Day 3 (Saturday)

Hello again from Romania!!! Iazmin says hi, and so do Britney and Dan as we write this post!

On Saturday we survived The Great Romania Water Fight II, and Ray was the official winner/loser, having stayed completely dry after fleeing the scene. Also, Lief rolled down a hill in a failed attempt to avoid the blast of the hose that Daniel had commandeered. Thus concludes the highlights of TGRWF II.

Earlier in the morning we had made up final lists of what we would need for each aspect of camp, and we set out for the Romanian mall and market. As some of us were experiencing Romanian shopping for the first time, we restocked our snack supplies at Auchen (the mall) and went to the market and bought some spoons. Sammy bought some hats.

Last night we headed out of Craiova and into the country on the edge of the woods. The goal was to have a bonding experience with the entire Romanian & American Leadership teams (about 40 of us in all) and we did that through a bonfire, some really good Romanian sausage, and a game of dare devil duck duck goose, which is essentially team duck duck goose. It was both exhilarating and terrifying (never take the inside lane when against Lief). As it began to get darker, the worship team got started and we all got to experience worship in two languages simultaneously, some for the first time. It was a good opportunity for us to focus on things above, as Daniel Vieru had challenged us in the morning (from Colossians 3:2). We finished in small group prayer for the camp. It was a beautiful picture of God brining two teams together as one. As we made our way back to the cars, nature began creeping out, reports were confirmed of the large spider and though not all believe legend has it there was also a large snake lurking in the woods. Lief claims it was just a worm or a stick.

Thanks to everyone who sent along letters with the team, we read some today and were greatly encouraged.

Prefacing the joke with the fact that apa = water, it is now time for jokes with Jesse:

What do you call a waterpark in Romania?

An apa-tunity for fun!!

Iazmin says bye.

19 thoughts on “Day 3 (Saturday)

  1. Good morning team. It is a cool, still Sunday morning here in Wisconsin. As I drink my coffee and enjoy a quiet morning, I can’t help but look out at the beauty of nature and appreciate God’s touch in every part of our lives. He is there with you each step of your way changing the world one person at a time in Romania, touching your hearts, spreading His Word through your message…. And I feel Him here in Wisconsin as I look out over the countryside. He is everywhere. He is in every thought we have. He is in our minds and hearts (He might have even saved you all from the spider. I know I would have been screaming his name for help!!!…:) ) What a wonderful and reassuring feeling to know God is always with you – no matter what you are doing or where you are! I thank God every day for being in our home, for loving us and blessing us in so many ways. Have a wonderful day and week!!! Love to all! Paige (Mo’s mom)

  2. Keep the updates coming, Romania team.
    Your support from here is just as strong as it seems.
    We follow your posts.
    Each day’s we love the most.
    Your sharing makes our smiles truly beam.

    We continue to pray for the Romanians and you.
    And whatever camp activities you do.
    When things don’t go exactly per plan
    Just go with the flow as well as you can
    And know that God will help see you through.

    Keep up the great work!

    • Tom: always droppin some sick rhymes.

      We need to collaborate for the next end of the year rap-up.

  3. Glad everything is going well! We love hearing about all of your adventures so far. Jokes with Jesse cracks us up everyday, ( although we wish we were there to hear your crazy laugh).
    Lots of love from Madison,
    Bekah and Sarah

  4. My dear Noah – Katie and I went canoeing on the Kickapoo river yesterday and it reminded me of that time we did that with Revolution (Dan was there too, I think?) and how you and I spent most of our time sinking everyone else’s canoes. Aka I miss you. Hope you are having a blast, seeing God (yaaaayyyy God, woo!), and working hard. And hope there’s no diarrhea on the trip yet!!
    See you soon.

    Ali, you’re alright. 🙂

  5. Team- Each day it feels weirder and weirder to not be seeing you all. But whenever I feel this way or miss you a ton, I am put at ease when I think of the amazing things you are doing and the ways you are shining God’s light in Romania. You’re blog posts help reinforce this- great job writing them guys!! All of your experiences sound so amazing and I can’t wait to hear about them in even more detail!! Love you guys 🙂

    Noah- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD2lFLyjGAY i’ll just leave that there. you’re welcome.
    Ali- I miss my best friend more than ever! Hope you’re having fun, laughing tons, keeping Noah in check, and wearing clothes that moderately match 😉 I miss sharing a room with you and playing Monopoly late at night!

    Madison

  6. I miss you so much Mo! Theres so much I want to be able to tell you! Ahhh!! We all miss you so much, but I miss you the most. I can’t wait for you to come back home!!

  7. Happy Birthday,Jesse.. I read your Blog every day. I enjoy your stories and jokes. Happy 18th Birthday. Love you Jesse, from Grandma Hershberger.

  8. Happy 18th Birthday Jesse! Please be sure to give her lots of hugs and kisses from her mama! The story of her late, late, late arrival is a good one – have her tell it to all of you to pass the time on your bus ride to camp! She was a stubborn one, but so worth the wait! Love you, Jesse! Keep up all the good work, team!

  9. Great work and thanks for keeping us engaged through your fun blog posts. You have a lot of people praying for you back home.

    Do good things, stay healthy, and have fun :o)

    Special shout-out to Jesse on her 18th birthday!

  10. Ok double comment, but I had the bizarrest dream last night and it had to be shared:

    Ali, for whatever reason, you had decided that you didn’t actually want to go on the trip last minute, but didn’t want to tell your parents, so Linda smuggled you out of the airport and hid you at her house for the two weeks. So I hope you’re *actually* in Romania having a good time instead of hiding in a closet for two weeks!

    • Hmmmm…and Linda told me she and Hershey were driving down to Indiana to pick up her parents and then head out West. Linda may have some ‘splainin’ to do! 🙂

      Al: I hope you are in Romania enjoying the cucumbers, campers, and experience overall. (Otherwise, you have some ‘splainin’ to do too!) Be fully present. Miss you tons!

      Noah: Brian and Bella clearly miss you. Dad too. But, I miss you the most. Take it all in.

      Team: Thanks for sharing your experiences with us through the blog. We are proud of the whole team for being open to what God wants to show and teach you. Stay healthy and safe.

    • Ali – as much as I love you, I’m glad you’re in Romania right now and not at my house…

  11. Happy Birthday Jesse!!!!!! I just got back to wifi (Icelandic wifi is a lil sketchy) and saw all of your jokes. Rebekah’s right they’re more funny when you laugh at them too…

    Everyone-Take care and God Bless! Looks like you’re doing amazing work!

    -C

  12. Hey mo! Just wanted to say hope your having fun and things are going well. Can’t wait for you to get back so I can hear all the stories of your trip. I hope youget this message. I haven’t been able to go to the reed residence and steal your custard so ur lucky. I miss you so much.

  13. Yooooo

    It took me way too long to decide how many o’s would cross the line into being obnoxious. Felt like this was borderline, yet acceptable.

    But HEY these blog posts are awesome. Sounds like everything is going well and hopefully you’re managing to stay cool via what sound like extremely epic water battles.

    ALYSSA POLLEY WRITE A BLOG POST I MISS YOU, someone give her a super awkward hug for me?? 😀

    Peace and love,
    Molly

  14. Brianna and I wish we were there with you. The experience of being in Romania to work with Open Roads and learn about how God is redeeming and renewing the lives of those who grew up in horrible orphanage conditions is a huge part of how we understand our faiths. We miss you all and are excited to someday be back there, perhaps with many of you 🙂

    Ray and Franny, the Slaps need you! We’ve been playing ok, but we lack Ray’s motivational halftime speeches that deserve a soundtrack. You’re basically Coach Tyler. And Franny, we need your cheers! I’ll do my best to get us slappin’ it up on the sidelines.

    Everybody, have fun at camp. Stay safe, hydrated, and dependent on God’s faithfulness and love for you. He is a source of joy, energy, and hope that is fuel for the work you are doing. Learn and experience as much as you can.

    Jesse, your jokes bring me great joy. It’s more like you’re working with O-pun Roads, amiright?

  15. Hey frands. I miss you all. That campfire sounds awesome, glad you didnt get eaten by any snakes or spiders or whatever. Also, hope the Romanian mall was as cool as i remember and you all bought wayyyy too much Joe and Milka chocolate and random foreign candy and chocolate and fruit and whatever else is there. I guess I only listed food, so clearly you know what was my favorites from the trip. Hey Iazmin!!!! Miss you dude!!! Also, Emma, I miss you too. A lot. That’s all for now. Peace friends, I’ll be praying for you all.

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