The Experience

First of all, Merry Christmas. It's 7am here in Ohio and I'm still slightly jet lagged, so that's why I am awake. We agreed that we'd get up at 8:30 to do gifts, so I have to wait. Hahaha. May the newborn Christ child bring you hope, joy, and especially peace.

I want to share with you a blog post written by one of the WONDERFUL students that came on mission to Romania in October. Her name is Megan and I am so blessed to have been able to share my love of Romania with someone like her. She is a student at Belmont Abbey College and transferred to Franciscan just for the semester so that she could study abroad in Austria. She is someone with an amazing heart. Check out her blog post about her experience on mission in Romania:

http://createdforhim3.blogspot.com/2012/12/romania.html

Megan and Isabella

Megan had a similar experience to what I had, but it was in my experience that I found my calling to missionary life. I'd never been on a mission trip before and actually, I had no idea where Romania was. I agreed to go before I even looked at a map to find it. I cannot be more grateful to God for His leading me to Romania in April 2011 and His guidance in establishing a permanent mission in Romania and now - the new orphanage! It was while in Romania that I found my purpose in life. I knew God created me to love on these babies for more than just a week while on a mission trip. He has called me to this for at least the next few years.

You can have "The Experience" if you want to. This summer, Missions of Hope is having a 2 week or 4 week trip to Romania. If you are interested or know someone who may be, let me know or send the director of M.O.H. (Kevin Kacvinsky) an e-mail at kevin@bringhope.org. 

Update

So, I haven't written in over a month...my bad. No, I didn't die. We've just been super busy doing awesome things!

We had another group of 8 American students come from Austria, 2 of whom had been here with the first group. It has been such a blessing for me to have had 14 Americans come during my first long-term stay here. It was the revamp I needed.

I now teach English to 60 kids at the community school. On Tuesdays, I teach 5th and 6th grade and on Thursdays, I teach 7th and 8th grade. It's good time - but crazy. The younger kids like to play "Simon Says" A LOT. It's hard to get them to work sometimes. Hahaha.

I was extremely blessed to be able to spend Thanksgiving at Franciscan University's Austrian campus. It was so great to be able to be with some Americans for the holiday (although, Fr. Remus did offer to grab one of the turkeys from a farm near Satu Mare so that we could have our own Thanksgiving here, but I told him no. Hahahaha). It was amazing to be back where I grew up a lot both emotionally and spiritually.

The Kartause in Gaming, Austria that houses Franciscan's Austria program

This past Saturday was Romania National Day. That day memorializes the unification of the 10 small countries into Romania. Nothing big happened in Turt, but we watched the huge military parade in Bucharest (the capital of Romania) on tv. It was cool to watch because I realized that I really don't know all that much about Romania as a whole.

Showing some birthday love to my new home with my 4ft. by 6 ft. Romanian flag

On Thursday, I will be going to Satu Mare with Fr. Remus and 2 other people from our church to deliver gifts to an orphanage for St. Nick's Day. It's a much bigger celebration here than it is in the States. I'm super excited :)

I am headed back to the United States on December 14 to spend Christmas with my family and to do some serious fundraising for our new project: a Catholic orphanage in Turt that I am going to be the director of! I am so excited for this. It means I am going to be in Romania more long-term, but it also means I have the huge task of fundraising the costs: an estimated 50,000 euro, or about $65,000 for the building costs. The Blessed Mother, St. Padre Pio, and Blessed Mother Teresa have all been called upon to help me out with this, so I know we'll get there. If you would consider donating (and I'm not joking when I say that $5 goes a long way in Romania), little baby Jesus would be very happy ;)

Missions of Hope, the amazing organization that helped me start my mission in Romania, launched its new website last night and it's AWESOME. Check it out: www.bringhope.org

I just finished reading the book Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (phenomenal book, BTW. Everyone should read it) and at the end, she makes a statement that I am adopting as my new slogan of sorts: "I want to bring the truth to those trapped in lies and darkness, to tell them that God is there, He is real, and He loves them - no matter what." That's EXACTLY why I am here.

So, as I near the end of my first stay in Romania, please continue to pray for the mission. I can see the change in the children at the orphanage in Halmeu. I know (because I have been told) that my presence in Turt has given the older people hope and I have been a good influence in the lives of some of the local teens. I am looking forward to seeing my family, but I am going to miss Romania like crazy. I will be back at the end of February/beginning of March.

Also, if you or someone you know may be interested in the missionary life for at least 6 months (it's the best job EVER, fyi), just let me know. We can make that happen!!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

P.S.- Happy Advent!!

P.P.S. - If you or someone you know has computer graphics skills, I'm looking for someone to design a logo for my mission. I'd be willing to pay a little something (I'm a poor missionary, so it won't be much, but something). Please e-mail me at catherine.e.england@gmail.com.