ROMANIA

Tort, Romania

The fire crackling in my fire place next to me sends an aroma into the room reminding me of Romania and it tickles up some of my fondest memories from my semester abroad. Romania is an Eastern European country, a little over twenty years out of communism. The Byzantine Orthodox, a religion in schism from the Catholic Church, use to run the country but now Byzantine Catholics are free to practice their religion. They're in the process of westernizing themselves so the country seems like a time travel back a century due to the effects of communism. They're a fairly poor country, their money is close to useless, but the culture is very vibrant. Many of the young adults leave the country to make money quickly and they come back, many build massive houses on their property to prove their wealth.  

Missionary Kate and Fr. Remus

However, many people end up spending so much money on their homes that they end up having to abandon them. There are effects of poverty everywhere from these stranded homes to the abandonment of children. A lot of children are left or dropped of at an orphanage by their parents because they cannot afford to provide for the children and themselves. But like I said the culture is vibrant. The older generation is full of hard workers. Women play their feminine role and men, their masculine roles. The houses are heated by these little fire stoves which leave the homes smelling warm and cozy - this is the reason the fire in my fireplace reminded me of Romania. Many of the people are farmers and they sell their meat and produce as well as provide for their families. They're food is absolutely delicious! They eat a lot of pork meat and drink a lot of Golden Brau - a Romanian beer. They are also home to Palinka, a Romanian brandy, more like moonshine, especially in Torts where I was. The people are friendly and generous and were very welcoming to me and the mission team.  

The mission team with Fr. Remus and Catherine

How did I end up in this Eastern European country for my ten day break you ask? From the beginning of the semester I had planned on going to Santorini, Greece with a couple of my friends to catch some sun for my ten day vacation. However with all the political upheaval going on there we were banned from Greece and so I looked for other options. Many of my friends were going to Lourdes to do mission work and although I really wanted to go to the apparition cite where Mary appeared to young saint Bernadette I hadn't felt called to the mission - not to mention it cost $600, not including travel expenses. I even grabbed an application for the mission trip to Lourdes in a desperate plea to find where I belonged that week in October but a failed attempt to fill out the application only confirmed I wasn't called to go. As all my friends plans fell into place I panicked realizing the time for break was rapidly approaching and I couldn't find a place to go. I expressed my anxiety to my close friend Ann and I took it to prayer. Surely enough my friend Emily told Ann that her and her boyfriend, Jimmy's plans to go to Ireland just weren't coming together and they decided to take a look at this Romania mission trip they'd seen signs for around campus. Ann, moved by the Holy Spirit, gasped dramatically as Ann does, and told Emily that she was an answer to prayers and she had to tell me to go to the information meeting with her. Ann ran up to me, told me all about her conversation with Emily, showed me the flyer and convinced me to attend the information meeting that evening. My initial reaction was a little hostile toward the idea. I didn't know anyone who had done the mission before and I honestly didn't know anything about Romania whatsoever. But because I desperately needed to figure out where to go for ten day break I decided to grudgingly attend the info meeting. At the meeting we talked about what kind of work we would do, how much it would cost, and our faculty coordinator, Jenny Healy, read us a letter written by Catherine England who had done the mission two springs before my semester and had decided to move to Romania as a long term missionary. In Catherine's letter she explained that she had initially planned to go to Greece for ten day and then Ireland but both of those plans fell apart - that's when Emily and I knew there 

Inside the parish Church

was something special about this mission trip for the both of us. She explained that the trip was so life changing for her that she decided to leave the comfort of her home country and move to Romania full time. Because of the work Miss Healy told us about and Catherine's letter I decided to seriously discern this random mission trip. For days I kept feeling this pull at my heart but I did not want to commit because it wasn't my initial plan. Nonetheless one afternoon I was explaining the mission to my mom and I decided to stop saying I was thinking about doing it and actually commit to doing it. 

The parish church

After three or so weeks of planning I headed off to Romania with a phenomenal, and I truly mean that, group of seven other students for a week of mission work. We traveled for a day and arrived in Romania that evening in time for dinner. We were picked up by Catherine, who I call Kate because the Romanian's find Kate easier for them to say than Catherine, and Fr. Remus - a Byzantine Catholic priest who was an LCI student back in the day in Gaming, Austria with Franciscan University. Those two people quickly became some of my favorite people I've ever met. Actually I fell in love with the whole mission team that week. Not only did we work at the Church, leading praise and worship, attend English classes at the schools, and love the children at the orphanage in Satu Mare, but we were able to love each other as missionaries, which was certainly a life changing experience and a big reason the Lord sent me to Romania. There were days we traveled around Romania just spending time together and seeing the culture and country -- we even slaughtered a pig and ate it! There were fun nights when we ate dinner while laughing hysterically with one another as we shared our stories from the day behind us. There were nights filled with tears and heart ache as we shared our stories and crosses and consolations with one another. Being there for one another that week was truly a reason the Lord brought each of us there that week. Each of us needed to experience the Lords love through the gifts of loving He has given each of us and because of that people experienced an incredible week. I know I did for sure. That week I let go of every fear and truly tried to let go of any selfishness that was on my heart and I allowed the Lord to take me on whatever crazy adventure He wanted to. Because of that I was one hundred person confident in who the Lord created me to be and I was able to love the people I was surrounded by as myself for Him. Ever sense Romania I have been one hundred percent myself. Praise Jesus. Not to mention some of my closest friendships from the semester came from that mission trip. 

As for the actual mission work we did -- like I said one of the things we did was lead Praise and Worship for Fr. Remus's parishioners. Although they couldn't understand the lyrics and prayers we prayed they were moved to tears and drawn closer to the Spirit in the gift of our music for the Lord. Both times we did it it turned out to be a very beautiful and uplifting experience and it was received with immense thanks. At the orphanage we played with the many kids who received our love so easily. They were filled with joy to see us come and to play but were sad to see us go - especially on our last day when many of us left in tears. The kids were beautiful and reminded me of how much we are all children. But these kids have great crosses - some of the children's parents had just dropped them off within the year and these weren't babies. they were children who knew their families. One girl showed my friend mary and me a picture of her mom one day. These kids know why they're orphans. It's heart breaking but it was such an incredible experience to be an instrument of God's love for them that week. Simply giving them attention and playing with them was enough for that moment. One day I simply sat with a little girl who was maybe eight and she wasn't feeling well that day so she was crying and I just held her and rocked her and sang to her and prayed for her. It was such an wonderful experience. By the way, they don't speak English, at least not a lot if they know any, and we don't speak Romanian - except Catherine knows a little bit and Fr. Remus, of course. 

"The words of Jesus, 'Love one another as I have loved you,' must be
not only a light for us but a flame that consumes the self in us.
Love, in order to survive, must be nourished by sacrifices,
especially the sacrifice of self." Mother Teresa

Romanian was an incredibly blessed and life changing experience and will forever be in my heart. My dear friend Catherine, the missionary there, plans on building another orphanage, a Catholic one actually, and she is currently in the states fundraising for her mission. If you'd like to hear more about what she does or contact her to donate money to her mission visit her blog! http://doawesomethingsromania.blogspot.com/

On that note, Merry Christmas! 

Food for thought: "A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love. Joy is not simply a matter of temperament, it is always hard to remain joyful -- all the more reason why we should try to acquire it and make it grow in our hearts." Mother Teresa