The team is on their flight back to LA from Munich.

The Team is Returning Home

The team is eating breakfast before hopping on our vans for the ride to the airport to return home.  Below is their itinerary, please call or check online for any arrival changes.  Also, I'm sure it goes without saying but please be early to greet your child at the airport.  I've seen it happen and it's a sad image to see one student standing alone watching all the other team members being hugged and greeted by family.  Thank you!!  I'll post a quick blog when the team is on their Munich flight.

Lufthansa flight 0452 arrives in LA at 7:05 pm coming from Munich

Zoltan, one of our drivers & translators also shared that watching our students care for each other and interact has renewed his faith in this generation of high school students. Those are great testaments to the caliber of your child! Thank you!! We are now on the road again going to our final dinner celebration. My final text will be tomorrow when the team is safely on the plane for Munich and then again when they're on the final flight to LA.

The last full day in Romania and the best part of the entire trip happened a few minutes ago in the hotel lobby. Yes, we did tour the Parliament building and it was incredible. However, none can compare to our final team debrief. Everyone shared their 'elevator story' (ask your kids what that is) and then shared how the trip affected them personally and what they'll take back home. It was an honest and heartfelt time of sharing and reflection. This is always my favorite part of any trip, to hear how hearts have been moved and changed. Please ask your child about what they shared during our final group debrief. It was inspiring and encouraging. Debbie shared that they don't normally host teams of high school students & she admitted she wasn't really too excited about our team. The hard work, great attitudes and general behavior has renewed her faith in high school teams!

Day one of touring is over and we're driving to Bucharest for McDonald's and our hotel. We left camp early and made the beautiful drive to Dracula's Castle in Transilvania. The impression was that it wasn't as creepy as assumed. It was exciting to be there but lacking in the torture chambers and other Draculaesque stereotypes, but definitely a once in a lifetime visit and well worth it. Next up was King Michael's Palace, said to be one of the most beautiful and ornate castles. We were not disappointed! Gilded statutes, stained glass windows, crystal chandeliers, a sword and armor room, marble busts, and more than mere word or picture descriptions can do proper justice. And now we are back on the road for about a two hour drive to Bucharest, but it's like LA, the drive time will depend upon traffic! We are a tired yet extremely content group and sad to be close to leaving Romania.

But, everyone returned laughing and with a memory not soon forgotten!! Thanks, Julian! After lunch we stopped to visit a Bible Club host home and distributed Easter treats. Oh, and that's where Julian tossed a chicken and milked a cow, just another day in Romania with Heart of Hope's site director. After that stop, we drove to a placement center for special needs children, often the most forgotten and neglected of all Romanian's children. We distributed Easter treats and then the children were very excited to show us their rooms. It was a beautiful sight to see our students lead by the hand by one or more of the children, anxious to entertain their new found friends. And now we're at the end of a long drive to dinner, after which we'll return to camp and pack for tomorrow's departure for Bucharest and sight seeing. Tomorrow's post will probably around this same time. Thanks!

Our second stop was Cincsor, extremely poor cement government housing and the highlight was a soccer ball Pete brought over. Well, the actual highlight was watching Pete shoot goals on their goalie! Just before he made a shot, Julian gave him a surprise attack by throwing a rock at the ball just as Pete was about to kick.....flashes of the old Charlie Brown football incident flashed through my mind and I wondered if we'd be able to pick Pete up off his back! The deflection was a success but Pete kept his balance, thankfully. Our final distribution site was Sebes and that held the memory of the trip. As we prepared the line for distribution, a man rode up on his horse drawn carriage-great photo op, right? Little did we know, Julian worked it out for the student to cram into his cart and go for a little ride after we finished. The 'little' ride turned a bit longer than anyone expected.

Today has been packed full with activities! We began the morning with three different village food distributions. Such an amazing opportunity to bless these families with simple necessities we take for granted, bread, flour, oil, pasta, socks, other items. The team was upbeat, gave a smile and valuable eye contact to each person who went through the line. We did our best to greet them with 'Peace' or 'Happy Easter' in Romanian. Many faces lit up with gratitude as our students greeted them in their native language. Each village held a unique memory, at Ucea, the first stop, we were able to take polaroid pictures of all the children & teenagers for their parents. We are so used to having photos growing up but in these poor villages, cameras and photos are non-existent luxuries for them. To see the faces of those parents light up as they held perhaps the only photo they have of their child, priceless!

A Job Well Done

Greetings,

I apologize for the late post today, we were so busy trying to finish the cabins, I ran out of time until after dinner.  After three days of much work, all 12 cabins are done and ready for the children to arrive in about two months for camp.  Whew!!  After that first day, many of us wondered if it was possible to finish everything by today, but the team worked hard and we finished! Today was a full day of work in the morning, lunch break then back to work.  Our work is much appreciated for many reasons but especially because the work of 16 over three days would have been done by three men over many weeks.  I believe everyone feels a well deserved sense of accomplishment.  The special BBQ by our very own, Julian, was earned and much appreciated by all.  Not to mention it was incredible food and I'm pretty sure everyone filled their bellies to overflow simply because you didn't want to stop.  As I type, Julian is building a bonfire for our team to enjoy because it is our last 'normal' night at the camp.  Tomorrow is food distribution so we won't return until late.  More on that after tomorrow.

A brief side note about our last three days of working, I'm trying to decide if my favorite memory is of Scotty saying, "I like to sing when I work for God", as he sings Christmas carols (loudly) with Pete Ackermann's name substituted randomly throughout; or Julian (camp director) setting off firecrackers outside the windows while we worked.  Even as I type I'm smiling to myself, but still uncertain of which is my favorite.

Oh, I bet you're wondering about dinner with the king last night.  Well, it wasn't quite what we expected, the king didn't actually show up and it wasn't at his house.  Dinner was at his son's house and his sister was our hostess.  After entering the beautifully crafted (including heated tile in the main room) home, we watched a special documentary on the history of the Roma/Gypsy culture that was written and produced by Luminita, the king's sister and our hostess.  It began with the folklore beginnings of the Roma people, very similar to Native American tales of human beginnings.  The main focus of the documentary was to present the truth of the culture, debunk the myths, encourage understanding and acceptance of their people, and serve as a piece of 'written' history.  Our eyes were opened to a whole new understanding of who they are and what they hope for the future.  The royal Roma family are solid Christian believers and hope to spread the joy of Christ through their people.  When asked, Luminita said about 70% are Orthodox and 30% are Christian.  On a little side note, I purchased a copy of the documentary so if you'd like to borrow it, I'm happy to lend it out.

After the documentary, Luminita answered our questions about Roma/Gypsy culture and shared one of her original poems, it was beautiful.  Following Q&A time, we ate from a wonderful table of traditional Romanian food.  Pictures were taken and we were back on the road headed for home/camp. 

During dinner tonight, many realized it was our final dinner at Camp of the Good Shepherd and that the time has been flying by......nobody is ready to leave.  In fact, it was suggested we all simply stay - don't worry, we won't but it's definitely tempting.  Well, the team is out enjoying the bonfire so I think I'll head out to join them.  Thank you again for all your continued prayers and support.  The team is still healthy and in great spirits so keep up the prayers!

Blessings,
Susi

When he asked around the village why the children didn't show up, he discovered the local priest threatened the children with punishment if they attended his bible studies. The priest was also the school bible teacher so the children were afraid of retribution with school work and grades. Eventually 12 students began attending regularly, two of the girls became believers and there was a moment of decision when the priest arrived at bible study demanding children to leave with him. Marcel said about half of the children stood up to the priest and stayed in bible study with him. Soon after, he had about 30-40 (sometimes 50) consistent children in that village. Pretty amazing story of courage in the heart of those children. I'll let you know about dinner with the king in tomorrow's post.

Sorry, these are a bit out of order but I forget that when I hit return, it sends rather than created another paragraph. Anyway, back to Romania. Last night after dinner, we met a friend of Debbie's with an interesting story of his life as an atheist communist, turned Christian Bible teacher. He shared how during communism, people had to stand in line for 3-4 days for meat. He had a wonderful testimony and it was fabulous for all of us to hear a first hand account of life under communism. Today, we finished painting our cabins and the first round of children came for dental work so it was fun to spend time with them and do craft time. At lunch we had another guest speaker, Marcel, who shared about the village Bible studies he has been doing for several years. His story is one of faithful service to the Lord. In one village, he showed every week for over a year even though no children ever attended.

As I type, the team is shopping in the city center of Sibiu and it's a nice rainy day. After shopping we have our dinner with the king, no biggie. The group likes to joke that we are having a casual dinner with the king, just a normal day here in Romania. But seriously, it is an honor to be invited to his home and it will be fascinating to learn more about the gypsy culture.

First Day of Work

Good Afternoon, well I guess it's actually 4:30am for you but we have just finished our amazing lunch and are back to work at Camp of the Good Shepherd.  It's been a good day of work on the cabins this morning and our hope is to finish all of them before the day is over.  We began the day with a hearty breakfast, a short team devotional at a little gazebo right next the beautiful stream that runs through camp, then it was off to work.  So far, we've sanded cabin doors, removed mattresses, swept, varnished the doors, checked for bed bugs, sanitized mattresses, and the team is now cleaning one last time before we begin painting inside each cabin.  Tonight will be a well earned and heavy sleep for everyone!  Debbie has arranged for a special guest speaker to join us for dinner.  I belive it is a gentleman who will speak of his experience in the Romanian Revolution so it will be quite interesting.  Debbie and Julian have done an amazing job of coordinating special guest speakers each day to interact with our team.  Can't wait to hear their stories and share them with you all here.

Already, I've been impressed with this team's positive attitude, great work ethic and overall approach to this experience.  It's been a blessing to watch them fully immerse themselves in this experience.  Even with the lost luggage issue, the attitudes are fantastic and everyone is adapting, sharing and enjoying it all.  The girls ended up squeezing into one room last night and laughing for hours before it was time for bed, a spontaneous girl time.  I loved it!  As a whole, the team is working extremely well together and it's made it really easy on the chaperones.  Thank you for having fantastic kids!

Speaking of fantastic kids, I better go pull my weight and get back out there to help finish the cabins.  I'll post again at about the same time tomorrow.  Oh, one last bit of good news, Julian and Scott are on their way to the airport now to pick up everyone's delayed luggage.  You should have seen us all jump out of our seats when Julian mentioned delayed luggage - I think the excitement was better than Christmas morning, age 5.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.  The team remains healthy and joyful. 

We'll deliver the gift bags to the homes then head back home to camp for dinner and hang out time. I don't have service up at the camp so my next post will be tomorrow if we go down toward town or later in the day from the computer at the camp. PS-nobody was sold to the gypsies! :-)

The royal princesses sad in front of us and they were all beautifully dressed in silks, jewels, and scarves covering their heads. Later in the service, the entire royal family sang four worship songs together and it was a beautiful scene of family praise. A woman had accepted the Lord earlier in the week and went forward for a prayer and blessing. Two babies and a toddler were dedicated, more prayer and worship and service ended around 1:20pm. Some women in the church baked us amazing pastries for our lunch and we were off to one of the transitional homes run by Heart of Hope for lunch. And lunch was well worth the wait! Traditionally, lunch is the largest meal so we dined on yummy soup, then grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and cabbage. The satisfied team is now getting our supplies ready to pack up Easter gift bags to deliver to the other transitional homes.

Roma Church with the royal family was a cultural experience, to say the least! Church was scheduled to begin at 10am and end at 12noon. Silly Americans, church in Romania doesn't do "schedule". Even a few of the men in the congregation started to get ansy at about 10:30 am, "Let's start". We realized something was starting when everyone began standing, it was the king walking up the isle to the front, and it was 10:40am, church has now begun. It was amazing, over an hour was dedicated to worship, corporate prayer, reading of scripture, and a brief introduction of our team.

We're in Romania!!!!!! Everyone is healthy, slightly tired but mostly excited to be in Sibiu and off the plane. Our first little lesson in flexibility met us at the airport in the form of some missing luggage. Nothing critical and only a few of us but all the team members are here safe and sound so a little luggage is no big deal! We're off to dinner then settle into camp after we fill out all of our paperwork. My next post will be after Easter Service tomorrow morning. :)

On our final flight to Sibiu!!!! I'll post when we arrive in Sibiu.

We had a flawless transition in Chicago, our departure gate was just two gates away from our arrival gate. Doesn't get much easier than that! After a quick bite to eat, we are safely sitting on the first of two Lufthansa flights. This one will be a nice little 8 hour flight so there will be naps, movies, cards, and probably a tad bit of boredom. :) I'll post again on our final flight to Sibiu!

Good Afternoon! The Team is sitting safely on the United flight to Chicago! I'll update again when we're on the Lufthansa flight out of Chicago headed for Munich.

At the airport and all checked in! The team is waiting in the line for security and hopefully there is a picture attached of the team just after check-in! I will post a brief update after we're all safely on flight number one of three for today's travel adventures. Thank you parents for sending us off and Mr. Speakes for praying a blessing over us at the ticket counter. Here we go!!

Hello, this is a test to make sure I can text a post to the Romania blog

Thank You!

Many thanks to all of you checking in on our blog and following our journey in Romania from April 2 - 11, 2010.  Please check back often, we will update daily with mini reports of how our lives are being changed while serving in Romania.  Your prayers and support are treasured so, thank you!!  Below is a list of our team, if you think about it, prayer for specific team members would be greatly appreciated. 

Pete Ackermann (chaperone), Leah Bleichner, Traci Brueckner, Tara Coble, Sarah Czerwinski, Katherine Griffith, Scotty Hopkins, Sam McKittrick, Hannah Packham, Scott Packham (parent & dental ministry Dr.), Sydney Packham, Sydney Papenhausen, Stephanie Pugh, Kimberly Sanchez, Kylie Sreden, Kevin Sutman, Susi Thompson (chaperone), and Erin Triplett

If you'd like to follow our itinerary:

April 2    Leave LAX - 1:11 pm - United Flight UA116

              Arrive Chicago - 7:08 pm

              Leave Chigaco - 8:50 pm - Lufthansa Flight LH435

April 3    Arrive Munich - 12:25 pm

              Leave Munich - 2:20 pm - Lufthansa Flight LH3466

              Arrive Sibiu - 5:00 pm

              Travel about 45 minutes by bus to Camp of the Good Shepherd and settle in

April 4    Easter Sunday! Attend church, visit HHMI's Transition Home for young girls and distribute food to HHMI Village Bible Club

April 5    Serve at Camp of the Good Shepherd, help prepare camp grounds and assist with dental ministry

April 6    Serve at Camp of the Good Shepherd, help prepare camp grounds and assist with dental ministry

April 7    Serve at Camp of the Good Shepherd, help prepare camp grounds and assist with dental ministry

               *While serving at the camp, we have special visits planned by Christian Romanians sharing their personal testimonies of living under communism

April 8    Village Bible Club Ministry

April 9    Village Bible Club Ministry in the morning, final lunch at Camp of the Good Shepherd, depart for 4 hour drive to Bucharest, and settle into hotel

April 10  Visit the Palace of Parliament and other historically significant sites

April 11  Depart Bucharest - 1:15pm - Lufthansa Flight LH3421

               Arrive Munich - 2:15 pm

               Leave Munich - 3:45 pm - Lufthansa Flight LH452

               Arrive LAX - 7:05 pm!!!