This Christmas I was blessed to spend time with my friend Simon and his family. On Christmas Eve we went caroling all day from house to house and on Christmas Day I gave the Christmas message. I had a great time with the Costisanu family and thank them so much for their hospitality and friendship. Merry Christmas everyone!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Bucuresti and Romania. The lights are on, the parks are full of carolers, treats, and the snow is falling daily. This Christmas I will be with my friend and his family in Onesti. I wish all of you a very blessed Christmas.
In Parcul Titan near my apartment
I have been busy caroling away with my church choir and youth group. On Sunday after church, we drove in the snow and slush to Pucioasa to sing carols at a special program at the cultural palace. They even made a special banner over the main street announcing our choir "Bunavestire din Bucuresti"! After the concert, we all went to a friend's family to sing carols at their door and they served us with pork, pickled peppers, and warm drinks. It is tradition in Romania to go from house to house caroling. Usually families will give you treats or a warm drink.
With our youth group, we visited several adult homes and went caroling in several blocs. We had a ton of fun. At the end of the long day, we treated ourselves to Pizza Hut and played duck, duck goose outside in the snow as we waited for tables. Us Romanians are never bored :)
Many Saturdays I have been helping out in an evangelistic outreach to kids in Baicoi, by teaching Bible lessons, making crafts, singing songs, creating dramas, and playing games. This past Saturday we put on a Christmas play for their parents. It was a great day and a real treat for the kids. We would have liked to have seen more parents attend, but it was still a blessed time.
On Tuesday morning we woke up to the first snowfall in Bucharest, and that means one big mess. Why? The city doesn't really plow snow. So streets remain full of slush, the city parking spots (already few and far between) decrease in half, and sidewalks don't get cleared until everything melts. Being from Minnesota, which probably has the most efficient snow plowing and removal system in the world, it's difficult to watch how utterly INefficient the city of Bucharest is, and unprepared for even a dusting of snow. It's actually quite ridiculous. If they would just for a couple hours say you can't park on one side of the street so it can be plowed, it would save a lot of headaches. But, this city is not known for it's organizational skills--that's for sure. Thus, you make sure you carry a shovel. You park your car, burry the car next to you, and so on. I just don't understand why no one (in a city where nearly two million people go by foot daily) bothers to shovel the sidewalk. Instead, it looks like little ski-tracks through the snow. And the streets? A lot of cars skidding, sliding, and very slow traffic. The curb? An unplowed mess of slush. The snow removal is really the best evidence of the utter ineptitude of city officials. On the Bucharest mayor's page a few years ago, it litterly said, "we don't plow snow--it's a waste of money." Yeah! Today I saw a few kids sledding down the middle of my four-lane bulevard near my bloc tied to a mercedes. Quite the sight. This IS Romania---as I say, never boring.
This past weekend we had our annual Christmas concert with our choir at church. After a lot of rehearsals and long nights, I think the effort was worth it. Many people said they were blessed by coming to the concerts. I hope to be able to post some of the songs soon.
Just a few photos of my church. We meet in a theatre in the center of Bucharest. It has been a challenge to move to a big theatre, but we have seen our church grow a lot over the past year--praise be to God. We pray that we would see even more new believers come and participate in a true, authentic Christian community.
Here is one of my favorite songs by the group Decean. The title is "Hands towards the sky."
Today we celebrated Romanian National Day with all the pomp and circumstance. Parades, tanks, music, free-food, fireworks, etc. La Multi Ani Romania (Happy Birthday Romania!).
