Merry Christmas!

This free photo collage created with Smilebox

marshmallow update

The link for the marshmallow recipe in the previous post was not working properly. It should be fixed now. If not, you can try accessing it here:

http://urbanposer.blogspot.ro/2012/11/rustic-homemade-marshmallows-whoney.html

toasting marshmallows

Q: What's better than toasting marshmallows?

A: Toasting homemade marshmallows!

Q: What's better than toasting homemade marshmallows??

A: Toasting homemade marshmallows in your own wood stove!

Ahhh... a little bit of heaven.  Sticky, gooey, sweetness.  Yum...

a visit from Uncle Earl

Two weeks ago we had a special visit from my great-uncle.  He was in Romania for a week with his son, who was working in a city a few hours from here.  On Wednesday while his son was at work, Uncle Earl was able to pay us a visit.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship with him, exchanging pictures and chatting.  He told us lots of stories, too, about when he and my grandpa were growing up.  We hope you can come again, Uncle Earl!

Thanksgiving

We generally think of this time as one in which we remember the pilgrims, thank the Lord for His blessings, and eat.  :)  This year, the meanings of those things were brought fresh to my mind.

Like the pilgrims of old, I also moved to a new home, a new county, a new hemisphere.  In fact, I took almost the exact opposite trip they did, going from west to east and by plane instead of ship.  Similarly, I have 'survived' my first year and have so very much to be thankful for.  While the pilgrims invited native Americans to their feast, I am surrounded by Romanians, who likewise have a culture, language, and customs different from those I was previously accustomed to.  But they have taken me in and welcomed me, even though I'm not one of them.  They help me and are a blessing, too.  Many of the early Americans wanted to reach the native Americans with the gospel, which is also our purpose in being in this foreign land.  How great a God we serve that we can spend a day remembering His goodness to us and thanking Him for all the ways He's blessed us.

I  neglected to take any pictures, but we spent this Thanksgiving with a few other missionary families and one Romanian friend.  We ate, laughed, played games, ate some more, and just had a nice time of fellowship together.  What a blessing to have other missionary families here with whom we can fellowship and celebrate our American Thanksgiving!

Jonathan and Kristy's October Update

NEXT GENERATION PREPARATION

„But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” I Corinthians 1:27

 

Although the weather was comfortably warm a few weeks ago, it has become decidedly fall-ish now. We have started making fires in our wood stoves, as the temperatures get to freezing and below at night. We are very thankful that the Lord recently allowed us to get a source of heat for our bathroom. It is nice to shower without freezing! :o)

 

Some of the teens have been coming to the teen classes at church. Rafi (Roffy), Ionel (Yone-ell), and Rebeca (all saved teens) came a few weeks ago, and Rebeca and Ionel have been coming somewhat regularly. One evening when I was teaching the children’s class at church, Ionel and Rebeca came in. I let them stay (even though they’re not kids :o)), and after the lesson, everyone wanted to sing. So, we sang for probably 20 minutes, and talked and had fellowship. It was a nice time. Please pray that the Lord would give us wisdom to minister effectively.

 

Ion (Yone), Mariana’s unsaved husband, did great reading for the reading lessons we had the beginning of October. We have not had them for a few weeks though, because he was admitted to the hospital for testing. They found a spot on his lungs, and he is being treated at the hospital. We went to visit him and talked to him for a while. He said that when he was having all the testing done, he prayed to God. I have never heard him say anything like this before, and I believe the Lord is working on his heart. Please pray for Ion’s salvation.

 

We have started teaching English classes at an after school program here in the village. It is operated through an association (Casa Rafa) and run by a Christian woman, Livia. Many of the Gypsy children and teens that come to our services, as well as other children and teens from the village, also go to Casa Rafa. Livia has a heart for the Gypsies, and it has been a blessing to start this new adventure. It is a great ministry opportunity, and we have gotten to know a lot of the children and teens from the area. We will also be doing counseling with the teens at Casa Rafa. Please pray for us in this new ministry.

 

My parents were able to go to Germany for a quick visit to my sister and brother-in-law, Joanna and Bruce White, and their four children. Kristy and I took care of things here, and while I preached, Kristy taught the children’s class with Rebeca’s assistance. It was the first time for Kristy to teach in Romanian, and the Lord graciously allowed the children to be well-behaved that evening.

 

The children’s classes are often quite a challenge. Many of these children have no discipline, and do not go to school, so they are not used to sitting in a class and listening. Others know what they are supposed to do, but choose to be obnoxious. We have been having trouble with children banging on the windows of the church building outside, and running quickly in and out of the building to cause disruptions. The other night, some of the younger guys from the village actually picked up my parents’ car and turned it while we were in the service. Many times, as we are leaving, several kids will grab onto the car making it difficult to leave without hurting someone. We are often at a loss of what to do in these types of situations. Telling them what to do or what not to do often just seems to fall on deaf ears. Please pray that we would have wisdom, and that the Lord would work in the hearts of the Gypsies in Mosnita Veche.

 

We would also appreciate your prayers for our health and safety. We have been having some minor health issues for several weeks and are trying to get them resolved.

 

If any of you are interested in more updates about our personal and day-to-day lives here, you can visit Kristy’s blog: http://howgreatthings.blogspot.com and sign up to receive her updates by email.

 

Thank you so much for your prayers and your part in the Lord’s work among the Gypsies in Romania!

 

Serving Him,

Jonathan and Kristy Heisey

culture shock

It's this nebulous thing that we've all heard of, but many never experience.

It's... the shock... of... being... in a new culture... right?

Well, that's only partly true.  It can happen to those moving to new lands or those moving to other parts of their own country.  The shock comes from the confusion, the unfamiliar, the change in what is normal.

And it hit me a couple months ago.

Not everyone experiences culture shock in the same way.  It can manifest itself in a whole host of symptoms: depression, anger, homesickness, allergies, sicknesses, fear, loneliness, missing the old and hating the new, or even hating the old and loving the new.  Any of these symptoms, and many more, can come crashing down on a person as the shock of living in a new place begins to gnaw on the person's spirit.

And they did.

Even though I've been through culture shock in the past, it took me a little while to figure out what was going on.  Something just wasn't right.  Frustration and loneliness ruled as I listened to conversations I could only partly understand.  Fear would come upon me at even the thought of having to be with those I couldn't fully communicate with.  New allergies hit me as summer rolled into fall, and my normally resilient self came down with a couple of bugs.  It seemed like tears were always threatening to come.  One evening I buried my head on my husband's shoulder and begged him not to leave me alone with the Gypsy kids ever, ever again.  (He had only been gone 5 minutes that afternoon.)  And I was obsessing about wanting to plant some flowers - I needed something to control.

But finally it dawned on me that life really wasn't so bad; I was only in the middle of culture shock.  God was still the same God, and He would give me grace to get through it.  It wouldn't be too long until I would be back to myself again.  The realization didn't overcome the shock, but it did make it much easier to deal with.

All in all, it only lasted maybe 6 weeks or so.  I still don't understand everything that goes on around me, but I am understanding more and more.  I still have a fear of speaking when other Americans are present (something I am working on overcoming), but in general the thought of speaking doesn't bother me, and I enjoy being with our Romanian and Gypsy friends.  I never did cry, but still, the tears don't threaten nearly as often now.  And I do enjoy being with the Gypsy kids... at least, most of the time.  In fact, last week, in a fit of boldness (or stupidity), I told my husband that I would teach the kids' class this past Tuesday night.  In Romanian.  :-O  He had to preach, and there was no one else to teach the kids.  We could have had them in with the adults, but I really felt like the Lord wanted me to step out by faith and trust Him to carry me through the evening.  Rebeca helped me, and it went well, thank the Lord.  If it hadn't, I just might have gone back into shock and told my husband never to let me volunteer to teach again!  But even if I had, God would still be good and would have given me the grace I needed to help me through the difficulties.

And the flowers?  Well, I'm not obsessing over them any more.  I realized that my obsession was in fact my flesh's hidden way of trying to take control of my life away from the One who had it all along.  I didn't need to plant flowers; I needed to rest in the Lord's control.  After that realization, every time I thought about needing to have some flowers to care for, God would remind me that He had everything in control - I just needed to trust Him.

And actually, He did give me some flowers anyway.  I love them and am looking forward to hopefully planting some others next year.  He is so very good to me.

there are a few random yellow petals on this one

We meant to get the same color.  They looked like they were the same color before the flowers opened, and the man we bought them from purposely gave us these two because they were the same color.  Oh well.  We originally wanted red, but I like them both so much now that I can't decide which I would have chosen.

Which do you like better?  The red or the purple?