All are home safe and sound

Everyone is home safely. There was so much excitement when we picked the team up in Boston. Even though their luggage didn't make the trip, their attitudes were good. They had so many stories to tell.

Be sure to follow the blog for awhile longer and we will post some pictures and get some final feedback from team members.

A run for the gate!

Our team is now in the air on its way from London. The flight from Bucharest landed 30 minutes late. With an escort, our team scurried to the next flight and made it onto the plane. Now we'll see if their luggage made it too!

It is now 10 pm by their body clocks. I imagine they'll do some snoozing and when they arrive back at First Baptist it will feel like 7am to them.

Let's pray for a smooth flight and that they arrive on time in Boston.

- Scott
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As we head home. Greg

As we get on the plane to come home from one of the most moving times in my life, I want everyone to know how blessed I was to be with such a great team of people! Everyone worked hard, laughed loud and loved much! The group took great care of each other and the people around them! By far this is one of the best teams I have ever worked with, the Lord is so faithful!! Thanks to everyone who made the mission happen and thank you for your prayers! Next stop; London! And then to the USA! - Greg
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At the gate!

We're at our gate waiting for plane. Its 30 minutes late. Pray we make our connecting flight in London. Then pray our bags make it home. This is last chance to text as card will not work outside of Romania.
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Friday thoughts from Robin

We are on the bus heading to the airport now. It has been a great trip the team has worked well together. It is bittersweet leaving. We are anxious to get home to you all and yet we are sad to leave our Romanian brothers.

Perhaps this will give us a little perspective into how Paul felt as he left each of the churches. Today we went to the village museum. It had old original houses from all over Romania. We walked around for a while and now it is time to head home. We have many stories to tell if you'd like to hear.

Thanks to all of you for praying for us. The trip went smoothly and we knew we were covered in prayer. It has meant a lot to all of us. Please pray for our safe return.

- Robin

Parents who want to go to Boston?

Hello Parents,
The bus is planning to leave FBC at 6 PM and go to Hilltop Steak house. While we don't have room on the bus you are welcome to follow and have dinner with us before we head to Logan. Wes Howell is interested in riding down with anyone who wants to.

Hilltop says if we arrive at 7:30 or 8:00 we will be fine. (I'm thinking it would have us getting there pretty early but what do I know?)

- Scott
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Thursday

The Ambassador Hotel in Bucharest.

I spoke to Robin before the team turned in for the night. The team had a good train ride to Bucharest and it was much more comfortable then when they travel on it the first time. Thankfully it was much cooler and they were able to sleep.

They had planned to spend their morning at the US Consulate getting Jake a new passport but he found it in his bag. It had evidently gotten stuck in a dress shoe somehow. They were very thankful to have found it and Jake was extremely relieved.

After checking into the Ambassador Hotel (the seminary did not work out), they headed out to visit some museums and do a bit of touring. They also went to a shopping mall and got an afternoon nap.

They spent the evening relaxing in the hotel and Antonella taught them the Romanian national anthem. As we talked I could hear everyone laughing and playing in the background.

Friday they will leave the hotel at 11 to visit a Romanian history museum, have lunch and then get to the airport at 2:30 to have time to get checked in for their 5:30 flight.

It was amazing to me that while I was texting the team I got a Facebook friend request from Mari who was one of the team's translators. This day and age of instant communication has made our planet so much smaller! Robin was very excited that I was chatting with Mari and said she misses her already. They will be able to stay in touch with the internet.

Please pray for safe travel and a smooth flight as they travel home.

I will continue to forward brief texts to them of comments left here. Let them know you are thinking of them by clicking "COMMENTS" below. Try to keep them less than 140 characters.

- Scott

Just got a text that Jake's passport has been found. All have arrived safely in Bucharest. - Scott

Almost to Bucharest. The train is quiet. This week I read I Thessalonians 1:2,3 and it seemed to sum up our trip. We continually remember before our God and father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. It has been a good trip. It is amazing to me what an impact our coming has had on the believers in Romania. They ask us to return and bring others. They are so humble and worried that they may have offended us. How can that be when they have given us so much! It reminds me of the widow's might. They did not give out of their abundance and they held nothing back from us. Soon we will be home and my prayer is that I will become more Romanian in my interactions with others.
- Robin
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More trip-ending thoughts

Rebecca Howell
Our time is up. The work is complete. Mission accomplished. These are the things that I keep telling myself as I pack to head out. These past two weeks have been amazing and life-changing. God has revealed himself everywhere we've been. I've seen him in how the Romanians treat us and how we interact with them. Strong relationships have been built, making the goodbyes even harder. I'm reluctant to leave this beautiful country yet ready to go home and move on. God has used me to do his work over here to the full. It is now time for us to return back to the USA and move on to God's next plan.

Tuesday schedule recap - Robin:
We finished painting the church. Danny started to paint the ceiling after lunch. He thought we would be able to help but there was not enough room for us to help. We finished what we set out to do! All of the church members were so surprised and so appreciative of all the work we did. Then we went back to the house to get ready for our thank you supper. There were almost 40 people at the dinner. Most of the people who fed us and worked with us came to the dinner. It was a lot of fun. It took 3 hours to feed us all. Charles tried some pig's neck. It was pretty good. For dessert we had some sort of ice cream that reminded me a little of fried ice cream. There were 3 to a plate and pastor Jacob called them alligator eggs. Apparently this is some sort of Romanian joke. If anyone understands it could they explain it to me? Overall it was a good night of fellowship with our Romanian friends.

Wednesday thoughts - wrapping up

The work is done!

From Laura Mason
Today we said goodbye to all of the women who cooked our meals for us when we ate at the work site. We were so thankful for all they had done , and they were sad to see us leave. They worked so hard to make sure that we were comfortable and ate well while in Romania. They even apologized to us for anything they may have done that upset us. These women put in so much time and effort to help our team completely out of the love they have for God and
for us. I will never forget their hospitality.

From Jocelyn Ulmer
This trip has been an unforgettable experience. It has helped me trust in God with all my heart no doubts anymore. When I came on this trip I wasn't sure how much it would change my heart, but now as I'm leaving I can feel the difference. I already miss the loving people. They have inspired me to show Christ's love to everyone. The trip also taught me to show more patience and kindness to friends even though there is a problem.

From Charles,
We are almost done packing and cleaning, here at the villa until we leave tonight. We had some goodbye hugs tears and kisses at the church site with Lily and Nick's wife and Dani Maestre after lunch. Then said bye to Eli's sons Adin and Florin. We are sad to leave our new friends . The fellowship has been made sweet by the holy spirit and Christ at work in us. Perhaps some of us will be back: we hope so , in a heartbeat. Pray for safe travels. Thank God for the blessed time we have had. La revedere.

From Greg McKelvey
After 2 weeks here , with rain, work, and fellowship its time to come home! The blessings we have given is nothing to what we have received!! We are all happy to be going home, but our hearts are heavy and we are feeling a mix of joy and sadness! Pray for us as we cope with all on our minds! Peace out!

A fun but tough day

Today was a fun day for the team. They took the kids from the orphanage to a park for a picnic. They had lots of fun eating together, playing games, getting wet.

But then it was a tough day too since they said goodbye to the children for the last time. Robin told me that she is working with our group to make sure they recognize that they are now on the back side of their trip when they will need to say goodbye to so many new friends. They need to prepare themselves emotionally and be strong.

Robin told me that being in the orphanage was a blessing. She marveled at the missionaries who are giving their lives to loving these children and teaching them of Jesus. She told the group to notice that it is a work of God that has these children have a loving home where they are clothed, taught and fed three square meals a day. What a calling!

BJ is still struggling but seemed to make some progress today. She goes through good times and bad and still needs our prayers.

- Scott

2 AM phone vibrations.

Robin texted at 2 AM our time asking us all to pray for BJ. She's still sick. Will you spread the word and get your praying friends to pray for her?

Now, it's 90 minutes later and I can't get back to sleep!

Robin said the sun is shining brightly and there is not a cloud in the sky. Of course, by the time most of us wake for the day they will be into mid or late afternoon.

- Scott

Sunday's Report

Outside one of the churches the team ministered in. Two people put their faith in Christ!

I just got off the phone with Robin. The team had a full day attending two different church services and singing and sharing. She said it was neat joining with Romanian musicians for the services but was also somewhat stressful since our team is not a musical team. They did their best and everything worked well.

Monday is a Romanian holiday so rather than work at the church the team will be having a picnic with the children from the orphanage. Please pray that they will have good weather in the afternoon. They are planning to take the kids to a nearby park for some fun. Also pray for the goodbyes at the end of the day since it will be unlikely that the team will be able to return. They will need to spend the day Tuesday finishing all the work in the church and will not be able to return. Of course, the team is thinking it will be able to wrap up its work at the church quickly to get back to the kids! We'll see if that is what happens.

Jake brought a couple Boston Red Sox hats to give out. Red Sox Nation is about to extend to Romania!

Robin says they have built some good relationships with the neighbors and the children around the house they are staying in. They've enjoyed being able to bless the people with gifts brought from the U.S.

Robin also reports that it looks like BJ is feeling better today. Hopefully another good night's sleep will get her back to speed.

Emotions are mixed as the team is getting excited about returning home but sad about leaving new friends behind.

- Scott

Rebecca Howell from Friday's adventure

Hey everyone!

I hope everything is going well over there! Yesterday was our touring day and it was a great experience! We visited a famous castle where Count Dracula was prisoner for 12 years. What really made the tour even better was the massive thunder storm outside. The wind was ripping roof off the castle and the rain was pouring off roof. It was the best thunder storm I've ever been in! After the castle we also got to see the Roman ruins which was very cool also. We were standing on stones older than the USA!

Work today was a success too. The ceiling is almost finished and we have the primer up. We are moving right along! Can't wait to see you all again! Can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of our time here either!

SATURDAY

Today we went to the church to prime the walls. First Danny wanted us to do a little more sanding and some of the boys worked on putting up the ceiling panels. We were able to prime the whole church before lunch. We are back at the house our neighbor has just made us gogosh, donuts.

We are in for the night Greg is working on his sermon and we have to practice our songs for tomorrow. It should be a quiet night. Church tomorrow. It should be interesting to visit two additional churches and fellowship with our Romanian brothers and sisters.

Please pray for BJ. She spent the day in bed and is not feeling well.

- Robin

Friday Schedule

We went sightseeing for the day. We went to Dava to see the castle ruins. Then to Hunendoara to see the castle where Dracula was imprisoned. After that was a big lunch at a nearby restaurant where we all enjoyed the chocolate crepes for dessert. Then we finished the trip by visiting the oldest church in Europe. It was created from Roman ruins. Finally we visited the remains of a Roman village. It was a day filled with history and beautiful scenery. When we got home Eli made fresh sausage and his wife made a dessert with crepes and sweet cheese. We had a great day enjoying all that God has created. - Robin
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Today we start the big push to finish the church my Tuesday! BJ has been a little under the weather but rest seems to doing great! God is so good and faithful! Greg

Pray for BJ ... Migraine headache and not feeling well.

FRIDAY: A day of relaxing and sightseeing

Gotta love cellphone pictures!

A Day Off Prayer Request

The team is going to enjoy a day of sightseeing on Friday. The weather has been rainy and stormy. Prayers for good weather on Friday are their request. Saturday they begin painting.
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Laura is feeling great!

Thanks for all the prayers. Laura wok up today feeling great. In fact, when the team had pizza for dinner she was so hungry and had plenty. Robin said it was a totally different day for Laura.

A glimpse of heaven

Today we sanded. We finished by lunch time. After lunch we met the people of the village who attend the church. They were very appreciative of all the work we have done. It was very moving when we all sang amazing grace in our own language. It was like a small glimpse of heaven when the believers will be together worshiping as one. This afternoon we head to the orphanage and then into Lugoj for pizza! Tomorrow we are going sight seeing. We appreciate the messages and letters from home.

Oh, and good news! Laura is feeling better today she was able to eat.

Robin

Please pray for Laura's tummy!

Laura Mason is still struggling with the food and adjusting to the eating schedule. Please pray that she starts feeling better soon and that she is able to adjust.

More cell phone pictures

Rebecca and BJ sorting gifts.

Filling!

Pastor Jacob and Pastor Tony

Plastering progress.

A happy crew.

Robin with a matching plaster hat.

Charles

Sam, Rebecca, Charles and BJ

Ciao from Rebecca Howell

Ciao!

So far everything has been absolutely incredible here in Romania! The people are kind beyond belief as I'm sure has been said before. The kids at the orphanage have been heartbreaking. The feeling you get when  a little kid runs up to you and loves you only seconds after meeting you is incredible! This is something both Laura and have had the chance to experience. The looks of joy on their faces when they come running to you is unforgettable! The beautiful landscape here is another thing that has really hit me. The mountains and trees are gorgeous! I will miss seeing them every day once we return home. I hope nobody feels offended by this but, sorry! Mountains in New England do not compare to the mountains of Romania! The language barrier is getting smaller as we continue to learn words. See everyone soon!

News from Robin

Tuesday's schedule:

We started the day with another Romanian breakfast and believe it or not some of us are getting used to eating large quantities of food because we were hungry!

Our job was to begin plastering the walls. So we all grabbed putty knives received a quick lesson in plastering and set to work. Logan found that the plastic putty knives do not stand up well to Romanian plaster. Donny our  Romanian crew chief is very patient. He tells us it's all good. I know he's lying because he goes behind us and smoothes out our work which we did ask him to do. I think he would make a great youth leader because he is just excited to see the effort put in by the teens. By the time lunch came we had over half the church plastered! Everyone was surprised by the amount of work we had accomplished. Then it was in for another wonderful meal. This time we had a meatball type of soup made with pork. It was delicious. Then we had more chicken. It seems every family here keeps chickens I'm afraid the chicken population will be a lot less by the time we go home! For dessert we had homemade donuts. They were delicious. For the new Orleans crew the were similar to beignets.

 

Then it was back to work. We finished  applying one coat to the whole church. I don't think they planned on us finishing so soon. Then it was back to the house for a night off. We explained that we could not eat another bite of food we were too full.

 

At the house Eli and his family were doing some repairs and then they wanted to sing with us. This turned into a rather comical fiasco as we were unsure as to what they wanted us to do. We think they heard we sang in church and thought we were musicians. This could not be further from the truth! We have a few in our group who can sing and play the guitar. We did our best ... and Jake did a great job learning songs on the fly. Eli told us he wants us to sing 6 songs in church on Sunday! We must have done okay.

Before Eli and his family left they went to work in the garden. Bj asked him about his bees and next thing we knew she was dressed in a beekeeping outfit! Next Sam, Rebecca, Laura, and I were in coats ready for our beekeeping lesson. Charles was more brave he did not wear a coat or Eli just missed him. Off we went following Eli and his smoker. Eli had us put vinegar on our hands and face he mimed that the bees do not like the smell so they will fly away. Eli opened the hive pulled out a frame and kissed it. This apparently is not part of beekeeping but a tradition of his. He was looking for the queen because he was transferring some bees to another hive and as I understood it he wanted the queen to stay with her family... Once he finished transferring the bees he took us to another hive. There he took out some honey comb and handed it to Sam. Unfortunately a bee was on it and it got stuck under Sam's hair and stung him. Sam is okay and he doesn't look at all weird with an elephant sized ear it's rather becoming! Just kidding he's fine.

 

For supper Jake and Isabella, our translator made us french fries, fried potatoes, and eggs all fresh from the garden. Our neighbor brought us duck soup and mushroom soup. Everyone who tried them seemed to prefer the mushroom over the duck but REBECCA was a fan of the duck soup.

 

Wednesday schedule:

This morning we started the day with a bible study at 7:30. Needless to say some of us were a little sleepy!

Then it was off to the worksite for breakfast. Today we had something like egg salad for breakfast. A lot of the team did not like it or even try it. Our hosts were worried about us so they brought out cookies so we would eat something. Pastor Jacob quizzed us on our bible knowledge by asking us if we knew the longest verse in the bible, the shortest and a few others.

Then it was over to the work site for the daily task applying the second coat of plaster. This time Danny watched us more closely. He showed us how to apply the plaster and then told us he would give the final okay. He has us all working up on the scaffolding and completing the top of the room first. As I write we have almost completed the whole top! Bj thinks he wants us to start at the top so we will be better

 

 

 

Pictures from Tuesday

Our neighbors

Lunchtime.

Logan

Jocelyn

Jake

Dustin

Rebecca

Sam and his biggest fan.

Up high gettin' it done.

Entering Day Six

As we go into day 6 everyone is doing well and the work is about half done! It looks great! The team has hit some bumps here and there but everyone is getting along well and the Lord is growing each of us in his own way! The Lord has blessed me to be with such a group! Keep praying for us all, don't let up!

-          Peace, Greg

Monday's report:

We left our house at 8 to start work on pastor Jacob's second church in cirsu. Of course we had to eat! For breakfast we had fried eggs ham, salami, cukes, tomatos, goatcheese and bread.

After breakfast we walked over to the church to scrape the ceilings and walls. We completed the job by lunch. Luckily pastor Jacob and Greg picked up supplies so we would have more work after lunch. For lunch we had 3 courses soup to start followed by fried pork, mashed potatoes and a cucumber salad. Finally we had cookies for dessert. Needless to say none of us will lose weight or go hungry.

 

After lunch we returned to work. Now it was time to whitewash the walls and ceiling. We finished up headed home to clean up and then back for supper which was an encore of supper. Once supper was done everyone wanted to go back to the orphanage so we returned to find our new friends waiting for us.

 

As we arrived at the orphanage we saw Laura’s new friend Maruis waiting for her. Before she could even get out of the car he saw her grinned from ear to ear and came running up to the car. As soon as Laura was out of the car he gave her a big hug and jumped into her arms where he stayed most of the night. Sam also had someone waiting for him. It appears one of the girls has developed a crush on Sam. We left the orphanage to head home and prepare for another days work.

 

-    Robin

 

Prayer requests

We have a few specific prayer requests:

 

1)      Pray for Laura Mason as she is having a struggle adjusting to the food. It’s not that she doesn’t like the food. It’s more that so many people are feeding them so much that Laura is feeling sick from all the eating and not wanting to be rude when more is offered. Let’s pray that her tummy settles and adjusts.

2)      Jake is on a crash course to learn to play worship choruses. He’s only been doing it a few months and now is doing his best to learn 8-10 choruses so the team can sing more. The people love to hear the team sing which is really interesting because they are not a team of musicians. Let’s pray that Jake is able to learn songs quickly and that the team is able to represent the Lord well in an area it does not feel gifted in.

3)      The outhouse is filling up. Of course, that is a concern!

What are you learning?

Always trust in the Lord. He will show what He wants you to do if you trust, pray, and believe in Him. Also I learned to be flexible and not to take everything someone says to the heart. - Jocelyn

 

That a little prayer can go a long way. I have been praying for good health, patience, and rest. So far all these things have been supplied for me. I have also been shown what true hospitality is. Every Romanian I have met has been so amazing and welcoming. This is how God would want us to greet new people. - Rebecca

 

Patience : having to deal with everything that is not going along fast enough or people who annoy me. Also focus to get the job done quickly and without any distractions. - Sam

 

What hospitality truly is. I am amazed by how welcoming the Romanians have been to us. Everyone we have met has willingly given us all that they have to offer and more although we are complete strangers. God has used their selflessness and desire to serve others wholeheartedly as an example of how I should live my life. - Jake

 

From Jocelyn - Tuesday

Today we plastered the interior walls of the church. We had another delicious breakfast and lunch. We had gogosh after lunch which are donuts. We will be going home and having dinner there.  The neighbor who we have befriended is bringing us duck soup and other food items. Eli and his family are coming over and we are singing for them and with them.

 

SUNDAY CONTINUED

Sunday continued:

 

After church we went to pastor Jacob's house for a wonderful lunch. Four courses later we were begging him to stop. His wife Roedica spent the whole time in the kitchen. When you are a guest in Romania you are treated like royalty. Also we have to beg them to stop feeding us!

 

After lunch we walked up the hill to visit a Romanian youth group. A young pastor and his wife take the teens from a village near Timisoara here for the weekend. Someone donates the house for their use. The pastors wife was saying this was the only way most of the kids get a vacation as their families could not afford it otherwise. I marveled at how god uses those with more to bless others here in Romania and at home.

 

After our visit we all rested the girls in one room the boys in another. Then it was off to church in Criciova. We walked to the local church and this time Bj gave her testimony ... Charles read the scripture and Dylan prayed. Pastor Greg preached again and we all think we started to understand Romanian. Then it was off to pastor Jacob's house for a repeat of lunch. Then back to our house for some rest and team bonding which means a game of cards. We were all feeling tired from travel and our day at the orphanage so we went to bed early to be ready for our first day of work. The team is bonding well and enjoying each other’s company there is much laughter wherever we go.

 

-    Robin

 

Some more pictures

Laura Mason with her pal.


Robin takes a moment to recharge.

Charles has his hands full.

Dustin and his friend.

Logan the strongman!

Just had a great dinner and we are off to the orphanage to hang out with the kids, then maybe go to bed! GReg

A few pictures - day one at the worksite

The master workers telling us what to do.

Pancakes and plum jam! They are feeding us well.

After our first day of work. Removed old plaster and prepped walls for painting.

One church

We started the morning with a breakfast of fresh eggs from the chickens in the backyard sausage and fresh tomatoes compliments of Jake, Charles, and BJ.
After breakfast we went to pastor Jacob's church in nadrag. The service was 2 hr we sang Romanian songs prayed and worshipped together.

I had a young Romanian girl help me through the service. During the service we sang two choruses as a group. Laura decided to join us when pastor Greg threatened her she would have to give her testimony next week if she didn't sing. Jake gave his testimony Jocelyn read the scripture and Logan prayed. At the end of the service we tried to describe the ministries of our different churches. It was exciting to see that language and cultural differences do not hinder worshiping our same Lord. We really are one church.

Robin

Rebecca Howell

Last night Laura, Logan, Robin, BJ, and I all visited our neighbors. There were three little girls who were very excited to receive jump-ropes.

The women were very happy to have us all over. They gave us cake, strawberries, flowers, and tried their hardest to speak English to start a conversation. Their English was much better than our Romanian. How willing they were to give us their own food and welcome us into their home was a blessing.

From Logan

This is Logan yesterday we gave jump ropes to three girls then visited with their families and even had cake with them they also have us flowers and berries.

The trials of the shorties

Right now we are at the work site scraping paint off of the ceiling and upper wall. There is only enough room for a few of us at a time. Those of us who tend to be on the shorter side are finding it difficult to reach and several of us are hoping we will have some work to do. Tomorrow we should all be busy as we should be painting. We have 3 additional workers with us Marta whose parents run the orphanage her friend Maria who will help translate and our translator Isabella.

For Scotty G -

Scotty, Jake and Sam were very busy playing soccer ping pong cards and kickball. Right now they are scraping a ceiling think new Orleans and you'll get the picture.

Jake shared his testimony yesterday and played guitar for the choruses. (The team has one guitar)

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Robin's reflections from Saturday

We started the day on the train waking up to beautiful scenery. Pastor Jacob and Eli met us and brought us to our new accommodations. Eli and his wife have graciously let us use their house. Eli has been fixing up the house so it would be ready when we arrived. The house is big enough for all of us. It has 2 bathrooms and an outhouse.

 

Robin's reflections on trip to orphanage. Saturday we spent most of the day at the orphanage. It was a beautiful sunny day and we spent the whole day out could not say they were able to make us understand. During the day there were soccer games wiffle ball ping pong and a rousing game of kick ball. The children showed us there bikes rollerblades and skateboards. We took some of the younger children to the store for ice cream while the older kids stayed and played a card game. Some of the teenage girls had crushes on our young men… It was amazing to see that God's love knows no language barrier.

 

The day at the orphanage was fun we all came home exhausted from playing with the kids. Laura had a young friend who wanted her to carry him everywhere.  Jocelyn had many young children chasing her around the yard. Rebecca always had a young child holding her hand and every time I turned around our young men were involved in some sort of game. It's sad to report that we upheld the tradition of Americans getting beaten in soccer. Our group was able to share the love of Christ with some wonderful Romanian children. We are looking forward to our next visit. There is so much more to tell but I must get some sleep.

 

How to get a message to the team or an individual

I have been texting the comments you leave at the bottom of posts. Just keep the posts short and they fit in a text message nicely.

Encourage them with a thought or Scripture verse. It's important to them.
- Scott

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Today's Phone Call

It's now 9 pm and the team is hitting the sack for the night. Cooler temperatures and a good night's sleep boosted today's energy levels. Robin sounded perky.

Robin said today went very well but said 2 hour services in Romanian were tough but interesting.

Wes Howell told me they got an email from Rebecca talking about her day at the orphanage. He said they could see that she was bonding and had a tough time ahead when it would be time to say goodbye. That will be true of all our team members.

As you can tell from Jocelyn's post below, the team is eating well and enjoying the food.

Tomorrow they begin the renovation work at the church. Let's be praying for safety and a productive day.

-Scott
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Jocelyn's Report

Today we went to our first church service from 10 to 12. We sang a three songs for the congregation, Jake shared his testimony and I read Scripture. They then sang a few songs in Romanian for us. Pastor Greg have us a sermon and Antonella our translator translated for the people that were not able to understand. After we went to Pastor Logosh's house and ate lunch. We had four courses for lunch. After lunch we went to the second church. Pastor Greg spoke again, BJ shared her testimony, Logan read Scripture and we sang again. We had dinner with pastor Jacob and Rodikka. The weather has been beautiful and everyone is doing well.
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Pray for cooler temperatures

Robin tells me it is "sweltering hot" in the house. The team has no AC or fans. Let's pray for cooler temperatures for sleeping and that our team acclimates to the heat quickly. It's quite a change from what they have been experiencing in Maine this spring.

- Scott

Reflections from Laura Mason

Today we visited the orphanage near the house we are staying in. We met a lot of kids and were able to spend the day playing soccer and ping-pong, and just hanging out with them. Although most of the kids knew only some basic English, our smiles and just being there was enough to communicate with them. Soon after we arrived, a little boy named Marios came up to me and grabbed my hand. He told me to pick him up and pointed to where he wanted me to take him. I spent most of the day carrying him in my arms or on my shoulders. Whenever I got a chance to sit down, he was in my lap. I'm really glad we were able to meet so many great kids today. I can't wait to go back!

A phone call

I just spent a good amount of time on the phone with Robin. She told me that the orphanage has 22 kids but two are in college and living at the orphanage until they get jobs. She said the orphanage is a very nice setup with gates in the front and a large yard to play in in the back. There is a house for the people who run it and another with dining room, kitchen, school room and 2 rooms for the boys and 2-3 for girls (3-4 to a room).

There is also an apartment where they hope to have additional people come to help. Right now the missionaries there never get a break. The apartment is a place for people to live in to run things when the Popets need a break. There is a couple coming to live there this summer so that they can come back to the state on furlough.

The team spent a good amount of time playing kickball with the children and then took them down to a small ice cream shop for a treat. The kids all wanted piggy back rides and it was 89 degrees today! They will sleep well tonight!

Tomorrow morning Jake and another team member will be sharing a word of testimony in one of Pastor Jacob's churches and the team will sing a song. (The Lord provided a guitar!) Then they will eat lunch with Pastor Jacob and his family before heading out to minister in another church.

You can learn more about the orphanage and the missionaries who serve there at:

http://www.newjdioaraco.com/

Blessings!
Scott

Updates from Sam Larrabee and Robin Linscott

I think these are from Robin and Sam but it has been difficult to get complete cell phone texts. - Scott

Hey guys we are having a great first morning here at the house we are staying at. This morning the guys went over to pastor Pastor Jacob's house to take showers and have breakfast made by Jacob's wife. The showers were by no means as bad as they were made out to be and there was plenty of hot water. The breakfast was amazing we had some sausage and eggs with bread and very strong coffee. We ate in a dining room adorned with an odd assortment of traditional paintings and Maine postcards. Although it was clear that the pastor had little he was extremely generous and the food only stopped coming when we begged for them to stop giving us food. It was a blessing to meet these two new people and we are all looking forward to working with them for the rest of our time here. Right now we are prepping for our first visit to the orphanage.

From Robin
We are now settled into our house. It has been quite a journey and god has provided at every step. We left Logan Thursday night for London arriving there early in the morning. We met a group of London teens who were heading to Romania with their school to work in an orphanage. We had no trouble getting thll restaurant the majority of us had pizza. We then had a lot of time to kill waiting for our night train. We played cards...

We are here!! Packed up and moving out! Greg

Exploring Bucharest - boarding night train

Herastrau Park, Bucharest

Bucharest is called "Little Paris" because it is modeled after Paris

The team has a 7 hour train ride for Timisoara which leaves at 10:45 Romania time. They want us to pray that they all will be able to sleep (they have sleeper cars).

I just spoke to Robin. Our gang is very tired but in good spirits. They are in Bucharest and will board an overnight train to Timasoara soon. Pray that they all will be able to sleep well in their sleeper cars.

I will post a couple pictures Greg was able to send soon.

Scott

We have made it to Romania! Its warm and sunny! Best of all everyones bags made! Everyone is tired but feeling the Lords power! Greg

The team is in the air again as far as we know. The plane left London at 11:22 (London time). Greg texted me that Logan did great on the flight. Logan was pretty nervous about his first trip on a plane. - Scott

Have landed in London! Off to our next leg! - Greg

Flight Info

Flight Information for Flight Number BA214

Airline:	British Airways
Origin:	Logan International Airport [BOS]
Destination:	Heathrow Airport [LHR]
Arriving at Terminal:	5

Departure and Arrival Time Information

Scheduled Local Departure Time:	THU @ 21:30
Scheduled Local Arrival Time:	FRI @ 08:45
Current Status:	Arriving FRI @ 08:31 local time

BA 886 Flight Information

Route:		From (LHR) London, EN, GB to (OTP) Bucharest, RO
Duration:		3h 20m
Equipment:		Airbus Industrie A320 (Scheduled)

Departure Information

Departure Status Details
Airport:		(LHR) Heathrow Airport
City:		London, EN, GB
Scheduled:		11:00 AM - Fri Jun 19, 2009

Some pictures from today

Ready to roll!

Goodbyes from family and friends.

The English to Romanian dictionary. Time to study!

Thanks for coming out to pray.

A good lookin' team with matching shirts.

Pastor Keith sends them off with prayer.

The proud paparazzi.

Next stop ... Logan International Jetport. Logan likes having an airport named for him.

Peter navigating with our GPS and her British accent. "At the roundabout, take the third exit."

Rebecca, BJ and Colby. Colby squeezed in to travel with the team and see it off.

Sam, Charles, Greg and Jake with a B on his hat. Soon there will be some Romanian kids running around with Red Sox hats that Jake brought.

Robin and I got haircuts! Mine is shorter.

Arriving in Boston.

Follow the guy with the orange pants.

Unloading. Go Robin and Jocelyn! Dustin is handing bags out to them.

Pete gets up to stretch his legs. He just had surgery a couple weeks ago. I was glad he and Colby made the trip with us so I wouldn't be lonely on the drive home.

Logan and the team divides up the bags.

BJ has a couple bags that are almost as big as she is.

Greg hands out the plane tickets.

Robin snapped this shot with her cellphone as they were waiting to board.