Rachel's Romania

Vacation and Romania Update - January 2012

2012-01-21T21:31:00.000-08:00

This is on my new blog too, but I wanted to add a little update to those who followed me while I was in Romania.....

Time for me to write a novel about my awesome vacation! First let me start off by saying that God is so good and so faithful. I am so thankful that He allowed me to go on this trip and that He not only helped provide for the trip, but helped provide for me to bless so many of my friends while I was there. He also totally protected me, and went before me, keeping me safe and working out all the details of this crazy adventure I was on. Honestly, where would I be without the Lord? Even on (and maybe especially) while on vacation He was there!

My trip started out with my meeting my friend Susie in Cologne (Köln), Germany. Susie is in the Peace Corps in Bulgaria right now, so Germany was only a short couple hour flight away. We wanted a fun place to be over Christmas. It was SO beautiful in Cologne! I loved it!

The shopping was great, the food was great, the architecture and weather were wonderful. I even had to buy a lighter weight jacket cause it was so "warm" (probably in the 40's and 50's). We had a great time walking around and eating great food. Germany has amazing Christmas Markets and Cologne was no exception. It was so fun to walk around the markets and try yummy foods and see all the hand made items for sale.

Since most of Germany is closed on Christmas Day we had decided that we would go to a German amusement park that day. It is called Phantasia Land. That was my Christmas present to Susie. So we got on a train and made our way to Brühl, Germany. When we got off the train we were greeted by this amazing Palace, the Augustusburg Palace. We walked around for a little bit there (gotta love travel surprises!) then headed to Phantasia Land.

It was a lot of fun and sort of funny. Being the "DisneyLand Girl" that I am, itwas amusing to see the attempts at similarities with Disney, but on a much smaller scale. All in all, it was a great day. We were able to eat good food again, the park was pretty empty so we really didn't have to wait in any lines longer than 5 minutes. It was a very memorable and fun Christmas Day!

After 5 days in Cologne we packed up and headed back to Bulgaria. First to the capital city of Sofia. I was expecting there to be a lot of similarities I think with Romania seeing as how they are neighboring post communist countries, but there were not as many similarities as I thought. It was still a cool country and since I love all things post communist it was awesome. Plus seeing the Cyrillic alphabet everywhere was cool too. Our first full day in the city we did a free walking tour which was awesome. Our guide Boyko did a great job giving us the history of Bulgaria and showing us around the town for like 3 hours.

I was also able to visit the Synagogue in Sofia. Which as any of you who know me, is one of my favorite things to do in Europe! It was small and really pretty. I met a really nice man who stands at the gate who told me a lot about the synagogue and even told me where there was a Romanian Orthodox church around the corner. It was cool.

We also went to this cool museum that was sort of an outdoor statue museum. It had all kinds of statues and sculptures from when Bulgaria was under communism. They went around and gathered them all up from around the city and put them there, it was pretty cool.

Then we headed to Plovdiv, Bulgaria for New Year's weekend. Plovdiv has an amazing old town area with ruins dating back to the Romans. (Sofia has that too but Plovdiv is just set up different.) The old houses and buildings in the old town area were amazing too. I love architecture and these little streets with their beautiful buildings were awesome.

New Year's Eve we walked around the city all day, but it was totally snowing and FREEZING so we were in pretty early and we didn't even stay up to see the fireworks. Which when midnight finally came, we were happy to be safe in our house and not in the "war zone" of crazy fireworks being set off by everyone and their kid outside our walls. I seriously was waiting for a firework to come through my window! It was nuts.

We returned to Sofia for our last day and half in Bulgaria. It was great being able to see my friend Susie since she has been gone and to see her skills at the Bulgarian language. It was nice to catch up, and to spend Christmas and New Year's together. After 2 weeks we said our goodbyes and Susie returned to her mountain top village and I got on a plane for Timisoara, Romania!

I was SO happy to be back in Timisoara. I was picked up at 11pm from the airport by my hotel. The next day as I was walking into the city and saw my cathedral I just had that feeling that I was "home" again. I can't describe it and I was wondering if I would still feel it. But I did. I love Romania and the people there. I love the language and the cities and the nature. I love how God has given me such a heart for this country and I am thankful I STILL love it and that when I got there it all came back to me as though I had not ever left.

I only had 2 full days in Timisoara. The first thing I did was to get a sim card for my phone and then I was off to meet up with my Romanian "other" family. Laura (my original language teacher) and her family are my dear friends and I was SO happy and blessed to spend time with them! It was far too short, but we picked up where we had left off and it was as though I had never left. That is one of the great things about good friends, time goes by and when you see each other again it is as though you saw each other the day before. I had a great time hanging out with them all and seeing how the kids have grown!

I didn't get to take a lot of pics of the city at all, hanging out with Laura and her family was way more important. Next time I will spend more time in the city and then I will take some pics! I also was not able to see everyone I wanted to in Timi but prayerfully next time that will work out too!

I was then off by train (4 hours) to Oradea. I only had a day and a half there. But that was enough time to see my dear friend Marinela. I mentored Marinela when I lived in Oradea and have kept in touch with her since. She came to visit me my last Christmas in Brasov, Romania. It had been over 1.5 years since I had seen her and we had such a blast together. We met for dinner my first night in Oradea at McDonald's where we always used to eat, we even were able to sit at this cool little table where we always used to sit. It was fun! I had brought her a little Christmas gift and she had brought me a couple of gifts too. It was really sweet of her. It was so awesome to see how the Lord has been working in her life and all that He has been doing to take care of her. She has a great job and God is blessing her and showing that He is her Heavenly Father.

The next day we hung out all day. It was SO cold outside that we could only handle it for about an hour. Then we spent the rest of the day at the mall, walking around, eating, going to the movies (new Chipmunk's movie) and going bowling. She beat me twice! It was a great day of hanging out and it was hard to say goodbye.

The next day I was off by a very long 9 hour train ride to Brasov. Brasov is where I spent the most time when I lived in Romania. I had 3 days there. I arrived at night on Sunday and Monday morning was on my way to work in the hospital where I used to work! I was SO excited to be going back and to see my dear friends Cami and Andrea.

I had a great 3 days working in the hospital. Again it was as though I had never left and we picked up as though I had just been there the day before. I helped in the play therapy room where I used to work and even saw one of the young ladies that used to come in all the time.

I helped Cami with a little photo project on her door and just got “caught up” with her on everything that has been going on since I last saw her.

Cami and Andrea treated me to dinner one night at Andos, my FAVORITE Romanian fast food place….man, just thinking about it gives me a craving for it! Then I treated them to lunch at the hospital my last day. Cami helped me get my ticket for the long 14 hour overnight train I would be taking to Budapest, and then helped me change the ticket to a better train. It was a lot of crazy work, but God was faithful and Cami was super helpful!

I was super blessed to have been able to visit my little neighbor Nuți while I was there. I didn't have a way to let her know I was coming and I didn't even know if she would still be living in that apartment. I just prayed and trusted God that it would work out. Turns out He took care of everything, if I had come a half hour later she would have been out for the afternoon and I would have missed her. She was SO excited to see me and she was so sweet and cute and we caught up. We only had a short time together cause I had to go and fix my train ticket but it was really nice to see her and give her a little gift.

I didn’t get to spend much time with the girls from Firm Foundations, I did get to hang out a little with Alisha and Raelene and I got to see Steffi and her kids for like 30 minutes. I didn’t get to see Mary or Sarah at all, but I am so thankful and blessed that they let me stay at their hostel for free and let me work in the hospital those days I was there. Next time again, I will have to be there longer and to spend more time with everyone!

After 3 awesome days in Brasov, I boarded my train, taking my first ever 2 bed sleeper car to Budapest, Hungary. Let me tell you, this sleeper car was AWESOME, like first class in an airplane. I was the only one in the car and it was GREAT! I could never afford to travel like this as a missionary but it was sure nice to be able to travel like this while on vacation, especially after weeks of running around, I really needed the chance to sleep the whole night on the train and to be safe and comfortable. Plus it was SO clean! (even the BATHROOM!) I loved it!
I decided to spend 2 days in Budapest alone at the end of my trip, because I was flying out from there, and I thought with it being so far from Brasov, it would be a good idea to have a little down time close to the airport. Budapest was BEAUTIFUL! Honestly I have been to Hungary a few times, and while it does not pull on my heart strings exactly like Romania does, there is something about that country that I do love, who knows maybe I’ll end up living there some day

Anyway, I had a GREAT time walking around Budapest. I spent a few hours at this awesome cemetery that was more like an outdoor statue museum. It was super old and super beautiful with the trees and the plants and statues and birds singing and strange looking squirrels jumping around. It was awesome and very peaceful. I took entirely too many pics there, but I loved the time to just walk around and enjoy the quiet.

I also visited the Great Synagogue in Budapest. Which is very impressive and had a lot of history to it. It also had a beautiful memorial to those who died from Budapest during the Holocaust. It was this weeping willow tree, and each leaf had the name(s) of people who had died. It was very moving.

My last day in Budapest I think my trip was catching up to me, I was out by 8 in the morning walking around but by 2 I was back home for the night. The weather was crazy that day, sunny, then cloudy, raining then pouring down hail! It was an adventure!

Then back at the hotel, I had to repack and catch a shuttle at 4:50 the next morning so I didn’t mind calling it a night so early.

I had 2 flights home and then 2 days off and then it was back to work.

Feels strange being home. I have had the worst case of jet lag I have ever had. I’m a bit fuzzy still and I miss Romania. I haven't even totally unpacked yet. I still know that I am where God has for me to be, but I am still just as open to anything new He may bring my way!

You know I didn't go into detail about how 7 of my 9 flights were late and 1 of my train rides was crazy complicated, but I want to again give glory to God at how He worked everything out. How I did not miss any flights and made it safe to all the cities I was visiting and even was blessed by that train trip to Budapest. It was an awesome trip of God once again showing Himself faithful in my life.

I am so blessed to be a child a God and was SO blessed on my trip by my friends.

New Blog!

2010-08-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Cause the Lord is just too amazing to stop writing about!

A City Shining - my new blog!

grace and peace
xo

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June - Final Post

2010-07-08T10:03:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! Just wanted to give you one last update. I have been home for a month now and am still in my “adjustment period” but am doing really well. My birthday is tomorrow and it seems a new year in my life is about to begin and as I look back on this past year and all that the Lord blessed me with in Romania and all that He provided for me I can’t even describe how thankful I am to Him for His goodness to me. He has given me one great adventure! I will never forget my time living in Romania, it feels as though I lived a complete lifetime there, and I have been and will continue to keep in contact with my dear Romanian friends there.

My new adventure has begun here in California as well. I have been working at a Maternity/Transition home called Casa Teresa. I LOVE it there! I am the Assistant House Mother. I was asked right away to teach a Microsoft Word Class to the women once a week and am helping facilitate and weekly Sexual Integrity Class. I help manage the house and keep track of the women and all that they are doing in our program. It’s so wonderful just getting to know them and talk to them and hear their stories. We had a bonfire at the beach a couple of weeks ago and it was fun to just be with some of the moms and to talk around the fire and roast marshmallows and hot dogs! I am so blessed. My job is always interesting with so many new things to do and I absolutely love the moms we work with. I have had the opportunity to pray with women and to talk to them about the Lord and His faithfulness. For me, this is my new mission field. It is so completely obvious that the Lord’s hand was in bringing me to Casa Teresa, I will for sure be here as long as He has for me to be here!

I just wanted to thank you all again for your support and prayers for me through these past years. It has been wonderful and humbling to see the Lord work in my life and through my life.

I am doing my best now to continue to be faithful to what He calls me to do….to always keep my heart and mind open to anything He may be asking me to do and to being obedient to Him.

Thank you all again for everything! May the Lord bless you and keep you!

Grace and Peace,
Rachel

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May 2010 Romania Update

2010-06-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26

Hello! Well, I have finally made it home after a whirlwind month in Romania. Thank you for your patience with me sending out my May update letter. I literally just arrived back to California the day before yesterday! I spent my last month visiting friends that I have made over these past two and half years across the country and spending some wonderful time and fellowship with them. I was totally blessed to have been able to see almost everyone! The Lord has been so good to me during my time in Romania, blessing me so much, teaching me and helping me to grow. I pray I was equally a blessing to those I met. What a wonderful experience this has been. It still does not feel real to me. Even when I was saying goodbye to friends, it seemed as though it was only for a little while and I would see them all again in a few weeks or something. The reality has not totally set in yet for me, and yet I still have the complete peace that I am doing what the Lord has for me to do right now in my life. It is such a comfort knowing that I am in His will, AND it makes me excited for the next part of my life that I am beginning. Plus, I am sure I will make it back to Romania someday for at the very least a visit! I am also so thankful that He gave me 2.5 years in Romania, which was longer than the two years I originally committed to! That extra bit of time was so special to me!

This past month was filled with so many great memories and sad goodbyes…I had hoped that I would be able to make this letter a short one, but with all the cities I visited and all the people I had to say goodbye to, it just didn’t happen. So I apologize that this is a very long letter…my longest ever actually, but I have also stuffed it full of pictures and short stories. I do hope you enjoy reading about my last month living in Romania. It has been an adventure for me. Seeing how the Lord has worked, seeing Him take care of me and provide for me.

The awesome thing about being a Christian is I know that my adventure isn’t over yet. The Lord has great things planned and I’m so blessed to be a part of whatever it is He has for me next!

I ask that you continue to pray for me, for Romania, for the children in the hospital there, the Roma (gypsy) girls and everyone else I have met while I was there.

To all of you who have supported me financially and/or through prayers, thank you so much! I would never have been able to do any of this without your love and faithfulness. I know that the Lord will bless you for coming alongside of me in His work.

As for what is “next” in my life...for now all I know for sure, is I am starting work on Monday. Working with an organization in a type of transitional living home for women who are pregnant and alone, teaching them how to take care of themselves and their babies. This is actually the job I had right before I moved to Romania and it was by far my most favorite job in the States! I am so blessed that this opportunity has opened up for me to be able to work there again! I can’t wait! Other than work, I have no clue what the future holds. I am taking it one step at a time as I always have, and will see what doors the Lord opens up.

Thank you all again for your love and support these past few years! The ups and downs have all been worth it, lives have been touched and changed, love has been given to the needy and the Lord has certainly done a lot in my life! I hardly recognize the girl I once was, who moved to Romania in November 2007.

Love always,

Rachel

First Stop - Timisoara

My time in Timi (Timisoara) began with my staying with some missionary friends Dawn and Bev (And Amy!). It was really great spending time with them and they were such a blessing to me with their fellowship. They also took really good care of me when I became very sick my first four days there! I was blessed to hear such missionary wisdom, along with testimonies of God’s provision, and to be able to ask a ton of questions to those who have been on the mission’s field for so many years.

I of course spent time with my dear friend Laura and her wonderful family. It was like hanging out with family. I loved my time with them. Laura, her husband Robert and I spent an entire afternoon one day just talking about the Lord and His love and about the truth of the Bible. We talked for hours! It was wonderful and probably one of my favorite memories from Timisoara! They are such dear friends to me. Laura and I spoke about how we know that the Lord brought us together when I first moved to Romania in 2007. That it had to be Him who had her be my amazing Romanian teacher and brought our friendship together. They will always be my “Romanian Family”.

Last time I was in Timi Timi I was I stayed with my friends Anna and Amanda. So it was great to be able to meet up with them again a couple of times while I was in Timi. Amanda and Anna are also both moving back to their homes in New Zealand and Australia to pursue what the Lord has next for them. So it was very special to be able to get together while we were all in Timi!

I was also able to see other friends in Timi, like my friend Jill from Ireland and Amy (unfortunately not pictured) and my old friend Dorina, of whom I have not seen in over a year! I’m thankful to have had the time to say goodbye to everyone who has played a part in my life in Timi. I’m sure I’ll see many of these people again someday!

Oradea

While in Oradea I was blessed to be able to stay once again with my friend Ibi and her cousin Rebeka. We had a lot of fun together and great talks about life and the Lord and how He takes care of us and loves us. My last night with the girls I treated them out for a fruit smoothie and then to the movies. The movie was a bummer, but our time of laughing and hanging out together was great. Ibi has always been such a blessing to me since I first moved to Oradea in 2008. She helped me find my first apartment there and has always been so generous with her time and her home when I come to visit. I’m happy I was able to spend a week at Ibi’s this time, since my last trip through Oradea was so rushed we had very little time together, it was important for both of us that we had the time to hang out. It was sad of course to say goodbye, but the Lord is so good and we know that as Christians we will for sure see each other again someday!

Since I had spent 6 months living in Oradea, I had a lot of people I needed to say goodbye to! It was important for me to be able to get together with everyone who was a part of my life there. But with only a week I didn’t really know how to fit everyone in! So I treated the whole gang out for pizza! We had a blast together. Everyone left with their stomachs stuffed and their hearts happy. The girls I used to work with at the hospital all grew up together in the orphanage in Oradea and most of them still live together. It was so much fun taking pictures together and talking and catching up on our lives since we last met. This is a very special group of people for me. I will thankfully be able to keep in touch with most of them over Facebook or through email.

No trip to Oradea would be complete without spending most of my time with Marinela. My relationship with Marinela began my first month in Oradea in 2008. We were placed in the same room together at a conference in Hungary and immediately I knew that the Lord had brought us together. I spent the time I lived in Oradea mentoring her and teaching her English. She is so special to me, like a little sister.

I wrote a while back how Marinela had been fired from the job she worked at for 11 years and had asked prayer that the Lord would take care of her and that she would know it was He who loved her and would watch over her. Well, I do have some good news to report and an answer to much prayer! Marinela has been doing some part time work lately for another ministry, which is a HUGE blessing and this ministry is talking about hiring her on full time. Please keep her in prayer that the Lord would work all of this out according to His will. It would be great for her to be able to work full time again.

It was so sad when I first told Marinela I would be moving back to the States. She started to cry and was so afraid I would forget about her. I told her that there was no way I could forget about her and promised to keep in touch with her through Facebook and even by writing her letters. It would be impossible to forget my dear Marinela! The Lord has totally blessed me by having her in my life.

I tried to really have fun with Marinela the time we had together. So I took her to the Zoo, which is one of her favorite places to go! We went out to eat and played on the swings together. Playing on the swings is something Marinela does all the time, she told me she doesn’t care if people laugh at her, she loves it. I think it is partly because she had such a hard life growing up in the orphanage that it is NOW that she can act like a kid and have fun and play. We also walked around the city and in the mall, talking, laughing, eating together and just having fun. It was a great way for us to spend our last time hanging out together.

Arad

I was completely blessed to have the chance to go and spend the weekend with my Romanian cousin, Julia, that I met when I first moved to Romania. She is the only actual relative I know of living in Romania. (For those who don’t know, my dad’s parents are from Romania.) We had some pretty bad weather while I was visiting but it was great to have the chance to see Julia again before I moved back to Cali. She taught me how to make Romanian Mamaliga (polenta) and we looked at all the amazing things she and her husband collect. We spoke completely in Romanian for the weekend, it was so fun! It was just great to see this part of my family again, to eat together and talk and to see the city where my Titiriga family is from! This was a special treat for me and I hope it was a blessing for my cousins as well!

Brasov

I was totally blessed to have had John and Bethany Miller from Calvary Chapel WestGrove along with our Romanian friend, Marian, come to Brasov for a visit. I was able to show them the beautiful Transylvanian Mountains of Romanians and how different this part of Romania is from other places they have visited in the past. We were able to visit the hospital and play with the kids on my floor and to visit the babies on the other floors. Marian did an amazing job hanging out with the young Roma (Gypsy) children. It was really cool to be able to show people from my sending church where I work everyday and for them to see the ministry.

One night on the way home I invited a young boy begging on the street to come and eat McDonalds. He was so sweet! His name is Robert and his face had the biggest smile on it when I asked him to come and eat. I spoke to him in Romanian asking him all sorts of questions. Marian also spoke to him a lot in their Gypsy language which is very different from Romanian. They sang songs together and we all laughed. Then (at 10pm!) we went inside and let him play in the children’s area. It was a chance for him to just be a kid and not worry about life or begging. Even Marian joined him in playing! It was a sweet experience, one I will never forget.

Please keep little Robert in your prayers that he will be safe and come to know the unconditional love that Jesus has for him!

I was able to attend two Wednesday night studies while in Brasov. One week I brought John, Bethany and Marian. They LOVED the study and were super blessed by it. The next week was my last Wednesday in Brasov. This study which is led by my missionary friends Tim and Liz has been such a blessing to me. A time for us to really get into the Word and to study the scriptures verse by verse. To be able to talk about it and grow together. I think sometimes people here in the States don’t realize how hard it can be to find a Bible teaching church when you are on the missions field. This home study was not only a support through being able to fellowship with other believers but it was a support spiritually through what we were learning. Tim is definitely an anointed teacher and I am blessed to have been a part of his group.

I was able to spend two afternoons with my neighbor Nutsy. It was like we picked up right where we left off. She was so sweet and curious about my trip to the States. She asked lots of questions and told me all about her life since I have been gone. There are some things going on in the government in Romania and people on retirement have had their pay cut almost in half. It is difficult for her to live on, especially with all her medicine. I ended up buying some doilies she had made to help her out, as she would never just take money from me for nothing. Please continue to keep Nutsy in your prayers as she is so alone and with the financial situation being difficult in Romania. Please pray that the Lord will take care of her. If any of you are interested in buying a hand made doily from Nutsy let me know and I can arrange that!

For sure one of the hardest goodbyes I had to say was to my dear Cami. The Lord definitely brought our friendship together when I began working with her at the hospital. Our friendship has really grown this past year. My remaining time at the hospital these past couple of weeks, was a time of fellowship and sadness as we knew my time working with her was coming to an end.

Cami invited my friend Jules and I over for a barbecue at her house one day. We had a great time eating and talking. Then we went for a walk to a nearby lake. It was fun to just sit in the sun and take pictures and laugh.

I will never forget my time with Cami, her friendship is still very important to me, I pray that the Lord has used me in her life to be a blessing and to encourage her in her walk with Him. My last two weeks at the hospital were very busy! With the visit from John, Bethany and Marian, as well as a “project” that Cami and I really wanted to do before I left. We made a poster for our section of the hospital displaying all the staff who work on our floor. We spent a couple of days working on this and finished it on my last day. Everyone was really pleased with how the poster turned out! It is a cheerful way to introduce the children and parents to the staff of our unit.

While at the hospital I was able to see many of the children I had worked with in the past. It was a blessing to be able to say goodbye to them. One little girl who is especially attached to me, made me so many pictures and drawings! It was very sweet and special and I have them all saved with me.

Saying goodbye to the other staff was also sad too. They told me “you are our girl” and they gave me antique items from Romania, all of which had been in their families. They told me I had to come back to at least visit, and that they would miss me.

Cami and Andreea made me a special Certificate for working with them and put down that I was “the best volunteer they had ever had”. They said they have made many certificates for volunteers in the past, but had never put that before! I don’t think it has really set in for me that I will not be returning to the hospital everyday to see my kids and friends. But I am so thankful for the year that I had working with each of them and will never forget the experience.

Caraiman Peak

One weekend a group of us girls took a hike up a mountain to the top, where there is a cross I have seen for years as I have traveled by train. The hike from the top of the lift took over an hour. It was a really hard hike that I would not have been able to do without the help of my friends. When we finally made it to the top it was such a sense of accomplishment! I do not think I will ever be able to forget the journey we took together that day! It is so special that I was able to do this with my friends and it was so exciting after so many years of seeing that cross on the mountain to have finally made it to the top!

Iasi

Iasi, pronounced Yawsh, is a city I had actually never been to before. It is in the top north-east corner of the country. This city has been on my heart for a while now. It is the capital of one of the poorest counties in the country, and it is has the second largest population in Romania. It is a city of universities and churches. With much history and yet, moving forward with many modern buildings and young students. I was totally blessed to have been able to take a weekend trip to Iasi with my friend Jules. It was a time of getting away for my

last weekend to see a part of Romania I had never been to, and a time to check out a possible ministry area in the future…who knows! It was also a great way to have a fun weekend with my dear friend Jules, who had been such a blessing to me while I was in Brasov! We had a great time, the city is beautiful. It made me feel as though I was in a different country altogether. The main areas we were in did not show many signs of poverty, but it was only a small ride on the tram to see the shacks that make up some of the homes for the cities poorer residents. There is something very special about Iasi, after only a weekend I don’t know that I could put my finger on it, but it is a city that has made it’s way into my heart and won’t let go! I do pray I will be able to visit it again someday!

We had a great time, the city is beautiful. It made me feel as though I was in a different country altogether. The main areas we were in did not show many signs of poverty, but it was only a small ride on the tram to see the shacks that make up some of the homes for the cities poorer residents. There is something very special about Iasi, after only a weekend I don’t know that I could put my finger on it, but it is a city that has made it’s way into my heart and won’t let go! I do pray I will be able to visit it again someday!

On our way to Iasi on the train we ended up in a compartment with a young lady named Mihaela. She was so nice, she was on her way to Iasi to give a presentation about Social Work. Then surprisingly enough, we ended up in the same exact compartment with her on the way back! None of us knew that we were leaving back for Brasov on the same day or that we would end up in the same place again! We had a lot of fun on the ride back talking to each other mainly in Romanian but also teaching Mihaela some more English. We talked about why Jules and I are in Romania and what we are doing in Brasov. We took lots of pictures and laughed, and exchanged emails. I hope we will keep in touch. When the Lord brings someone into my life I hope that I am able to be an example and to share His love with them!

I can’t think of a better way to have spent my last weekend in Romania!

As you can imagine there were a lot of goodbyes to be said in Brasov. I was treated to a great lunch by my friends with HFTN who I have been working with. Cami and Andreea took me out to lunch, and my friend Liz took me out to tea! On my last night in the city a group of my girlfriends took me out to a very nice dinner. I received the nicest photo album/book from the girls with memories from my time in Brasov at the hospital, working with the teen Roma girls, and hanging out. It definitely brought tears to my eyes remembering all the things the Lord has blessed me with this past year and seeing the pictures. They also gave me a certificate for my time that I worked with them.

My flight was smooth and I had no problems with my luggage, which was a just tad bit over weight home. Thanks to John and Bethany who took home my heavy books when they returned to the States I was able to bring home a lot of memories with me, and only left behind those things that can be bought and replaced here in Cali.

I begin my new job on Monday and am really looking forward to what the Lord has in store for me. It still does not seem real that I will not be walking the streets of

Romania

everyday anymore. Like I am just on vacation and next week I’ll return or something. I know it will eventually hit me that this is real, but I am so thankful that the Lord has lead me on this path, and that I have His peace for being back in Cali.

Thank you for joining me on this adventure that I have been on!

Grace and Peace

No sooner asked...

2010-04-30T03:18:00.001-07:00

Well I know I don't normally write so much in one day, but I had to post this too. The Lord is soooo good to me!

I have been wrestling with some hurt feelings lately. Yes, even I get my feelings hurt by people who are mean to me, whether it is to my face or behind my back. Well, this morning when I woke up I had some anxiety about this. So I began to really pray and seek the Lord. I read a chapter in my daily Bible reading from Isaiah 49, but nothing really spoke to me. I kept praying about it and finally emailed a few friends asking them to please pray for me, that the Lord would give me wisdom in this situation. I want to do His will and not react to being hurt in my flesh and try to defend myself. I was getting ready to sign out of Facebook when I noticed my friend Maggie had posted a verse on her profile page,

"When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul." Psalm 94:19

Wow that was perfect for me, I love it when the Lord randomly uses my friends to bless me and speak to me!

After I signed out, I really felt that the Lord wanted me to continue reading in Isaiah, so I sat back down and just began to read where I left off, starting with Isaiah 50. Hello! Right away the Lord began to speak to me. Reminding me that He is my defense and He will take care of everything for me. I believe that there are times when, as it states in Matthew 18 we are to go to people and talk to them when they have wronged us, and I also believe that sometimes the Lord wants to be our defense, and that He wants us to sit back and watch what He will do.

I want to share all of these verses with you, in case some of you ever feel that you are in the same place I was in this morning...struggling maybe with being hurt, or having someone wrongly say things about you. Not knowing if you should go to them or sit back and let the Lord work. These are the verses that the Lord gave to me for my situation specifically, it was as though these verses from my reading this morning jumped right off the page at me.

First I read:

"The Lord GOD has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away. I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. Surely the Lord GOD will help Me; who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed they will all grow old like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon his God."

Isaiah 50:5-10

I kept reading and then the Lord spoke to me through these verses in Isaiah 51:

“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, you people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but My righteousness will be forever, and My salvation from generation to generation ... I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth; you have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed, that he should not die in the pit, and that his bread should not fail. But I am the LORD your God, who divided the sea whose waves roared—The LORD of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘You are My people’... Thus says your Lord, the LORD and your God, who pleads the cause of His people: “ See, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of My fury; you shall no longer drink it. But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to you, ‘ Lie down, that we may walk over you.’ And you have laid your body like the ground, and as the street, for those who walk over.” Isaiah 51:7-8, 12-16, 22-23

And finally ending in Isaiah 52. As awesome as the Lord is, He ended what He had to say to me with victory and peace and praise!

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “ Your God reigns!” Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the LORD brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the LORD. For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard." Isaiah 52:7-12

No sooner had I asked my friends to pray for me for wisdom and asked the Lord to give me wisdom, than He lead me back to His word and to those verses. He is so good and so faithful. I didn't go searching through the Bible to find those verses, they were there in my daily reading, they were there waiting for me to read this morning, set up before hand by the Lord! The Bible is so real and so alive, the Lord is so good and so faithful, I can't make this stuff up! He is truly amazing and is always wanting to be there for us, to meet us where we are if we will just be willing to ask and seek Him and wait for Him to show us what He has planned for us!

Amen? Amen!

grace and peace,

Rachel

Conversations and a Convoy

2010-04-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting last 2 days, so I thought I would write a little bit about it.

I left early in the morning on the 28th for Romania. My parents dropped me off at the Orange County airport. I flew from Orange County to Chicago...the flight went by pretty quick, nice and smooth, up until the decent into Chicago, which was totally bumpy and made me a little sick, which never happens to me! I was excited to grab a quick snack in the airport as ORD has this one little place that makes the BEST vegetarian quesadillas...but alas, I was short for time so I rushed to the International Terminal, only to find that McDonald's was pretty much my only option in there. Mental note, eat in the domestic terminal next time around.

I was SUPER blessed on my flight to London. We had the nicest plane ever! It must be brand new, each seat had its own touch screen, with a library of movies and tv shows. You could stop, start, pause and play any movie in the library at your leisure. It was awesome. I also had 2 seats to myself! So after watching Sherlock Holmes I went to sleep, or tried to. I can never sleep on planes. Oh well, at least I was super comfortable.

Next stop London. Not much to say here, I had basically an hour and a half to get from my plane, through security and to my next terminal. Then I was off to Budapest, Hungary. At this point I was exhausted. I had been up since 5am, and like 17 hours had passed or something. So I actually got some sleep on the plane all hunched over in my seat leaning on my tray. That made that trip go by fast! In Budapest my driver was on time to pick me up and we were off to Oradea!

So, there were 3 others in the van with me going to Oradea, and everyone spoke Romanian! Ha! After not speaking any Romanian for 2 months it was fun to get thrown back into it. I had an interesting conversation with one gentleman about communism. I don't usually have conversations with strangers about politics in Romania cause you never know, you may get the one guy who loved communism cause he was corrupt during that time or something. But this guy brought it up and sort of asked for it when he mentioned Obama to me. Now I do not usually speak about politics on my blog. But it was an interesting conversation. I started mentioning to the guy how I felt about Obama and the similarities I have been seeing in America and what Obama wants to do with America with what I have seen in post-communist Romania and for that matter what I have heard from my Romanian and Hungarian friends I have interviewed on the subject. He said something that rings so true in my mind, and something that I usually say when people talk to me about wanting more government involvement in our personal lives...he said basically "Americans do not know what Communism is because they have never experienced it" he went on to say that it always sounds "good", and can even sound "democratic". But the reality of it is, it's not good and it is certainly not democratic and takes away your freedoms. The cute little grandma next to me entered the conversation at this point and pretty much agreed with everything we were saying. Stating that America just doesn't know what communism really is and how detrimental it is to the people, society and economics of the country. I guess it was all just a reminder to me to continue to pray for my country and for it's leaders and for the elections in November! I NEVER want to see America end up like Romania...

So anyway, I'm off my soapbox now...onward we go...my drive to Oradea led us through grape vineyards, orchards and bright yellow flower fields. Hungary in the spring is lovely! About half way through we stopped at a truck stop to use the restroom. It was called Convoy City. Awesome. I walk through the swinging doors, ones like you would see going into a saloon in the old west, to find Johnny Cash playing overhead, "because you're mine, I walk the line..." Awesome again. After a brief stop we journey on to Oradea. I did fall asleep at some point during the car ride, I was so exhausted I really don't know when the last was I felt that bad.

We then made it through the border of Romania and I FINALLY make it to Ibi's! After 25+ hours of travel I arrived in Romania on the 29th! I showered and had a great meal of spaghetti and meat sauce. Ibi is such a blessing to me. She always has the table set so pretty and makes such yummy food for me! We caught each other up about the past 2 months and what the Lord has been doing in our lives and teaching us. It was awesome to see how the Lord has been blessing Ibi and working in her life.

Since I knew I wasn't coming back to Romania for long I filled my suitcase with gifts and clothes for my Romanian friends here. It was so fun shopping for them! Now Ibi is probably the only person I know who is thinner than me. So I brought her a bunch of my old nice clothes that I don't fit into anymore. She was SO happy! It was so fun to see that they all fit her so nicely. Sometimes it can be so easy to bless people. I'm happy I brought those things.

Well, I am off to Timisoara in a few hours. A 3.5 hour train ride awaits me. So much traveling is ahead of me this month! Please keep me in your prayers!

Pa! (bye!)

Rachel

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Rachel's Romania - April 2010 Update

2010-04-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

“May the LORD watch between you and me
when we are absent one from another.”
Genesis 31:49b

Hello my friends! I cannot believe that my time on furlough (vacation) in California is over with! I leave for Romania this Wednesday early in the morning. I am totally looking forward to my time coming up in Romania. Just as a reminder, I will be moving back to California in June. I am returning to Romania to say my goodbyes and to move my things back. It will be another month and a half full of traveling and living out of a suitcase. But it will be a very special time with those dear Romanian friends the Lord has brought into my life.

This month has flown by so fast. I can’t even believe it. Some days I was seeing maybe 3 people in one day! One for lunch, one for coffee and one for dinner! I tried very hard to see each of you that I had planned to see while I was home, but I ran out of time. The good news is I’ll be home in June!

I was blessed to friends from my old jobs, and friends from church and past missions trips! What a blessing it is to see people from my past and catch up on all the Lord has been doing in our lives. I had a great time at Disneyland with my friend Kari, we have a tradition of going each time I’m home, and her mother-in-law is able to check us in for free, which is a HUGE blessing!!! (thanks Jody!)

At the beginning of April my parents and I went on vacation to the “Gold Country” area of California. It was beautiful! My time with my parents these past two months has been really important to me and very eventful! We celebrated my dad’s birthday last week AND my parents both retired this month! It has been a month of celebration.

Well, I have to admit my mind is a bit scattered right now, thoughts of packing and making arrangements of where I will be staying while I’m in Romania are swirling in my head. I am so thankful that the Lord has already provided me with a job for when I return to Cali, working once again with my dear friend Frances! That is one HUGE thing I do not need to think about right now!

I will not be taking my laptop to Romania with me. I need every ounce of weight I can get to bring things home with me. Plus with all the traveling around I just think it is best to leave it here in Cali. So if it takes me a while to post things I am sorry! I will be home in June and will update you all on my journey then.

Please keep me in your prayers. With all the traveling and final arrangements that are still not totally set in stone yet. I want to be a blessing to my friends before I leave and to have enough time to say goodbye without feeling rushed. I have already received some sad emails from friends in Romania in response to my returning home, but I can rest in the peace of knowing this is the Lord’s will for right now in my life. I know the Lord is going before me and I trust in Him. There is a lot of change ahead of me, please keep this in your prayers for me too!

I hope you all have a great month, and I will write more in June!

Grace and Peace,
Rachel

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MOVING!

2010-04-14T16:11:00.001-07:00

“Go home to your friends,

and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you,

and how He has had compassion on you.”

Mark 5:19b

Hi friends! Well I want to first thank you all for your prayers while I have been home. As you know, when I first moved to Romania I had signed up to go for 2 years. My 2 year anniversary was this past November. Since then I have been seeking the Lord as to whether He had for me to stay in Romania longer or to return home.

I have really used this time at home to seek the Lord’s will. WELL….about 3 weeks ago I had felt that the Lord confirmed to me that He had for me to move back to California. I wasn’t sure however on the timing or what I would be doing when I returned. I just felt this incredible peace that He had for me to come back to Cali. Then just this week the Lord has opened a door and a job was offered to me! I couldn’t believe it! At the same time I don’t know why I was surprised at all. The Lord always provides for me, I guess I just didn’t expect Him to provide a job for me before I moved home! So I will be moving home to California in June.

I am so thankful to God for always taking care of me. My good friend Frances was praying about me the other day and the Lord spoke to her saying “She is mine and I will take care of her.” This spoke so much to my heart, these past two years the Lord has done so much to reveal Himself to me and to show me how real He is and how faithful He is to take care of me. Hearing Frances tell me that and then having a job offered to me before I even began looking is just one more testimony of how good He is!

So how am I feeling about all this? Well, of course there is sadness. My time in Romania was filled with so many amazing times, as well as hard times. Such good memories, I feel like I have lived a lifetime over there already. I learned to trust the Lord and to not put my trust in man alone. I learned that I need to love people even when they are hurtful and cruel and to love those that society doesn’t even want to acknowledge. I have made so many amazing friends. It brings tears to my eyes to know that I won’t be seeing those friends everyday anymore. I know I will be able to visit someday, but it still makes me sad to think about leaving my kids at the hospital and my friends and the country and language that I love. I am however, also very excited about all of this! I know that the Lord would never call me home and then leave me hanging. He has already shown me this to be true. I am excited to see what He has in store for me when I return.

I will continue with my updates even after I return home for a while. I do still ask for your prayers. While it is awesome that I will have a job to return to, I know that the transition from life in Romania to life in Southern California will not be totally easy. This past 1.5 months since I have been home, has revealed to me that the culture here in California will take some getting used to again for me. I feel a little out of place here. But still have the peace from the Lord on coming home. So please pray that the Lord will help me to readjust to life here in So Cal. Please pray for my time in Romania and all the people I will need to say good bye to. Finally please keep my moving back to California in prayer. I am thankful that I will have a job, but I will not be able to get my own place right away, and so I ask that you pray that I will save up money quickly enough to be able to get my own place in His timing in order to finally be settled and not living out my suitcases and of course just for His guidance as to when to move out on my own and where to move.

More updates to come, but I just wanted to send out this letter to let you all know what was up with me!

If you have supported me at all this past year by sending any donations to Calvary Chapel WestGrove or are going to before I return home, and either did not receive a receipt for your donations or would like a receipt, please contact me and I can send you the paperwork to either access your donation receipt online or to receive one by mail.

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support and I will be keeping in touch and updating you on my time in Cali at the end of the month!

Grace and Peace,

Rachel

HAPPY EASTER!

2010-04-02T22:50:00.001-07:00

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you"
1 Peter 1:3-4

I will be gone on Easter Sunday...
so....
Happy Easter and Paste Fericit!
xo

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Good Friday

2010-04-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5

March 2010 Update

2010-04-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Oh come,

let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully
to the Rock of our salvation.
Psalm 95:1

Happy Spring everyone! What beautiful weather we have been having here in Southern California. I was sitting here this morning trying to think of everything that happened this month and it seems crazy all that was crammed into March. It was a full month for me!

I arrived back in California on Friday, February 26th and immediately began working at my sending church, Calvary Chapel WestGrove on Monday, March 1st. I was so completely blessed to have had the opportunity to work at the church, helping out in the missions department. I am very grateful to Pastor Brad and Pastor Brent for working it out for me to be there. It is always really important for me to work a little while I am home to pay for my plane ticket, have some spending money while I am home and to have some money in my account for when I return to Romania. So this was definitely important! I had a great 3 weeks working.

I have been able to visit a couple of churches since I have been home. It has been so nice seeing old familiar faces and friends, and sitting under such great teaching.

I also was able to attend a fund raiser for Promise Child which is the Child Sponsorship organization my missions Pastor and his wife started. It was a beautiful Classical Music Concert, and it was for a great cause, supporting children in Haiti who have been displaced from the earthquake. (for more info visit www.promisechild.com)

During my first 3 weeks of March, while I was working, I spent very little time seeing people, as I was really just too tired after work, plus spending time with my parents was a priority for me. I was able to spend some time with my good friend Susie. She is the one who blessed me with the trip to Italy back in October. It is always great seeing her.

I was also able to see my sister and her family which was nice. The week after I finished working I took my oldest nephew Steven out to play miniature golf. We had a lot of fun, he is such a sweetheart. We had a great time talking and hanging out.

Then the next day, I took my other nephew Brett out to the movies so we could have some bonding time as well. We walked around and talked too. It is so crazy how much these boys have grown up this past year!

Last weekend, my mom and I went out to Tea together. It was a special event and we had a great time! We had bought tickets for this event months ago and it was a lot of fun. The Lord blessed us by sitting us next to two sisters in Christ, one of whom, I had actually read her blog when I was in Romania! It is such a small world! We had a lovely day together.

This past week, I finally was able to join my sister in her ministry of feeding the homeless (or “friends without homes” as she calls them). While I was in Romania I had some of the children in the hospital color some paper lunch bags for my sister’s ministry and so it was nice to be able to be a part of it myself. We had a great morning, being with her and people from her church that joined us. I was able to speak a little bit with a man who actually came from Romania 30 years ago! He totally remembers Romanian perfectly, and it was fun for me to be able to speak to someone in Romanian. I was totally happy it was all still there in my brain! And really, was thankful too, I always wondered if I would be able to use my Romanian in California. It was a blessing for me!

Last night I joined my sister and her family as my oldest nephew Steven received an award for his kindness, good deeds and grades. He was one of 16 children who received the award out of 8 middle schools in Orange County! That’s huge! I was very proud of him.

Well that leads us up to today! April 1st! Wow! My first month home has flown by. This Saturday my parents and I will be leaving for a week on vacation. We are going up to an area outside of Lake Tahoe to go camping. I am really looking forward to my time with them. April promises to be another busy month. With birthdays, my dad’s retirement and anniversaries. And I will finally be able to spend some time with friends I did not have a chance to see in March!

I am still praying for a lot of direction from the Lord. He is so faithful and good. This summer will be a busy one when I return to Romania on April 27th. Please keep me in your prayers, that April will be a great month and that I will be able to visit with everyone I need to, and that my trip back to Romania will be good.

I hope you all have a very blessed Easter this weekend!

Grace and Peace,
Rachel

Rachel's Romania Update - February 2010

2010-02-28T10:37:00.000-08:00

“Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”

Mark 5:19b

Hello from California!

Well I have finally arrived safely into Huntington Beach, California. It was a very busy month full of lots of moving around and visiting. So here is the rundown of my month!

I moved out of my apartment in Brasov on January 31^st. I thought it would be a good idea to move out of my apartment before my time of travel around Romania and my 2 months in California. It seemed silly to pay rent for all that time and not be there. I was blessed to be able to leave my stuff with my missionary friends Tim and Liz.

My neighbor Nuti was really sad to have me leave. She is “Plant sitting” for me while I’m gone. Taking care of my plants for me, and then when I return I will be able to get them back from her. She is so sweet. She made some really nice things for my mom that she wanted me to take home with me to give to her. I could tell it was really hard for her to have me leave and I will miss living next to her as well.

My last week in the hospital was full of mixed emotions for Cami and I. It was a very busy week with lots of children and some of the children had severe psychological issues. So we were running around with not much time to think about the fact that I was getting ready to leave for a couple of months. But on my last day we both cried. She made some authentic Romanian food for my parents that I was able to bring home, including Zacusca which is this fantastic eggplant spread. Yum! Cami is a good friend and I will miss her while I’m home. We will for sure keep in touch via email though.

I took a couple of friends out for their birthdays before I left Brasov. Alisha and Steffi were both going to be celebrating their birthday after I left, so I took them out to eat. That was fun to be hanging out with them over good food.

After I moved out of my apartment, I went and stayed with Alisha for a few days then I went and stayed with my friend Jules. On my last night in town, Alisha, Jules, Raelene and I went out to church just a few hours before I had to leave for the train station.

Jules was such a blessing to me, letting me stay with her, blessing me with yummy food, then we went out to a nice tea place in town and then driving me and staying with me at the train station for hours. My train that night was supposed to leave for Oradea at 11:15pm but didn’t end up arriving until 2:30am! It was SO cold out too! But I finally made it on the train and on my way to Oradea.

I arrived in Oradea and rushed to my friend Ibi’s house to drop of my big suitcase. Ibi made me a great lunch and then I took an hour nap and was back off to the train station to catch my train to Timisoara.

In Timisoara, I stayed with some missionary girls who were so totally kind to let me stay with them. Anna and Amanda. It was great getting to know them and a total blessing to me. I had a lot of fun spending time with them. I visited a ministry that Amanda works with one night and then joined them on Valentine’s Day for a party they were having for a group of girls they work with. It was a lot of fun. I had a chance to join Amanda for church at a wonderful Romanian church while I was there too. And I met up with another missionary woman, Dawn E. to talk with her about all the great ministry opportunities available in Timisoara. Dawn has been in Romanian for years and has connections everywhere and knows about all the ministry opportunities in Timisoara.

I also was blessed to be able to spend a good amount of time with my dear friend Laura and her family! It had been almost a year since I had seen them. The last time I saw her she was still pregnant, but this time I was able to finally meet the newest member of the family, little Andrei. He is so cute! Laura’s mom was visiting at the time as well, and she made us some really yummy food and made it possible for Laura and I to go out together alone a couple of times by watching the kids for her. It was so nice. The Lord has really been taking care of Laura and her family and it was neat to be able to talk about how the Lord cares for us and all of our needs.

Laura and her family, at that time all 8 of them, had been living in a one bedroom apartment. They had been praying about what to do as the children were growing and obviously a small one bedroom apartment was starting to feel a little cramped. Laura had done some work as a language teacher, but was mainly a stay at home mom, raising wonderful children. Then one day, out of nowhere, a man from their church called saying that the church had an apartment for them that has 3 HUGE rooms (2 bedrooms technically) and 2 bathrooms. It was a total surprise and a total blessing! The apartment is BEAUTIFUL and has plenty of room for everyone. It was something that they had prayed for and really to see how the Lord blessed them with this apartment shows how much He cares about each of us and our needs and even our desires. I mean technically Laura’s family had a roof over their heads, but the Lord blessed them with more than just that; He blessed them with space too! And it is really a very nice place in a great part of town.

Then after 10 days in Timisoara, I returned to Oradea. I stayed a few days with my other missionary friend Dawn H. It was a very nice time of fellowship and rest. She made us a great dinner one night and I took us out to breakfast one morning to thank her for allowing me to stay with her for a few days.

Then I spent 2 nights with my friend Ibi and her cousin Rebeka. It was fun to be able to stay with Ibi and to talk and see how the Lord has been working in her life. She is a good friend and always such a servant and a blessing to me when I am in town.

While in Oradea I of course was able to see Marinela as well. It was great seeing her. We had fun walking around and talking and eating together. Please continue to keep Marinela in your prayers as she was fired over a month ago now after 11 years of working with an organization, and has not been able to find a new job. Marinela was raised in an orphanage and doesn’t have a lot of job skills. She is good at taking care of children and cleaning, but doesn’t have skills really even for job hunting. I bought her some groceries while I was there because she didn’t even have money for food. She has been working for a family temporarily doing deep cleaning for food. This is a tough situation; please pray that the Lord will provide a job for her and that there will be justice in this situation, as it is a really sad situation the way all of this happened.

I am so happy I was able to travel around Romania my last few weeks there. The relationships I have built here in Romania are very important to me. The Lord has brought them into my life and I want to be sure I make the time spend with each of these dear friends. It is great to meet with them, to pray with them, to talk about how the Lord is working in each of our lives and to encourage each other to continue to trust that the Lord will take care of our needs. Brasov is at least 10 hours from Timisoara and Oradea so I had not been able to visit as much this year as I had wanted to. These relationships are far too important to me and I needed to make the time to invest in them again before I left and to catch up. It was really an important time.

Finally on the 24^th I left at 2am by car to drive to Budpaest, Hungary. I arrived at 4:30am, and hung out in the airport until 6:30am when I was finally able to check in. I took off on time and flew to London, where I had to go through security again and made it onto my plane in perfect timing for us to take off on our 7.5 hour flight to Chicago. In Chicago, I had a 5 hour layover.

The highlight of this trip home was when my cousin Liz, came to the airport in Chicago to meet me. I am actually named after Liz’s parent (Rachel and Nicholas – I’m Rachel Nichole). So this was a special treat for me. She even brought me a beautiful pin that once belonged to my Aunt Rachel as a gift that I will cherish forever. It was fun having an hour to sit and talk before I had to head through security again. Well to make a long story short, after sitting on the runway for almost 3 hours, my flight was canceled. So they gave us each a hotel room for the night and I spent the night in Chicago. Unfortunately it was so late (after 11pm) that I couldn’t go into the city and I left too early the next day to make it out, but at least I had a nice place to sleep and shower before heading home. Plus I felt much safer flying on the next day as the weather the night before was like a blizzard! And the weather the day I left was beautiful and sunny.

So now I am home. I am going through some serious jetlag. More than I have experienced in the past, but I know this will pass. I went and got my new driver’s license on Friday and have had a couple days with my parents. It has been nice, although trying to stay awake until at least 8pm every night has been proving a difficult task! I know I will adjust soon.

Thank you all for your prayers this past month. I ask that you keep March in your prayers. I start work tomorrow (the 1^st) and have a lot of decisions to make over these next 2 months that I am home. Please pray for clear direction and peace from the Lord as I seek Him and His will for my life.

Grace and Peace,

Rachel

Airports, Airplanes and Flying...Oh My!

2010-02-18T23:02:00.001-08:00

Because ya'll are curious when I will be home, I thought I would send this out to let you know! I will probably put it in my update for February as well, but I thought I would post it before then to answer your questions. Because I don't know what my internet will be like after today.

I will be flying out of Budapest, Hungary Airport on the morning of February 24th. I will fly to London, then Chicago then home to Orange County. I was totally blessed to find a good deal on my ticket and it was actually cheaper for me to fly out of Hungary and into Orange County, than to fly out of Bucharest and into LA. All of which was totally the Lord and has allowed me the time to visit friends and ministries in Timisoara and Oradea (only 3.5 hours from Budapest).

I will be home from Feb 24th - April 27th. During March I am totally blessed to be able to work for a few weeks at my sending church Calvary Chapel WestGrove. Which is awesome, this will help me pay for my plane ticket and provide me with some spending money, as well as money for my bank account for the future! I will also be house sitting for a few weeks for some friends which is another HUGE blessing!

It has been over a year since I have been home, and so it will be good for me to have some time with my family and friends. I hope to see all of you in Cali while I am home. My priority is my family, especially my parents. But I look forward to seeing as many people as I can. This time period allows me to have time with my family over Easter and my Dad's Birthday, my Sister's Bday and my parent's wedding anniversary. As well as to be home for March which is Mission's Month at Calvary WestGrove.

I will be flying back out of Orange County on the 27th of April to return to Romania.

There are many opportunities open before me right now. Both in and out of Romania. I ask that you join me in prayer while I am home that the Lord will lead me and guide me and direct me as He always has been so faithful to do. That He will show me His will and plan for my future. I want more than anything to be in the center of His will. I will keep you all up to date while I am home with my monthly email updates and will post them on my blog and facebook.

See you all soon!

Grace and Peace
Rachel

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Soar

2010-02-13T06:14:00.000-08:00

"God is looking for those who will be His, not just workers. Christianity is full of workers—but He doesn’t easily find individuals who have given up every right to run their own lives and be completely His...

This journey is not about rules and regulations and directives. It is a sense of living with another world on the inside of us. It is then that we can truly soar above the weight of this world. Will you join me on this journey?"

-KP Yohannan

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God Wants to Work Through You!

2010-02-09T23:37:00.000-08:00

"Unbelief says: Some other time, but not now; some other place, but not here; some other people, but not us. Faith says: Anything He did anywhere else He will do here; anything He did any other time He is willing to do now; anything He ever did for other people He is willing to do for us! With our feet on the ground, and our head cool, but with our heart ablaze with the love of God, we walk out in this fullness of the Spirit, if we will yield and obey. God wants to work through you!"
-AW Tozer

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Pursued by God

2010-02-09T03:59:00.000-08:00

This study by Louie Giglio is amazing. What a blessing it was to me today!

:)

Grace and peace
xo

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Search Me...

2010-02-09T00:53:00.000-08:00

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
try me, and know my anxieties;
and see if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
--Psalm 139:23-24

"I suppose my suggestion will not receive much serious attention, but
I should like to suggest that we Bible-believing Christians announce
a moratorium on religious activity and set our house in order
preparatory to the coming of an afflatus from above. So carnal is the
body of Christians which composes the conservative wing of the
Church, so shockingly irreverent are our public services in some
quarters, so degraded are our religious tastes in still others, that
the need for power could scarcely have been greater at any time in
history. I believe we should profit immensely were we to declare a
period of silence and self-examination during which each one of us
searched his own heart and sought to meet every condition for a real
baptism of power from on high. "
-AW Tozer

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Romania Update - January 2010

2010-01-29T10:16:00.001-08:00

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort”

2 Corinthians 1:3

Hello everyone! Happy 2010! I hope you are all doing good. I cannot believe it is already 2010! How time moves so fast! I truly believe that this is going to be such an amazing year! I know that the Lord has great things in store.

Well, what to say about January. I was beginning to wonder if we were ever really going to get any snow in Brasov, as I had been promised we would have a ton of snow! Well it finally came and it has been such a beautiful snow covered month. A first for this So Cal girl. I have experienced some snow in the past, but nothing like this. It has been so gorgeous!

This month is also my last full month in Brasov for a while. I will be leaving for Oradea and Timisoara in a little more than week, and will be staying on that side of the country until I leave for California on February 24^th! So I have spent a good part of this month packing and cleaning and making plans for all the people I need to see before I leave Brasov and all the people in Oradea and Timisoara I need to see while I’m there! It has been very busy just with this stuff.

My time in the hospital was great, I spent a lot of time making a cover for a chair that we have in our play therapy room. The beginning of January we didn’t have a lot of kids so I was able to spend a lot of one on one time with one specific little boy, which was so great. He really thrived with the individual attention. And I enjoyed having so much time to sit and play games and do art projects with him. This little boy has been with us in the past, and normally he is such a handful that we are usually afraid when we see him walk through the doors! But with the one on one attention I was able to give him this time, he did so well! Cami and I were both so blessed by this!

This month has honestly also been a hard month. Emotionally and even a bit physically. I hurt my wrist on the first of January and it is still giving me problems. The doctor I saw here, said that it seems to be my radial nerve and that it will take a while to heal. This has been a little frustrating as I have been packing and it has been difficult with my wrist being how it is. It was also emotional because I will be leaving. Even though I have a round trip ticket to come back to Romania at the end of April, it is still sad to say good bye to friends. And with some other stuff that has gone on I admit it has been a little draining emotionally for me.

Cami and I have had a lot of time to talk this month, and I am really so very thankful for her friendship. I can tell it is not easy for her either that I am leaving. She is so sweet, and has basically just avoided the whole subject as much as she can! She has also been a HUGE help for me with my landlord. I have had some frustrations with my landlord this month, she only speaks Romanian so Cami has done a great job helping me communicate with her. I honestly don’t know where I would have been without Cami to help me!

Last week I took Cami and Andrea, another play therapist friend of mine out to dinner to the Lebanese restaurant. It was sort of a “goodbye for now” dinner. It was nice to spend time talking and laughing with them. They are such great friends, I am always SO incredibly blessed by the Romanians in my life!

I also made brownies (thanks mom for sending the mix) last week for the nurses and doctors on my floor, and for the 2 new friends I made in the hospital.

While working on the chair cover I was introduced to the 2 women who basically sit in the basement of the hospital and do all the sewing. They sew the curtains and sheets for the beds, masks and scrubs for the doctors. So I put together the chair cover as best as I could and they did the sewing for me, and then went above and beyond and made the cover even better than I was making it! They sew on these awesome old sewing machines that they have to pump with their feet. I love antiques, and these things are OLD!

They gave me hot chocolate the first time I met them. Then invited Cami and I down and gave us all kinds of homemade goodness! It was so incredibly sweet of them. Cami and I are going to invite them up to our room this next week (my last week in the hospital for now) to give them chocolate and tea and to say thank you for all the hard work they did for us!! Cami and I keep saying how nice they are and how they must feel so alone down there. Cami had never even met them in her 17 years at the hospital! I think they were really happy to have some friends! God is so cool like this. I keep seeing Him open doors for personal relationships. Even if we don’t all become best friends, relationships like this, allow me and all of us really to be lights and to be kind and share Christ’s love with people. It is so easy to just smile at someone and see how that can change their day. Or to actually say “Thank YOU” and show appreciation for them.

Today I was in a store and had a little conversation with the lady at the counter when I was buying a shirt. I told her it was a present and who I was buying it for, etc. She was all alone in this big store and just seemed so happy to have me there talking to her in my broken Romanian. As we were wrapping up the shirt she noticed a little spot on it and stopped me and pulled out a new shirt which she very carefully checked and then wrapped up for me. I have to be honest with you, she didn’t need to do that, and it was so kind of her that she did! (Especially cause it is a present!) I guess maybe my kindness affected her and I will be honest when I say, her kindness totally blessed me too!

Today was eventful. My neighbor Nuti stopped by and gave me a handmade gift to give to my mama and to tell her it is from my “Romanian mom”. It’s a butterfly obviously, she told me that she made a butterfly to give to my mom, cause like me it flies around, and she made all these grand hand gestures while she was telling me about it, she made it sound much nicer than I am right now. It actually made me cry, which then brought tears to her eyes, she kissed my cheeks a bunch of times and said all these kind things to me. She said to make sure I call her to let her know I made it back ok the second I return to Romania at the end of April. I will miss living next to her, but hope and plan to keep in touch with her when I return.

THEN, I got in a car accident today! Well, it was more like a bus accident. The bus I was on totally ran into the back of like a mini bus kinda thing. I was thankfully in the front so I saw the whole thing as it was about to happen, and could be prepared, unlike the poor people in the back who got totally jolted out of their seats! I always wondered if those big buses got in car accidents! I guess they do! What a nice thing to happen my last week in Brasov!

Well, that is about it for now. Please keep this next month in prayer as I will be doing a lot of traveling, by train and bus and tram and airplane! Pray for all the people I will be seeing and meeting with that things will go well and I will be able to be a blessing to them all. Please keep this last week here in Brasov in your prayers and as I move out of my apartment tomorrow. Please also keep my future in general in your prayers, I have a lot of open doors in front of me right now, and I’m not really sure which direction to go, but I know that the Lord will be faithful to lead me and guide me!

To all my friends and family in Cali, see you in less than a month!

Grace and Peace,

Rachel

YOU are fearfully and wondefully made!

2010-01-24T00:53:00.000-08:00

So living in Romania I watch my church services online every Sunday. It's nice to be fed from the Word of God in English!

This morning I listened to a great study by Louie Giglio. So I thought I would share it!

Enjoy!

Click here for the study.

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Shadow

2010-01-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

I’m a bit burdened this evening….thinking about a friend of mine who is going through some hard times. It’s so hard to watch those you care about struggle. I think about my friend who is hurting…she is hurting because someone hurt her. And it appears that she was hurt for no reason of her own….it actually seems like she was hurt for the explicit purpose of hoping that by hurting her….someone else might be hurt through watching her pain….and why is all this hurt inflicting going on??? My guess is because the inflictor of the hurt…is in and of themselves hurting.

UGH.

Yes, there is a lot of hurt in the world…..a lot of sadness. Why is it when people are hurting they lash out and
hurt others? Thereby multiplying the hurt in the world?

Sadness.

Tonight I feel sad, and as I said….burdened. Part of me wants to rush in and save and do everything I can to “fix” the problem. I have been praying a lot about this situation, seeking the Lord’s wisdom. And for now I feel that the Lord is asking me to wait and to pray. To trust HIM to be the One who will in fact come in and save and take care of the problem. It is true, that HE loves her and cares that she is hurting even more than I do. So I wait and I pray. Knowing that God is faithful.

Comfort.

I do find comfort in this knowledge that God is faithful to save. That He is Mighty to save.

“The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

- Zephania 3:17

And so, I will rest.

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.”

-Psalm 37:7

Rest, Wait and Trust.

And I will attempt to wait patiently for Him and not fret. I know He is in control.

“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.”

-Psalm 36:7

Hide us now in the shadow of Your wings Lord. Save us Lord in Your timing. Help me trust You to take care of those I love.

Revival of Prayer

2010-01-21T11:04:00.000-08:00

"The evangelization of the world in this generation depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men; deeper, far, than the need for money; aye, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer."
– Robert E. Speer

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Quote for the Night

2010-01-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

"Not once in the next billion years to come will you regret that which you did not do for yourself because you cared for someone who was in need, someone who needed to grow in the ways of the Lord. What we will regret is that which we did not spend because we weren’t living as though the Samaritan was really coming back.

The Lord has entrusted to you more than enough to take care of the half-dead people who come our way. The question is, will you release what He’s given you?

Will you let it go?

Will you make the time?

Will you expend the energy?"

-Jon Courson

Astounding

2010-01-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

This devotional reminded me of the verses in Psalm 19.

"Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." (vs.12-14)

It truly is "astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves!"

"HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ALONE WITH GOD?

"When they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples." Mark 4:34

Our Solitude with Him. Jesus does not take us alone and expound things to us all the time; He expounds things to us as we can understand them. Other lives are parables. God is making us spell out our own souls. It is slow work, so slow that it takes God all time and eternity to make a man and woman after His own purpose. The only way we can be of use to God is to let Him take us through the crooks and crannies of our own characters. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We do not know envy when we see it, or laziness, or pride. Jesus reveals to us all that this body has been harbouring before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look in with courage?

We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves, it is the last conceit to go. The only One Who understands us is God. The greatest curse in spiritual life is conceit. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we shall never say - "Oh, I am so unworthy," because we shall know we are, beyond the possibility of stating it. As long as we are not quite sure that we are unworthy, God will keep narrowing us in until He gets us alone. Wherever there is any element of pride or of conceit, Jesus cannot expound a thing. He will take us through the disappointment of a wounded pride of intellect, through disappointment of heart. He will reveal inordinate affection - things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. We listen to many things in classes, but they are not an exposition to us yet. They will be when God gets us alone over them."

-Oswald Chambers

May the words of my mouth....the thoughts of my mind....the meditations of my heart.....the actions that I do....be pleasing in my Lord's sight.

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Loyal in Obedience

2010-01-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

"Are we going to remain loyal in our obedience to God and go through the humiliation of refusing to be independent, or are we going to take the other line and say - I will not cost other people suffering? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but we shall be a grief to our Lord. Whereas if we obey God, He will look after those who have been pressed into the consequences of our obedience. We have simply to obey and to leave all consequences with Him.

Beware of the inclination to dictate to God as to what you will allow to happen if you obey Him."

-Oswald Chambers

Flickr Blog and My Space Helmet Bubble

2010-01-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

made it to the front of the Flickr blog for today for my bubble photo!
:)

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1 January 2010

2010-01-01T01:34:00.000-08:00

"Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him."
Oswald Chambers

I am so looking forward to the future....to all that the Lord has in store for me in 2010....2009 was amazing, such a journey, full of ups and downs and surprises! I began the year in Cali and ended it here in my beloved Romania. Ironically enough, both January in Cali and December in Romania have been pretty warm...not as much snow as I had been promised by everyone, but that's ok, it has been beautiful none the less.

I spent the evening with friends last night just hanging out, eating and playing games, then watching the fireworks over the city from my friend's balcony. It was beautiful and memorable. This year has once again fit perfectly with Proverbs 16:9,

"A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

My days have been full of my plans....and the Lord has taken those plans and molded them to His own...when I moved to Brasov in March, I never thought I would be working so much with teen Roma (gyspy) girls, but the Lord opened up that door and it has been great. It was also cool to see how the Lord answered my heart's desire to work with the elderly by giving me an elderly neighbor to spend time with!

Such a big part of being a missionary is relationships. I think people get it all wrong when they try to make the big part about a program....or doing doing doing....the Romanian people are a culture of "being"...they like to hang out, they want a friend, they want to know you are not just some American coming in with your ideas to "fix" the "poor Romanians" but that you are here to love them and be there for them. Being light and salt in the world is just that...being a friend, being there and having a real relationship with people.....something that will make a lasting impression.

Well anyway, it's a new year...2010...I can't believe that....I am not really a "goal" person...so I have no new year's resolutions....other than to continue following my Savior wherever He may lead me, to be obedient to His Word and to grow in my relationship with Him....I think everything else will find it's place in my life if I seek Him first.

Happy 2010 friends.

xo

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Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T16:03:00.000-08:00

December 2009 Update

2009-12-30T07:18:00.000-08:00

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Happy New Year!

As this year comes to a close I can’t help but look back and think of all that the Lord has done. How He has blessed me, how He has worked in my heart and how He has allowed me to do so much here in Brasov, Romania.

This December was the 20^th anniversary of the fall of communism in Romania. I am honored to have been here for this. Romania has come a long way since 1989, and yet it seems that they haven’t come very far at all. In comparison to other countries which were under communism, Romania seems to be so far behind. This country still needs prayer and people to continue to support the work that is being done here.

This past month was filled with lots of Christmas fun. Cami and I decorated our section of the hospital for Christmas, which was really fun for us and the kids.

I was able to join Cami and her daughter Alexandra at a Romanian Baptist church for a Christmas Concert. It was so beautiful!

I also spent some time with Cami and another Play Therapist, Andrea out in town one night.

We had a Christmas party for our teen Roma (Gypsy) girls groups. Where we were able to bless them with food, games, clothes and fun! We read a devotional about being thankful for what the Lord has done and remembering the true meaning of Christmas. And the girls all filled out little ornaments for our Thankful Tree and wrote down what they were each thankful for. Then they surprised us by singing Romanian Christmas songs for us!

HFTN blessed all the volunteers with a Christmas dinner at a very nice restaurant which was great and full of wonderful food and fellowship!

HFTN also put together gift bags for the children in the hospital on St. Nicholas Day, December 6^th and we all walked around and passed out gifts together, it was really great.

Then I had two young ladies, Marinela (the young lady I used to mentor) and Nadia, from Oradea come up to Brasov to visit me for a week over Christmas. We joined up with the Play Therapists at the hospital on Christmas Eve and were able to sing Christmas songs and pass out shoeboxes from my friends in Germany with them. It was a great time for Marinela and Nadia as well as me! And the kids in the hospital were totally blessed!

I had a great Christmas day with Marinela and Nadia, opening gifts and reading out of Luke 2 together. We decorated my tree together and I had the girls fill out what they were thankful for and hang it on my Thankful Tree as well. They really liked doing that. My neighbor made us some traditional Sarmale which was so good! And I had some gifts for her as well. That night Marinela, Nadia and I went to church at a Romanian church service.

The next day was Nadia’s birthday and we had a lot of fun going up to Poiana Brasov and then pizza followed by bowling! It was a non-stop but fun week!

This month was extremely busy but I felt so blessed to be a part of all things going on here in town. The Lord has given me such great Romanian friends, as well as fellow missionary friends. December was the perfect ending to this year. With all that went on, and all that I was able to be a part of…it was wonderful! Something that was sort of cool, seeing how people’s hearts are changing…my neighbor donated a ton of clothes for the children at the hospital and the teen girls I work with, and Marinela and Nadia both left me with a few really nice items, a pair of boots and some clothes for the teen girls. I think it is so cool that they all want to help others!

Thank you for all of you who have supported me this past year. I am blessed because of each of you. I’m making this letter a little short in order to show you lots of pictures! And a link to a couple of videos on my youtube page from the Christmas Concert with Cami, from when we passed out shoeboxes at the hospital on Christmas Eve and a video I sent out for Christmas with a slide show of this past year.

Click here for my YouTube videos

I don’t know what the future holds for me, only the Lord knows. But I look forward to seeing what He has in store for me, for Romania and for 2010.

“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.” - Proverbs 31:25

I pray you are all blessed in 2010! Have a Happy New Year!

Grace and Peace,
Rachel

PUBLISHED!!!

2009-12-28T09:42:00.000-08:00

I'm SO excited to finally be able to tell people about this! Over a year ago I was asked if one of my pictures could be used in a book. I didn't want to say anything to anyone until it actually happened. Well finally after a year of waiting the book has been published! woohoo! This picture above is of a Tomb Stone in a cemetery in Oradea, Romania. I'm so happy! I've had several of my photos used in online articles and on blogs, but this is the first time one of my photos has been printed in a book. :)

Just thought I would share the happy news with you my friends!

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Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-24T23:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas Concert

2009-12-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

So tonight I was totally blessed to go with Tim and Liz and to meet up with Cami and her daughter Alexandra at a Baptist Church for a Christmas Concert. I LOVE the Romanian language and loved hearing Christmas songs sung in Romanian. I went to a Christmas concert 2 years ago in Timisoara when I was living there, but it was even cooler tonight to be able to actually understand most of the lyrics and what the Pastor said!

It was a special night with Cami. I'm so blessed by her friendship and it was really neat to be able to spend the evening with her at this concert. Honestly...how am I so totally blessed!?!?! Really...why would anyone want to tell God what THEY WANT...when HE knows so much more what is best for our lives. I'm always in awe of Him and His plans...

Speaking of plans....tomorrow my girls from Oradea arrive to spend Christmas and Nadia's birthday with me! Should be a fun week!

xo

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Craciun Fericit!

2009-12-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

I made this video for my sending church at home...but really it applies to all of you out there!

Merry Christmas!!!

(Song: God of this City, Chris Tomlin)
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My Utmost...

2009-12-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

from My Utmost for His Highest this morning:
:)

***********************

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

If you cannot express yourself on any subject, struggle until you can. If you do not, someone will be the poorer all the days of his life. Struggle to re-express some truth of God to yourself, and God will use that expression to someone else. Go through the winepress of God where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle to get expression experimentally, then there will come a time when that expression will become the very wine of strengthening to someone else; but if you say lazily - "I am not going to struggle to express this thing for myself, I will borrow what I say," the expression will not only be of no use to you, but of no use to anyone. Try to state to yourself what you feel implicitly to be God's truth, and you give God a chance to pass it on to someone else through you.

Always make a practice of provoking your own mind to think out what it accepts easily. Our position is not ours until we make it ours by suffering. The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance.

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Trip to Cali in the Spring!

2009-12-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family!
I am so excited I found a good deal on a ticket home for vacation this coming up spring, so I went ahead and purchased it today!

I will be home in March and April. I hope to see many of you while I am there, while I know that some of you don't live in Cali, I hope to as many of you as possible!

I do also have a prayer request, as I did last year, I would like to work for a couple of weeks while I am home to pay for my ticket and the cost of being in Cali in general, for spending money, etc. If any of you know of a job I might be able to do in March please contact me. I am even open to house cleaning, house sitting, office work, organizing, etc....I would just like to do something to earn some money while I am home. If you know of anything please let me know, otherwise please just keep this in prayer that the Lord will provide something for me!

Ok, that's it for now! See you all in a few months!

Grace and Peace,
Rachel

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30 Days of Thanks - November 30

2009-11-30T08:50:00.000-08:00

And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones

fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.”
-Revelation 11:16-17

30 Days of Thanks - November 29

2009-11-29T09:03:00.000-08:00

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin,
you became obedient from the heart
to that form of teaching to which you were committed,
and having been freed from sin,
you became slaves of righteousness.
-Romans 6:17-18