Missionaries to Brasov, Romania

Life Update

2011-05-12T14:51:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, Jason and I returned to the States indefinitely at the end of February. We had a couple reasons for this move. The short term reason involved the coming of our daughter Jianna. The long term reason was that the Romanian government did not allow us to get to the application process for our visas. That means that we couldn't stay long term in Romania legally. We tried every legal way that we knew of to apply for our visas, but were simply shut down at every turn. Ultimately, we believe that God has a plan for this and that He will use this unexpected (for us) turn of events for His glory!

As for the short term reason that we returned to the States, our daughter, Jianna (pronounced Gee-`ah-na) Elizabeth, was born on April 23rd at 4:15 AM (approximately). She weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces and was about 19 inches long. She surprised us by not only not giving us time to get to the hospital, but also by coming early! So she was born at 33 weeks at home. She is healthy and I am healthy. All three of us are adjusting well to life as a little family. We are very grateful for God's hand of protection on little Jianna and on us as we traveled from Romania and as we delivered her at home.

Since we've been back in the States, Jason has been working at Oakwood in the areas of missions and young adults. Those are two areas of ministry that he is passionate about! I am enjoying seeing him grow and work with the ministries he is passionate about! I am staying at home with our little girl, and supporting Jason as much as I can.

That is a little of what is new with us. Soon, we will make a decision about whether or not we will keep this blog up or if we will change the theme to something more appropriate to where we are in life at this point. We will let you know.

God bless you all!
Jason and Suzanne Thurman

Wow!! Long time no write! :)

2011-01-07T04:44:00.000-05:00

Well, since it's been a month since I last posted something here, I thought you would like to know that we are still alive and well! :) The past few weeks have been busy with Christmas and New Year's Eve and re-arranging furniture in the apartment. Our landlady has a small cosmetology business and over the holidays she had to move the location. She wanted to hang on to some of her things, but she really didn't have anywhere to put them, so we are storing some of them here in the apartment.

Another thing that I (Suzanne) have been up to is developing a relationship with the woman who cleans the staircase and hall in our building. The family that rented this apartment before us was working on developing a relationship with her, and I got a chance to meet her one day. Ever since then, she has stopped by occasionally and we have had a chance to get to know each other better.

This past Monday we decided to check out a gym that has a couple of treadmills. Because Jason enjoys running so very much, we decided to find a place that we could both go and work out together. He has just found that it tends to be difficult to run on ice or on snow that acts a lot like sand. The sidewalks here eventually become a lot like a skating rink or frozen pond in winter. After a wet snow, people will walk on and pack the snow down. Then, when the sun warms things up just a bit, the snow melts and turns those places into an almost solid sheet of ice. If the snow was dry, when people walk on it, it just moves around, and doesn't pack down. Then, when Jason went to run, he had to put forth more effort than normal to go the same distance.

We also thought it would be a good idea to try to get to know some more people through using a gym. We have already had the opportunity to talk to the owner of this gym and get to know him a bit more. He and his wife built their home so that they could have a studio for martial arts. They then purchased a few machines that would help them stay in shape, personally, so that they could teach those classes. Well, things grew and they decided to open the gym for women's use. Then, many of the ladies that came wanted to bring their boyfriends and husbands, but they really didn't have a good selection of machines for the men. So, they expanded by purchasing even more machines and have opened the gym full time. They teach classes at night, in the studios and during the day and evening hours, the gym is open for public use, if you have a monthly membership or if you pay a fee to use it that one time.

Cristi and Cristina (the owners of this gym) have been very much influenced by the teaching of the martial arts. Cristi told us that he is officially Orthodox, but that he believes what he teaches in the martial arts and that he holds to those beliefs more closely than the ones of the Orthodox church. He is not opposed to other religions, since so many of them have some very good things going for them. He thinks (from what I can tell by the way that he talks) that all roads lead to heaven.

As far as our visas, we have yet to hear anything from the capital on whether or not they will give us the right to apply. So please continue to pray that God would guide us.

Thank you so very much for all of your prayers! We really appreciate them!

J & S

"Heater, what happened???"

2010-12-05T08:04:00.001-05:00

A few days ago, we were messing with the hot water heater. It is not the standard electric water heater in the States, it is more like a small wall unit... that's it in the picture above. It uses gas to heat water for what is needed, and then rests in between times. Sometimes, the water/air (I'm not sure which) pressure goes down, and then it doesn't have the power to push heat or hot water into the lines. A few days ago we had one of those times. The pressure dropped. We opened the valve to allow the pressure to go back up enough for the unit to turn back on and it did. But when we tried to close the valve off, we accidentally turned it the wrong way and the pressure shot through the roof (not literally, just on the little, teeny-tiny window next to the knobs in the oval area). It started blinking and just going haywire... We weren't certain what to do. There isn't another knob on the unit that is for allowing the pressure to release, so we waited and hoped that it would come down quickly on its own. Well, it didn't.

We didn't know exactly how it would affect the heat or the hot water. The hot water wasn't affected at all. We were able to wash dishes, etc. without the pressure going haywire on that little screen. But whenever the heat turned on, the pressure went through the roof and it would just freeze in a cycle of heating the water, but not being able to send that hot water anywhere. (It wouldn't actually add water to that, it would just get really hot.) So, we would turn it off and wait for about 20 minutes. Then, we would try it again. Same thing. Hmmm. What should we do now?

If we had an owner's manual for this unit, we would have tried to figure something out using that, but the owner's manual got lost somewhere along the way. We were stuck. So both of us dressed just a bit warmer and prayed that God would somehow give us an idea of what to do. (When I say that we dressed a bit warmer, I just mean instead of long sleeved shirts and pants, we added a sweater. It wasn't 30 or 40 degrees :) It was just about 60 or so.)

In the back bathroom, there is an odd little valve-looking thing. It looks like you could connect a small hose to it and it has a handle that turns. In all the time we lived here, I (Suzanne) had no clue what it was for!!! Then, Jason had an idea, what if that is the pressure release valve for this unit?? We thought about it some more and discussed it, and we decided to try releasing/opening that valve and seeing what happened. But, since it was in the back of the house, one of us needed to work with the valve, and the other needed to stay in the kitchen and watch the water heater! :) Jason opened the valve and for about 2 or 3 minutes, water and some air were released, but nothing happened on the pressure gauge. Then, all at once 5 bars were gone off of the pressure gauge!!

We turned on the heater and tried it. It worked!!! It heated up slowly, but it gradually got to the point where all of our wall-mounted units were putting out heat! Then, it automatically turned itself off!! No blinking gauge, no pressure through the roof!! God answered our prayers!

When you don't know what to do... When you don't understand a system... Ask God to help you, and He will do that!! Even with simple things that are just out of the realm of what you are most familiar with. God is so good!!!

All our stuff is in one place!!

2010-11-23T06:26:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

Most of you knew that when Jason finished school, we left part of our stuff at the University in storage there. It just didn't make sense to haul it all to America and then back to Romania, especially since it tended to be just extra things... things like extra clothing, lots of books (theological and other types, too) and pictures and decorating items. Well, we were able to get it delivered last Thursday! It was perfect timing! We had just bought a book shelf, and filled it up!! Then, I was able to place pictures of family and sayings around the house... For me, pictures, artwork, and special verses or sayings simply make a house a home. So, with this delivery we turned our wonderful apartment into a place that better reflects us! I am so thankful for the little things! It was just like Christmas!!

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all!
J & S

Experiencing culture!

2010-11-10T17:47:00.001-05:00

I know that one of the things that I continue to adjust to is the culture here in Romania. Today, for the very first time, I was introduced to one type of Romanian flea market! I was so excited to get the chance to go with an acquaintance and her friend to experience this first hand! I had heard several different accounts of flea markets like this one, but I had never had the guts, nor the opportunity, to delve into one and see what they were all about!

Romanian flea markets have a character all their own. The one that we went to today was specifically for clothing and anything made out of cloth or leather. That included clothes, sheets, shoes, bags, and anything else that was made out of these materials. My friends and I were specifically looking for some curtains that they are trying to get so that they can update a church in the area. We spent about 2 hours in the flea market!! There were different tables set up and each vendor had their wares displayed in the way that they felt was easiest and best for the number of items they had available. Most of the clothing was piled onto tables, with sheets or cardboard used to divide the types of items. Children's clothing was one price and was separated from the adult clothing with a sheet on one vendor's table. Sheets and curtains were placed in varying degrees of organization, according to the vendor and how much they had to offer. Shoes were similarly organized according to vendor.

When I walked in (part of the flea market was under an awning, part of it was outside in the beautiful, 70 degree weather!!), I was greeted with the smell of clothing, some sort of food and so many sounds and colors!! I heard things like, "Buy from this table! Everything's just 10 lei an item!!" (That 10 lei is the rough equivalent of $3.00!) Soon, I heard another person shouting louder, "Buy from my tables!! I'll give you a deal!! 3 items for 10 lei!! Discount on everything on my tables!!" Soon, if they weren't charging a price that was comparable, the vendor found their table completely overlooked in the rush to get the best deal of the day! There were people who had very old and obviously worn items for sale, but there were also gently used, or even overflow stock items for sale.

Today, I saw both sides of the Roma (also known as gypsy)/Romanian word battle. You see, this flea market was primarily run and stocked by Roma vendors. I only saw one Romanian-looking woman who was a vendor in the entire place. I saw the years of harsh treatment, the mistrust, the fear that is so commonly acted upon by both cultures written in the eyes and actions of both Roma and Romanians, alike.

The Roma were displaced from India, originally. They are a people who are proud of their heritage, because instead of dying out, like was originally intended, they have survived. They have been outcasts of society. They are considered no-good squatters, taking funds and other things belonging to Romanians. Now, as individuals, they can come across as being very hard, bitter, needy and leach-y (if that is even a word). But much of that is because they have had to fight and claw for every little thing that they may have. Some of it truly is gained by dishonest means. But some of what they do is a cultural norm for them. It is all they have known.

On the other hand, Romanians, from the time that they are little are taught that Roma are dirty, scum, "bad" people. One of the things I've noticed on a couple of occasions is that toddlers, who become interested in the bright colors that the Roma women often wear, are jerked away by their mothers or care-givers, with the idea that those women are dangerous. They are afraid that Roma will rob them blind, if they are even kind to them. This is an idea that is common, even in the church. Most Romanians have a hard time reaching out and being kind, simply because they are bound by fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of "what-if". Fear that someone will see them doing a kindness and tease them that they must be Roma, as well, since they are showing a Roma kindness.

I realized that I, myself, sometimes struggle with not acting the way that God would have me to act toward someone, simply because of fear. I was afraid, today, to talk to the two lovely Christian ladies I was with about what I had observed. Since, after all, they are both in ministry! They are both Romanians! They know the culture better than I could ever hope to learn it!! What will they think of me?? This outsider comes in to tell them that their whole culture needs to be revamped!?!?!? But sometimes, it takes an "outsider" coming in and lovingly pointing out our weaknesses to make us more like Christ. I'm going to try not to avoid the subject of what I see, but at the same time, I'm going to prayerfully consider and watch for an opportune time to bring up my observations in a loving and caring manner. Hopefully, they will see a sister in Christ pointing out, not so much where they have failed, but where they could be stronger and show another side of the Romanian culture who Christ is and what He is all about.

~Suzanne~

One little word is so VERY important!

2010-10-22T11:18:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone!

I (Suzanne) just had something interesting and funny happen to me this past week that I thought I would share with you. I've learned quite a bit of the terminology that is used in cooking here in Romania, but the other day was obviously one of those days that I didn't get this term!

So, Jason and I were out shopping for groceries, and we found a package that said "Wheat" on it. There was a word above that, but I didn't think anything about that... I figured it just had to be Wheat flour, since we hadn't seen any yet! I was so excited about the thought of being able to use it in recipes I wanted to cook up this week.

Well, I was wrong! Before I looked that o so important word up, I made a super moist and wonderful looking carrot cake... it had this odd taste, though, and I was wondering what was going on. I wasn't too concerned about it, though and went on to try to make whole wheat soft tacos... I put all the ingredients in, but the dough was mush and had NO elasticity! I followed the recipe to the tee, but it still came out a mess.

So, after supper, I went and looked up the other little word that was on the package of this wheat whatever-it-is... turns out, that it was wheat bran!!! No wonder it didn't have any elasticity and the cake had a funny taste to it! Well, I won't be using that "flour" again! LOL :)

So, the rest of last night's supper may not be edible, but I've learned an important lesson about assuming you know what a word should mean! :)

Learning more and more...
Suzanne

P.S. If you have any ideas on how much to use in standard recipes, or any good recipes to use it in, please let me know!!! I've never used wheat bran, other than yesterday!

New Road

2010-10-18T14:07:00.000-04:00

Well, the last time we shared, we were going to try to open a small business in order to be able to have a valid activity to obtain a paper from the Mayor's office here in Brasov. We didn't really have much peace about that option, though we went through the process. Jason and I were praying even while we were submitting the necessary documents for review by the proper officials. We prayed that if this was something that God didn't want us to do, that He would show us clearly what we should do to obtain visas.

That day, we called a friend of a friend (love how God works, don't you?) :-) who was rumored to have done this sort of thing for years and who could help us obtain visas... especially the paper from the Mayor's office. We talked with Roxana and even met up with her the next day. She truly has helped foreigners for the past nine years obtain visas for Romania!! She told us that we were two days past the date that the officials wanted the process to be started by! So she suggested we leave the country and re-enter to renew our passports for ninety days.

We talked with yet another person at the Immigration office and she told us that leaving the country and re-entering to renew our stamps isn't a valid way to stay in the country for long periods of time, (her words and accent). However, it is a valid way to stay since (here she lowered her voice) "you are working on getting visas." It was a confirmation from God!!!

So we did something crazy! LOL :) We moved on the last day of September, packed a back-pack, and took an overnight train nine hours across Romania to our old stomping grounds, Oradea (the place we lived while Jason was in school)! We dropped our bags in a room at the school, talked with several of his former professors, went the the boarder, spent 10 minutes in Hungary, returned to Oradea, arranged for some things to be delivered to us in Brasov, spent time with a couple of friends, and got on the night train from Oradea to Brasov!! (Sorry, that was a terrible run-on sentence) Needless to say we were exhausted! We arrived back in Brasov early on October 2nd, but we had bought ourselves another ninety days to work with! God was so very good!!

Since we have three more months, we worked on filling out the proper paperwork and getting it ready to turn in to the proper officials. Then, just today, we started the process with the Mayor's office! Because Roxana was with us, we walked right into the Mayor's office, to the correct desk, she explained why we were there. They entered our info into the computer and we walked out with a confirmation number/file number! That was the easiest 10-15 minutes (including wait!) that we've had in this process so far!! Praise the Lord!! I believe that this time we will be able to obtain the proper documents and that we'll also be able to apply for and obtain visas!

Now, since I've said all that, you might be thinking that all the other things that we did were in vain. They weren't! We just didn't know the right person for working with the Mayor's office, yet! We needed the majority of the paperwork that we had done before we came back to Brasov, plus a few documents we had obtained since we arrived! We also now know that working with a bureaucracy takes patience and understanding of the system! :) As someone so aptly said, "Why try to re-invent the wheel!" :) So we are now trying to work with the wheel. :)

As we go through this process, please continue to be in prayer with us for each step. Please pray that the Mayor's office will accept our documents. We should know within two days what their response is.

May God richly bless you! Have a great day!
Jason and Suzanne

We're testing the waters

2010-09-19T05:35:00.001-04:00

Hey all!

This week we spent Wednesday with our lawyer getting as much of the paperwork for a small business done as possible. It was a pretty intense time of running around, making sure we got all the documents that we needed. We are actually having to wait on one document until Monday afternoon. Then, possibly Tuesday, we'll be able to attempt to open our small business, which will be a way for us to translate and print (maybe through a printing company) books.

We need your prayers, though, because if/when we get the visas we're applying for under GeoSper International, our small business, then we would have to have some sort of income coming in to keep our visas. In other words, if the business doesn't fly, isn't successful, then we could possibly lose our visas. Especially if the Immigration Office checks up and sees that it's not making money. We're not quite sure what to expect here.

Anyway, that is what we've been up to this week. We would like to ask you all to join with us in praying for wisdom on what we ought to do. We have 31 more days as of today before our time is up for us to stay on our Passports. Then, as long as we apply by day 87 (total, we're allowed to legally stay 90 days without a lengthened Passport visa), we could apply for an extension to lengthen our stay another 45 days. If we apply for an extension, though, they are not required to give it to us. But since we are starting up this small business, it is likely that they will both except our application to extend our passport visas and probably even give us longer-term visas.

All that to explain a bit about where we are in the process and ask you all to keep us in your prayers. We know that God has the best plans for us... whether or not we understand them. We also believe that it's part of His plan that we are here.
   To break it down, please pray for:
   1. God to give us wisdom.
   2. God to help us know what we need to do to apply for our visas.
   3. God to help us find a music minister.
   4. Wisdom, guidance and... wisdom :)

Thank you all so much for continuing to pray with us about these things! When you pray with us, you are taking an active part in our ministry! We know a God who works and is active in all our situations! May He get the glory!!!

J & S

Trams in Oradea.... AKA how we traveled

2010-09-05T10:52:00.000-04:00

Newest info

2010-08-31T03:31:00.000-04:00

What a day this has been! Remember our post where we asked for prayer and wisdom for today? Well, God answered! Not in the way that we were hoping, but He did answer. We had our lawyer come and help us, since he is more up-to-date on what the law says and how it should and should not be interpreted. We're so glad that he was with us!

We went to the Immigration Office, and they basically gave us the run-around about applying for our visas... Our lawyer pressed and asked intelligent questions and was prepared for most anything, but his efforts were definitely thwarted by the officer we spoke with today concerning our visas. He even went so far as to explain how he'd spoken with another immigration office about this same matter and that they had told him something completely different. The officer we spoke with today said he could care less what we had been told elsewhere, but this was the law and this was the way it was going to be. Here, many times unless you're willing to back a character similar to him into a corner (like with a lawsuit), it's better to try not to be too antagonistic. Press your point, but also know when to leave the situation.

So... we left, went to the car, and discussed the situation. Calin, our lawyer, gave us several other valid options to try to obtain the visa we need, in order to be able to stay legally in the country. We came home, he printed a couple documents, we signed away our lives (just kidding), and returned with those documents in hand to the immigration office. Man, that officer was not happy to see us returning! He took our documents and requests and they were noted as being placed. He then gave us a copy of the reference number and that was that. He said we should hear back within a month whether or not they approved this request so that we can apply for a visa.

In the mean time, we are working on the other variations that Calin proposed. We would rather have too many options to choose from for a visa, than have to return to the States. So, while the officer we spoke with today may or may not approve our petition, this is all in God's very capable hands. Our God knows when we need to receive the all-clear that we are allowed to stay in the country legally longer than 90 days. We are so thankful that God doesn't wait until it's too late to show up and let all the world know that He is in control! I personally would have preferred to have this already settled, but God doesn't work in my timing; He works in His, alone! And it is truly the best timing!

Is this situation complicated, or what?! :) Please continue to pray that God would give us wisdom as we continue to move forward in this process.

We'll keep you posted.
J & S

To date...

2010-08-27T03:43:00.001-04:00

We have been here a little over a month now, and we're grateful that God has helped us to get settled in! We are also thankful for the opportunities that He has given us to meet new people! Even though things are going kind of slow right now, we knew that it would be this way and we believe that God has an amazing plan for this brand-new church we're in the process of starting! We are grateful for everyone's prayers! One of the things that we would really appreciate your prayers on is that God would give us ideas on how to develop social activities that provide opportunities to get to know more people. Thank you for your commitment to pray with us as we continue to move forward on this "Journey: Loving God. Loving People. Making a Difference in Romania"!

J & S

Plans for this week

2010-08-24T15:04:00.000-04:00

This week, we are planning on getting together all the little things so that we have all the paperwork in hand to go apply for our visas. We are going to go apply on Monday. Please be praying that everything goes smoothly and that we aren't sent hither and yon to finish this process.

Thanks.
J & S

A project that is useful!

2010-08-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

What I've been working on. A mini curtain with rosettes. I'm still working on the second one.
Can you see our neighbor's roof and window? That's why we need curtains in the bathroom :)

What I used: a 100% cotton pillow case and twine (to hang it up with).

What it looks like without the sun shining through.

Posted by Suzanne

Pictures of our house for the next month and a half

2010-08-14T17:51:00.001-04:00

We would like to give you a tour of our home. Sit back and enjoy! :D Please note that the floor plan is not to scale, at least not accurately... it's guess-timated. :)

Floor Plan

Our kitchen

Dining room, just inside the front door.

Living room. No couch, but with just two of us, it's not a problem! :D

On Adjusting to the New Normal...

2010-08-10T12:42:00.001-04:00

Jason and I were talking tonight, and we realized how interesting it is, sometimes to go through the process of re-adjusting to normal, whether it is coming from the States or going to the States. Sometimes, it seems as though you just don't fit in, no matter where you are... yet you tend to feel more at home in one area than the other. For me, I love being where I grew up, but it just isn't home, anymore. I was reading the blog of one of the World Racers that I mentioned in the last post, and she was talking about how she heard herself start calling wherever she put her back-pack down "home". Sometimes, that's the way I feel. If God is there, and Jason is there, I can call just about anywhere "home". I've heard myself calling hotels "home," before... It's just a matter of perspective.

When God called me to Romania, I never realized some of the finer aspects of not having a stabilized "home" area... that place where you don't have to think about where you are, you just live life and hope that God is doing something where you're at. We have, in a sense, two places where that is the situation. We hope and pray that God will choose to do something through our time in the States... then, we hope and pray God will use us here, in Romania, as well. We don't have the same sense of vision for each place, even though we know that each place has its purpose and God works things out, no matter where we're at. Our vision is very much impacted by our sense that God has called us to a specific place, for a specific purpose and with a specific plan in mind.

Is it hard, you might ask, to adjust to each sense of "normal"? Well, in a sense, yes... It takes time... and that is one of the last things that I want to allow myself to have. I want to adjust to each place as quickly as I arrive, but that is not what happens. In fact, the time difference and dietary changes are two of the easiest parts to adjust to... those take about a week, maybe two, if we work very hard on eating and sleeping at the same time every day. The things like how I get used to the accent, speaking the language, remembering cultural differences... those take longer to re-acclimate to. But, on the other hand, those are some of the times that I think the most about the differences, and how they affect our lives.

It is good, I think, to take the time, every once in a while, to reflect on these things, so that God has a chance to stretch and grow me. I am learning how to re-adjust more and more quickly. This time back, it only took me about 2 weeks to realize that I was still adjusting, while in the past it has taken me months to realize that. May He continue to work and help me realize what I need to do to grow in Him.

S

Fun Times!

2010-08-03T04:18:00.000-04:00

We had the opportunity to meet up with some Americans on their way around the world! They are world racers and you can find out some more about them and what they are doing at these two links: Team GLOW and Team Shofar 1:5. You talk about a fun group of guys and girls! They are travelling around the world in 11 months, spending about a month in each country they are sent to! They are passionate about God, about missions, about learning more about other people and helping in any way that they can. They are not afraid to serve and to be light! It ended up that they got to stay here with us! It was more economical for them to do that than to try to figure out another place to stay. That meant that we had 12 wonderful people here in our 1 bedroom apt. with us! You talk about getting to know a close knit group! That's the way to do it! We had so much fun and learned a lot about Brasov and what's nearby, in the process! These guys are just starting their third month on this journey of a life-time! Please pray for them as they continue on to Ireland, Africa, Asia and South America, eventually. I think they would be really encouraged to see notes from the U.S., if you wanted to leave an encouraging note on their blog pages. And Jeremiah Reynolds is a part of one of those teams! You can keep up to date with where he is and what he does on his blog at the link.

Check out this video by Brandon Heath!

2010-08-01T13:13:00.000-04:00

We were able to watch this video and it is awesome! Listen to the words.

Let us know what you think about it in the comments section! :D

Settling In

2010-07-26T08:16:00.004-04:00

Well, we are acclimating to the new environment we are in. The time difference isn't as big a deal as I (Suzanne) thought it would be. I'm working more on acclimating to the food, bed and altitude more than anything else, right now. We are still trying to figure out a way to go grocery shopping here close by, without paying more than we want to for our groceries. We are learning, though, about this part of Brasov, and that is a very good thing.

We are living just down the ridge from the major university here in Brasov. Many times, in the morning and evening, we can here the bells from the university and from the local Orthodox Cathedrals. If you type in these two numbers (45.65449,25.594017)at maps.google.com, you will be able to see the general area where we are living. Houses, the university and such will be visible, if you click on the satelite images up in the right hand corner of the map.

Our new short-term landlords are about our age. They are a young couple. Their names are Mihai (pronounced: mee' hi) and Luminita (pronounced: loo' mee nee tsa). We have had several opportunities already to talk to them. We don't believe they know Christ. Please pray for us and for them, that God will work, in His way and His time, in their hearts.

In Him,
J & S

Moved in!

2010-07-23T07:56:00.004-04:00

When we arrived on Tuesday, the house that we wanted to rent wasn't quite ready for us to move in. We were able to stay with our former landlords until last night. It was nice to not have to think about food for a couple of days after we moved in.

Late last night, we were able to move all our suitcases into the house that we will be using for the next couple months! We even slept here last night! We are so excited to be able to have a place of our own to rest and start life again here in Romania. Jason went to the store this morning and purchased some food and basic groceries that we needed. Our current landlord took him to the store (a supermarket) this morning.

Now, we are going to head out and get some more things... such as a kitchen hand towel, forks and knives, etc. Then, we plan on organizing our clothing so that the things that we need are in the wardrobe (no closets here, just wardrobes... think Narnia) We would also like to get a couple curtains and such for key windows.

Well, we need to go so that we can be back before long.

By His strength,

J & S

We've Arrived!

2010-07-21T09:32:00.004-04:00

We have finally arrived in Brasov! We arrived last night about 8:30 PM local time (1:30 PM GA time). We don't have internet at the house, but we should have internet in about 2 months. We don't know how often we'll be able to be online, but we'll continue to update everyone as often as we can on what we're doing and how everything is going.

Praise the Lord! We're here!

We're heading back!

2010-07-07T15:21:00.001-04:00

Yes! We are heading back to Brasov on the 19th of July! We are so excited! Once we get settled and get internet access, we'll get online here and update everyone on where we are, what we're doing, etc.

Talk to you all then!
J&S

Update

2010-06-14T16:07:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, we're in the process of trying to return to Braşov, România. We have been State-side, now for over a year. During this time, God has taught us a lot about waiting patiently for His perfect timing. We have seen different things happen in our families', friends' and our own lives that have convinced us that we are supposed to be here for this time. We don't know exactly what all the lessons are that God wants to show us, but we do know that He will help us to understand more and more as we grow in Him.
Some of the things that we have seen God working through during our time here are a neice born and a parent's graduation. We know that all things work together for our good, because our good God can work no other way. God wants to do great things in and through us, even when we don't understand what they are or where He wants us to end up!
We are so excited about what He has in store for us here and over in Romania. We haven't given up on going back. He is just still working on helping us prepare for that time! We believe that God is going to help us go back soon. How soon? We don't know yet, but God does! We can hardly wait to see what He has planned!
Learning through Him,
J & S

Update

2010-04-05T14:57:00.002-04:00

For the past few months, we have been State-side, due to visa complications. We are working on going back to Brasov soon. We have a Romanian working on getting things set up for us there and he is about 90% done with his work. Hopefully we'll be in Brasov by summer. Can't wait to get "home"!

Realization!

2009-04-18T10:32:00.004-04:00

I just realized that I didn't let you all know where I found these fun recipes... now, most of my sites are in Romanian... if you can understand it, great! If not, I'm sorry! I didn't know where else to look for recipes! :D

So here's the list:
Pollo Italiano - gustos.ro
Gulash - retete-mancare.ro
Meat Roll - gustos.ro
Chocolaty cracker roll, thingy - eculinar.ro
Stuffed Peppers - eculinar.ro

That is just so that no one thinks that I stole their recipes ;)

Again, enjoy these dishes! :D

The tastiest recipe yet!

2009-04-16T13:10:00.002-04:00

This recipe actually originated in Italy, but is made by Romanians, as well! It is soooo easy! It looks like you spent hours slaving, when, in less than 1 hour (first time ever trying it) it was ready to put in the oven! Awesome recipe!

It is called, "Pollo Italiano" (Italian chicken, I think is the way it translates)

You will need-
Chicken:
2 lbs. Chicken breast (de-boned and no skin)
1-1 1/2 c. mushrooms
1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. soy sauce
pepper and any other spices you want to use (I used oregano, dill and parsley), all to taste
1 c. water

1. Cut the chicken in 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices, horizontally, across the largest part of the breast. You almost want to filet the chicken.
2. Put it in a container to marinate it in the soy sauce while you are preparing the filling.
3. Chop up the mushrooms.
4. Add the cheese and spices and mix well.
5. Spread out foil, and place the chicken pieces on it, one right after the other. This will look like you have one super long piece of chicken. (You might need to use two foot-long sections of foil... that's OK. It makes it easier to handle)
6. Spread the filling evenly down the center of the pieces of chicken.
7. Fold the edges of the chicken up over the filling.
8. Pull the edges of the foil up and fold them together over the chicken, snugly (you don't want the chicken flopping around, but neither do you want to break the foil).
9. Put the rolls of foil-wrapped chicken in a 9x13 pan.
10. Add about 1 cup of water to the pan.
11. Bake at about 350*F for 30 minutes.
12. Serve hot, with sauce (if you like it) spread over it.

Sauce:
1/4-1/2 c. sourcream
1/4-1/2 c. mayonaise
2 pieces of garlic, crushed
salt and pepper, to taste

1. mix everything together well.
2. When the chicken is ready, spread some over each piece of chicken.

This goes great with:
potatoes-mashed, boiled, baked, etc.
salad
corn, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, cooked spinach, etc!

Try it! And Pofta Buna! :D