June 19, 2022

Update from Cluj:

Hey guys! I’m so excited to tell you about my time in Cluj, Romania. It has been life changing. Me and my team had the privilege to help Homes of Hope build a house for a family in a nearby village. They are a family of 7 with another baby due any day now. I had so much fun learning new skills and was told I have a future in construction 😂. It felt so good to be able to work with my hands and SEE how it was blessing this family. We also received blessings from this family. The day we dedicated the house the mom of 5 said she had been up most of the night making cabbage rolls for 20+ people and was setting up lunch for us and she was expecting to give birth that day! Amazing strength! She kept saying she is so grateful for us helping her and her family but that she is even more grateful that other people are also receiving houses, too. Her husband helped build with us and you could see the pride he took in his work and how much it meant to him to be a part of building his own home.

 

We also cooked for a group of 75+ Ukrainian refugees. The Cluj YWAM team call them friends, instead of refugees, to be respectful which meant a lot to me. We cooked so much food in a very tiny kitchen. Delivering the food was an amazing experience, too. The joy on their faces was worth every step up those STEEP hills and stairs.

 

We also met a DTS team from Madrid, Spain and it was so fun getting to know them. I spent many evenings laughing, eating, and having such good conversations. Not so great when you stay up till midnight and then get up at 6 am to work 12 hours at a construction site, but it was worth every minute. I was glowing at the end of every day. My body was exhausted but my mind and spirit were so refreshed.

 

One day last weekend we were walking around the city exploring and found a random festival. We stayed to eat at food trucks and ended up watching a famous Romanian singer in concert. Such an unexpected evening! Thankfully the rain held off. Other days it didn’t hold off and we spent many minutes scrambling to cover just-plastered-walls and racing for the van and truck where hot fresh donuts (homemade by the mom we were building the house for) awaited us. Many a laugh were heard in those exhaustion and sugar fueled conversations.

 

Tomorrow morning we are headed back to Budapest for about 12 hours to drop off winter clothing and extra supplies before we head out on our last leg of the trip! We are headed to Albania for 7 weeks! At this point, I know that we will be working with some kid's summer camps but am not sure of our other outreach plans yet. This is a predominantly Muslim country so we are headed into a very heavy spiritual atmosphere. Please pray for our team and that we have the strength to finish this last leg strong! Can’t wait to see and hug all of you!