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!

#Homesick??

     Oh man, I am starting to miss the things of home... I miss Venture Church and everyone there soooo much! I miss the processed, sugar food! And I miss all of you guys, no matter where I knew you from. You are a dear friend to me!

     But see, here is the hard part. No matter where I go now, I will miss something. I love this place they call Romania! I love the people here! I've made so many friends, and I am going to miss them all so much when I have to.... I am not going to think about that yet. =] I still have another month and a half here... that is not a lot of time... Oh, and I am in the local news paper! XD HAHAHAHA WOOT

    I think I am going to kick my picture taking into high gear now. I am going to go super tourist on Maria and Ionut. They wont know what hit them. Oh and I will probably be headed to Bucharest in a week for a little while! Oh snap, I hope no one has built a hotel on that parking place. Dont worry dont worry, I said I would kick picture-taking into full gear! I give you the goodies.

    And no, I am not done painting the doors... we got three new ones... yay.... XD


This is Darius Urs, He is Maria's brother and Moses' nephew. If you are around him then WELCOME TO CRAZY TOWN! He has a good time and likes to goof off all the time. He doesn't really speak any English, but he and I have formed this bond from the first day I came. He feels like one of my best friends. =D God Bless him because he has such a bright future!












And now I leave you with this... "This sentence says something profound." ~Anonymous... ;]

From Construction to Agriculture

    Wow wow wow! So much to talk about? maybe, I cant post most of it on this blog which is disappointing (mostly because it is too personal). But God is doing crazy things to my heart and is teaching me, but more on that later.

    Work is getting interesting. I started out this morning with a good talk with Tom and then went to work. I began by moving 30 large sheet rock things from a truck into the house and then proceeded to take them all up a flight of stairs. After that, I finished painting the doors... I HOPE.... And helped with minor construction things. After a crazy strange but really really yummy lunch, I helped the kids with some random chores. When we were "gata", I went straight to the green houses to begin work there. I began by pulling grass out of the small apple trees..

    OK, FUN FACT FOR YOU. They literally have (what looks like) sticks planted in the ground (they are actually apple trees). They tie the wood from big fresh apple trees around the stick. And in the summer, the stick will grow quite large apples/ pears/ oranges/ anything you want depending on what bark you tie around the stick. IT IS SO STRANGE! So we pull up the grass from inside the pots that the sticks are in. Then we begin the task of tilling (I think that is what it is) all the dirt preparing for seeds to be planted blah blah blah yeah. =] But we dont have any fancy DIRT-TILLER AUTOMATIC 3000 from Home Depot. We have 3 shovels. =D Let me just tell you how fun that is..... its as fun as, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (Gen 3:19) 
I am just glad I dont have to bear children. PASS.

     I AM SORRY, I dont have pictures of us ice skating. However it is so much fun even though I am going around in the same small circle for several hours. I also did some improv rap and ate a "large amount" of ice cream and soda. So large in fact that everyone in the shop was looking at me and laughing. I'm from America son, dont you go messing with me and my sugar. =] Man, their portions here are SO SMALL. And the ice cream is quite inexpensive. But I cannot find a 1 liter of soda... anywhere! They have like 1/4th a liter or something dumb like that. =[ But the two liters will do i guess. And the sugar snacks are small and empty. You usually end up eating air with sprinkles on it. ='[ I really just want a tub of ice cream. XD But either way I had a great time with the group, Arne, Elisa, David, Lorena, Ionut (Jonny), Maria, and Roxanna. They are awesome and really funny. =]

      This place is beginning to feel like a second home to me. I have grown very accustom to not being able to understand what people are saying all the time (at least they think I dont understand what they are saying) ;] I just am really starting to realize how much I am going to miss this place! Mostly the people though. They are all so awesome and I cant leave them! I cant hardly believe I left everyone in America either. But God's plan trumps mine, always. Maria told me that she is going to cry when I leave. :'] And I have only been here for a month now. Man, I even the people that I met from Arad I miss already. Is something wrong with me? XD

     Please please keep praying for me! God is teaching me how to listen to Him. He has been continuing to answer my prayers directly, so I think I am doing something right! =]

    I still remember the first day I arrived, way out of my league. Nothing could have been more frightening. Yet God has allowed me to fit in. I still have another month and a half. But I dont like counting down... I am just going to refuse to think about the fact that I have to .... WAIT. Not gonna think about it. =]

Imi este foame ba. Ceau! Vreu mancare acum!

DONT GET COMFORTABLE!!

    Comfort is what I ran from in the first place! Now this place is feeling like home, which there is nothing wrong with. The problem comes when I get up just to do the mundane and not take much thought into anything. As soon as I go into autopilot, I begin to decend. I will tell you, God is stretching me right now (and it hurts a lot), but I need to press onward, rejecting pacivity and taking on responsibility! God is telling me to start getting to know the men here spiritually. So it's time to ask the tough questions.

     Sometimes I wonder... "Who is changing more by my being here, me or the orphanage?" Then i come to my senses and say, "It's definitely me who is being changed more.." I was talking to Moses about how he started the orphanage, he told me," This work is purely Faith work." Oh great... I have to reliquish more of my control over the situation. =D But he is right, you never have enough money when running an orphanage, but you still seem to make it through. You have to totally trust that God will provide. Ouch, and I thought it was hard getting money for a plane ticket!

     Speaking of plane ticket, this has nothing to do with that! I have had several good talks with the oldest girl here at the orphanage, Maria (not the same as the other Maria (URS))(SO MANY MARIAS [HOLY MOLY] ) She has had... lets just say... a REALLY hard life and she is only 15. She told me that she usually never smiles and has a hard time expressing happiness. But after a few interactions with her, she told me, "I have not ever laughed that hard in my whole life!" "You are so funny!" And then she started joking around herself! Let me tell you, the feeling that you get when you see someone, who never smiles, burst out in laughter and start poking fun back at your potato peeling skills (OR LACK THEREOF), is seriously the best feeling. Oh, and she has learned how to basically have no accent when speaking English. Just crazy crazy stuff Manny.

Oh, this is the other Maria (URS).

Anyways, may the painting of doors continue and may God bless all you at home! Look for Him everywhere, you will find Him.

Gettin to know the kids.

    So here is the thing guys. When I play with them, hang out with them, and play games with them, they are just normal kids! And I freaking love them to death! But most of them have the same story...

    I don't feel that getting into specifics is really a good idea, but most of them were just abandoned at birth in the hospital. It's sad. Something I really try to not think about, but its the truth. But non-the-less they are just the same as other kids. And playing with them is so much fun! I have also been hanging out with some of the older kids too. I went to their school and let me tell you... ITS NUTS! XD but that might be for another time. 

    For the first time, I have seen God directly answer my prayers. Not just one or two, but almost all of them! Crazy things are happening, most of which I actually cannot talk about on this blog at the moment. However, I will hopefully be able to tell you all about everything! A lot of what has been happening revolves around the "Authentic Manhood" study I got to be a part of last year. It is totally worth it, and God is telling me to "man up" in many different ways.

    Thank you for reading this. I have had a lot of people ask me, "How is Romania? I have not been able to read your blog." Haha :] Next person to ask this is going to get a copy/pasted blog post. I am looking forward to it. =D "Oh, well let me just retype my entire blog for you!" WALL OF TEXT.

Prayer is powerful because God is powerful, so pray for the big things. GO BIG OR GO HOME.

It's Monday!!

     Thats right folks, its was just Sunday and things have calmed down... sorta....

After a week of craziness, it's good to just take this day and think. And I have a lot to think about. Why?!?! Well, God told me that I might be starting that orphanage, that I always wanted to set up, much sooner than I thought.

    In my plan, I was going to... Hang on, everyone just yelled, "LA MASA!". So it is time to eat. =]

   Ok where was I? Ahh yesh boi. My plan was to serve here for a while, go to America, do something useful and find a wife, then when I am about 30, start an orphanage in a Slavic(ish) country. Well, it seems like God is going to speed up the clock here a little bit.

   Sounds like God wants me to work on starting this orphanage a whole lot sooner than my plan would expect. It sounds like God wants me to get started on this orphanage as soon as... well this year...

    Holy crap that is soon, I need a breather or something. You know what my first reaction has been for the past few days has been? "I think you got the wrong guy, I know that I am not ready, I am too young God, Soon is figurative right?, thats a lot of trust that I have to put in You God." It took a good talk with Thomas Gregory and Tyler Wendell to remember that I have the God of the universe on my side. That's right, the MOTHER HUGGING GOD OF TEH UNIVERSE SNITCHES!

    In the mean time, I challeneged Florin, as seen in the picture to the left, that if he didnt ask me for a cake (little sweets) until after dinner and asked politely and said "Te rog"(please) then I would give him a cake. Let me tell you, he asked so nicely and he asked for one, not all of them like he usually does. So I gave him one and thanked him profusely! He has a very bright future, and I want to encourage him instead of discourage him. He did such a good job of playing the drums on wednesday! As though it was on instinct, he did everything I taught him and even added a little bit! I am so proud of him!

   And just today I got the chance to hang out with some of the coolest people here in Lipova. They are all awesome and I am hoping to go ice skating with them on wednesday. =D I am pretty stoked.










    I know there is more, but I have to go back to work now. XD Thanks again ladies and gents!