While we were gone, the ministry had one of its busiest seasons: Christmas! Not only were there many more services and events than usual, there were also big tasks like shoebox and food box distribution! In the children's meetings, leaders helped the kids prepare skits, poems and songs for the special season. Attendance at these children's meetings swelled to over 100 kids in Apalina! All of the local leaders did an amazing job. They even sent us some photos and videos of the kids so we could get in on the action from far away. Awesome!
Attila sent us this photo of a children's meeting in Apalina with the Romanian-speaking kids!
When we arrived to Paul's parents' house, look what was waiting for me, courtesy of my super thoughtful father-in-law!! Yes!! Best welcome ever!!
We drove up to Charlotte to see Paul's sister, her husband, and their three precious children (one of them brand new!!!!!). We even got to drive around on the Nascar Speedway and look at their drive-through Christmas lights display!
We drove over to Knoxville to visit my Grandad. We took a field trip to the Museum of Appalachia, where there is a McClung house exhibit :) The entire property was decorated for Christmas in the old pioneer style. We loved every minute of this special time with Grandad!
Back in Charleston, we had Crook Family Christmas, including a family bowling trip! Paul got to help teach his nephew how to bowl for the first time! Such great memories!
Here are all the Crooks and Fulginitis together in one photo!
We flew to San Antonio just before Christmas and connected with my parents, my brother and his brand-new FIANCÉ, Nancy! We are so excited to have a new family member join us in 2016! And of course, we had to stop by our favorite Tex-Mex place on the way home from the airport! YUM!
We went to a Spurs game together! Spurs are 22-0 at home!
On New Year's Day, Paul and I ran a 5k with my parents! I am so proud of everyone in this picture!!
We drove up to Austin to spend the weekend with friends, and then met some more friends in Waco! While we were in Waco, of course we had to stop by the Magnolia Market property (which was sadly closed on a Sunday!). We got to snap this photo of their bakery-in-progress. Any Fixer Upper fans out there??
We flew back to Romania on Jan 8-9 and this was our view from the plane, descending to Cluj. Now winter is fully upon us!
This week, school started back up, as did the After-school program in Apalina. I'm starting up English classes again tonight, and off we go! Thank you for your prayers for us while we were away. Please be praying for our ministry and for those we work with here during these winter months. Work is much more difficult to find for our Gypsy friends during the winter, and their already harsh living conditions become pretty unbearable when the temperatures drop and the dampness of rain, snow and ice permeates practically everything.
Since most of the migrant work in Western Europe that attracts Romanians happens only in the spring and summer, many of our church meetings are really crowded now, which is great! Almost everyone is home. We have several teams lined up to come here in February and March, so we'll be preparing for that as well. There's a lot going on! Stay tuned for more from Romania!
Love,
Katie
P.S. In case you missed it, you can check out our 2015 Year-End letter in the archives over on the sidebar to the right ------->
Love,
Katie
P.S. In case you missed it, you can check out our 2015 Year-End letter in the archives over on the sidebar to the right ------->
We also had a fantastic time on this New Year even. My boss had organized New Year party at famous corporate events Chicago venues, and there were amazing arrangements for food and dance. That was a fantastic night.
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