Summary

On way way down to Cluj-Napoca airport (about an hour and a half away, although we took a longer and more circuitous route) I did a quick count of the past fortnight. I had one day off, and over the remaining 13 days spoke at 24 meetings (for an average of 75 minutes each time) and had meals in numerous homes. In each case I was speaking though an interpreter, which reduces the effective teaching content by 50%, but I suggest doesn't reduce the teaching demands because every pause awaiting translation one feels like a coiled spring shaping the next set of words, ready for release once the interpreter has finished the previous sentence. Everything one says has to be considered because many figures of speech and idioms in the English language may not be understood by the interpreter, so a simpler version needs to be used, or the idiom needs to be explained as it is used.

At the end of the trip I feel that it has been enormously worthwhile, exhausting (the latter enhanced by the cold I picked up a week ago), a fascinating and enjoyable learning experience. I've been invited back and can't wait to go again.

Some things I've learned:

1. The garlic sauce is much stronger than it looks
2. Transilvania IS beautiful.
3. The people are welcoming and extremely hospitable.
4. The best way to remove the taste of garlic sauce is to eat raw onion.
5. Solid white lines in the middle of roads are purely for decorative purposes.
6. We all carry the burden of our history and culture and need to recognise that.
7. I'd like to see Transilvania again once the leaves come out.
8. The best way to remove the taste of raw onion is to eat some garlic sauce.
9. Wizz Air, the only airline flying from the UK to Cluj Napoca is a very efficient and friendly airline (but don't exceed your baggage allowance).
10. You'll spend a lot of time laughing with Transilvanians.
11. You ought to like meat.
12. Some things are extraordinarily cheap, but still expensive compared to the wages.
13. To learn Romanian, it's important to know the changes that various accents make to the sounds of letters.  For example, ș is a 'sh' sound.
14. Especially pork (see 11).
15. Some of those sounds are difficult to make because they are not in a normal Englishman's repertoire.
16. Many homes or apartments have a one or two bedrooms, but most sofas convert into a bed, and living rooms are frequently used as a bedroom.
17. Singing hymns (which process at about a quarter of the speed of normal conversation) is a great way to practice the pronunciation.
18. I want to return.

Special Thanks to:

• Mike Davis for introducing me to Mircea & Dan last Summer
• Joan and the team from the Ron Hellyer Foundation for letting me join them for the first week, and for providing really helpful advice before travelling and once on the ground.
• The Board of Maranatha Missions for their invitation.
• Mircea, Maria, Emil & Dina Peaștean who endured 3 adult guests at great inconvenience to their normal sleeping arrangements
• Mircea, who tirelessly organised, drove, interpreted and kept things organised.
• Lucien, Dina & Emil who also interpreted for us and did some translation work as well.
• Jon MacMorland of ProCopy Printing in Chichester who turned around some Romanian translation work and produced a great glossy manual at short notice.
• You, if you've read this far in the blog.
• God, who arranged the whole thing.

Lost Something?

The inevitable happened. Following the cold that I picked up last week, the subsequent drainage into my throat started threatening my voice. By the end of Monday evening I could barely speak, but with the prospect of a 2.5 hour meeting on Tuesday afternoon, followed by two 50 minute teaching sessions to a group of about 30, was a little worrying. Serious prayer ensued (thanks to those friends in the UK who participated). My voice recovered enough for ALL of the Tuesday meetings (just) and finally gave up completely about 21:30, and 20 hours later remains missing in action, which I'm sure will attract some positive comments from family & friends.

Further Opportunities

On my last day, Tuesday, I met with three of the board members of Marantha Missions to review the fortnight and to discuss further needs and a strategic approach to them.

We had a thoroughly constructive meeting, very much in agreement, and have some very specific ideas about what we can do next to help develop the leadership of the current generation and the next. As a list of training 'needs' grew longer it became apparent that in addition to addressing the short term planning (this year and next) there is also a vision as to what might be achieved over say the next 10 years. A lot of ideas buzzing around, so we'll now work on prioritising and quantifying some of these in order that, God willing, we can take a couple more steps in 2014.

Planting Season

I had looked at the weather shortly before I travelled! listened to the experience of those who had gone before before, and prepared with clothes suitable for the end of winter, including some thermal layers just in case the snow was serious.

The reality was that I saw no snow, we had clear sunny days most of the time, with temperatures generally 9 to 19 degrees. The air temperature in the evenings was quite low, so I was glad of a warm jacket, but most of the buildings were so warm (due to the wood burning stoves) inside that after peeling off jacket and sweater, a layer of perspiration soaked though the remaining clothes. I haven't used many of the bulkier clothes I took with me.

One of the villages

These signs of spring have brought people in the county side out to their gardens, allotments and fields to clear the ground, trim the vines, and sow the seeds. everywhere there are small bonfires as the cuttings and waste is burned. Looking over the valleys (which is what the roads mainly follow) it's often possible to see a dozen little fires burning.

I've been told that some villages take a real pride in their fields (for those of you old enough to remember, some these fields resemble the long narrow strips of land of feudal England). There is a sense of competition, wanting to be really early to have their land prepared and seed sown.  Mircea assures me that Simpetru (where he is the pastor) is consistently one of the earliest of the villages, and of course he is completely objective in his opinions of his special village.

It didn't belong to Noah

On a couple of days I've been chauffeured between speaking engagements in Lucien's car. it's a 1972 Dacia (effectively a Renault 12 built in Romania). Unsubstantiated rumour is that the first owner was the (communist) Romanian ambassador to Iraq. Built two years before I was eligible for a driving licence.

Lucien is proud and fond of his ancient vehicle, a gift to him, which has gone through many repairs over its life. The passenger seat wobbles a little, there is a gap between the boot lid and the body, but in my opinion the highlight is the alloy door handles which have been added at some point prior to Lucien assuming ownership. They are drilled with holes as if the weight saving will contribute to a marginal performance increase!  He's also got a good sense of humour about his ancient vehicle.

The vehicle does what he asks of it - it gets him and his small family – and visitors – around.

Emptying Villages

On my second Sunday I spent the morning with a small congregation about an hour west of Zalau. About 30 people of all ages crowded into this small chapel. it was encouraging to see the four teenagers take part by singing a prepared song to the congregation.  I had been primed to teach on a subject relevant to some of the needs within the congregation.

Later we ( the visiting pastor and I) had lunch with a lovely older couple whose meal for us was 'ecological'. Everything we ate or drank was produced in their farm. They have 1200 vines and produce a local non-alcoholic grape juice which people travel over 100 miles to purchase. These farmers use no chemicals on the vines, so although I couldn't establish whether they had formal recognition as organic producers, they certainly seem to qualify. Hence their use and meaning of the word 'ecological'.

In common with many homes, the wood burning stove is a tall ceramic stove (see one in the background in the accompanying picture), which is relatively efficient as the bricks radiate an enormous amount of heat with very little wood. Many houses have several of these, which is their only heating system.

About one third of the litter

Their own children have flown the nest.  One lives with his family in Florida, another in Vancouver, and the third is a GP in a large town near the Hungarian border. They told me that there were 50 empty houses in their village, because the young people move away in search of work and careers, and that in another 25 years there will be a further 50 houses vacant as people like them die.

Footnote: after a nice (large) 3 course meal - and a quick tour to see the 3 week old piglets - we crossed the road to another church family for coffee (and the mandatory one and half large slices of cake!).  This family gave me 2 litres of the pressed grape juice to bring home (any soft drink bottle suffices) and I'm pleased to say that it arrived safely back in the UK without leaking inside my suitcase.

The Remaining Schedule

The last three days of my fortnight in Transilvania my hosts had maintained the pace of the schedule for me.

Claudia & Dan

Sunday saw me in two different churches one morning, at three homes during the afternoon, and then in Șimleu at Bethany Baptist Church in the evening.  The Pastor, Dan Mogos, was one of the two people I've met last Summer in Chichester, and he'd invited me to speak to his congregation on three days on the subject of forgiveness.  I introduced the subject with an example from the Old Testament on that occasion (about 100 attending), and then we returned to Dan &his wife Claudia's home where we we were served dinner by Claudia and Dan's lovely Mother-in-Law.

On Monday, I caught up with emails in the morning, then heeded over to Șimleu again for two 50 minute workshops on the same subject, building the themes from the Epistle to Philemon.  About 40 people attended this one, and 30 were able to attend the final two on the Tuesday evening, which was real encouraging as it was the third consecutive evening for these people to be meeting with other members of the church.

Wednesday-Friday

Each morning I spoke to the pastors for two 90 minute sessions, spending about 60% of the time traveling through the very short letter of Paul (Pavel) to Philemon (Filimon). In addition to being a masterful argument for forgiveness, it provides a bedrock for the argument against slavery which has plagued mankind for centuries.

Talk the Word

I was also able to introduce them to a publication called Talk the Word, only published in the UK a couple of months ago. A combined project of Walk Through the Bible, Scripture Union Scotland, The Scottish Bible Society, and Counties, I had been able to get it translated into Romanian, had 25 copies printed in Chichester just before I flew out here. Each of the pastors took two copies, with a commitment to train one of their congregation to use it.

British Graphics
Romanian Text

Finally, a lot of conversation revolved around ideas and change. Like people the world over, on day two most of the men sat in the same place as on the first day. I asked them all to move to another seat, just to get them used to the idea that change isn't always bad. This was accomplished with a mixture of surprise and amusement, and I think that they got the point!

In the evenings I spoke to the church in Simpetru once (for the last time on this visit, where again there were 13 visitors), and then for two nights to the Baptist church in Zalau, where there was a very warm response to a difficult subject I had been asked to address.

Juxtaposition

I mentioned in an earlier blog the differences between the communist and post-communist Romanians.  One of the other noticeable features (especially in the countryside) is the juxtaposition of technologies.  Everywhere there are horses pulling carts, while modern cars, including BMWs and Audis - can also be seen.  In locations where many of the houses are small and plumbing is primitive, the wireless modem and mobile phone still have a place.  In churches with wood burners there are often quite small but adequate sound systems.

A classic example of this I spotted today as a speaker and mixer desk were borrowed from the church.  Look for the washing machine in the video.  The horse is in housed in the small stable to the left.

Generosity

The generosity of my hosts has extended to sharing their Romanian cold with me. It came on on Thursday, so I've been dosing myself with Theraflu (a bit like lemsip). but by last night I was really tired, after 10 days here and 12 in all without a break.

Today (Saturday) is a rest day, but also Mothers' Day in Romania. in addition, Tuesday is D's birthday, so Mirchir, Maria & family and I have travelled down to Simpetru for a double celebration. Perhaps indicative of my tiredness, I managed to set my phone alarm last night for 08:15 - on Tuesday! So I overslept (the family kindly letting me do so) and got up shortly after 10:00. As we were bringing the meat for the BBQ, lunch is a couple of hours later than first planned.

The meal itself consisted of four different meats (chicken, pork, a minced meat and smokey sausages), all cooked on the BBQ, a potato dish a bit like Potato au gratin, with a garlic sauce quite strong. Strong enough that I learned my lesson last Saturday, and took less of it. I've been told that the only remedy for removing the garlic flavour is to eat an onion! And vice versa...

After the meal D was absolutely surprised by the birthday cake which arrived to the accompaniment of 'many years', the Romanian equivalent of Happy Birthday to You.

The Conference

One of the main reasons for me traveling out to Transilvania was to speak at a conference of a number of the rural pastors. These men have real hearts of compassion for the people in the villages, and for the congregations of the small churches which they have been instrumental in planting and growing over the years. Most of them hold down other jobs as well, because the churches can't afford to pay them, and they have had limited opportunity for training in their roles.

On this occasion Dan, Mircea and I had discussed what we would try to accomplish. First of all, I needed to get to know the men and the work that they do among the churches. Thus an additional benefit of visiting and speaking in a number of the churches over the previous week was to appreciate the circumstances in which they serve. Second, as it was the first time for us to meet, I needed them to gain confidence in me, and that I could, in my teaching, provide training in biblical studies, in practical pastoral advice, and provoke some thinking among them regarding the often fairly traditional way that their churches function.

There is an apparent gap in Romanian culture. It is, of course, only 24 years since the fall of communism, and of the dictator Ceausescu. So many of the older generation have grown up accustomed to following instructions and doing things in a set way. The churches that did exist in that time had to be very careful as the secret police sat in on every service, and pastors were regularly imprisoned. many of the Christians, including people like Mircea, were part of an underground church movement that risked imprisonment for some of their activities. (Not unlike countries such as Iran and North Korea today.)

The younger generation know little of this past, and exposed as they are to the internet, with both it's distractions and global culture, are restless for something different. Helping the church to bridge this gap, without rocking the boat sufficiently violently to throw out the older generation for whom the older ways provide security, is a great challenge.

An oversight on my part - I forgot to take any photos.

A change of pace (for me)

Monday and Tuesday saw several team members head out to take meetings. Denise, Peter & Jess led some kindergarden classes, while Joan spoke to and met with a number of the ladies in distant churches.

I was conscious that my notes for a conference I was due to address Wednesday and Friday needed to be re-arranged before they could be translated into Romanian and prepared for printing. I made considerable progress during the day on Monday and Tuesday, and was supported in a supreme effort by Dina, Mircea & Maria's daughter, who worked quite late doing the translation work for me.

Monday evening we returned to Simpetru for another teaching opportunity that was arranged with the congregation at short notice on Sunday evening. About 25 people came, and I continued my series teaching through the early part of the Pentateuch. 

On Tuesday evening it was down to Tomasu, another village south of Zalau, where we kicked off a special week of mission, and I had the main speaking slot.

Normally after each evening meeting we are then invited to the home of one of the church members for dinner (our third cooked meal of the day) and enjoy warm hospitality. there is always an abundance of meat, usually pork, occasionally chicken.

After the service at Tomasu we went to the house of Olympis, whose wife provided some delicious pork chops. They have five sons and one daughter and he proudly showed us his barn where he keeps his 16 milking cows, some lambs and pigs, which together form the bulk of his income.  Definitely a need for caution walking across the muddy farmyard in the dark!

After a blogging gap of 6 days, there is a lot to review.

I mentioned Sunday afternoon plans changed. it was originally intended that the whole team would travel to a couple of churches west of here in the mountains, but Mircea felt that my teaching had been well received by the congregation at Simpetru (which continued to have about 40% of the congregation made up of new visitors) that he asked me to remain in Simpetru after lunch to be the speaker for his own evening congregation.

The Church building in Simpetru
- a converted house (forgive the pun)

In this little church there are three families whose serving is contributing to the teamwork and growth. One of these families is D & M, who together with their teenage son, recently started traveling 90 minutes each way to the church in order to provide and lead the music. What a difference the three of them make in the quality of the services!

D's work involves traveling to inspect mobile phone masts, so where they live is of little importance to his job. So they are looking to move into the village of Simpetru, if possible. They think that they can sell their small ground floor apartment for £3,000, but a small house that they have found for sale in the village would cost £6,000. It is symptomatic of the rural Romanian economy that these amounts, which combined are what we paid in stamp duty on our UK house purchase six years ago, are enormous sums and the gap between the sale and purchase price very difficult for them to cross.

The Team

I’ve mentioned ‘The Team' in my earlier blogs, so now a bit more about them.

Back in 1999, Ron Hellyer, from the Bognor Regis area of West Sussex started visiting this part of Transilvania and along the way met Mircea Pestean.  At that time there was great need in the very poor rural villages, but little in the way of help.  Along with another visitor from the USA, Ron encouraged Mircea to start Maranatha Missions using the town of Zalau as a base to reach out.  Ron himself, who Mircea describes to me as a gifted evangelist, was involved in the establishment of a couple of churches in the villages.  Ron would bring other friends with his to help in the work.

L to R: Gilbert, Peter,
Denise, Jess, Joan, me

Joan, Ron’s wife, joined Ron in visiting Romania a few years later.  After Ron’s death a few years ago, Joan and other team members continued visiting the churches of Maranatha Mission, and a couple of years ago, at the prompting of some of the long standing team members, The Ron Hellyer Foundation was established and registered as a UK Charity to enable gifts to support the work of the Mission to be channelled through the trust, to provide opportunities for folk form the UK to experience short term mission opportunities, and to provide funds for the relief of financial needs among some of the villages that the churches serve in this part of Romania.

The team (members vary from visit to visit) generally visit Romania twice a year, in the Autumn & Spring, timing arranged to avoid the busier summer season when many people in the villages are farming their small plots of land.

According to Schedule

Yesterday the flexibility kicked in as plans changed mid-afternoon.  But the morning went according to the schedule.

Our whole team paid a visit to a small village called Stupini.  About a kilometre past Simpetru, the road becomes a gravel road for about 3 km before running out.  2km up this gravel road is the little chapel in Stupini where a visiting pastor and Florin, (see his photo with the heater at Simpetru in an earlier blog) helps provide leadership and encouragement to the small, elderly congregation.

Jess (L) and Dina (R)

Each of our team spoke for a few minutes using Emil & Dina, son & daughter of Mircea & Maria as interpreters.  It's no small thing to provide almost simultaneous translation, and most of us can come up with english words or expressions that they are not yet familiar with, which results in a short intermission and a little mirth while the combined English-Romanian language skills of those present establish a route forward and an explanation of the meaning.

Joan asked me to take the last slot (which was expected to be longer) in the service, which like most Romanian services lasts longer than those in the UK.  I needed to finish my noon, but didn't know what time I would be starting.  I think that I got up to speak at about 11:15, and Joan as requested, gave me a nod at 11:58 which gave me a couple of minutes to wrap up.

It's quite interesting attending a service with little idea of what one is going to speak about.  Because each community is so different, and this is my first time visiting, there is a need to look, listen, and pray for guidance!  As the service proceeded, prompted by something said earlier in the service, my thoughts focussed on Psalm 105.  I borrowed a Romanian Bible, scribbled some notes using the key verbs (imperatives) from the Romanian translation alongside my English notes.

Romanian is a latin language (similarities to French, Spanish, etc) with bits of slavic influence.  (Romania is described as an island of Latin in a sea of Slavs.)  With the notes in front of me, and Dina translating, I attempted some Romanian pronunciation, which drew a combination of sympathy, amusement, correction and (I like to think) appreciation for the effort, from the congregation, while Dina, interpreting, corrected me and made what I said in English make sense for the listeners.

Speaking at Stupini
while Dina interpreted

I remember an experienced pastor comment to me (years ago) that most people know about their problems and difficulties.  They don't need to be reminded of them, but need encouragement to work through them.  Yesterday I tried to apply his advice.

Another small village

After lunch we split into three teams, two going visiting needy families, and three of us (Jess, Peter & I heading to Another small village, about 20 minutes away, to a small church where we were to conduct children's & youth meetings.

This church building is more purpose built that the one at Simpetru, and large enough to warrant two wood burning stoves.

The invitation that had been issued was different from our expectations, as they had invited 'youth' from 11-15 years.  So after a rapid team conference, we agreed that Jess & Peter would run some activities (see video) and I would teach something of the storyline from the gospels.

In the end we had about 26 'youth' from about 8 to 15, a great number from a small village. In 2010 there were no children at this church, so there has been some great work by the local leaders who were thoroughly supportive in our session today.  This group - typical of the village itself, had a mixture of Romanian, Hungarian and Gypsy children in place.

I had a great time delivering the teaching and controlling – at least some of the time – the children while speaking through Mircea's interpretation.  Not sure that it is my primary calling though!  But it took me back to the early days of BX when we called it 'Junior Walk'

Birthday BBQ

BBQ & Washing Machine both at work

Today's timetable eased a little as our hosts took time to plan a (surprise) lunchtime birthday BBQ for Gilbert, who celebrated a post retirement birthday a couple of days ago without telling any of us.  The weather - sunny, mid-teens temperature – was ideal, so half of us set out early for Simpetru, via the supermarket to pick up the supplies, while the others went shopping for some small gifts for Gilbert.

Used for ploughing & pulling cart

It was great to enjoy the home/smallholding and company of one of the church families as about a dozen of us joined together.

Many of the families keep a few animals, and here Florin, Rodi and their family keep 3 pigs, several rabbits, numerous chickens, bees, two dogs, and a horse.  As you can imagine, some are for eating, others valued for their productivity, and the dogs advise of any visitors.

 While the food was being prepared, Florin took me over to the village school to look at a board I may borrow when I'm teaching pastors next week.  In his schooldays there were 300 students; now only 16, with two teachers.  Most younger families have migrated to the cities or overseas in search of work.

Gilbert (& Jess)

Nelu, Rodi, Maria & Joan

 Gilbert was suitably surprised when he we sat down to eat and was informed that the occasion was in honour of him.