We're Here!

Our Servant Team arrived safely and without any mishaps in Galati on Tuesday, 10 Feb. (We were even able to stand outside on English concrete for a while in London, watching the buses and taxis drive by the airport.)Josh and Robin, our Servant Team directors from Word Made Flesh, met us in the airport in Bucharest, where we spent the night at a really nice hostel. The four hour train ride to Galati went quickly on Wednesday. So far, Galati is similar to any other Eastern European city, although I know that the more I get to know this place the more unique it will become to me. I simply haven't discovered all of what makes Galati, Galati.

The Word Made Flesh staff have been very welcoming, and Josh and Robin continue to do a great job of introducing us to the Romanian culture, as well as the ministry at the Casa Vale. They have been very patient with all our questions, and already I can tell they want to encourage our spiritual as well as physical wellbeing. Casa Vale really is in the valley, and we take a bus and about a 10 minute walk to get there each day. I hope to post pictures as I figure this blog thing out. We played basketball and a version of dodge ball on Friday. I also bumped a "volleyball" around with a girl on Friday. We bonded a bit, so I hope to see her on Monday.

We went directly from the train to our host families. My host mom (I like to think of her as my Romanian grandma) knows no English, and I am way past limited on my Romanian as of yet, but we have been able to communicate...I think... This is her first time to host anyone, so it should be pretty interesting. Her daughter has come to visit a couple of times, and she knows a bit of English. Currently, our favorite activity (Dowmna. Dubija--my host gma and I) is to watch tv together. I get home, eat, and watch whatever she's watching for awhile. Think Romanian versions of telenovelas. Ha. Love it. She doesn't quite know what to feed me yet, so she's serving a ton for bfast and dinner. It's pretty endearing...and a bit funny. The first night I had 2 slices of chicken, pickled red bell pepper, bread and cheese. The next morning I had the bell peppers again, a sausage similar to hot dogs, bread and butter/apricot jam, coffee, and french fries. It was awesome.

This weekend the team has spent time together listening to each other's stories and expectations or goals that we have for the next 4 months. Though a bit of a vulnerable activity for our first week together, it is such a gift to be able to hear their stories. My teammates are Jordan and Angelique, Mary Margaret, Caitlin, and Laura. Hopefully through this blog you'll also get to meet them in a sense. They are cool. Pray for them too, please. :)

One question I find myself wrestling with at the begining of this time is "Is God enough?" It is as though His answer to my question of "what is my specific task or purpose in coming to this community? What gift do I bring?" is simply "Do you trust me? Is it enough to glorify me as I AM?"

Feel free to post questions...I'll answer them as I'm able!