Romania...Day 6

The English classes continued to go well. Often the BFA students found themselves subbing for the regular teachers. That evening we had a prayer meeting and were asked to sing with the girls from the attic a song in Romanian and English. Below, Pinky lead this song, she is on the far right.

We enjoyed praying with the Romanians. When they pray, the pastor will sort of guide their prayers to pray for our spiritual relationship, the church, or the sick. When it was time to pray each person would stand or kneel and pray out loud. The Romanians are very passionate and it is clear that they truly love the Lord.

Romania...Day 5

(Here is my short disclaimer as to why the rest of the trip is finally being put on the blog: Life has been very busy in the dorm with all of the girls back and when I have time, I usually want to sleep...so sorry about the late entries.)

The day was very similar to they days before with the students teaching English. We teacher types were working on the presentation that the 12th grade English class and our BFA students were going to present on Thursday to the entire school. The presentation was called “What is Your Heart Like?” The students would sing and then tell the school about they different kinds of hearts people can have. Both BFA and Filadelphia took a survey and the students were remarkably similar in the kinds of hearts they had. Both schools had many happy or joyful hearts and not very many thankful heart.

That evening we had all of the girls in the attic come for a Bible Study. I presented the “Paper Cross Story” which tells of the Christ’s death on the cross and how He rose again. Emma, a Romanian student, translated what I said into Romanian. That was very difficult for me to have to stop after every sentence but I made it through.

One of the 12th grade girls, Pinky, asked me to teach her how to fold the paper cross so she could teach it to her Sunday School class. Pinky and I became good friends. Later she invited me to her room to meet her 3 roommates and to see how she had decorated the whole room in pink. She also shared about her life, her love for God, and how she had an aunt who lives in California. I even got her email so we can stay in contact.

Romania...Day 4

The students spend another day in the classrooms teaching English. After school our BFA team would meet together in one of the classrooms. Here we would discuss ideas for English classes, games to play in the evenings, and then we would pray for the Romanian students.

Cathy and I found that we have a similar love for Diet Coke or Coca Cola Light as it is known in Europe.

After our meetings it would be time for dinner. Here is a picture of one our means. We had bread at every meal. This meal is mostly of potatoes with a slice of cheese and the bottle is what they call yogurt. But it is not like the yogurt that Americans or Germans know. It is more similar to sour cream. The students would drink this entire bottle. Needless to say it was a bit too different for us Americans and Koreans to really enjoy it, but it was a fun experience.

This evening there was a parent meeting at the school and the parking lot was so filled up we had to play our games inside. Here I am playing “Shuffle your Buns.” We then played “Apple, Apple, Banana” and then ended the night with “Honey if You Love Me Will You Please, Please Smile.” They were all a big hit!

Romania...Day 3

Teaching English the the students.

It was a wonderful day…even if it began with rain. The BFA students spent the day in the classrooms teaching English. Many of them picked up quite a bit of Romanian as well. Here you can see Josh learning basic Romanian phrases from some of the students. By the end of the week he and Katelyn could say the “Lord’s Prayer” in Romanian and I am still trying to master “thank you.”
This was our first day of games with students who lived in the “attic.” With the middle school and high school students we played “football” or in American terms soccer. With the elementary students we had some rousing games of “Duck, Duck, Goose.” This was a new game to them, but they loved it!
We were also able to celebrate “H’s” 18th birthday. We sang to her and gave her chocolate! Then that evening the girls in the attic found out it was “H’s” birthday and they all sang the Romanian version of “Happy Birthday” and then the English version. “H” was overwhelmed at these girls kindness and generosity as they gave her hugs and gifts.

The Romanian Birthday Song!

Happy Birthday Hugs!

After the birthday songs all of the girls gathered in the hallway for a couple of games of “Mafia.” This seems to be a very international game! What a fun end to a great day.

Romania...Day 2

We woke on Sunday morning with a lovely breakfast and then we went to church. Since we were a bit late they sat us all in the center in a row. Now in North America, this would not be a big deal, but in Romania the men sit in the center section that we were in and the women sit on both sides of the sanctuary. We were making some cultural mistakes. Oppps. Church was very exciting. That morning they had a Dutch preacher speaking in English with a lady who translated it to Romanian. Then we sang praise songs and hymns in Romanian, but I knew them in English. To have Romanian, Dutch, American, and Korean Believers worshiping the Lord at one time was an amazing experience. God is so good, faithful and true.


The electricity race!!!

Daniel, Josh, Brittany & Katelyn play cards with their new friend Emmy.

We then played games Sunday afternoon with the students that lived in the attic, or their dormitory. Here we are playing cards and pulse electricity. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

The BFA and Romanian students who visited the Fortress of Stephen the Great.

Stephen the Great

A traditional Romania village.

Us after we climbed and then went back down the 256 stairs!

Stephen the Great's monument.

The students on the wall of the fortress.

Mihilea and Cathy!

Then Mihilea and some of her students took us to St. Stephen the Great’s Fortress. Stephen the Great was one of the most loved kings of Romania who was a good leader, won many battles against the Turks, and treated all people fairly. The Fortress was very impressive. We did have to climb up 256 stairs to get to the Fortress that sits upon a large hill, but it was worth the experience.

The Fortress!

Stephen the Great with people in court at the museum.

Romania...Day 1

On Saturday March 28 the BFA Romania Team set out. We consisted of two leaders, myself and Cathy a math teacher and 8 students (2 guys and 6 girls). We left school in 2 vans filled a lot of luggage to the Zurich airport, which is an hour and 15 minutes away. There was some chaos as we all checked into the airport…but soon we were at our gate.

Here we are waiting in Zurich and eating our packed lunch.

We then arrived in Bucharest, Romania the capitol city. Here we have five long hours in the airport before we could continue on to Suceava. We had plenty of time to read and even find some yummy pizza to eat.

We arrived in the very small airport of Suceava at 10pm. Here Mihilea, our contact and an English teacher, met us with some other faculty from Filadelphia Christian School to take us back to the school. There we found our rooms and went to sleep…after we anciently woke up the girls on our floor. Oppps...

Candle Light Dinner

The weekend after Fashching, the BFA community put on Candle Light Dinner. This is an outreach to the Germans. This year the theme was "Sing Freedom!" Both a BFA adult choir and student choir sang Gospel Songs and told the story of Harriet Tubman. It was a wonderful presentation of Christ's love in both German and English.

Here are both the BFA choirs practicing for the big performance. There was a performance on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Needless to say, everyone was very worn out after this!

When the students were not preforming during practice they found many ways to entertain themselves. Dutch Blitz is a favorite game!

Here "B" and "E" pose for the camera. These seniors enjoy their last Candle Light Dinner performance.

This is "R", she is one of the girls at Palmgarten Dorm. She had a solo and did an excellent job using the gifts God has given her for His glory. Many German people commented that this was the best performance they have seen of the Candle Light Dinner.

Romania Team

Here are some of the female students going to Romania to serve the Lord there over spring break.

There are the two token guys on the trip. They have 7 female students and 2 adult female leaders. Way to go GUYS!

This spring break I have the opportunity to co-lead a team of 9 BFA students to Romania. We are going to Fildelphia Christian School. This is a Christian school for Romanian children. They have about 500 students there, so it is much bigger than BFA. They have about 90 boarding students. This is the group of people we are going to focus on. They have much less space than BFA boarding students an do not have the activities that the average BFA student can participate in. As a group we hope to encourage the boarding students with evening activities of games. We will also be helping out in the English classes for all of the students. It will be a huge learning experience for us all.

At one of our meetings I had the team do a team building activity called the "Birthday Rope." They had to stay on the rope at all times and get into the correct order of their birthdays. It was a great time!

Two of my Palmgarten girls get to go on the trip with me: "K" & "N". I am so happy to have them with us. They are both seniors and will add a lot of leadership to the team!

Fasching

Downtown Kandern-Hauptstrasse

On Feb. 21 the town of Kandern celebrated Fasching. This is the holiday before Lent where everyone can do whatever they want to do without having to feel any guilt. As I understand it, sometime people switch partners or participate in whatever activity they would like too over this holiday. There was a large parade here in Kandern where people dressed up in scary costumes and act out various activities. We did not allow the girls in our dorm to attend. Then at Lent everyone gives up something. The also have large bond fires after the Fasching celebration to get rid of the evil spirits. As you can imagine, it was a good time for the BFA community to be in prayer for the Kandern community and for the staff and students of BFA.

As a way of decoration, the people will string up undergarments or flags across the street to celebrate Fasching.

Tea Time!

The girls in Palmgarten dorm invited the girls in Blauen dorm over for a Tea Party! It was a grand time of remembering their own childhood tea parties with their friends.

These two ladies created these lovely hats for the occasion. Their creativity was put to good use!

These girls enjoyed dressing up like they would have if they were five or six and attending a tea party with friends.

The girls and RAs dressed in many different styles! Look at that pink dress! Doesn't it remind you of proms of the past!

Tea time is not something to be taken lightly and these girls dressed in their best!

The girls enjoyed tea and cupcakes as they sat at the beautifully decorated tables.

The RAs also enjoyed tea time. Here are Ellie, Vangie, Lizzy, and myself having tea!

When tea time was over we all enjoyed a couple of episodes of Full House! Oh the wonders of childhood!

The Palm girls dressed to the nines for the tea party! We had a great time and really enjoyed having Blauen dorm over for tea!