Romania in the Rain (and in the sun!)

Wednesday evening we arrived back from our retreat. We had a great time in Romania, once we all got there. There was a bit of difficulty initially due to new visa laws that require Moldovans to have an invitation in order to enter Romania. Some of the Moldovan team members had left Thursday evening on the bus, only to be turned back at the border. They arrived back at the OM base early early in the morning, not knowing if or how they would be able to get to the retreat. Fortunately, OM Romania were able to quickly put together an invitation and fax it to us to take to the border. So the bus travellers tried again (this time successfully) and those of us going in cars also headed out. Because of the various adjustments we made, we didn’t need to take my car, so I was able to sit and enjoy the journey through beautiful Romania
The OM base in Romania was located in a quaint, lovely small town, Ghimbav, near Brasov, right in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains.
As well as Bible teaching (led by our team leader and myself alternately), prayer and worship, and fun times together, we also had some outings to the nearby mountains – rain or shine. The children had fun in the stream at one mountain spot we went. A local guy was catching crayfish to cook up. The children held crayfish, grasshoppers, frogs, and who knows what else that day?
The day we went for a picnic up in the mountains it started raining just as we finished eating. People still had fun while we waited for baby David to have his lunch before we left. This OM team really is a big family, with adults and children and aunts and uncles and even this soon-to-be grandma!
The trip back went smoothly on a lovely clear day driving through the beautiful roads of Romania. We saw many people working in the fields, often hoeing by hand, or ploughing with a horse; and people riding along in their horse-drawn carts. In Romania, and in Moldova, people often stake their animals – cows, horses, even goats - by the side of the road. The one very noticeable thing about Romania was how smooth and well-kept most of the roads are. When we crossed the border to Moldova yesterday, one of the first confirmations that we were really home again, was that the roads were awful once more. Praise God!