Adventures of Romania

Probota Monastery, Bukovina We took a little P-Day adventure to see another of the many churches.  In Romania where the Orthodox church is prevalent, there is at least one church in every village, and multiple in the cities.  For example, from our apartment which we can only see two directions we can count at least seven that we know are churches.  We have realized that they serve a very different purpose than what we might be accustomed to in the U.S., ie., there is very little, if any, seating.  The photos above are of one of the churches referred to as the "Holy Eight" (in some circles).  They are eight of some of the oldest in the country and known as the painted churches.  The paint, inside and out is referred to as Fresco, which is "an ancient mural painting technique where pigments mixed with water are applied to wet lime plaster, causing the paint to become an integral part of the wall as it dries and creating a durable, luminous artwork."(AI) ...

Saints slated for Sainthood There are times you come across people who you feel are among the best of the best and you just want to associate with them.  Genoveva is certainly no exception.  She has a huge heart and beliefs that correspond.  She invited the Iasi portion of our district to home for lunch and made a meal fit for a king.  She is one of a few, we have met here in Romania, that is on that road to sainthood. We took a stroll to one of the many parks to see what was going on and found the nightly games happening.  The men from the neighborhood meet to play games, have a smoke (or several), swap stories (which I'm sure are all factual) and just hang out.  Sora Leavitt felt out of place, even more than usual, but we continue to stop by just to say hi. We got transfer news this week and will be losing Sora Otsuji and Sora Nigh.  It's been a pleasure to serve with them and wish them well in their new areas.  te iubim We had to have one last ...

 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth We had an opportunity to travel with surori Knighton and Mora to a family in the branch from Sacele.  They have 7 of the most precious children, the baby in mom's arms is the only son and one daughter was still in the house.  We just happened to have some fresh cookies in the car that made quite the impression.  If we could only look into their hearts.  We totally understand that smiles and hugs are huge but the desire to set down and visit still remains the barrier.  God is so gracious and in the end we will hopefully all speak the same language. Dorin spends much of his time making these willow, shaped as a cross, covered with pine boughs.  He sells them to local florists who then add flowers to them for others to buy as wreaths for the cemeteries. Speaking of flowers, they are everywhere and are beautiful this time of year.  We spend a fair bit of time in the parks meeting new friends and ...