OCMC Romania Trip Journal

The following is the personal journal I kept during the two weeks I was in Romania, in its original unedited form.  It is only bits and pieces of my trip, scribbled down between meals or before bedtime. I hope you are able to get even a glimpse of the incredible things experienced on this trip that God has allowed me to go on. This trip has touched me on a deeper level than I had expected, and I hope that after reading this journal you are moved to experience a similar trip for yourself. The work of missions is not just a nice thing to do, but a command from our Lord Himself. It is with incredible gratitude that I thank everyone who supported me both prayerfully and financially. It was with great joy that I was able to make this trip on behalf of you, for the glory of God and his holy Church.

 

 

07/13/2007

After months and months of preparation, it’s still hard to believe that I am on a plane right now, on my way to Romania. We finished our orientation this morning, which concluded with prayers at the mission center, in St. Augustine with Fr. Martin and the whole OCMC staff. It was a very special and uplifting service and the presence of the Holy Spirit could truly be felt as we began our journey on this trip that God has brought us to, each for a very special purpose. There have been many times that I have wondered about this purpose but this morning I felt very much at peace, knowing only that it is God’s will that I be on this trip and that everything I do must be done in love and for His glory.

 

07/18/2007

It has been a VERY busy past couple of days since our arrival here in Romania. We have already seen and experienced so many wonderful things it is overwhelming at times. Our first day here we spent with our hosts, Radu, Colin, and Sorin. All are wonderful people and very caring and patient with us. We went to services at the student church which is currently underground. It’s amazing to see so many young students worshipping together. I would love to see the Orthodox youth in America be like this one day.

 

On Sunday evening we began our pilgrimages to various monasteries throughout the countryside. Our first visit was to the Nicula monastery. The oldest documented record of its existence is around 1500, but it is probably older. We had the privilege of getting a tour of the original church, which was a little smaller than the average kitchen. There were many beautiful and very old icons and one of the monks gave us a great history of the monastery.

 

We met another monk who was very excited to meet us, as we were the first Americans he had ever met. He taught us about love and what it means to love God and our neighbor. He even mentioned the terrorists that attacked our country on 9/11, telling us that they were full of hate, which brings about destruction. He also told us that his black cassock was hot sometimes, but if the soul is clean the body will also be clean.

 

The temple in current use by the monastery was incredible, and I have never seen an iconostasis so unique and beautiful. In the center was a very old wonder-working icon of the Theotokos. We were blessed to be able to venerate.

 

 

After evening services, we were treated to an absolutely wonderful meal. The first course was a type of corn soup with vegetables. Then we had cabbage rolls that were very similar to what the Lebanese cabbage rolls are. The were slightly different in the spices, but were equally good if not better! We also had some fresh cow’s milk right from the monastery. It was a bit chunky and probably not what I would want on my cereal every morning. With the exception of the raisin bread, it was all gluten-free!

After the meal we left for the Casiel monastery. We made it in time for night services after about an hour drive. It is a monastery for women only and when they began singing it sounded like a choir of angels. Monastics are called to be like the angels. But those of us who are in the world are called to the same way of life, to die to the world and be as the angels are and live our lives like the monastics do, whether in a monastery or not.

Our accommodations were humble and adequate. We had beds and a bathroom. Ron’s head barely cleared the ceiling. After morning liturgy we received a very special blessing from the priest there. He was very joyful and animated. There was a short service he did for us, asking the names of our lost loved ones. We all prayed together, holding up a small table of breads and fruits and candles. It was like a trasagion service that we all participated in. Afterwards, we all gathered in a circle on our knees and he put his stole over us and said some special prayers for us and the work we were doing in Romania. We then were treated to a delicious breakfast of bean soup, mashed potatoes with mushrooms, and wine. The priest gave us a final blessing that reminded me of a televangelist. I think he was so excited, our blessing on the head became a smack on the head. He gave us each some beautiful icon cards and a small service/prayer book. It is all in Romanian, but the students are helping me to learn what it says.

On the next stop! We headed to a salt mine that was started (?) during communism. The drive there took a while, maybe a few hours, but the countryside was beautiful and we went through a lot of villages with many roadside crosses and crosses in the yards. They made it clear that they were not ashamed of Christ. It was also neat to see so many domed churches scattered over the countryside.

The mine was not open for tourists and visitors normally, but we got a very special tour and our guide was proud to show us as his family has worked there for generations. Inside the mine was a soccer court that was funny to see.

The highlight was the church made for the workers that was inside of one of the caverns. It was absolutely incredible! It was the most beautiful church I have ever seen. It is much like what one of the catacomb churches in Rome look like. The walls had carvings and inscriptions carved in the salt and rock, and some of the furniture and decorations were carved from the salt. The space was very large and in the ceiling which was probably 70-80 feet high was the carved niche for the Christ Pantocrator icon that is in the ceilings/domes of all Orthodox churches. It was so neat to see it built into the rock. The iconostasis was exquisitely carved (from wood) and had many beautiful icons. It was very tall and very wide. We were told that very few visitors had seen the church. It really has been one of the highlights of the trip so far.

 

After the salt mine tour we were back on the road for our final stop on the pilgrimage. We were getting very tired and the roads were quite unpleasant, especially at 60 mph.

 

Our last visit was to the Rohia monastery. It is only a little over 100 years old and was started by a many who kept having visions and dreams that told him to build the monastery. I wont go into details about the whole story, but it was very clear that God wanted that monastery to be built in that spot. There were a couple of buildings, and from the highest building that looked down on one of the churches, the view was incredible.

 

The building at the top was a small museum with some neat things like old icons, liturgical books, and other old church artifacts. After the tour we had lunch, which was a small meal of eggs (boiled), salami, sheep cheese, tomatoes, and animal fat. The eggs were orange inside instead of the yellow yolks I’m used to seeing, but they didn’t taste too different. The animal fat was interesting and really not that bad with a bite of egg and salami. There was a large icon of the Theotokos that we venerated, but it was only afterwards that I learned that it was a wonder-working icon.

 

The monastery visits were really wonderful and I wish we could have stayed longer and participated more fully in their rich prayer lives. It was a great time for peace and quiet before the camp.

 

The following day we had lunch with Bishop Vasile, who is the Bishop of Cluj. That was a wonderful experience! He has an inner joy that all Christians strive for, and it is incredibly humbling to be in his presence. I am used to seeing a Bishop be served, but Bishop Vasile served us. He takes the servanthood role of being a Bishop the way it should be, the way that Christ served. The meal was several courses and it was all delicious. We started off with deep fried vegetables and some kind of sheep/goat cheese. Then we had soup, followed by 2 kinds of fish, wine, mashed potatoes, and ice cream and fruit for dessert. The Bishop gave each of us small gifts of crosses and prayer beads and upon learning that it was my birthday the following day, he gave me a bigger cross! We took a few photos together with the Bishop and he gave us a final blessing. Before we left he told us to wait and came back with a bottle of champagne that he wanted us to take to celebrate my birthday with. How cool!

07/19/2007

Yesterday was the first day of camp and also my 25^th birthday. It’s great getting to know the kids and they are all really neat. We have a range of ages from about 10-18. There are about 30-some all together and about forty-five to fifty counting us and the ASCOR [college] students. At dinner they all sang happy birthday and made a huge fruit salad with candles. There is nowhere I would have rather been on my birthday than with my new friends from Romania.

 

07/24/2007

It’s hard to believe this is our last full day of camp already! I suppose it’s a good thing that I haven’t had time to write. We have all been very busy learning, playing games, doing sports, eating, getting to know each other, and of course praying.

The workshops have been fun and I started learning how to make prayer ropes, but I didn’t quite get the hang of all the steps yet. The flower mosaic icon is coming along nicely, but it is time consuming and so far only the younger ones have been in the workshop. Their patience is definitely lacking.

On the second day of camp we had a big water balloon fight. We started with a water balloon toss contest, and then had the fight. It was a blast and they don’t ever play with water balloons in Romania so it was a treat for them.

 (Click to play video)

 

  

The weather has been extremely hot and we spend most of the day outside, so it is starting to take its toll on all of us. Thankfully, it has cooled off a bit the last 2 days. I am connecting with some of the kids really well, especially the 12-15 yr. old boys. They always want to show me something, or play a game, or sit by me at meals or in church. I hope this means that I am being a positive role model for them. They all have really good hearts, though I am beginning to see the western influences in their lives. Right now it is almost as if church life is separate from every day life. While this is definitely a normal thing for many Christians, especially in the U.S., it is certainly not the way Christians are supposed to be living. As the scriptures tell us, “you cannot serve two masters.” Not only is it a challenge to get the kids to understand this, but it is even more of a challenge for me to live by this myself.

The food here is good thought it can be heavy at times. It is healthy in the sense that there are little to no preservatives and added junk to the food, but variety, especially fruits and vegetables is lacking. I haven’t seen anything green since I’ve been here. We’ve been eating a lot of rice, cabbage, chicken, soups, apples, and watermelon, corn, potatoes, and cheese and yogurt. My health and stomach have been doing surprisingly well, and we have all been drinking the natural spring water with no problems. The past day though my health has declined a bit, mostly because we are getting very little sleep, I’ve eaten way more sugar the past 2 days than I am used to, and it’s been hard to keep up with vitamins and supplements, especially with the lack of any “super foods” in our daily diet. The first week in Romania I did very well with the gluten-free diet, along with the first few days of camp. However, the cooks soon started using pasta and flour in the meals, and so I’ve been eating specially prepared meals at nearly every meal. It has been extremely hard to communicate my diet, though thankfully we have a doctor here from Romania that knows my condition and was able to explain it to the cooks. Celiac disease seems to be almost unheard of here. But I am surviving.

 

The games have been a blast and the kids seem to really love capture the flag. All of them are crazy about soccer—of course! Many of them wanted to know about American football and I spent 20 minutes explaining the game of baseball to a few of the girls the other day who wanted to know how to play.

2 days ago, I talked for almost 2 hours with Delia, one of the campers here. On the bus ride to the camp she was sitting by herself, so I sat with her and introduced myself and ever since we have been best friends. She is 17 and pretty reserved, but we are a lot a like and listen to the same music and have lots to talk about. We spent a long time just talking about roller coasters because she wanted to ride some really bad and had never been on one. She has a passion for animals and the environment and loves the idea that in America we have animal shelters. Perhaps some day she will start some here in Romania. I am so thankful that I was able to get to know her because she is such a neat person. I’m sure we will keep in touch through email.

 

The music has been SO much fun and I love the Romanian camp songs we sing every night. Ron and Radu are great at getting them to participate and they love Ron’s music, especially his song “Let’s Go Shopping.” Everyone really seems to bond during the singing and I love watching them smiling and laughing and singing along. I’m even learning a bit of the language from the singing.

 

 

 

Speaking of language, I have picked up many words and phrases during camp. The kids get a kick out of us trying to say words. They told me I have a really funny accent. But it is a lot of fun having them teach us new words, especially at the meals. The Romanian language is beautiful and I think I could pick it up with a lot of hard work. Several of the kids have really good English, and some speak very little. I know they are learning some English from us too, so it is pretty neat.

There have been several random things happening the last few days, so I’ll try to recount some of them. 4 days ago we hiked an hour to a nearby church for morning services. I believe it was the feast day for saint Elijah. The walk was nice but on the way back it was incredibly hot. Luckily, it was a rest day, so we were able to relax and recover.

 

2 nights ago one of the younger boys, Vlad, took me to the stable with the animals because he wanted to teach me how to milk the goat. It was definitely an experience, and I would be a pretty thirsty guy if I had to do that all of the time, as I only got a few drops out. Afterwards we took the milk to the kitchen, strained it, and drank some of it. It actually wasn’t too bad and was sweet. Perhaps if we had boiled it and drank it cold I would have had more than a sip.

Yesterday we went on a 2 hour hike which was tiring, but the view was amazing. We took lots of pictures and had a lot of fun hanging out at the top. Along the way a few of us found a raspberry bush and they were the sweetest, most flavorful raspberries I have ever tasted. Yum!

 

Our prayer life here is very full, but often times I am left feeling a bit empty. Though I can follow along okay it is still very hard to participate fully in the services because I can’t understand the words. In the churches it is not so bad because there is the iconostasis, the chanters, incense, etc, but here at camp we just have a small table with 2 icons and candles. Every night though our team gets together to discuss the day and then we pray in English. One of my favorite parts is in our prayers we each go around the circle and pray something.

 

10/20/2007

It has been many weeks since I returned home from my trip. I found it very difficult to close my journal with some concluding thoughts. I guess because as much as I missed my family and friends, my bed and my shower, and food that I know is safe, I just wasn’t ready to come home. I am now back in a world where only my closest friends and family understand my faith. I miss seeing Orthodox churches everywhere I look. I miss being surrounded by so many people who are trying to reach the same goals that I am and keep me focused on the important things in life. And most of all, I miss my new friends. On the last day of camp, when we were all saying our goodbyes, the true meaning and purpose of this trip became very clear to me. Crista, one of the older campers and a budding artist told me that I made a very big impression on her life. She was so grateful that we traveled so far just for them. As I said goodbye to all of my new friends, I knew how each of them impacted my life. I have a special memory for each of them, and I hope they all have special memories of me and every member of our OCMC team. When it finally came time to say goodbye to Delia, my best friend from camp, we both did pretty good. We promised to write, said our goodbyes, and she started her walk home. Almost everyone had left and we were finishing up unloading the bus before our team headed back to our accommodations in the city. I turned around to see Delia walking back to where we were, with tears in her eyes. She smiled and said with perfect English, “I needed one more hug goodbye.”