Counting our Blessings

There have been many times since I arrived in Romania that I have realized how much I take certain things for granted.  Sometimes when I'm driving on the one, single road toward Targu-Mures (the big city close to us), I think about how in the States there would be several different ways to get from one city to another.  When I see some of our After-school kids with shoes that are falling apart on very cold days, I am reminded that I have more than I need.  This week, we learned how much we take water for granted!

We woke up last Saturday morning to find out that our water was not working.  This in itself was not so strange.  There have been times in the past that the water was off while the water company was working on something in our building.  After speaking with our neighbor, we relaxed a little because he said it would be back on by 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  We later found out that there was a problem with one of the main water pipes and that water would be off until it was fixed.  Our water came back on Monday evening, but it is not potable.  We had water most of the day on Tuesday, but then water was off again on Wednesday morning until the evening.  The water worked again on Thursday, but was off again some on Friday.  During this time, the villages surrounding Reghin have been without water altogether.  The city has been bringing in water tanks with clean water and setting them up in different places.  We are thankful because we were able to buy plenty of clean drinking water.  For us, it is an inconvenience that has shown us how much we take access to water for granted.  We aren't sure if there will be any more outages, but we have plenty of water stocked up in case there are.

Besides the water struggle this week, we have had a great week at after-school!  Things are really moving along there.  I can't believe we've already been in school for almost two months.  One of our incentives to encourage attendance at our program and the local school is an outing for those kids who have had perfect attendance.  This month we had 16 kids who were invited to go on the outing!  We went to the local park and everyone ate mici with bread and mustard.  It's great to see how much these kids love just playing, but I think their favorite part was the van ride getting there and back!

The after-school teachers - me, Claudiu, Ana Maria, Cristina

Time is moving along so quickly.  In just three and half weeks, we will be heading back to the States for a visit.  Each year, we plan to return in December for a short furlough.  Even though we were just in the states this summer, we didn't want to wait a year and a half before our next visit.  So, we're starting the tradition this year!  We are excited to have time with our families, but we are also looking forward to visiting with many of our supporters and prayer warriors.  Our travel schedule is below!

December 3-5: Charleston, South Carolina
December 6-7: Leesburg, Virginia
December 8-9: Charleston, South Carolina
December 10-23: San Antonio, Texas
December 24-return: Charleston, South Carolina

We are planning to make short trips to Greenville, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia in the weeks following Christmas.  We will return to Romania in the second week of January (the week of the 4th).

Thank you for your prayers and your support!  Please pray as we begin our English ministry next week!

- Paul