After a short break I am back to give you an update. As usual I get 2-3 ideas of things to write but don’t have the time and motivation to sit down and write. Fortunately for you the time has come for me to sit down and scribble some thoughts.

It’s hard for me to believe that I have already been in Romania for a month. I was sitting down at dinner with my friend and host and I counted the remaining sundays (eight) and they are already all planned. Time flies fast when you’re having fun in Romania.

The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy. I preached two messages out of the three that I had planned in the church where I am doing my internship. I also preached a few other times at other churches. Overall it has been a blessed time, not too busy and if it was busy it was not stressful as it was mostly interacting with people or preparing messages.

God has been really blessing me and does not cease to amaze me with his faithfulness. So far I have stayed in two places. It so happened that my hosts were away for a while so I basically had both apartments to myself. Even though I am not a huge fan of living by myself, it has been a tremendous sign of His provision.

Bucharest is a busy city. I had forgotten about it or I had never really noticed. I lived in Bucharest for 10 months back in 2002, but maybe I never really noticed the crazy rhythm of the city. Maybe my impressions are different because now I am contemplating making it my home town once I move back to Romania next year.

Even though I am not excited about the city I am enjoying the community I am serving among this summer. The people are very welcoming and I am encouraged to see in them a desire to grow in their understanding of the Gospel and how to make it contagious.

One of the things I have tried to do in this month is observe the people. I like to observe the people in the subway. I remember riding it from the place I am staying to a place across town. On the way there we passed the downtown stop. A lot of people were in a rush to get off and others were impatiently waiting and pushing each other to make it into the train. I was wondering why the rush, what were they all doing downtown. Do they, like the singer, believe that things will be good when you’re downtown. Where are the people going. Wherever it may be, it must have been serious, because none of the were smiling.

The smile issue is something I have written about in the past. I am once again surprised, not shocked, but I guess I forget every time I go away. It’s not that people don’t smile. But they seem to be caught off guard when I smile at them. They don’t really know how to react. Nobody smiles, who do I think I am to smile at them. Well, I am from America, over there people smile, sometimes for no apparent reason. Other times they smile to brighten your moment. But they won’t have it, they are sad, in a hurry and determined. A smile will not change that (they say).

On another note, Bucharest is under sever storm watch with lots of thunders. One just went off and with it 20 car alarms.

My feet are on Romanian soil

After one week in Romania I am finally getting around to writing an update. It has been an awesome first week. If you don’t have time to read the whole thing, rest assured that God is overwhelming me with His provision and goodness.

I landed in Romania late Thursday night. Bucharest was quiet and the drive in was pretty smooth. After 12 hrs of sleep I began my adventure in Romania. The first couple of days felt weird. I felt out of place. My sister, brother-in-law and myself went out on Friday night to a pizza place (it’s called Pizza Hut, you might have heard of it) right downtown Bucharest. At some point some people sat at the table next to us and started talking. My knee-jerk reaction was to turn to my sister and point to the fact that the people to our left were speaking Romanian. Yes, people speak Romanian in Romania.

The city is still busy, but not as busy as it was two years ago on my last visit. There is less construction and less cars. I’m told the number of cars has decreased due to the economic crisis.
   
Blessings

I have only been here for a week but it has been a full week. It feels longer than just 9 days. It has been a packed period with lots of good conversations, reconnecting with old friends, and also making new ones.

The first weekend found me at the wedding of two good friends. The ceremony was simple but very personal. Both fathers preached messages that were intertwined with childhood stories from the two. It was a blessing for me to witness the special moment for my friends. If you were sitting by me let me assure you that I wasn’t not crying. I had something in my eye...

Another highlight of the week was a trip to Alexandria (Romania) to visit my grandparents. It was a true blessing to once again sit at the table in my grandmother’s kitchen. We ate, talked, laughed, and remembered all the good stuff of the past.

A visit to the grandparents (on my mother’s side) must include:

a tour of the greenhouse. On your way there you must pass by the shed where the hens and rooster dwell as well as the place where the next generation of chicken are being raised. You see, my grandfather is always thinking ahead. The outside of the greenhouse is not impressive, but the inside reveals order, warmth and growth. Everything is in its place and no vegetable dares step out of place. The tomatoes plants are in their place, carefully nurturing the not-yet ripe tomatoes. The cucumbers are also carefully lined up. All in all it reveals the hard and passionate labor that my grandfather puts in his greenhouse. 

Eat something that my grandmother prepared. This was not just a delicious warm meal. It was a trip down memory lane. As I sat at the table, it was the same table I had sat on the numerous trips there. I could see my sisters, my mother, uncles, aunts and cousins all sitting at the table with me. I could hear the stories and people laughing. The room is filled with memories. 

I also had the opportunity to visit uncles and aunts I had not seen in a long time and spend some time with them. I even got to visit my maternal grandmother’s native village. It was fun to take pictures and hear the stories from her childhood.

My father also came to Alexandria since it is a half way point between Bucharest and Craiova (my home town). We talked for a little bit and went to my mother’s grave together.

The week ended with two gatherings with Missio Dei. They gathered as a church last night for worship, the Word, and welloship (sic)(eng. Fellowship, but I wanted to keep the alliteration). It was an edifying experience to worship with the church and listen to a powerful message about being an attractional Christian. On Sunday afternoon we gathered with a Missional Community (a larger version of a small group). It was a great opportunity to experience the family image of the church. We, the redeemed are part of God’s household. Sometimes, like this afternoon, we learn that a member of the family is not doing well. I saw vulnerability, acceptance, and an earnest desire from the group to bring it all to God. The church is messy, our lives are messy. But in all that we don’t walk away, just like you can’t (shouldn’t) walk away from the mess of the family. Instead, you turn to God for direction and solution. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. I cannot! But He wants to live through me. He wants to do it through the church, through our lives. Sometimes it takes time, it takes prayer, it takes wrestling with yourself.

Coming up this week…

The first week was more an adjustment. This coming week I will have to jump into action. There are more people to meet and reconnect with and also I have to start the preparation for upcoming speaking engagements. I will be at a young men’s Bible study next Tuesday and next Sunday I will be in Craiova for a baptism service.

If you want to see some pictures from my visit to my grandparents, you can go here.

Soma Gathering

Today I got to experience the gathering of Soma for a second time. Last year was my first interaction with dialogical teaching. I was a little apprehensive at first but I ended up really liking it. Today I got to see it again. This time it was much more on the side of expository preaching. One of the pastors spoke from 1 Peter about suffering and the refinement that it should bring to our faith. There were a few comments from the audience that took the sermon in a direction different than the pastor had prepared. But all in all it was a great exposition (with audience participation) of the passage. The good sermon was sandwiched by short segments of quality worship music.


Seattle

The afternoon gave me another opportunity to visit Seattle. I had the chance to visit the 1st Starbucks and take a bunch of pictures by the waterfront and around the downtown area. Even though I had a good time, Chicago still remains my favorite downtown.

Mars Hill Church

The evening ended with a visit at Mars Hill Church, pastored by none other than Mark Driscoll. Similar to last year the visit was pleasant. The sermon was about an hour long but it was straight out of 2 Peter 1:1-4 and it was about justification and regeneration. One of the things he talked about was how Christianity is not a religion. We should never refer to things pertaining to Christianity (reading the Bible, spiritual disciplines, desires in general) as something that we have to do but rather we should see it as something that we get to do. And because of that we should desire to go deep within our lives, within our passions to bring about the partaking in Godliness that Peter talks about (2 Pet. 1:4).

One other thing I really enjoyed about tonight was the worship. The quality was phenomenal. I really enjoyed it. And it wasn’t just the music. It reminded me why I love seeing the church gathered. I left the place uplifted by the opportunity to worship with God’s people.

One more day of our conference/camp.

Lessons about myself

The things I want to do I do not do!   

Day 6 of 2008

Healthy eating

I don’t think I have eaten this good in a long time. In fact I don’t think I have eaten as organic ever. It’s been quite a treat. I really like the family I am staying with, despite the slight discomfort I feel for damaging one of their cars. Nevertheless, we had another great breakfast with Chicken and Apple sausages and waffles.

The morning did not begin with a run. Instead I got to talk to a friend of mine who recently moved to Mexico. It was slightly unfair since he got to also see me but I could not see him due to him not having a webcam. But it was still great to catch up with him.

Soma School

The morning went by fast. We went through training on how to do dialogical teaching. Somewhere in there I had a phone conversation with an insurance company about the car accident. It was pretty official but it went alright.

Lunch was spent with the Romanians who are at the conference. We struggled to decide on a place for lunch and ended up at a local “melting pot” restaurant, as one of the owner said. It was a good opportunity, albeit brief, to get to know some of the people I will be working alongside for the summer.

The afternoon was an extended sermon on four truths about God. These are:

God is Great so we don’t have to be in control.
God is Glorious so we don’t have to fear others.
God is Good so we don’t have to look elsewhere for satisfaction.
God is Gracious so we don’t have to prove ourselves/defend ourselves

It was a powerful discussion on the gap that we so often have between what we believe in our hearts and what we know in our head about God. The thoughts from the discussion will continue in my head and in my conversations for this weekend.

One of the memorable phrases I wrote down was about how much God loves me (or any other of his children): If God has a refrigerator, your picture is on it!

Dinner and brothers of the leaf

After we got done with the discussion we got back home and had dinner with the host family. I was really glad I had vetoed the offer to go to the indian restaurant for lunch because the family had prepared an awesome Indian dinner. We had a good time talking about Christianity in Africa, Banjos, Mandolins, and LOST. We may have some converts on that last one.

The evening ended with a visit to the house I stayed last year. We were invited for a special night called brothers of the leaf. Yes, you guessed it, it is a group for single men who are deeply concerned about going green. Actually, that couldn’t be farther than the truth. These boys smoke pipes for pleasure and have some deep conversations over a glass of scotch. I won’t go into the discussion over the use of tobacco or alcohol. I did not smoke but I really enjoyed the conversation. I got to know the story of a couple of other guys that were in town for the conference and overall had a good time.

Lessons about myself

My words bite!

I am still not over the trauma of getting chased by a dog (part one, part two).

I am not as good ……. (fill in the blank: looking, talker, friend, man, etc.) as I think I am but I also don’t need to try to be since it is not what God looks at.

I really need to find a balance between Filip driven by reason and Filip led by emotions. Suggestions welcome.


Thoughts on the fourth day of last year.

Soma School

The full night’s rest and the brief run this morning really made a difference. I felt significantly better and was able to engage more. Some people were glad to see a nicer side than the mean and intimidating tired Filip.

The first part of the day picked up right where we left off with the Story of God in the Old Testament. I was sharing my thoughts with one of the young ladies that are part of the church (you can tell it was a better day since I made new friends) that the reason I love the story is the way it interacts with both the Biblically “educated” and those who have not had any exposure to Biblical material. On the one hand I enjoy listening to the way the Bible is reorganized for people like me who have spent most of their 20s in Bible school. On the other hand there are few other joys that I have experienced than to see someone make a discovery in God’s Word or a connection with their personal lives. I love being in the middle of that. I have thorougly enjoyed listening to some of the people who are being exposed to the storying concept. At the same time I learned a lot of things, mostly things I had heard before but they now clicked or made more sense after I moved them inside my head. I love the image of God in the redemptive thread through the Bible. He is a pursuer, one that makes sure that evil is dealt with so that man can once again be in His presence. The story of the two goats on the day of Atonement shows how God wants to make it clear to us that he is willing to wipe away our slate and  bring a fresh start to our relationship. We can’t do that in any of our relationships; who can forget the wrong suffered or perpetrated? Sure we can forgive, but it will always come back to tempt us. God’s message is very powerful: We can have that relationship with Him where He does not remember our sins against Him.

The second part of the day was the same content I had heard a year ago. We talked about the four identities of the church: Family, Missionaries, Servants, and Learners. I was asked by a member of the church why I came to this conference a second time. I told him about the struggles I had this past year and how I felt that “me at Soma” was who I would like to be (Ideally) but unfortunately the rest of the year was a far cry from it. And it has been a tough year for me with ample struggles to be selfless and show grace to those around me. So I felt I needed to hear this stuff and experience living in the Missional Community at Soma in Tacoma.

The day ended with a visit to a Missional Community. This is their (enhanced) version of a small group. I had a blast meeting some new people, talking with some other seminarian guys that are here for the conference and interacting with a few of the children of the families that were there. We ate some good food and talked a little about the rhythms of their missional community.

After we got done, we got in the car and drove two of the guys to their host before driving back to our hosts. I forgot to mention that our hosts were very generous and offered their Honda Pilot to use for the day. As I was turning onto the street were the guys were living, I was struck by the thought and sight of a car coming from the right out of a parking lot into the street. Sure enough the though and sight were followed by a loud bang, a couple of screams from inside the cars (I won’t mention names) and it was all over: my first car accident! I tried to move the car but it would not work. I got out, made sure the other driver was alright (she was). Then got back and looked at the car. The damage was minor, despite the loud noise. There was a minor bend in the front fender and one (maybe more) arm controllers were broken. The other car had a bent license plate. Because of the broken control arm I could not move the car. We had to call the cops and the owner of the car (our hosts) and deal with it. The whole deal took about 40 minutes. Everybody was cool about it. When the police officer was writing down my information I mentioned that I work for security back at my school. His response was the question: “Have you seen that movie with the Mall Cop?” Yes, that’s who I am associated with… Anyways, it was my first accident in 8 years of driving. And it was “a missional” accident.


Lessons about myself (more or less significant)

I cannot hear the word “completely” with a blank slate. No matter the context it makes me think of a South African pronunciation.

I really like babies and they like me too (or at least my niece and the one I met tonight).

I am a lot happier when I get enough rest.




I meant to link these posts to the ones I wrote last year. So here it is, Soma School Day 2, 2008.