I'm here! It's wonderful.

Well where to start!? Ok so first I apologize that I haven't updated this sooner... the entire website was in romanian so it took me a while to figure out how to reset it to english! :)

So my flights went well. I had no issues figuring out where to go. It was intimidating but also a lot of fun. I felt very independent! I only slept for 2 hours on the flight from Charlotte to Munich! That was a bummer for sure; so when I arrived to Timisoara I was exhausted. I was greeted with a friendly hug by Andrea Nemes the daughter of the couple who run the orphanage in Lupeni. The drive which I thought would take 3 hours took 6! I was beyond tired. My butt has never been so tired from being sat on! I would have paid someone to let me run... that's saying A LOT! haha.

The drive: to say the least it was shocking. We went through little villages with stray dogs wandering the streets. When I say streets I mean road that looked like patchwork concrete/asphalt jobs. They were terrible. Sometimes the road would be completely torn up and you'd be redirected to the other lane... and yes you'd have to make sure there was not a car coming at you because no one assist with traffic, it's pretty much self governed. SCARY. More shocking than the dogs or roads where the shepards. Yes shepards... I asked Andrea "how come the cows don't come into the street?" and she replied "because there is a man who stays with them all the time, he has dogs too". I just said "ohhh ok" thinking to myself that is crazy... why don't they just get a fence?! On top of that we passed multiple horses pulling carts, apparently a common use for transportation. We stopped in a bigger village and had some McDonald...which was sweet of them to take me so it'd would be kind of like home! (did you know you have to enter a code that is on your receipt just to use the restroom!?)

We finally arrived at the Gall's house, they are so sweet. They had ice cream waiting for us, which I have to agree with Whitney it is better here! At this point I was completely exhausted, frustrated I couldn't keep up with the conversation, shocked by the things I saw while traveling and missing my family. I pretty much burst into tears after The Nemes left I took a shower and went to bed. It was only 8pm here.

This morning I woke up and had a traditional romanian breakfast. It consisted of the same things we would eat... just prepared differently. I ate till I was full and was told to eat more. I told Tabita (Mrs. Gall) I couldn't and she smiled. Then we went to the bank, grocery store, piata (market) and I had so much fun. We came back to a lunch prepared by a girl named Christina. I was happy to walk into a kitchen with mashed potatoes and fried chicken! It was great. They also had pickled peppers ( I don't know if Peter Piper picked them or not) and grape fruit juice which I thought was lemonade... I was sadly mistaken.

Tomorrow I believe I am going to Lupeni but first Noemi and I are going shopping! (She insist she needs new winter shoes... her mom believes otherwise. Somethings will always be the same!)

Much Love! -Elizabeth

I'm leaving to serve a sovereign God!

I am packed. I am ready. I am nervous. I am excited.

So a brief overview of how I got to this point...
After graduating high school I felt led to serve overseas and work with children! My parents really wanted me to go to college. So I did... and wasn't sure what I wanted to do. So I wasted time, but learned valuable life lessons. Fast forward a bit...
Ok, so this summer I felt led to work in an orphanage located in Romania. I looked around on the Internet for organizations to go through. Then the calls and emails began. I emailed the 'Go Now Campaign' and they helped me get paired with Global Outreach Mission. The Lord has prepared me in amazing different ways for this trip! When I went to my boss at work to tell him I wanted to leave in the fall to do this mission trip, he informed me that he had been meaning to tell me my position had been cut!!! What peace! Also, the Lord brought 3 girls to live with my family this summer! One girl from France, one from Poland, and one from Slovakia! I became good friends with Marta (from Poland) who invited me to join her family for the holidays! Another challenge I encountered was my health. I had a bit of a scare... but all the tests and doctors came to the conclusion I am healthy and ok! Only moments apart from finding out I am ok and good to leave the country I received a phone call from Global Outreach Mission saying my flight was booked. Not to mention my flight was booked for the same day as the 3 girls! So Gabby (from France) and I are going to hang out in Charlotte during our layovers! I am sure there are many more amazing things the Lord has done that I haven't even realized! All I know is He is sovereign and He has begun a good work in me. I'm sure He will be faithful to complete it!

I am excited.

September 28, 2009

I will be flying out of Tallahassee at 11:11am on September 28th all the way to Romania... well with multiple stops on the way! I will arrive there on the 29th! I am so excited... and I have a lot of cleaning/packing to do. I also have many goodbyes to say. Here are some pictures of the kids and the orphanage I will be working at...
Some of the kids and staff!
This picture is from their 10 year celebration!
How cool is that building?? I can't wait to see it in person!
Please pray I will continue to receive funding while I am there. I have only raised half of what I need. Thanks! -Elizabeth