From the Lap of Luxury to the . . .

After dinner last night we returned to finish up a few tasks. The mortar we are using requires a lot of dry time, so if we can finish a wall before bed it will dry over night. The majority of the group moved to the dorm in the orphanage last night. A few stayed at the institute for overflow. It is vastly different than the accommodations we began with. The first two days we had to stay in a hotel. Each of us had our own air conditioned room with a private shower and wireless internet. We are now sleeping on bunkbeds in a orphanage, sharing two rooms and two showers. In the hotel we joked that it was tough to suffer on a mission trip. I think we all agree that the change is good for us. After a utility outage, the water came back on the group was able to use the showers and settle in. The lights went out about 11p.

Fw: A good day of work done!

It's 5:00 and we have finished a full day of work.  When we arrived today we began work on the interior exterior and the grounds.  On the back of the building we built a stair to allow access to the exit door, finished insulating the exterior, and troweled on a first layer of morter over a layer of fiberglass mesh.  In the front room (same room the reception was held in last night) we removed the four windows and installed foam insulation on two of the thee exterior walls.  On the grounds we removed all the garbage and stacked the useable material in accessible places out of the way of construction.  Only a few minor cuts and bruises.  Lunch today was a romanian dish.  It was a cabage roll filled with meat and rice.  They tasted very good but we were all a little nervous about what they might do to our digestive track.  We plan to return after supper to do as much as possible before we run out of steam.  We know our time is limited and we want to accomplish as much as possible.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Ready to work!

We filled up on a good romanian breakfast this morning:  eggs, toast, bread, hot dogs, salami, and goat/sheep cheese.  Cofee is not common, but what is available will curl your mustache.  We are moving over to the TBBI dorms this morning, so we are losing our internet access.  We will try to keep updates going as often as possible.  The work begins today.  We are all anxious to get to work.  The weather forcast has the temperature in the ninetys for the rest of the week.  

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Timiasora Bible Institute Graduatin

After some rested and some explored for the afternoon, we all gathered at church #3 for the TBBI grauduation.  Phil was able to catch up with us as we celebrated with the church family.  Bill Fortner began the service and Pastor Brown gave  a charge to the graduates.  After the service we attended a reception at the bible institute with the graduates and their families.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Jerry's Testimony for The Baptist Church in Gottlab

Romanian Young People Singing for Church

The people in Romanian churches really know how to sing. Their numbers are smaller, but their volume is not.

Back from Visiting the Village Churches

This morning our team split into groups and went to visit the village churches around Timiasora. Each man was given the opportunity to share a testimony and Pastor Ray, Jason Gillette, and Pastor Brown all gave messages. The churches ranged in size from 20 to 115. Their culture is different from ours, but their love for the Savior is the same. The pictures are from the Baptist church in Gottlab not too far from the Hungarian border. Our translator was named Sali. He is twenty six and engaged to be married to a christian girl from Romania in October. He also taught a Study on Elijah this morning and played the piano. After church we met for lunch at the orphanage. Apparently noodle soup is a Sunday afternoon tradition for Romanian Church goers. Debbi Brown got put to work to help clean up after us.