Whew! What a packed first day we had. From the moment we finish breakfast we were ready to go. We went down to the Baptist school where some of the children from other churches in the district were having Bible Olympics. I think the kids were a little shy at first but they soon opened up. We started out by playing with the parachute and balls. The kids were unsure of what we were asking them to do but one of the older kids helped out with the translating. Sara, Anna and our 2 translators, Olivia and Simona, did a puppet skit for the kids while Miss Betty, Kate and Courtney talked to the older girls over to the side. Of course, this was a great time to try out our VBS curriculum on them. Once we were done with the puppets, it was craft time. We had them make salvation bracelets. Let me tell you, it is not easy working with a translator. I felt bad for Simona because I talk fast and a lot, so she had to keep up with me. But we made it through.

Will had been talking to some of the older boys about music. After he led us in a worship song, one of the boys took the guitar and led the kids in a Romanian song. It was so cool to listen to them sing. Even though it was in a different language, you could feel the Holy Spirit there. It was just awesome!

The best part of the day, for me anyway, was when Travis, Stacey and I (Linda joined later) played animal tag with many of them. They shyed away from us at first until I got tagged and then they thought chasing us was fun. Now, the point of the game was to say an animal before you were tagged or you are it. At first they let us say the animals in english but they started teaching us the Romanian word so we had to say that or we would be it. Travis tried saying all these really long words and all I could remember when they would come at me was the word for cow. There was one little girl who really liked to torment us, but I think she liked doing it to Stacey the best. She would come up to you and just stand there, waiting to get you. Then she would just laugh and laugh. They would always get me while I had my back turned and was talking (I know, shocker right?). I think they would have played all day if we would have let them.

After we were done we went back to the church for lunch. The food here is amazing, and lunch was no exception. The ladies brought out the soup and bread and we began to eat. Now, no one told us this, but apparently if the food is a hearty soup, you will only have one course. But...if your soup is thin, get ready for more. We were filling up on soup and bread when the translators told Travis that they needed to know when we were done so the ladies could bring up the next course. We were all shocked! They brought up a cucumber salad, chicken schnitzel, and potatoes. YUMM-O! Unfortunately, we were too full from all the food when they brought up the strawberries. Well that is, all of us but Anna. She is too funny! If you ever get a chance, ask her to tell you a story. doesn't matter what the story is, she makes it funny.

Well, that's all for now. Good night from this side of the world!

Megan