servingHimblind: Sancraiu and Sacuieu

Well, it's my last week in Romania before heading home. Its a little wierd, 'cause it feels both like I've been here forever and also like I just got here.

Thought I would put some pictures of Sancraiu (which apparently I have been misspelling my entire time here ;-D) and a few pictures from last night. We had an awesome praise and worship time in Sacuieu with the Gypsies. They didn't 'sing', per se, they actually yelled on-key. The trouble was that i was trying to match their volume and help keep the girls near me on-beat, and so at the end was hoarse. :-D But it was fun.

I love how there are area's that just open up for awesome views of the valley and village.

Transylvanian Farmhouse.

(on the way to Sacuieu. It was rainy, and we were IN the clouds a lot)

Before Church I went to Lemoia's home where her mom, husband, and sister were all visiting. At first they were quiet, watching me, so I played 'peekaboo' with Isabella, Lemoia's daughter. That sort of 'broke the ice' and they all started asking me about my trip here: how many hours on the plane, how many hours was the trip total, how much it cost, how many kids, if I was married, if I was married before, if I knew any Gypsies in the States and how often I saw Gypsy beggars in the States. There were a few points where Lemoia had to translate my broken Romanian

intoGypsy, but it was fun.

(another view on the way to Sacuieu. Gorgeous at all times of year, but I shudder

when I think of this in the wintertime!!!)

After about a half hour of chatting, Marioala - another Gypsy woman I knew from last year - poked her head in and announced that I was to go to the Church NOW, because Silvana was asking for me. It seemed to me to be one of those situations like when my younger sister says to my younger brother, "MOM SAID you have to _____". But the nice thing was that both Lemoia and Marioala came to church, as Lemoia has only come once while I've been here, and Marioala hasn't come at all.

(a flock of sheep/goats in Sacuieu)

Silvana and I had a nice talk when I got back about previous American teams who have come before and what they did, and how we would want it to look if I brought a team here. I've wanted to put together a mission trip for youth since I stopped working at the Orphanage three years ago, but haven't really had the resources or expertise etc. to do it. But I THINK things may be coming together where that has changed. So anyway, Silvana and I talked about stuff we would have to go over with the youth before they came, and while they were here, and what we would do. She was able to share some of her and Nicu's vision for Calatele and Sacuieu.

(Dana and Zorka, two girls I played with a lot last year)

Its really cool how God has moved in the Gypsies lives and in the Hagiu's lives. Silvana also shared some more about what she and Nicu has learned about Gypsy culture and law etc. A lot of it sounds like stuff I've read about from cultures in like Tribal South America or the Middle East. Which is wierd 'cause we're in EUROPE, which is a completely, totally different culture. From one perspective, it's NO WONDER the Gypsies and Europeans have been butting heads since the Gypsies arrived from India/Pakistan a thousand years ago.

(Danot(s) in the background and left to right is is wife and

two daughters in the foreground)

One thing that has really made me think is how the Gypsies approach certain aspects of life. For example, a lot of them have teeny tiny houses that are often the size of my bedroom. A large house is the size of two small bedrooms. The families usually have from 5 to 10 kids in them. Now granted, they marry off the girls when they are 12 to 15 and the guys are usually out working or... something... so the percentage of that size family that lives consistantly in the house. But the houses are still teeny. However, they spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars/Euro's on their clothes or electronics and take excellent care of their gorgeous yet expensive horses. It's just very interesting to see where their priorities lie.

(a girl looking at my Bible at Church. I LOVE her hair!!!)

Anywayz. Its always interesting to see what kind of paradigm shifts or observations I'm going to experiance when I come to this part of the world. I am SOOO interested to see how God is going to use all of this in the future. :-) Tomorrow is market day again, so that will be interesting! Am hoping to get some stuff like a noodle maker and some stuff for my family. Last time I was there I found an old Hungarian guy who was selling antique clothing he bought from around the countryside. It was fuuuun. I might buy a blouse or something from him... the thing is those clothes are HEAVY. It's like, canvas from a ship's sail or something with embroidery on it!!

Okay well that is all for now. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and my observations. Please pray that this last week goes really well, and that uses me and the Hagiu's mightely to accomplish His work.

Thanks for all your prayers, support and encouragements so far!! In Christ,

~Princess Ouch~