welcome! (part 4)

There are still a few rooms in our house that I haven't shown you.  Today I'm going to show you the one room in our house that was pretty much finished before Jonathan bought it.

Our bathroom is huge!  It's actually the same size as our kitchen, believe it or not!  It's plenty big enough to double as a laundry room.

The only things in the bathroom when Jonathan bought the house were the tub, shower, and hot water heater.  The room had already been tiled, as well.  Thankfully the toilet and sink were installed before I got here!

Just last week we were given a dryer by another missionary family who is changing fields.  What a blessing it has already been!  Strangely enough, the dryer is about 1 inch too big to fit through our bathroom door, though Florin thinks he can take the front off and get it through.  If we can get it into the bathroom, it will go between the tub and the water heater.  But for now we are keeping it in the unfinished room.  It has been great to shrink our clothes back to size and have soft towels again!

Jonathan also finished the ceiling, which was just cement before.  I love the tiles and light fixture he chose!  They really compliment the fun nature of the room.

I've always liked dolphins, though I don't know that I would have necessarily chosen them for my bathroom.  Nonetheless, they do give the room a fun and interesting touch.  Can you guess how many dolphins are in the room?

Don't forget this guy!  He cracks me up!

a date downtown

Last week Jonathan and I went downtown.  We're downtown fairly regularly for errands, but this time we decided to go down just for fun.  We took the bus into the city, and then caught a tram down to the center.

Our first stop was the cathedral.  I had never been inside before, so we popped in for a couple minutes and to take a few pictures.  I was expecting it to be bright and beautiful, and while the architecture and artwork were lovely, the interior was quite dark and dismal.  We didn't linger long, as it was a rather hopeless and depressing place!  Perhaps it was just a picture of the darkness of men's hearts who put their trust in empty rituals instead of in Christ's gift of salvation.

Next we made our way along the Bega Canal on our way to Parcul Rozelor.  It was too early for many of the roses to be out yet, but the park was still lovely.  And we did see a few roses peaking out!

Unfortunately, the clouds began to darken while we were in the park, and it began to sprinkle.  We walked back towards the center and ducked into a couple stores to avoid getting too wet.  In spite of the rain, we still had a lovely time in downtown Timisoara!

Good news!

Dear praying friends,

We just wanted to let you know that today we were able to pick up Kristy's residence card! It is good for 5 years! Praise the Lord! Thank you for praying.

Rejoicing,

Jonathan and Kristy

a surprise find

There are very few things that we can't get here in Romania.  Cheddar cheese and sorghum flour are a couple of the items that have not yet made it to this country, but beyond that, the list is quite small, and normally good substitutes can be found.  I was a little disappointed to learn, however, that rhubarb was rarely seen here.  I had resigned myself to the fact that I would have to plant some someday and wait the few necessary years to be able to enjoy it.  Until...

A couple weeks ago Jonathan and I walked into the grocery store, and there in the first aisle was a bin full of rhubarb!  We were both so excited to see it that we snatched up all but three flimsy, little stocks and bagged it up to bring home and freeze.  All in all we had about 17 pounds of big, luscious-looking rhubarb!  We brought it home, cleaned it, cut it, and put it in 4 gallon-size ziploc bags.  Yum!  What a wonderful blessing to find!  I'm already looking forward to rhubarb desserts, rhubarb juice, rhubarb bread pudding, strawberry rhubarb jam, and so many other things.

Tomorrow is Romanian Mother's Day, and my in-laws are coming over for lunch.  Guess what's on the menu for dessert?  Rhubarb crisp!

Jonathan and Kristy's April Prayer Letter

It is hard to believe that another month has come and gone. April was an eventful month full of busyness and blessings!

Thank you for your prayers for Kristy’s residence permit. We have received no further phone calls about it, and by all indications, we will be able to pick up the permit within the next few days. Wednesday, April 30th, I heard a police car horn close to our house (it has a distinct sound here). I looked out the window, and there was a police car outside, and a police officer was walking toward our gate. I went out as he rang the bell, and he asked if Kristen Heisey lives here. Apparently, he had received a paper from the head guy from immigration, and wanted to see Kristy’s residence card and make sure she lives here. I told him that the card will be ready in a few days. I’m assuming she will have to register with the police at that point as I had to when I moved to Mosnita (Moesh-neetsa). He recommended we get an alarm system for our house in case we are gone, as there have been break-ins in the area, and they have been having trouble catching the thieves. We would appreciate your prayers that God would protect our home.

A few weeks ago, Kristy began taking language lessons twice a week. Although they are difficult, and the homework takes several hours to complete, the lessons are going well. Please pray for Kristy as she learns Romanian.

The beginning of April, we had evangelist Bill Smith to our church for a special service. A group from theTylers’ church came as well and did some special music. We were able to have this service outside, and several visitors came. One young lady made sure of her salvation. It was encouraging to see Rebeca come as well. She came to the service last Tuesday also. Thank you for praying for her, and please continue to keep her in your prayers. The other week, Alin (Ah-leen), Mariana’s saved son, came for the first time in a while. He came with his cousin, Ion (Yone), who was visiting from out of the country. This Ion got saved in our church several years ago and used to come very faithfully. It was encouraging that he made the effort to come to church while he was in Romania, and he even talked about wanting to move back to Romania and come to the church.

Our pastor, Keith Sweitzer, and his wife and two youngest children came to Romania on a missions trip. They were a great encouragement to us and to the people in our ministries. It was a privilege to have our pastor preach to our Gypsies, and we enjoyed sweet times of fellowship with the Sweitzers.

Ion (Yone) has not been feeling well lately, but he continues to attend the reading classes faithfully. It is exciting to see him recognizing words. He also helps out with getting things ready for services at the church building. Thank you for your prayers for his salvation. It is our hope that he will get saved and be able to read the Bible in Romanian.

Last Sunday, there were several teens outside before the service. We talked for a bit, and a bunch of them came to the teen class. It was exciting to see them listening and participating in the lesson, and even answering review questions at the end. They were pretty well-behaved, which was a blessing. Gugu, the unsaved boy that had the brain tumor, was there as well. Next week, we are planning to have a teen boys’ activity. Please be praying that it will go well, and that the Lord will work in their hearts.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We appreciate you and are blessed to have you behind us as we serve the Lord among the Gypsies in Romania!

Serving Him,
Jonathan and Kristy Heisey

welcome! (part 3)

The next room I'm going to show you is the kitchen.  I love my house and each room in it, but the kitchen is probably my favorite.

before...

...during...

...after!

One thing my kitchen has is LOTS of drawers!
Sometimes we have a hard time finding things.  :)

The cupboards, oven, and stove-top are secondhand,
but they fit perfectly in our kitchen.

I love the wood stove in the kitchen.  It toasts bread beautifully and is very helpful for melting butter, not to mention that it keeps us warm in the cool weather!

melting butter and coconut oil

Doesn't that look cozy?

The kitchen pictures were taken before we put the plants in there.  Jonathan had the jade plant and the ginseng tree before we were married, and we recently got the orchid.  Often houses here will have an orchid along with several other plants in a front window.  I love orchids, and since they happened to be on sale the other day, I figured we should get one - you know, just to fit in with the culture around us.  :)

This pot belonged to one of my ancestors.
I really like how it looks in our kitchen!

And just as a side note, this little critter was on our front walk the other day.  :)

Thanks for visiting us today!  Stay tuned for more tours...

welcome! (part 2)

Now that you've seen the layout of our house and toured the upstairs, it's time to let you tour the rest of the house!  In case you need a refresher, here is the layout:

The first room you come to is the living room.  It is the first room on the right when you walk in.

before...

...during...

This wood stove is fed in the kitchen and goes
through the wall, keeping both rooms warm.

...almost there...

...after!

Yes, all those shades of green really are the same.  The light really plays with the color!  It turned out a little brighter than we were anticipating, but we we really love it!  We got the furniture second hand, and it was just what we were looking for: light, easy to clean, simple, and comfortable.  It softens the brighter walls and makes the room very welcoming.  The couch has storage inside and also folds down into a bed.  Come visit sometime!  :)

In other house news, Tuesday we had a bird in our attic.  :-(  I was going upstairs to get the laundry off the line, and when I opened the door I saw him trying to fly out the closed windows.  I quickly shut the door and did what any good girl would do: called for my husband to come up and take care of it!  :)  While the bird was over by the balcony door, he was able to open up the windows and it just flew out.  We're not sure how he got in, but hopefully that won't be a frequent occurrence!

Next up: the kitchen!