“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” I Corinthians 3:6

We know that God is the one who causes growth; He is the one who gives the increase, but it is sometimes easy to be discouraged when we do not see apparent growth or increase.

We have lived in Craiova for almost six months, and as of now the church has no new members and no regular visitors. We have events and studies, but often no one comes. Sam passes out hundreds and thousands of flyers, posts countless posters, and we advertise regularly online, but the results we have seen are few.

And it is easy to get discouraged.

It is hard for me to see Sam work so tirelessly every day, studying diligently, coming up with new ideas and methods for reaching people, and getting out of his comfort zone to get out and talk to strangers in a country where he is unfamiliar with the culture and unaccustomed to the language, and not be discouraged for his sake. Sometimes I think, “Don’t these people see how passionate he is and how hard he is working? Why won’t they respond?” But I know this is the wrong way to think. I am thinking too much in physical terms, expecting to see a tangible result of spiritual efforts. No amount of effort on our parts will force people to make the decision to turn their lives to Christ; that is up to them and God. All we can do is keep diligently sowing the seed and give the rest to God.

The gospel is still growing in Craiova, whether or not we see the results with our eyes. We have heard countless stories of conversions that resulted from a single small seed planted years ago. With so many seeds planted all over the city, from flyers to posters, to events and conversations, we pray that one day one of these seeds will grow in someone’s heart and prompt them to turn to God for help and salvation.

Yet even if one of these seeds does not take root, the gospel is still growing. Sam and I have both grown so much from this experience, and we continue to learn every day. We are learning to rely on God and His timing, not our own plans and ideas of success.

And He is causing the growth.

I have had several people tell me they are curious about what our normal lives look like here in Romania. Here is an overview of a week in our lives as missionaries in Craiova, Romania!

Sunday

On the train to Severin

When we took our trip to England a few weeks ago we left our car in Severin and took Blabla car to the airport in Timisoara. When we returned to Romania everything was covered in snow, so we took the train all the way back to Craiova and left our car in Severin. Sunday morning we walked about two miles to the “gara” (train station) in Craiova and took the two-hour train to Severin, arriving in time to worship with the brethren there. Sorin and Alexandra invited us to join them for lunch and it was wonderful to visit with them for a while. We also got to visit some other friends very briefly and made plans to have lunch with them the next Sunday. Everything was great with the car and we left in time to make it back to our apartment by 5:00 for our worship service here in Craiova. We did not have any visitors to our services in our apartment that time, but it was still a very encouraging day. We worshipped God with friends in Severin, then Sam and I worshipped again together in our apartment, singing in English (which I always enjoy), and Sam gave a message that was specifically encouraging for us.

Monday

Ever since I got pregnant I have been sleeping a lot more, so Sam almost always gets up earlier than me. Since his desk/office is in our bedroom, he puts his computer and whatever books he needs in the kitchen the night before so he can read and study there without disturbing me. Whenever I wake up I come to my desk in the living room to read and pray to begin my day.

On my way back from the store. I had lots of heavy things!

Monday was my first grocery trip of the week. I have just recently gotten to where I am comfortable enough in Craiova (which is a much bigger city than Severin, where we lived at first) to walk to the store by myself. It is helpful for both of us that I can go by myself, because now I can go whenever it fits in my schedule and Sam has more time to study or go out and evangelize whenever he needs to. I am learning to buy things in smaller quantities and go more often because now I have to carry everything myself! On Monday I took my backpack and a couple of bags and I was able to get it all home pretty easily. It is about a 1.5-mile walk to the store, but I have discovered that I really enjoy the walk. It is a great time for me to pray and reflect and the time passes by quickly, unless I bought too many heavy things and I’m ready to get home and get it off my back!

Reviewing the alphabet

Sam and I have begun to volunteer at a local after-school facility a couple times a week. Most facilities like this are very expensive, but this one is free and relies a lot on volunteers. On Monday there was another volunteer there teaching English, so we helped her out.

Monday night we had our date night! We ate dinner at a traditional Romanian restaurant in the center of town and afterwards went to the mall, where we looked at baby clothes and bought one item that we used on Tuesday (more one that later). When we got back home we watched 30 minutes or so of the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Neither of us had seen it before. I loved it and Sam was so nice to watch it with me! He said he enjoyed it too.

Tuesday

Every morning Sam and I eat oatmeal for breakfast together. During my first trimester when I was dealing with a lot of morning sickness Sam cooked breakfast every morning, but I had a strange aversion to oatmeal and I he cooked me eggs every morning. Now I’m a little more normal and I enjoy oatmeal again! Also I am able to prepare it in the morning because I am free of morning sickness!

I joined Sam on his run Tuesday afternoon, and although it was slower than Sam is used to, he ran the whole six miles with me. It definitely exhausts me a lot more than it used to, but I am so happy to be back to running again!

Sam went to have a study with a couple of people and I stayed back to cook and clean. That night we had our midweek Bible study, for which we are studying the book of Mark. Later that night Sam’s parents arrived from Constanta to stay with us a few days! We gave Sam’s mom the pink outfit we had bought the night before to tell her that we are expecting a girl! I found out at my doctor’s appointment earlier in the month, but we kept it a secret until we could tell her in person.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning Sam did his long run, and I planned on running the last six with him, but after a couple of miles I realized that six miles two days in a row was a little to much for me at this point! I still got in a good four mile run and hopefully I’m learning how much to push myself and when I should stop.

We had an early lunch of mushroom veggie burgers and oven fries, and then Sam and I left to help out at the after-school place again. This time the English teacher was not there, but the kids still wanted an English lesson! I had prepared some material “just in case,” though I didn’t think we would use it, and I was so glad! We learned different animal names and played Bingo.

That night we were invited to a family’s house for dinner and we had a wonderful visit. It was a full day and we got home late, but it was a very encouraging day.

Thursday

Thursday was a more relaxed day and we spent most of the morning hanging out, reading, and studying. I had a lot to do for my online classes because the beginning of the week was so busy, so it was nice to have some time to focus on getting reading and writing done for school. After lunch Sam’s mom and I walked to the big mall, which is a little less than two miles away. We needed a few items for lunch the next day and we also looked at maternity clothes! I do not need them quite yet, but my pants are beginning to be a little tight!

On Thursday I was fifteen weeks pregnant and our sweet little baby is the size of a naval orange! I have so much more energy and I have no more morning sickness, so I am greatly enjoying the second trimester so far!

Thursday night we walked to the center of town to meet some international students from the university for a prayer meeting. It was our first time to attend this meeting, but it was great to meet a lot of new people (who all spoke English!) and get to visit and pray with them.

Friday

Friday morning was nice and laid back again as we all relaxed, read, and studied. I cooked some soup to have later for lunch, then Mom and I walked to the park to study together. The weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed the long walk. We also stopped by the store on the way home because it seems like there’s always one thing we forgot. Sam and his Dad were out passing out flyers and talking to people while we studied, and when they all got back we had lunch together.

Every Friday afternoon I FaceTime Mama and we discuss the book More Hours in My Day. Well, we discuss it if we have time. We usually have a lot more to talk about, and lately we have been spending most of our time talking about and planning for the baby! I always ask Mama if certain things are normal, I tell her about whatever updates I got at the doctor, and she tells me all about what baby gear and clothes I’ll need or what I can do without. I tell her how my clothes fit and show her my bump, which is still pretty hard to see, but I am convinced it is there! I am so excited to have a “real,” visible bump and actually look pregnant 🙂

Saturday

Saturday morning Sam’s parents left to go to a wedding in Brasov. After they left I cleaned the whole apartment and began preparing some food because we had company Saturday night.

Sam went out to pass out flyers and I went on a run before coming back and getting all the last minute things ready for our company. We had a great evening visiting with our friends and their little boy. I still get a little anxious every time we have someone into our home, wondering if our apartment is clean enough or if they will like the food, but I am always so glad afterwards. I know that most people do not care if the apartment is perfect or if it is their favorite food, and it is always very rewarding to have guests in our home.

Each week is always a little different, but I hope you enjoyed reading about this little slice of our Romanian life! We are so thankful for the opportunity we have here and I am so thankful for all the ways God has helped me get through the harder weeks. He has taught me so many lessons and continually showers us with blessings!

I hope you all have a blessed week!

~ Julie

Before we were going to talk together, I wanted to write down some thoughtful questions about their beliefs. Questions I wanted to know, questions I think others would like to know so I got my pen out and jotted them down. I wrote down questions like, “How do you explain the gospel of Jesus Christ?” “How do you authorize your worship? Bible? Creeds? or Tradition?” and “What is the biggest threat to your church today?” I had seven questions in all. I kissed Julie. Then I started walking down the apartment steps.

My friend Adrian scheduled this meeting for me after I told him I have been trying to talk to an Orthodox priest without success. He was the translator. Walking into the church was not the most welcoming. It was quite dark and candles were lit. The painting of the saints covering the walls seemed were dark, flat, black. There was a girl in the corner with her head on a shelf and her hand on an icon. She just stood there leaning.

Mihai, the priest dressed in his priestly garb, quickly approached us with a nice smile on his face. Adrian introduced me, we put some chairs in a circle and started the conversation. “Ask whatever questions you have.” “Okay,” I replied. “First, what is the gospel of Jesus Christ?” He looked at me for a moment. “I cannot explain it. It cannot be explained. Only God can explain it to you. Just read the gospels and epistles and it will be explained to you, if God wants to. Paul explains it very well in his epistles.” “Okay” I replied, “but you cannot give me your own summary?” “Ok, God is love. God is light. God want you to have peace and not be in turmoil.”

I then wanted to know how the Orthodox church saw protestants. “What do you think about protestants?” He replied, “they are in the dark about many things. They went to far when they left the Catholic church. Catholics are extreme in that they glorify Mary too much, as they think the Pope is infallible, as they don’t allow the Pope to get married.” “So do you think protestant or Catholics are saved?” “I do not judge, only God knows,” he replied. Then he told me a story. “You know, once a Orthodox priest and a drunken bus-driver died and went to Saint Peter. Peter let the bus-driver into heaven and sent the Orthodox priest to hell. And the Orthodox priest cried, “Why” and Saint Peter said, you preached too many sermons and people were just sleeping. But the drunken bus-driver lead 23 people to heaven when they prayed for their lives.”

“When I walk around town passing out fliers in search for an opportunity to present the gospel, some Orthodox believers call me a “pocăiți.” What does that mean?” Looking a little embarrassed, he explained slowly and carefully. “It means a person who repented. It can mean a good thing, like when someone turns to God. But people use it also for people who leave the Orthodox faith.”
The last question we talked about was the topic of studying the Bible. “This was one of the extremes of the protestant movement,” he said. “The Pope is looked to for truth for Catholics.” “The people are to study the Bible for their truth for the Protestants.” Then he brightened up; “the Orthodox stay right in the middle. We want the people to read the Bible, but the explanation should be left to the priest, who has studied it in college. Just like a patient goes to a doctor for medicine, Orthodox Christians go to the priest to hear the meaning of the text.”

Mihai had to leave the conversation for 20 minutes to bless some food for a walk-in believer. After he returned we concluded our discussion with the main threat of the Church. “What is the main threat for the church today?” “Peace,” he replied. No one has peace today and that is what everyone looks for. And because they don’t have peace, they aren’t able to live right. It’s like a tree which can’t bear fruit because the winds are pressing against it. The world needs peace. With that, I asked if we could talk next week about worship, baptism, singing, and icons. Lord-willing Adrian will visit Mihai again next week.

Sometimes I cry. A lot. Almost every day.

Sometimes I ask myself again and again what I am doing, because sometimes I have no idea.

Sometimes I feel stuck in the middle of stress and there’s nothing I can do.

At these times I have to slow down, stop, and remind myself that this is my dream. I am literally living my dream!

I think it is typical of most young girls to daydream about their Prince Charming and the perfect wedding day. I had my whole wedding planned out when I was 14 (and I used 0% of my 14-year-old ideas!) and I had a picture in my head of my “ideal husband.” I prayed that if it was God’s will that He would show me my “ideal husband” and we could get married and live happily ever after.

Now I am living my dream and so much more. God more than answered my prayers and gave me the perfect husband for me, at a time when I was not even expecting it.

When I met Sam (although I had determined NOT to have anything to do with guys my first year of college) I was blown away. I can remember praying to God that I had no idea if He was answering my prayers and this was the one, but if he was I honestly could not imagine anyone better. He went above and beyond every item on my “ideal husband list.” As a senior he was always so kind to me, a freshman who was terribly homesick and had no idea what she was doing in college. The more I got to know him the more amazed I was, and I remember thinking that if nothing ever worked out for the two of us, I didn’t think I could ever like another guy; no one would ever match up. We began dating second semester of my freshman year, and a year after we first met each other Sam got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was beside myself with joy and I did not hesitate for and instant to say yes. I had known for a long time that Sam was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. This was my dream.

Our long-distance engagement was difficult, but we survived and had an absolutely perfect wedding. Even though it was nothing like my early teenage fantasies, it was my dream wedding, mostly because I got to marry my dream guy.

Now I get to live with my best friend every single day. I get to wake up beside him and tell him good morning instead of texting him. We get to eat meals together, study together, run together, and everything! We still look at each other sometimes and say, “I am so glad we get to be together now. Living with you is so much fun.”

I am living my dream.

Beginning when I was in about 8^th grade my family started reading lots of missionary biographies for school. The first one I ever read was about Hudson Taylor, and we went on to read countless other stories of missionaries to tribes deep in Africa, India, China, England, and many, many other places. I was so inspired by all these stories and it became somewhat of a secret dream of mine to become a missionary someday. I remember thinking it would be more difficult to do it on my own, so it would be better if I married someone who was willing to be a missionary and we could go together.

Now I am here, married to my wonderful husband who was a missionary in Romania for nine months before we got married, and we are missionaries here together. Being a missionary in a foreign country is certainly not as glamorous as perhaps I imagined as an eighth grader. It is much harder than I anticipated living in an unfamiliar country, surrounded by a different language, a different culture, and lots of people who are not readily accepting the good news we have to share with them as much as we would like. But I am learning so much. I learn from watching my husband work tirelessly every day, studying, thinking of new ways to reach people, and going out and talking to others, spreading the Gospel. I am learning so much patience. I am learning to trust in God like I never have before. I certainly have not learned any of it perfectly, and I am still learning every day, but it is truly such a blessing.

I am living my dream.

All my life I have wanted to be a mama. I have gone through phases where I was not sure if I wanted to get married or not, but I have never questioned whether or not I wanted to me a Mama. Dolls were my favorite toys growing up, and I absolutely love doing anything with babies or little children. They never fail to bring me so much joy! I grew up with an absolutely amazing Mama who taught me so much, and she inspires me every day to be like her.

These days, I really have to remind myself that this is what I want to do. Some mornings I lie in bed feeling extremely nauseous, just wishing it could go away. Some days I see Sam cook for me and himself, do dishes, and go out of his way to do anything to make me more comfortable, and while I am incredibly thankful for it, it is hard for me to watch him do the things I feel like I should be doing. Some days I am so exhausted I feel like I’m failing because I can barely keep our apartment clean and getting out to go anywhere is a feat.

But it will all be so worth it, I know. Whenever I feel like complaining I just have to stop and remind myself what it is all for! Sam and I are so excited for our child and we pray every day that we will be godly parents and lead him or her to the truth by our words and actions. We pray we can grow the Kingdom through our family. And if we can accomplish that with God’s help, it will be more than worth it. I cannot wait to be a Mama

I am living my dream.

Hello readers! We have fallen a bit behind on blogging, but hopefully we will be back in the swing of things soon. It doesn’t seem like we’ve been up to much lately, but here’s what has been going on in our life the past couple of weeks!

This is a picture of us before setting out to run some errands. We both wore our backpacks this time because we had a lot of grocery shopping to do. Now that we live in Craiova the grocery store isn’t just five minutes away from our house! The nearest small store is about 12 minutes away, but if we need more than just apples or cabbage we walk to a bigger store a 20-30 minute walk away. Carrying back the groceries for such a long walk is much easier in backpacks!

Yesterday we went running errands again and Sam brought his GoPro that he got for Christmas. We want to record little everyday things, like walking around town, so we won’t forget.

Every week we have been traveling back to Severin to visit Sam’s parents. We have been going on Monday morning and returning Tuesday afternoon after lunch. We have enjoyed these visits so much! It is always so nice to visit together and get to relax a bit. Usually Sam will go around to see people or run errands and Sam’s Mom and I get to study together. We haven’t gotten to visit yet this week due to various reasons, but we plan to make the trip tomorrow!

Every Sunday and Tuesday night we meet to worship here in our apartment. I bring in chairs from all around the house and get out songbooks, Bibles, and prepare the Lord’s supper (on Sundays). We pray, sing (usually in Romanian, but sometimes in English too, depending on our visitors), and either Sam will give a sermon or lead a Bible study. Lately we have been having 2-3 visitors each time we meet and we are extremely encouraged right now about the work here.

This is one of my favorite hymns in Romanian, “Suntem fraților pe cale.” It is the same tune as “O Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” which we actually sang at our wedding. The Romanian words translate a bit differently, but here is a very rough translation (hopefully you can understand the thoughts/ideas; it is quite hard to translate it word-for-word smoothly!):

We are, brothers, on the way

To the promised land.

God with his strong hand

He leads us as he said

 

Chorus:

Aleluia! Aleluia!

Let it resonate

Up to heaven to hear

That he rescued us.

 

Once we lived in sin,

But Jesus forgave us

And he showed us love

And forgave us all our sins

 

When we end this life,

God will receive us

He will then put us in the right

Where we will rest.

 

 

 

Sarmale is a quintessential Romanian food, made of a mixture of sausage, rice, and veggies wrapped in pickled cabbage. I have yet to try “real” traditional sarmale, but I make this casserole version of it almost every week.

On our recent trip home I made my family a somewhat traditional Romanian meal, including two different types of this sarmale casserole. I was asked for this recipe by a few people, so I decided to post it on here in case others are interested in trying it as well.

I originally got this recipe from Sam’s Mom, who got it from Allrecipes, but we have both improvised it quite a bit from the original recipe. I have gotten to where I make it a little differently every time based on what I have around, but I keep the base the same.

Sarmale Casserole

Base:

1 small-medium head of cabbage, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

2 cups veggie broth

1/2 cup dry brown rice

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper, to tast

Add-ins

1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained

-or-

1 small package tofu crumbled

-or-

1 small package chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

or any combination of the above!

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on high 4-6 hours, or until the cabbage is soft. Alternately, you could place all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven and bake in the oven or cook on the stovetop.

We like to eat this over mashed potatoes, and for the full Romanian meal for my family I also made mamaliga (a side dish similar to polenta) and salata de varza, which is a cabbage salad with a simple vinegar dressing. Romanians also like to eat this topped with sour cream.

If you try it please let me know how it turns out and what you think! Happy cooking!

 

 

We now live in Craiova!

We knew our contract for our current apartment ran out on November 3; so about two weeks before that deadline we began looking for apartments in Craiova. We did not know how quickly we would be able to find something, but thankfully we knew we could live with Sam’s parents again until we found a place.

One Wednesday night before our normal weekly trip to Craiova I looked at apartments online and made a detailed list of different places I thought would work, their addresses, price, and distance from the city center. But when Sam began calling the owners on Thursday morning every. single. one said the apartment was not available. I’m still not exactly sure what happened or why the apartments were still on the website, but maybe something was just lost in translation. After our study we got back on the website and began searching more, hoping to look at some places before we left since we only made the two hour trip to Craiova once a week typically. Sam found a listing that looked like it might work! The pictures looked nice and the description said it was very near the center, which is just what we were looking for! It was also in our price range, so we called the owner and we were able to make an appointment to go see it.

As we made our way there we were surprised at how long it took to get there, and it was not very near the center at all. The apartment was nicely furnished, just as we saw in the pictures, but it had a very heavy smoke smell in the whole apartment, especially in the bedroom. I was sorry to be picky, but I really did not think we would be able to get the smell out and make it work.

We still had a little over a week left though, so we made plans to try again the next Thursday.

However, on Monday Sam randomly decided to look at new listings on the website. I was in the kitchen cooking or cleaning and I heard him talking on the phone. He had found a new listing near the center, but there were no pictures. The agency working for the owner sent him a video of the interior and when Sam showed it to me I could not believe it. It was near the center, reasonably priced, and extremely nice! Sam called back the agency and told them we were interested, but there was already someone else who was scheduled to look at the apartment that afternoon. Sam told them that if he did not want it that we would be there the following day to see it.

The rest of that day and Tuesday morning was back and forth. The other man did not want it, then he did. Then the owner did not want to rent to him because he could not speak Romanian. Since we cannot speak very well either we did not think there was a chance of us getting to rent it. But Sam tried and sent an email to the owner, telling her our story of why we are in Romania, explaining our Romanian speaking abilities, and asking her to let us rent from her. The next morning the agency called saying the owner agreed to rent to us, before even having met us! We began packing right away and brought a load up to Craiova that afternoon.

We feel incredibly blessed for everything to have fallen in place so nicely and we are so thankful to God for answering prayers and helping us through it all!

Here is a tour of our new home!

This is the entryway/foyer when you first walk in the door.

This is our lovely kitchen! It is a little smaller than our last kitchen, but it is all really nice and I have enjoyed cooking in it so much so far.

This table can be extended to twice the length, so when we have guests we bring it into the living room and extend it, but when it is in the kitchen it is extra counter space while I’m cooking.

Here is our living room! Since we just moved here and we are just getting started we have been having worship services and Bible studies in our apartment. The spacious living room with lots of seating has been great for that and we are really thankful.

I also have my desk in the living room, which I have really enjoyed. If we ever need this table it can be easily cleared off and moved, but it is nice not having to clean up my books and papers for every meal.

This is Sam’s desk in our bedroom. He has also enjoyed having a real desk. So far this set-up has been working really well for both of our studies.

Here is our bed! We love our “Peters” pillow and tree painting with S+J on the tree.

So far we are settling in nicely in Craiova! Now that the apartment is all unpacked and cleaned it is nice to have a comfortable place to go while we are getting used to everything. We are still taking a trip once a week back to Severin to stay with Sam’s parents and meet with the brethren there. For the first two weeks we drove there on Saturday, spent the night and worshipped with the brethren in Severin Sunday morning, then come back to Craiova for our services at 5:00. Last week we traveled to Severin on Friday and Sam’s parent’s came back with us to spend the day in Craiova and return on the train.

Right now we are encouraged and excited to be here in Craiova and we pray our work here will be pleasing and glorifying to God!