Hello from Pitesti, Romania!
I'm happy to have a chance to update the blog, even though the reason I have time and access to a computer right now is because I'm left behind at the church to take care of some kind of minor illness I've managed to catch. Feels like a cold, but with a fever too.
The time here has been both busy and blessed and the outreach has been flying by. The team and the Romanian people have been such a joy to work with. The original cycling team of about 7 of us was joined by another OM team, "the transit team," which is spending six months driving through Europe and helping out at different ministries. Their blog is here (and there is a good post about Romania, with pictures): http://transitteam4.blogspot.co.uk/
We finished the cycling and village outreach portion of the time with OM Romania on Sunday and it turned out to be much easier cycling than I anticipated -- no more than 15 kilometers a day. We loaded up all the bikes into a big bus and drove outside the city to start the cycling portion, because it would be too dangerous to bike in or near the city. It was interesting to see the differences between a Romanian village and a gypsy village -- one has mostly paved roads, nice fences, ditches beside the road for sanitation... and the other has none of these things. We stayed in a village called Paulesca, at a church which was under construction but will be very nice when completed. The church is run by a Romanian man named Liviu and his wife Damaris who work with a ministry called "Somebody Cares." The most exciting thing about the church (and I'm referring to the people now) is that it seems to be alive! We were welcomed very warmly both inside the church and in the village.
One thing that has been funny to see is the the gypsy kids texting or taking photos with their smart phones, a reminder that there are many kinds of poverty and that it is spiritual poverty that is most important.
