It's cooler today

It's much cooler today, the weather has been just right for t-shirts and jeans, and I haven't sweated at all :-).

The rain is good for the plants, everything was starting to get a little wilted...but as usual, it makes things harder in the communities where we work - lots of mud, hard to stay clean, construction gets behind schedule...you know the drill.

Karen has moved from her little, dark office in the back of the building out front into the big room with the rest of us office drones - it's nice to see a bit more of her. Andreas just got back from vacation in Sweden, Kari and Liz were really happy to see him back - and so were lots of people from community. The first day he was back there were something like 20 people waiting outside the doors to see him...this was written on the 27th of July... the rest is added today...

Last week the weather turned hot again...we were sweating buckets and couldn't get a cool breeze anywhere... Andreas, Kari, Liz and some short-termers spent all week long buried in hats, gloves, scarves and yarn - DECE is taking over the world :-)

Our old accountant, Nico, is leaving soon (she was supposed to leave last week, but didn't feel that she could leave the new accountant on her own...please pray for Tamara (new accountant), she really doesn't understand what we're about and can't really wrap her head around the fact that we're all just a bunch of volunteers who really don't know a lot about business or the way offices are "supposed" to be run - she's not a Christian, and has very little patience with "oamenii saraci" (poor people) - so prayer for patience and understanding and that God will touch her heart. Also, it would be good to pray for peace for Nico and an easy and safe delivery - this baby is a gift from God (she was told that she wouldn't be able to have any more children - so this really is a miracle and a blessing for her...so give her the peace to go home and have this baby and not worry about us... She was and is a blessing and a real part of our family.

This week, DECE is still taking over the world, but we've also had some amazing worship times and are getting a lot done, in terms of building up for fall. Lee and the leadership team have been sitting in meetings for several weeks, looking at budgets and work that God has asked us to step into - we're clearing ground in Alfa to build a community center and gradinita/homework club area - it will be a place for people to come and get help with buletins (ID cards) and other social work kinds of help and a place for children to come to get help learning - very similar to what we already do in Checheci and in Siria.

Work on the farm is progressing, and God is providing the provision that we need in order to pay for the work...it's slow and we could use some skilled volunteers (e.g. tilers, plasterers, carpenters, electricians) to help move the work forward but we're sure that God will provide them when the time is right (if anyone at church feels the need to take a trip to Romania to help out...then feel free to let us know :-) ) The hope is to have the farm open by Christmas, and the general feeling is that it is possible.

Last weekend, we had a day out for street church - about 30 men, women and children from the street showed up - we had sausage and mici and chips (fries for us Americans) and watermelon (lebanitza). The guys played football and swam a lot, us women mostly sat around and chatted and just relaxed...we had some worship and then Cipri brought a short message - it was an amazing time and I was really proud of our guys - they behaved very, very well - even when they had cause to act up and behave badly, they didn't (we went to a public park and as you can probably guess, a bunch of not so nice looking, ruffians didn't go over so well with the "locals" )... Continue praying for them - they are getting touched by God all the time and some of them are beginning to step up and want to change their lives - but it can be really difficult, especially when you've lived on the streets most of your lives and hidden behind a bag of aurolac (paint thinner), the pain of life can be more than one can bear...

I'm doing fine, looking forward to coming home for a visit in October and the return of cooler weather...

Love you all very much and will write more soon.

Beth