Entry for February 19, 2007
It has been several days since we last posted an entry to the blog. Life has been busy and a little more time consuming. Last Saturday David and I traveled to a church in a community about 70 km/45 miles away. We had no van so we walked down to the main road to catch a maxi-taxi (just a big van that makes longer runs). That was one of the two options available to us. The other option, hitchhiking is not so bad either. Here, one simply reimburses the driver the amount the taxi would cost. It's one of the many unwritten rules of the culture.
After an hour of trying to find a ride we finally got a ride with an egg truck that was going to Vaslui, 50 km away. When we arrived in Vaslui we walked to the other side of town and stopped at a grocery. We then went back out into the snow and finished our hitchhiking trip the last 20 km and walked from the center of town to the church. All together our trip had taken 3 hours.
Our business at the church was to continue training on casting a vision and discovering some core values. There were twelve men present and they constituted 4 teams that hope to plant 12 churches this year. A major component of this session was to stress the idea that they should be vision driven and not allow outsiders to influence a God given vision for His work in their villages. This helps everyone involved in the church planting process and allows for better experiences down the road when a group proposes assistance or another opportunity arises.
Our trip home that evening was by the same means, but without the initial wait. We quickly caught a ride back to Vaslui with Dale Earnhart and then hopped on board a transfer truck with a tandem trailer. Sunday morning we left around 9:00 with Costel Lacatoosh, a Gypsy leader that I often refer to as the Al Sharpton of Iasi. His influence is broad, he carries a burden for the Gypsy, and he is known by everyone. Like the Reverend Al, he too is quite a character.
Our travels with Costel landed us in a village 50km on the opposite of Iasi than we were the day before. We exited the main road and traveled back along the ridges for 10km and then found ourselves in front pf a rather large church. Large means that it could accommodate 100 people, had a balcony, and so forth. It had been built some 45 years ago during communism for the Gypsy in the village. We arrived around 10:00 and found the people in prayer. At 10:15 we entered and were welcomed and it was determined that all of us would preach and that we would also observe the Lord's Supper. We finished about 12:30 with everything which also included Gypsy's singing "Have a Little Talk with Jesus." All of us challenged the people there, but Costel provided the most challenging remarks. He asked them, "Where is your fruit? You have been here in this village for 45 years and there is not a person here who is not a Gypsy. Where is your fruit?"
We returned to Iasi and ate with Costel at a place we did not know about, but had walked by many times. It was located in a room above the platform at the main train station. Costel used to work for the railroad and he had received coupons to eat there during communism. We had a great meal of traditional far that included a dish that can be described as a plate full of mashed potatoes smothered with pork and gravy. It was decadent. Costel went back to his house, we finished our coffee and walked around town and over to another church. An American from Atlanta, Howard Dial was conducting a seminar on peacemaking and all of our students were to be there. Actually the facility houses a church, school, college, medical, bookstore, and hosts chess clubs, etc. etc. We met with about 75 others and will finish the training by Wednesday. The training begins at 1:30 and lasts till about 7:30 each evening. We return home by walking and hitching rides wherever we can. We should have the van by this Thursday or Friday. The mechanic stopped by last evening and was picking up the block today. It was a complete rebuild for the diesel motor. One of the pistons had cracked and lifters were awful along with all of the other things you do on any rebuild.
Love from Romania - John & Lana
After an hour of trying to find a ride we finally got a ride with an egg truck that was going to Vaslui, 50 km away. When we arrived in Vaslui we walked to the other side of town and stopped at a grocery. We then went back out into the snow and finished our hitchhiking trip the last 20 km and walked from the center of town to the church. All together our trip had taken 3 hours.
Our business at the church was to continue training on casting a vision and discovering some core values. There were twelve men present and they constituted 4 teams that hope to plant 12 churches this year. A major component of this session was to stress the idea that they should be vision driven and not allow outsiders to influence a God given vision for His work in their villages. This helps everyone involved in the church planting process and allows for better experiences down the road when a group proposes assistance or another opportunity arises.
Our trip home that evening was by the same means, but without the initial wait. We quickly caught a ride back to Vaslui with Dale Earnhart and then hopped on board a transfer truck with a tandem trailer. Sunday morning we left around 9:00 with Costel Lacatoosh, a Gypsy leader that I often refer to as the Al Sharpton of Iasi. His influence is broad, he carries a burden for the Gypsy, and he is known by everyone. Like the Reverend Al, he too is quite a character.
Our travels with Costel landed us in a village 50km on the opposite of Iasi than we were the day before. We exited the main road and traveled back along the ridges for 10km and then found ourselves in front pf a rather large church. Large means that it could accommodate 100 people, had a balcony, and so forth. It had been built some 45 years ago during communism for the Gypsy in the village. We arrived around 10:00 and found the people in prayer. At 10:15 we entered and were welcomed and it was determined that all of us would preach and that we would also observe the Lord's Supper. We finished about 12:30 with everything which also included Gypsy's singing "Have a Little Talk with Jesus." All of us challenged the people there, but Costel provided the most challenging remarks. He asked them, "Where is your fruit? You have been here in this village for 45 years and there is not a person here who is not a Gypsy. Where is your fruit?"
We returned to Iasi and ate with Costel at a place we did not know about, but had walked by many times. It was located in a room above the platform at the main train station. Costel used to work for the railroad and he had received coupons to eat there during communism. We had a great meal of traditional far that included a dish that can be described as a plate full of mashed potatoes smothered with pork and gravy. It was decadent. Costel went back to his house, we finished our coffee and walked around town and over to another church. An American from Atlanta, Howard Dial was conducting a seminar on peacemaking and all of our students were to be there. Actually the facility houses a church, school, college, medical, bookstore, and hosts chess clubs, etc. etc. We met with about 75 others and will finish the training by Wednesday. The training begins at 1:30 and lasts till about 7:30 each evening. We return home by walking and hitching rides wherever we can. We should have the van by this Thursday or Friday. The mechanic stopped by last evening and was picking up the block today. It was a complete rebuild for the diesel motor. One of the pistons had cracked and lifters were awful along with all of the other things you do on any rebuild.
Love from Romania - John & Lana
2007-02-20 07:39:47 GMT
