You may be wondering what in the world the title of this post means. Well, they are some of the ridiculous things said to me this week Hahaha. I will explain:
We eat A LOT of watermelon in Romania because it is the peak season. Oh man, it's so good :) But, the other day, I was sent to the market to get one and Iulia told me to get a waterlemon instead of a watermelon. I thought we were all going to fall off our chairs we were laughing so hard.
Now for the schismatic chickens. During the time that Communism controlled Romania, the Byzantine church and all the land it owned was given to the Orthodox church. A few years ago, the Orthodox priests built a house on some of the land that was previously the Byzantine church's land. So, we were joking the other day about the chickens that are at the Orthodox priests' house and I said I would steal one for us to eat since the Communists stole the land. Fr. Remus, without skipping a beat, goes, "NO!! They are schismatic chickens!!!" So, at least once a day, we joke about schismatic chickens. This morning I went to the market to get eggs and I told Fr. Remus that we couldn't eat them because they might be schismatic eggs. We've had a good time joking about schismatic chickens. (If you don't know what "schismatic" means, go look up the Great Schism on Google and edumicate yourself. Hahaha)
On Thursday, I bought myself a super cheap car. It's a teal-ish 1999 Volkswagon Passat. It's definitely a missionary car. Haha. The best part, it was brought here from England, so the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. It's not nearly as hard to become adjusted to driving on that side as I thought it was, so it's perfect. Now that I have a car, I can go to the orphanage whenever I want and don't have to rely on Fr. Remus to get me there.
On Friday, I spent a couple hours at the orphanage. I introduced the kids to the iPhone game "Fruit Ninja" last week and oh my goodness, do they love that game. Everytime I arrive, they instantly start saying "Fruit Ninja" in their super cute little kid Romanian accents. But on a different note, what happened at the beginning of my time there on Friday broke my heart and reminded me why I am here. It's complicated, so bear with me. There are 3 siblings who are new since I was at the orphanage last year. Their parents are gypsies, so they were just left there. The middle one's name is Isabella. She is 4-years-old and she is just so precious. I was sitting on the grass and she came and sat on my lap. I wrapped my arms around her and just held her. After a few minutes, I let go and she looked at me with her big brown eyes and almost started to cry. I wrapped my arms around her again and she laid her head down on my chest. All Isabella wanted was to be held. My heart broke knowing that she probably hadn't been held in a very long time. There are 4 women taking care of 40 kids. The kids just don't get the love that they deserve. Each one of these kids deserves to be loved unconditionally and they have never experienced that. And that breaks my heart.I have been asked countless times both by people at home as well as a few Romanians as to why I love Romania and why I want to be here. Here's the answer: I chose to move 5,000 miles away to the countryside of Romania to show these kids that they are loved and wanted by not only me, but by the Lord.
My time here so far has been glorious and I am so blessed to be able to serve the incredible people of Romania as a permanent missionary.
Being a missionary is the COOLEST THING EVER!! :)
Keep praying for me and I will keep praying for you.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
The First Days
Well, after waiting over a year, I am finally in Romania and getting adjusted to my new life. I am helping a Byzantine priest in his parish as well as helping out at the orphanage in the next town.
So, I'll start from the beginning. I flew from Cincinnati to Charlotte, NC to Munich, Germany to Cluj-Napoca, Romania and then drove 4 hours to Turt (pronounced Turts). Needless to say, it was a LONG 24 hours of traveling with about 10 minutes of sleep. When I arrived in Turt, I was shown my apartment and it's like ridiculously nice, but that's how Romanians are. They want the best for those who are visiting.
Most of my time so far has been spent helping Fr. Remus' wife, Iulia around the house and with their almost 2-year-old son, George. When some of you read the previous statement, I can imagine what is going through your head. Because Fr. Remus is not Roman Catholic, but an Eastern rite Catholic, he can be married. So, now that is cleared up, I can continue. Hahaha. I have been helping her cook and I've been playing with George. I have come to learn that he LOVES Snow White to the point that it's hilarious. He's always talking about it. When he says something about Snow White, either Fr. Remus or Iulia translates. He absolutely loves the dwarfs. Today, while he was eating lunch, he watched the movie. It was so cute. Iulia is an amazing woman who is SO full of incredible wisdom. Today, she was telling me how so many people here just see money as everything (Romanian culture is VERY materialistic). They work 20 hour days and do nothing else - they don't enjoy life. She says that it's because they don't know the Lord.
I've been to the market with Iulia twice and while we are there, she's pointed to things to tell me what they are (Tonight, I was sent to the market alone to get beer. I succeeded. Hahaha). She's been so great helping me with the language. I'm getting some of the very basics down. I have to keep reminding myself that I've only been here 5 days and no one expects me to know Romanian yet. I'm just having a hard time with it because I just want to talk to people instead of awkwardly standing by while Iulia or Fr. Remus explains that I am "Kate from America." I know I'll get there and soon be able to at least understand what's being said. My name is too hard for George (and most Romanians, actually) to say, so I was quickly given the nickname Kate. So, that's what they call me at the orphanage too.
I FINALLY got to the orphanage today. It was so amazing to be reunited with the kids who so radically changed my life last April. At first, some of them were hesitant to be around me, but once some of them remembered who I was, it was like I had never left. They have all grown SO much that it's crazy!!
So, I'll start from the beginning. I flew from Cincinnati to Charlotte, NC to Munich, Germany to Cluj-Napoca, Romania and then drove 4 hours to Turt (pronounced Turts). Needless to say, it was a LONG 24 hours of traveling with about 10 minutes of sleep. When I arrived in Turt, I was shown my apartment and it's like ridiculously nice, but that's how Romanians are. They want the best for those who are visiting.
Most of my time so far has been spent helping Fr. Remus' wife, Iulia around the house and with their almost 2-year-old son, George. When some of you read the previous statement, I can imagine what is going through your head. Because Fr. Remus is not Roman Catholic, but an Eastern rite Catholic, he can be married. So, now that is cleared up, I can continue. Hahaha. I have been helping her cook and I've been playing with George. I have come to learn that he LOVES Snow White to the point that it's hilarious. He's always talking about it. When he says something about Snow White, either Fr. Remus or Iulia translates. He absolutely loves the dwarfs. Today, while he was eating lunch, he watched the movie. It was so cute. Iulia is an amazing woman who is SO full of incredible wisdom. Today, she was telling me how so many people here just see money as everything (Romanian culture is VERY materialistic). They work 20 hour days and do nothing else - they don't enjoy life. She says that it's because they don't know the Lord.
I've been to the market with Iulia twice and while we are there, she's pointed to things to tell me what they are (Tonight, I was sent to the market alone to get beer. I succeeded. Hahaha). She's been so great helping me with the language. I'm getting some of the very basics down. I have to keep reminding myself that I've only been here 5 days and no one expects me to know Romanian yet. I'm just having a hard time with it because I just want to talk to people instead of awkwardly standing by while Iulia or Fr. Remus explains that I am "Kate from America." I know I'll get there and soon be able to at least understand what's being said. My name is too hard for George (and most Romanians, actually) to say, so I was quickly given the nickname Kate. So, that's what they call me at the orphanage too.
I FINALLY got to the orphanage today. It was so amazing to be reunited with the kids who so radically changed my life last April. At first, some of them were hesitant to be around me, but once some of them remembered who I was, it was like I had never left. They have all grown SO much that it's crazy!!
I am so blessed and humbled that God called me to by a missionary to His people in Romania. Please pray for me and I promise to pray for you.
Monday, August 6, 2012
It's All About Love
I have found myself recently a huge fan of the band Mumford & Sons. I was listening to their song "Awake My Soul" recently and this line really jumped out at me:
"Where you invest your love, invest your life."
I'm finding that to be so true in this mission. I am investing at least the next 4 months of my life into loving the people of Romania, especially the kids in the orphanage. I am investing my life into sharing the love of Christ with those who need it. The name of my mission means "Evangelize Through Love" in Romanian. This mission isn't about yelling the Gospel into people's faces. That doesn't work. And it's REALLY not going to work in a place that can be called almost spiritually dead like Romania. Actually, we'll call it in spiritual critical condition. It's all about walking the walk before talking the talk. It's about living everyday like Christ would and leading by example. It's about loving every single person I come in contact with, no matter how they respond to some American kid showing up to live in their town (I have been told by the priest I will be working for that I will not be welcomed all that warmly, but I'm okay with that). It's about loving the crap out of the kids at the orphanage. It's about loving that teenager who thinks I must be insane to leave the United States to live in his town. It's about loving the people who hate me solely because I am Catholic and not Orthodox Christian.
In For King and Country's song "Proof of Your Love," there is a monologue based up 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 and it says "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, 'jump,' and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."
All I want to do is love. In my 2 1/2 years as a student at Franciscan University, I received so much love from the Lord and from those around me. Now, it's time for me to go out and share that love.
So, in just 9 days, on August 15, I will be getting on a plane and moving 5,000 miles away from my home in Cincinnati, Ohio to my new home in Turt, Romania. Most importantly though, I will be investing my life where I want to invest my love.
Please, please, please pray for me. I'm ridiculously excited, but also nervous. I know the Lord is with me in this. He has made it VERY clear. I am taking Blessed John Paul II's advice of "Do not be afraid" to heart.
"Where you invest your love, invest your life."
I'm finding that to be so true in this mission. I am investing at least the next 4 months of my life into loving the people of Romania, especially the kids in the orphanage. I am investing my life into sharing the love of Christ with those who need it. The name of my mission means "Evangelize Through Love" in Romanian. This mission isn't about yelling the Gospel into people's faces. That doesn't work. And it's REALLY not going to work in a place that can be called almost spiritually dead like Romania. Actually, we'll call it in spiritual critical condition. It's all about walking the walk before talking the talk. It's about living everyday like Christ would and leading by example. It's about loving every single person I come in contact with, no matter how they respond to some American kid showing up to live in their town (I have been told by the priest I will be working for that I will not be welcomed all that warmly, but I'm okay with that). It's about loving the crap out of the kids at the orphanage. It's about loving that teenager who thinks I must be insane to leave the United States to live in his town. It's about loving the people who hate me solely because I am Catholic and not Orthodox Christian.
In For King and Country's song "Proof of Your Love," there is a monologue based up 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 and it says "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, 'jump,' and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love."
All I want to do is love. In my 2 1/2 years as a student at Franciscan University, I received so much love from the Lord and from those around me. Now, it's time for me to go out and share that love.
So, in just 9 days, on August 15, I will be getting on a plane and moving 5,000 miles away from my home in Cincinnati, Ohio to my new home in Turt, Romania. Most importantly though, I will be investing my life where I want to invest my love.
Please, please, please pray for me. I'm ridiculously excited, but also nervous. I know the Lord is with me in this. He has made it VERY clear. I am taking Blessed John Paul II's advice of "Do not be afraid" to heart.
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