“Did you ever imagine you would have so much fun?” Dad asked us at one point on our trip to Brașov. Our trip was a lot of fun, and I never imagined I would be here in Romania to have such an experience!

Ready to go!

We began our trip Thursday morning. Sam recently got a car to make trips such as these, and it was so nice to be able to leave on our own schedule and make stops along the way as opposed to being tied to the train schedule, and it was significantly cheaper to buy gas than to buy four train tickets.

On the way there we passed by Bran Castle, or “Dracula’s Castle,” and decided to make a stop. It was very interesting and enjoyable to walk around and see and read about the castle.

Bran Castle

A secret staircase in the castle

We got into Brașov Thursday night, and we spend all day Friday in the city. The city of Brașov is absolutely beautiful! It is surrounded by mountains and the hilly streets are lined with pretty, quaint houses. There are also a few parks and universities in the city with amazing campuses and gardens. We had a list of tasks to complete by the end of the day, but walking around the city made it very enjoyable.

Brașov

We went to the police department, the newspaper office, the city hall, the library, and many other places as well. That evening we had a study in the city square on “Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?” There was also a jazz festival going on, so we just said we had three thousand people show up to our study! Although it was only the four of us studying together by a fountain, it was very encouraging.

Study in the Piața Sfantului

Saturday morning we drove about an hour away to Ceia, where Dad, Sam, and I planned to run a race. Sam and I were signed up to do the marathon and Dad signed up that morning to do the semi-marathon (half).

I was nervous before we started because I had no idea what to expect, but I knew it was on trails up a mountain and it would be long and difficult. I was still excited as we began on the beautiful course.

Excited to start

This was by far the most beautiful and adventurous course I’ve ever run. It was also the most difficult. At about mile five I started questioning my decision to run, but I was trying to stay optimistic. At mile nine I hit a low and I told Sam I didn’t know how I could finish. At this point we were running/walking through a creek down in a rocky gorge, having to run through water, sand, and over rocks and logs. I had also started to feel a little pain in my leg, but I dismissed it and kept going.

Running through the rocks and water

After we got out of the creek we began going up almost constantly. We got out of the woods and into an open grassy field up the side of a mountain. It was breathtakingly beautiful! Even though we were basically walking and I was exhausted, I enjoyed the view of this part of the marathon so much.

Trudging up the mountain

Then the trail began going straight up, and we had to use our hands to climb up rocks. My leg had gradually begun to hurt more, and at this point it was painful to lift it, making climbing extremely difficult. I was being stubborn and trying to push through, but Sam had me stop and rest for a bit on the side of the mountain. The longer I rested the more I did not want to continue, and the more I realized I wasn’t sure I could continue. So we decided to stop at mile fifteen.

Due to my stubbornness and pride, deciding not to finish was very difficult. Part of me wanted to finish what I started and not admit that I couldn’t do it, but part of me knew there was almost no way I could finish. It was discouraging, but it is better now. I am taking a few days off for my leg to heal and I hope to try another trail marathon someday! Just not any time soon.

After we decided to stop–almost to the top!

We returned to Severin late that night, exhausted, but happy to be back. This was the first time I left Severin since I arrived here, and coming back it felt like home. I was so excited to get back to our apartment and sleep in our own bed, and as soon as I saw the familiar streets of Severin it felt like coming home.

Our trip was productive, exciting, and crazy, and it was so much fun.

~ Julie Peters

The first time I worshipped with brethren here in Romania was on a Wednesday night, the day after I first arrived. Our plane had landed ten minutes after midnight Tuesday nigh, so Sam and I stayed in Bucharest for a couple of nights before we came here to Severin. The class that night was entirely in Romanian and I struggled to follow the Bible passages, not knowing the Romanian names for Bible books and not being very familiar with Romanian numbers yet. I was also exhausted from traveling and jet lag and I found paying attention to something I could not understand very difficult. At the end of the class one of the brothers prayed, and I realized I had not even thought about not being able to understand and pray with the congregation, but I just prayed myself as the congregation prayed together.

I was overwhelmed that night for many reasons, but I remember being particularly overwhelmed because I had not really realized what worshipping with brethren in a different language would be like, or how difficult it would be. Of course I knew everything would be in Romanian, but I had not thought about it much; I was thinking about so many other things instead.

Thankfully, it is much better now, and I hope it will continue to only get easier. It helps a lot that I understand more and more Romanian every day. At first I could recognize a handful of words and there was a chance I could figure out what was being said, but now I can almost always pick up enough to figure out what people are talking about, even if I don’t know every exact word they say. Worshipping in a language that I don’t really know is definitely a challenge, but I never fail to be encouraged by my brothers and sisters every time we meet, and I pray God is glorified.

Singing

The first time I tried to sing Romanian hymns was a challenge. Romanian is a pretty phonetic language, so reading and pronouncing it is not too difficult once you know the alphabet and pronunciations. I found it hard, however, to focus on correctly pronouncing everything, singing the right tune, and trying to figure out what I was singing all at the same time! It may have been better for me not to sing and instead figure out what the song was saying and focus on that, but I thought it would be more encouraging to others for me to sing. I just hope they didn’t mind my attempts at pronouncing all the Romanian words. Now I can usually recognize enough words to think about what I’m singing, and I have also started to translate some of the hymns we sing often. This way I can know for sure what I’m singing about and focus on that instead of trying to figure out what to focus on.

Listening and Learning

As we walked home on the first Sunday I told Sam that my next goal was to learn the books of the Bible in Romanian and make sure I knew all my numbers. That night I made a Quizlet of the New Testament books and reviewed my numbers. I was so excited the next Wednesday night when I turned to all the song numbers by myself! I am also slowly getting used to the Romanian names for the books in the Bible, so I am able to follow along during lessons, even if they are completely in Romanian. I have a bilingual Bible with Romanian and English, so I also try to follow along in Romanian to hopefully learn a little more. Whenever Sam preaches he has a translator, so I have the benefit both of hearing his sermon and hearing it in Romanian, which also helps me learn. Dad is starting to preach more in Romanian, but he always emails us his notes in English and Romanian so we can understand what he is saying. I am so thankful for the several opportunities I have to go to several studies throughout the week, both for the chance to study the Bible and learn with others, and to have another chance to hear everything being translated into Romanian.

Teaching

A couple of weeks ago Sam and I attempted to have a VBS–type event for kids. We wrote the material, gathered supplied, and advertised our Bible Week on Facebook, with posters all over Severin, and by passing out about 800 fliers. Unfortunately no one from the city came, but we learned a lot during the process. A friend of ours who is a member of the church in Severin came every day to translate if anyone came for us to teach. Rebecca, Sorin’s daughter (Sorin is a member of the Severin congregation and the translator) came on two days. On the first day I taught her the days of creation, and the second day a visiting Christian from America taught her about Moses. One of the many benefits from our Bible Week experience was that I felt a lot more comfortable with teaching here with a translator.

Last Sunday I began teaching Bible class for Rebecca, only this time it was a little different because I did not have a translator. However, with the help of Google Translate, a Romanian Bible storybook, and lots of pictures, we were able to make it work. Since Rebecca is only three I decided to continue to review the days of creation for a few more weeks, then we will move on to something else, although she is already pretty good at knowing what God did on each day!

Overall, worship in a different language is difficult, but it is getting better. I am learning more and more of the language every day and I pray I will continue to learn. Again, I am always encouraged when I worship with my brothers and sisters in Romania, and I am constantly reminded of the great blessing we have in God’s family. Even in another country with a different language I am connected to so many people through God’s amazing family.

~ Julie Peters

“Îți place România?”

“Do you like Romania?”

I think this is the question I have been asked the most ever since I moved to Romania a little over a month ago. The questions that almost always follow are “Is it different?” and “Is it hard?”

My answer to all three questions, simply, is yes. It is definitely different and it is hard, but I am so happy to be here.

Is it different?

Most of the differences I’ve encountered so far have not been an issue at all. By now most of these differences seem normal, and it is somewhat amusing when sometimes I stop and realize how accustomed I am to something that was once quite strange.

We do not have a car here in Romania, so we walk everywhere. But everyone around us walks everywhere. Luckily we live in the center of the city and everything is within a very reasonable walking distance. Unless it is raining, it is lovely to get out every day, or maybe several times a day, and walk in the fresh air to run whatever errands we need to do. I am not yet at the point where I will go anywhere by myself, so it is also a nice time to have with Sam. Sometimes we will walk together, hand in hand, in silence, thinking to ourselves and enjoying the walk, but many other times we will spend the time in conversation about whatever is on our minds.

Growing up, I was used to one huge grocery trip per week. We had all our meals planned out and each week we would buy a large amount of food to last the whole week. Here we find ourselves going to the market or the grocery store nearly every other day, which is partly due to the fact that we have a very small refrigerator, and partly due to the fact that we have to carry everything we buy back to our apartment. Some things, such as dry rice, oatmeal, or beans, we stock up on and keep in our cabinet, so our shopping trips are usually to buy something particular to cook when we have company for supper, or fresh fruits and vegetables that we tend to go through quite quickly.

There are several little things in our apartment that are different from what I am used to. When I first learned how certain things were done I would sometimes smile in amusement, but nothing has been any great hardship. Now it is all very normal to me, so it amuses me when my family or friends back home first hear about how our washer works or how I cook things in the oven. Our washer is nice, small, and perfect for me to do a small load every day or every other day, and it fits nicely in the corner of our bathroom. Our proprietor (landlord) kindly brought it in for us when we moved in because there was not a washing machine there previously. Since the apartment was not built for a washing machine there was not a drain in our bathroom to hook it up to. Instead we have a plastic tube that I place in the toilet every time I turn it on, and the water drains in there. It is very important to remember to move the tube whenever I start a load, but forgetting it once made it to where I will never forget again, I hope. Although I had an adrenaline rush and a fear of Romanian neighbors with water coming through their ceiling, all ended well and no damage was caused.

I am so excited to have a gas stove in our kitchen, it is just a little different from the one I was used to back home. There is a cabinet right next to the stove with a large propane tank. Every time I want to cook I twist the knob to turn on the gas, then I light the stove with a lighter. Our oven is also gas, so in order to bake something I turn on the gas, lift up a little door in the bottom of the oven and start the fire. I have not attempted much baking so far, but it is good that I am not a perfectionist in the kitchen because our oven has no temperature settings and adjusting the fire is quite interesting.

All these differences took some adjusting initially, but overall, these differences and others seem very normal to me now, and I enjoy living here very much, even with the differences.

Is it hard?

I’m often unsure how to answer this question. Yes, it is hard. But it is okay. I am okay with it being hard, and it is not too hard.

It is difficult to be in another country with a different culture and different language and not know many people. I desire to meet people and have relationships with them, but that can be difficult for me even we speak the same language. Here it is even more difficult because of the language barrier. However, I am slowly learning, and many people speak at least a little English. I have learned enough to understand most of what people say, but responding is still hard. Despite the difficulties, I have still been able to meet several people and begin to form relationships, and I am so thankful for this. I am also so thankful for Sam, for his parents, and for the internet, through which I can call my Mama “anytime I want to talk in southern English!”

It is difficult not knowing the culture very well, especially when we have guests over for a meal. I am constantly trying to listen, observe, and learn the Romanian way to prepare and serve food, how to set the table, and the way and order to present certain things. Every time we have guests over we tell them we are trying to learn Romanian customs, and ask them to help and teach us what we should do differently. Sometimes I get nervous about doing something wrong, but I just think to myself that if I do something terribly wrong or different from Romanian traditions they will just think it is the “interesting American” way of doing things.

It is hard to be away from my family and friends back home and at FC. Last week my family helped Clay move into college (he is attending FC) and it was difficult, because I would love to be in two places at once and be there with him as well.

Although it is sometimes hard to be here, I feel incredibly blessed with this opportunity. Recently on one of our walks through the city Sam and I were reflecting on what a unique opportunity we have been blessed with to be able to get married, and then move to Romania to work, encourage, and evangelize. After being apart for what seemed like so long, we feel blessed to be together, no matter where we are or what difficulties we face. While I definitely miss my family and friends from back home, I am still excited every day to live with my best friend and see him every day, and I am so blessed to have the love and support from my family and so many others back home.

As I go through minor difficulties as I transition to living here in Romania I pray that I will learn from them. I pray that Sam and I will grow closer, we will both grow closer to God, and that others will benefit from our time here.

So overall, yes. Yes, it is different. Yes, it is hard. And yes, I like Romania.

Da, îmi place România

My first night in Romania was very overwhelming for me. I had just traveled for nearly two days, and I was exhausted, far away from home, and in a completely new and different place. I am not completely through the transition stage yet, having only been here for two weeks, but I already feel much more comfortable here and much less overwhelmed most of the time.

On a walk one evening

As I wrote in my last post, when Sam and I arrived to Severin we stayed with his parents in their apartment. It was wonderful to get to be with them; they were very welcoming and hospitable and we really enjoyed our time with them.

Walking home from the store with Mom

One of the things I really like about living in Romania is the fact that everyone walks everywhere. We live within reasonable walking distance of any type of store or service we would need. Walking to the market or to the building for services is one of my favorite things. The day after we arrived Sam and I walked to the Police Department to report that I was in the country and to get things started on getting my long-term visa. We also went shopping at the piața (like a huge farmer’s market), and got coffee. Romanians drink espresso almost exclusively, so that is all that was available at this coffee shop. I enjoy drinking coffee black, but a straight espresso was a little too strong for me! I drank about half of the tiny cup, and Sam finished it off for me. Perhaps I will get more used to drinking espresso as I live here.

Drinking espresso together

On Sunday we all walked together to services where we joined four other members to worship God together. Again we sang in Romanian, and although I could not understand all the words I was singing, I recognized the tune and enough of the words that I could think about what I was singing about. However, it is quite challenging to focus both on reading and singing unfamiliar words and on the meaning of what I am singing at the same time! Sam and I brought home a songbook and I hope to learn the songs we sing most often so I will be able to focus more on what the words mean when I sing them. Sorin, a member of the church in Severin and the translator for Sam and his dad preached a lesson first; then Sam preached an excellent lesson on grace. On the way home I told Sam that I wanted to memorize the books of the New Testament in Romanian so I could at least follow along in my Bible when Sorin or someone else is preaching in Romanian. I do have most of them memorized now, and it is much easier to follow along if I can catch the book, chapter, and verse when they are talking so quickly!

Our first Sunday together in Romania

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning we met at the building with a few other local preachers from the area to study Acts. Not only were the studies encouraging and beneficial, but it was good for me to hear both the English and Romanian translations of what everyone said to help me in understanding more Romanian. We will continue to have these studies every Wednesday morning.

Acts Study

On Thursday Sam, Sorin, and I traveled to Craiova, which is a large city about two hours away from Severin that does not, to our limited knowledge, have a faithful church. Sam and Sorin handed out hundreds of fliers inviting people to come to a study in the Gospel of Luke in a library in Craiova. Unfortunately no one came to the study, but we pray impact was made on someone. Even though no one came, Sorin and Sam had prepared to lead the study, so the three of us still studied Luke 4-5 together for an hour.

In Craiova

Wednesday afternoon Sam and I had gone to look at a couple apartments, and that night Sam’s parents also came with us to look at one of them again. We decided to rent the apartment we saw first and on Friday we signed the contract and began moving in! We made a couple trips back and forth between our new apartment and Mom and Dad’s apartment and to a storage unit to get all our things here, then we made a trip to the store for cleaning supplies so we could start scrubbing everything! We worked all day on Friday, but we ended up going back to Mom and Dad’s apartment to stay that night.

Saturday morning we were reenergized and ready to spend the day cleaning and unpacking! We also made a huge list of things we needed and went on a fun shopping trip to the mall. We got a coffee pot, crock-pot, pillows for the bed, a trashcan, and many more things in between. We had to leave the great majority of our wedding gifts back at my parent’s house in Mississippi, but several people blessed us with monetary gifts to take to Romania to set up our home here. It was fun to shop together and choose things to set up in our apartment.

I had good motivation to get everything unpacked and cleaned because we had company over Sunday afternoon for lunch! I got up early Sunday morning to cook a lot of food and do some more cleaning. This Sunday we had many visitors at services, including Eugen, Jantina, and their family, who came over to our apartment for lunch. Visiting with Eugen and Jantina and playing with their three kids was wonderful. After they left I told Sam that after having the apartment so full of people and joyful little kids it really felt more like a home. We are so excited to have our own place and we have been blessed to find an apartment that is very suitable for entertaining. We look forward to having many more people in our home!

Visiting 

Sam with Eva or Eliza (I’m not sure which one) and Jamil

Sam and I enjoy running together and we run almost every morning. For the past several days we have met our friend Adelina at a nearby track to run together. She is training to pass a physical exam in order to go to school to be a police officer. She told us she wanted to run every day. Some days others come, such as Adelina’s friend Andrei, Sorin, or Dad. Running has been a good way to get to know people better, in addition to it being a healthy and fun activity for me and Sam to do together.

Andei, Adelina, me, Sam, and Sorin at the track

Overall, the transition to Romania so far has been smooth, with just a few bumps. So far the hardest thing has been leaving my family, but I also have family here, and I have been able to communicate with my family a good bit. The most overwhelming thing to me in Romania is the language. While I know enough common words to basically understand most of what people say, it is extremely difficult for me to speak. I am still working on learning though, and just being here and hearing people speak has already helped me learn more, and I know people are so willing to help me.

I really do love it here. I love being with Sam and being near Mom and Dad. I love the simplicity of life here. I love the people here. I love this opportunity I have to meet more people in God’s family and encourage and be encouraged by them. I pray I will help others as I live here, but I know they are helping me so much already. This opportunity truly is a blessing!

~ Julie Peters

The first seven weeks of our marriage were wonderful. We traveled all over the place for Sam to preach and share the work in Romania on the weekends, visiting and meeting countless brothers and sisters in Christ everywhere we went. During the week we lived at my parent’s house, spending time with my family, having various studies, visiting friends, and managing to stay very busy.

Now we have begun a new chapter in our lives together. Last week, beginning our journey on Monday, we have moved to Romania. Sam has lived and worked here for ten months before our marriage, and I have now joined him. I am excited to see what God’s will for us is as we live and work here together, always trying to serve and glorify God in everything.

We said goodbye to most of the family Monday afternoon, and then Daddy and Leah went with us to the airport in Atlanta, about five hours away. I expected it to be hard to leave my family, but I found it even harder than I anticipated. Before we left Daddy prayed with us all in the kitchen and many of us could not stop the tears. It was a bittersweet goodbye, because I was so excited to take this next step with Sam, but I was also sad to be leaving my family. When we said goodbye to Daddy and Leah in the airport Sam prayed again, and again there were tears. Leah and I hugged and cried for a while, then we dried our tears and said goodbye—just for a little while, just until December.

In the Atlanta airport, about to leave for London

The flight to London was long, but it was much better than I expected. Our flight left at 10:15 pm, and as soon as we got on the plane I was exhausted. I was able to sleep for a little while, and then I woke up and read for about an hour or so. The rest of the flight was spend sleeping and waking up several times, so I never felt like I was really able to sleep, but it was better than nothing and I did feel somewhat rested the next morning. Adapting to time change has been interesting, but it has not been as difficult as I anticipated.

Our layover in London was almost nine hours, so we filled out departure cards at passport control and purchased tickets for the Underground to go see the city! It was quite expensive to check bags at the airport, so we walked all around London carrying all four of our carry on bags! We each had a backpack, and Sam carried both of our carry on suitcases. We did not have much time in the city, but it was a great experience to get to see downtown London, hear all the British accents, and see many interesting sights. We walked through a small garden, through Chinatown, and across the Thames River. We even saw Big Ben from a distance

!

Downtown London!

When we returned to the airport we were exhausted, but we still had a three-hour flight ahead of us to Bucharest, Romania. However, the flight went well and before I knew it we were landing in Romania.

Even now it has not completely sunk in that I am here in Romania. I have had a feeling I might end up here for a while. It began when Sam and I started dating and I knew he would be moving here. I knew I would be coming here when we got engaged, and then when we got married. Now I am actually here and I still can’t completely believe it! Right before we got off the plane I began to get pretty nervous. I did not know what I was doing, I did not know the language, and I was just a bit overwhelmed. I was nervous to go through passport control, but everything went smoothly and we were able to get our bags and leave the airport.

Our great friend Vali met us at the airport and drove us to a hotel to stay for the night. Sam met Vali a few months ago through a mutual friend from the States and he has been such a blessing. Sam contacted him before we arrived and he took care of us in every way, from picking us up at the airport after midnight local time, to getting us a nice hotel room for two nights, taking us on a tour around Bucharest, and helping us get to the train station. We are so thankful for all Vali’s help!

My first night in Romania, as we rode from the airport to the hotel, I was very overwhelmed. Everyone was speaking a different language and everything looked different. I was also sleep deprived and still sad about leaving my family; so many different emotions were combined to create my feelings.

That night Sam read Psalm 23 before we went to sleep. Even though everything is new here and a bit frightening, God is our shepherd and we can trust in Him, and hopefully we will learn to trust in Him more and more as we face hardships during this new part of our journey.

I’m not sure how late it was when we finally got to bed Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, but due to exhaustion and jetlag we slept until 12:30 pm the next morning! Not long after we woke up we walked to a nearby piata and bought some fruits and vegetables for breakfast. Sam also went to a store and bought bread, peanut butter, oats, and coffee! We spent a few hours in the hotel; Sam studied and did computer work and I studied and worked on my online college classes. We walked about a mile and a half to Bible study that night where Sam used to attend when his family lived in Bucharest in 1999-2001. The whole study was led in Romanian and I could not understand it, but I was able to pick up a few words here and there that I recognized. Sam had a bilingual Bible (Romanian on one side and English on the other), so I just tried to read the passage in English and think about it. When one led a prayer in Romanian, I simply prayed to myself since I could not understand what he was saying. Most of the members could speak English fairly well, so I was able to meet them all after the study. It was encouraging to meet brothers and sisters in Christ with common goals and interests even when I was far away from home in a different country.

Vali picked us up after Bible study and took us on a drive through Bucharest, showing us all the historic and notable sights and buildings. Although I was quite tired earlier in the day, getting to sleep was still somewhat difficult as I was still adjusting to the time change. However, when I woke up the next morning at 5:00 to get ready to get on the train I felt well rested and somewhat on schedule.

With Vali at the House of Parliaments

The House of Parliaments

We had about a six-hour train ride from Bucharest to Severin, and although I was a little nervous about it, it all went very smoothly and all was well! It was so wonderful to see Mom and Dad (Peters) when we arrived at their apartment in Severin. We visited and caught up together for a while, and later that day Sam took me on my first run in Romania. We are currently living with Mom and Dad in their apartment for the time being and we are so thankful for their hospitality and allowing us to share their home!

On the train to Severin

Getting settled and getting used to living in a completely new place with a new culture and a new language has been and will be a process, but so far everything is going well and I am so thankful to have this opportunity! Updates on life here in Romania will be coming soon!

~ Julie Peters