Visit to churches in villages of Romania

This is a mural from a church we visited.  Have you ever wondered about how it must be if you could really look at the earth and see believers all around the world worshiping God?  The Japanese, the believers hiding out in North Korea, people in Australia, Tibet, Turkey.....  

"Sing to the LORD a new song;  sing to the LORD, all the earth.  Sing to the LORD, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day.  Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among ALL peoples."  from Psalm 96

On Saturday, we were taken to a couple villages to visit churches.  We passed this goat herder on the way there.

A "herd" of pigs in a field. I looked it up.  A group of pigs is called a passel or team.  I don't think I've ever seen pigs in a field before; only in a barnyard.  

I thought the "lace" on the edge of the roof was interesting.

On the way to the first church, our driver, Marcel, took us to see the Manastirea Tudor Vladimiresco, a monastary with 90 nuns.

Dogs at the monastery wanted some loving attention.

Sophia very willing to oblige!

We were not allowed to photograph the inside but I found this photo on-line.      We were not supposed to talk inside either. 

After we finished looking around, we were driven to the first village where Pastor Mihai had come to plant a church.  He told the village people "I believe you need God in this village."  The Orthodox church opposed them coming but Mihai said they had a right to worship God.  "You aren't authorized to talk about Christ to the people" the priest said, but the mayor gave them the right to meet.

They put chairs in the front of the church and we were asked to sit there.  The girl next to Adam translated for us.  They told us what it was like during the communist era.  They had to lock doors and shut windows.  But spies were around.

Adam gave a little talk and it was translated.

The people sang.  Then we sang to them in English "In Christ Alone".

A man played his harmonica.

 What a blessing to pray together.  Brothers and sisters in Christ.  

A young mother told me in broken English that her little girl's name was Iris.  I told her I had Iris flowers in my garden.

Next we drove to the other side of the tracks - literally.  To the gyspy side.

We were told that this group of people were always building, but not completing their homes.

In contrast to the other side of the tracks:

There is prejudice against the gypsies, or the Roma people as they are called.  But one man from the church said "These people are dying without knowing Jesus."  So he came to tell them.  He has planted 3 gypsy churches!

Smile!  God loves you!

The women and the men sit on opposite sides of the church.  Al still remembers when the church he grew up in did that.  He was a young boy at that time.

A quartet sang for us and then we were asked to sing also.  After singing "In Christ Alone" again, they asked for a 2nd song, so Adam chose "Amazing Grace."

Adam gave a talk on Titus 3 - Good News, Bad News.  It was translated for the people. "In heaven we will all speak Romanian! (everyone laughed)  We will pray for one another."  

Stories were told about God working in their lives.  In one telling, a little child had been in a coma for 4 months.  The doctor said the only hope was in God.  And prayer is what brought that boy back!  Thank You, LORD!

When the people in the churches here pray, everyone prays at the same time.  It is quite loud.  But God hears each prayer!

I had wondered whether I should take photos or not but soon I began to see that many of them had phones that they were raising up and taking videos/photos of us!

After the service, everyone wanted photos!!  We almost felt like celebrities, but of course, we aren't!

My Roma sisters-in-Christ

Several wanted Pastor Adam to pray for them.

Then they took us out to eat at a restaurant across the tracks.

It is carp, but it is spelled different here.  Almost every restaurant we went to served it.

We had just got a phone call from our son while driving here that our daughter-in-law, Staci, was in the hospital.  They were suspecting that she has Guillain-Barre.  Pastor Stephanico prayed over Emeri for her mom.  Would you pray too?

I enjoyed visiting with these women.  They pointed out which men were their husbands and sons.  The translator helped me to understand.  I pointed out my husband, son-in-law and 2 granddaughters.

We enjoyed a traditional Romanian dish and the generosity of these sweet people who provided the food for us.  What a joy to fellowship with fellow believers in another land!