Thanks. =] I believe I have gained weight and gotten a little stronger. But not anything like me being ripped. I am far from that.

     You know what else I learned about? Some of the kid's stories. Oh my lanta! So so terribly sad! But to see what they have become after such hard times in their childhood is incredible! I do not feel comfortable posting their stories online. But let's just say that being abandond is nothing comparitively. Yet regardless, I have cried more about the wonders of Christ and what He is doing in my life. The past is the past. Let's focus on the now.

     There is so much I could talk about! But there is so much work to do! Moses told me today that my gift is music. I would say rythm or beats. =] but I really appreciate it! I get to teach all the kids to play different instruments. Unfortunitally, I am totally not the right guy for this job becuase I dont know how to play them. But God has me here and no one else knows how to teach the instruments. So I am taking all the things I learned in the 5-ish years of band class, the random times people have tried to teach me bass or guitar, all the drumming practice I had, and all the piano practice I had, and pouring it into these kids as best I can. Or at least I want to do that more. XD I speak enough of the language now to try to help them with this too. please pray for this! I am not the right man for the job, but I guess I am now because God put me in that position.

    Also a ton of people have had a birthday party! Most notably Nin and Lorena! Here is Lorena! (and Jonny)

She is the daughter to Ady. We all got together and celebrated in the basement of the church in a room that we had just cleaned out. =] It was super fun and we watched "Yes man" in the evening. La Multi Ani Lorena!

     Now regarding one more thing. I have been there, yes I am talking to all of you who are part of something but dont really contribute much to that which you are a part of. You feel like you are worthless, following and not giving anything in return. Taking benefit and not being able to help in return. Maybe you are the worker doing all the small things, cleaning up after people, helping out with small things here or there. But let me tell you this, I have learned something amazingly important yesterday. There is a man who goes to the church here. He is always early, and one of the first one's in the church. He does not really have a job. He does not play in the band, he doesnt sing, he doesnt preach, heck I know almost nothing about him. He might turn on the sound equipment. I dont know, but what I do know is this. He is always there, he is always around to help, and I will never forget him! His smile just takes over your soul and lifts up your day. It is the most encouraging thing in the world to walk into the church and see him sitting in the same place in the back next to the tech equipment with a huge smile on his face every single Sunday! I dont even know his name, but this middle aged man inspires me! His devotion to God and his willingness to help others is amazing!  Dont you worry, I will get a picture of him!

     Finally be glad your toilet is not this one, Thanks for the prayer guys! I can see the amazing things  God is doing because of your prayers!

Seriously the cutest thing ever!

    This is Ela (on the left). She is about 7 years old and really misses her foster family, the only thing is she thinks they are her real family. I think the rule is that the foster family (after taking care of her for two years) is not allowed to interact with her. I might be wrong, but they supposedly moved to Germany and I have heard from other people that they didn't. It's sad is what it is.

     Anyways, she was more quiet but now that she is not shy around me, she is really really awesome and hilarious! She loves it when I pick her up and spin around, so one of her favorite things to do is this: She will tell me "Stai" which means "Stay here", then she runs to one end of the hall and says "Gata?" And I say "Gata!" (ready) and she runs toward me with all her might and at the last second she jumps into my arms and I spin her around! Then after a bit I set her down and she says "Un codata?" meaning "One more?". I say "Uhhh, Da" and she runs to the end of the hall again. Every time I put set her down she says "Un codata?" and I say "hmmm Ok! Bine!" <3 She is so cute! I love her so much! That has got to be the cutest thing eeeevvvaarrrr!!!

This one is a short post, check out the other one below! (ITS LONGER)

I have never been so in love!

     As some of you may already have seen, I feel this incredible love for Christ! I can't help but tell absolutely everyone about it! I dont just have to talk about how I love Christ, I feel His love back towards me! If I dont get anything else out of this trip, it would be totally worth it!

    Let me try to get caught up here a bit! Some stuff has happened! =] Let me start off with a comprehensive list of pictures of the kids coming soon hopefully!

     Ionut's brother Florin Farcal has come home from London! He is quite a joyful guy it seems and hilarious like his brother. His accent is also the best thing ever because it is a mix of a latin Romanian accent with an English accent! Haha and I love hearing him say "rubbish". Anyways that is pretty cool.

      So Romania celebrates a day called "Woman's Day". It is not Mother's Day because they celebrate that too. I asked Dorel if there was a "Man's Day" and he said "Yeah, it is April 1st". XD HAHA. So lame girly things happen en masse. So on March 1st, you are supposed to give older women and friends who are girls little fake flower things in a packet with some paper design shananiganry. Umm let me just post pictures of some I made. 

     Yes I made those, Yes the first one is a triforce. I made that one for Corina. =] KEKEKE But yeah, Maria and I made these the other day and now I am giving my four out. When you give them, you must say, "O prima veara frumoasa" which means "It is going to be a beautiful spring" Literal translation... "a first beautiful spring". Yeah, weird I know. But tradition is tradition, and ill be a part of that. =]

    I am going to complain for a minute because I have not complained in a while. So probably the only super annoying thing that I have experienced here is that the people have a lot of strange wives-tales regarding things like water and work. It is very frustrating, like for example: If you run a lot outside, they wont let you take a drink of water because they believe it will make you very sick. Seriously?! I do that all the time and never get sick. They also believe that drinking water before or during your meal takes 10 years from your life. I honestly dont care about it even if science would back this one up. I like my water. And other one I have come across is if you work and sweat outside during "cold" weather, and you take of clothing because you are hot, then you will get extreme pain in those areas in the future. For example, If I take off my hat while my forehead is sweating (because my heat is hot) then I will have terrible headaches starting in my mid 40's for the rest of my life.Same with the back and stuff. So you could live in fear of these things, or you could BE FROM MONTANA AND NOT GIVE A CRAP!!! =] woo hoo guns!

    I should also point out that people here are very scared of guns, and theft is a rediculously huge problem here.

   Ok I am done complaining. =]

La Multi Ani pentru Ana!

    In case you dont know what that means, it is Happy Birthday for Ana! She turned 7 yesterday! (Middle)

She is so sweet, and very talkative. =] It was a lot of fun, but the happy birthday song is different, so I moved my mouth while blandly spitting out a tune that was close to the new song.. Haha LEARNING IS HAPPENING GUYS.

    Speaking of learning, I have recently been able to have conversations with people who dont really speak english or dont like english. Wow it is amazing being able to speak a different language! By the way, I have gotten into habbits of saying Romanian phrases. I also talk to myself in Romanian sometimes too. So if i say something you dont understand, dont worry about it. =] Haha and I still have a month to go. I want to go a whole day without speaking one word of English. I am going to do it. It WILL HAPPEN!

    I also got the opportunity to look at a potential orphanage to help expand the current one here. It is at a really nice place at the base of a hill. We (Monica, an older man, and me) climbed up to the top of the mountain and it was amazing! I could see Lipova and Arad which is a 45 minute drive away.
Absolutely awesome!  Here is a picture of only a small part of the view.

     Otherwise, pray. There is a lot going on that I dont understand. But God knows.

Killing lunch and Gettin' Owned!

    Yeah, yeah, I watched a turkey die. I wanted to take a video of it at first, but after witnessing it... I am glad I didnt take a video. Its not entertaining by any means. Poor guy, however he is going to taste so good later. I have some pictures for you, I purposfully tried to hide that which is greusome. Let's just say there was a head severed from its body and a bloody knife left over.

      You can see in the first two pictures the turkey seems to know what is coming. It is cowering down and hiding in a sense. In the next three, you can see dinner.... almost....

 

 












      It is saturday at the moment! It is like a half break day. The morning is full of work and chores for the kids while I find someone to help. And some work is done in the afternoon too, but it's really chillax (compared to the weekdays). I just finished playing Sandwich with Nin. Let's just say that he (because I told him to not cheat) has been finding all the strategies and shortcuts of the game. He has quickly established dominance over the whole house as the best player.... And he is possibly the youngest one here. X.X Absolutely incredible!

     So I was playing against him and he straight up beat me. I lost a game of Sandwich... That has never happened before! I.... I can't lose! I am extremely proud of him! After that we played a game which was just silly. =] Let me just say this, about half way through, I noticed that Nin was putting down a whole lot less face cards than he was getting. I was curious until I watched him very carefully to see that he was putting cards into a separate pile. So I asked to see that pile, he refused and I told him I would not do anything to it or shuffle it. So I got to see it and it was EVER SINGLE FACE CARD in his deck.

      How in the world did he manage that without me knowing?! He had been separating his cards into the "good cards" and "bad cards" all while playing the game with me, and me not even noticing. This kid is crazy man.

Here is Nin, and all the cards on the ground are his... XD Well played sir, well played.

GUYS I AM GETTING PWNED BY A SIX YEAR OLD!!! =]








    Maria left for Vulcan Romania, and she told me that she would get a picture with Spock. So I am counting on her! I was going to be going to Bucharest in a week, but it doesn't look like that will be happening at the moment. Don't worry, there is still some time to go!

    Pray! Pray for these kids! For Maria! For the men in this town! For leaders here, Moses and Ady! Pray for me!