1995 Romania Mission Trip

6-27-95 Frankfurt, Germany
Well, this should take awhile. I started out 10 days ago from Eugene to Pasadena, CA for training on how to teach English as a second language. Now I'm on my way to Romania. I am serving as the Team Administrator for a five person team. We will teach English at a government run summer camp for 6 weeks. We are not supposed to share our faith unless asked, but I'm praying for opportunities.

The players: Chris Redmond-an actor and somewhat emotionally unstable. Otherwise he's pretty cool. Mandi Trask-an ex-softball pitcher from OK. She's blond, cute as a button, and very enthusiastic. [Not exactly the ringing endorsement one would expect me to give my future wife, but what can I say, I was young and foolish and lucky enough to catch her eye.] Nathan Bloom-thriftiness. He's Minnesotan and plays guitar. That's a real answer to prayer. Inge Lewerentz-Canadian, 6' 2'? She's a substitute teacher by profession, so she ought to be good @ this. And me.

There's one other piece of business; Erin Hawley. I have no idea why, but Erin and I hit it off at training in a major way. It was cool at first, we have a lot in common, but then it kind of progressed until one night I was walking around trying to figure out what to do about it. She's on her way to Russia for 6 weeks and on my way to Romania, but in the 10 days of training together we connected. I didn't want to say anything; the easy reaction for me has always been to sit on my emotions and make a decision w/o them. All I had to do was say goodbye and it would all be over. Instead I racked my brains and prayed for hours and finally came to the conclusion that if she was still waiting for me where I had last seen her at midnight, then I would talk to her. I would not just deny my feelings when I know we were still going to see each other the next day.
Anyway, I went back and there she was. I asked how she was doing and she said not very good. We needed to talk. I didn't know it, but while I was out desperately trying to figure things out and determine an ultimatum, she was doing the same thing! She had said to herself that she would talk to me if I returned within 10 minutes. My time was almost up, but our ultimatum coincided perfectly. Go God! Anyway, she likes me, I like her, she has a boyfriend she loves but can't see herself with anymore, and so we're going to pray over the summer, correspond and re-evaluate in the fall when I get back from Europe. I'll be here 10 weeks. I hope things work out, I really do; I have something emotional riding on this for the first time in years. [Testimony to my pathetic, though prolific dating life in college.] So, God, do your stuff. I know what I want, I pray that it is the same as what You want. May your will be done, Amen. [In hindsight, I was off a bit, but thankfully managed to catch up with His will in time to secure Mandi, the world's best wife, as my own true love.]

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July 4, 1995 Constanza, Romania Happy Birthday America!!
[It should be explained here that upon our arrival in Bucharest we were all hustled off to a farm house outside of town and told that we would be leaving on separate trains in the morning; three of us to the mountains, and two to the coast. After praying together, talking about it, fighting about it and even drawing straws at one point, the decision was left in my hands. That wasn't how I was told how to run the team, but then, the team was never supposed to be split in the first place. In spite of our best efforts the Romanian government sent us off and I wound up with Mandi on the Black Sea coast in a little town called Eforie Sud. It was a great decision on my part for obvious reasons...]

Well, things have calmed down now. I have spoken with the team in Predeal and everything is OK. Mandi and I just celebrated our own 4th. We both pulled party poppers and sang the Star-Spangled Banner. May the stripes of Old Glory never run and may her stars shine on forever! Anyway, everyone on my team is O.K. We were split on arrival (that was worth major high blood pressure) and it took me a week to get back in touch with the others. Basically it all boils down to this: Mandi and I are here at the beach for two more weeks and then we will switch with the others and head for the mountains.

"Teaching" so far, consists of playing with the kids on the beach in the morning, teaching baseball or some other American activity in the afternoon and spending more time with them in the evening. Yesterday we made the local news playing baseball. On the 15th we do a radio interview. Pretty heady stuff, considering the fact that we're supposed to be, well the camp director- Balaban- is certain, that we're here by mistake. This is a pleasure camp, not an educational one. The kids here (6-19 yrs.) eat and play, period. Very little supervision and no organized class. Romanians come here for vacation, not to learn.

Oh yeah, we killed a spider in my room that was as big as a silver dollar. The marking were similar, sort of, to a garden spider only more than twice the size. Huge! Absolutely freakin' huge!

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July 8, 1995 Eforie Sud, Romania
We've survived the first group. In fact, we made it onto Romanian television teaching the kids baseball - and Balaban saw! I guess they got tons of phone calls and he looks good so everyone is very happy. [Translation: he stopped glaring at us every time he saw us, and no longer held it against us that we insisted on separate rooms when each one sleeps 4-6 people.] With the two days we had before the next group arrives Mandi and I went to Constanza with a translator, Mirella, and today caught a bus down to Neptun. Neptun is the local version of Orlando. All it is is one giant resort run by the government. It is beautiful, but stay off the beach. Women here have no problem going topless in a thong. Its like something out of a movie.

After spending all day at the resort with Mandi I felt like comparing it to a honeymoon without the sex. All we have is each other and we're stuck on the Black Sea coast. Its kinda wierd actually. We talked about it and agreed that if she wasn't seeing Brad and I wasn't interested in Erin, we'd probably get together. [See how dumb I was. The best thing in my life was that close and I had the audacity to wait for Erin, who I didn't know nearly as well. Dumb. Thank God for Mandi's persistence in the matter.]

Still no mail from Erin, royal bummer. I really wish we could be together. I know that's probably too much to hope for, but she's soo cool. We have so much in common, and, well, she makes my stomach go queasy. [Still does, but not the same way.] I know that's just infatuation, but dang! Why would God bring us this close only to tear us down? [In fact, there was no 'us' in the first place! Secondly, hello!, there's MANDI! Hindsight is a beautiful thing.] Its much easier to just ignore emotions and live with pain. Then I have control...even if that is wrong.

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July 24th, 1995 Timisul de Jos, Romania
Aaahh! We are once again all one team. We are here in the mountains and since Romania Oregon lie on the same longitude, the climate is exactly like home. [How about that? Bad geography and climatology all in one sentence!] It even rained on the train ride in here. The Carpathian mountains beautiful. These people have not logged as we have, so it really makes me wonder if the Cascades would look this good if the foothills weren't bald.

Something I have come to realize in the past couple of days is how evident God is in creation! We have visited several churches older than the United States and a school founded in the 11th century (the first one in Romania). The ornate richness and delicate beauty of the craftsmanship at those places is mind-boggling. There was even the first Romanian Bible (1610). Yet without someone to interpret and explain the significance of these things they would lack much of their meaning.

The same is not true of nature. You can stand on a mountain top in Russia, Romania or anywhere else and know its significance. It whispers of a God and a Creator. In any tongue, nature looks, smells, sounds and is beautiful.

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7-27-95 Romania
I am sitting beside a stream in the Carpathian mountains. It feels like McKenzie Bridge back home. Even the plants are to a large extent the same. I found out yesterday that Danielle eloped. Mom and Dad know by now, but I wonder if everyone is okay. My sister is now Mrs. Gilbert Castro. My best guess is there'll be Hell to pay.

Meanwhile, ducks are at play in the stream, last night I heard the bear that has everyone so nervous after dark, and I am continually awed by the history of this place. Constanza is like a small piece of Italy. Here everything screams Germany. The architecture is particularly impressive. We build for convenience in America, here everything is aesthetic first and convenient last. Even new building look older than America.

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8-4-95 [Bucharest] Romania
A couple of days ago I got to catch and eat my first Romanian fish: a carp. I guess they're very popular here. I hope my sister is okay. Everything else is cool for now. Everyone is getting along and only 10 days to go. Oh, Mandi, Mandi, Mandi... (She made me write that.) [Now, after nine years of marriage, Mandi still holds it against me that I ate the entire fish without sharing any with her. never mond that there about 6 bites to eat and five people at the table I'd have to share with if I started sharing at all! Oh well. We laugh now, but everyone else ate tasteless gruel that night. It was awful for them.]

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8-14-95 Still in Bucharest
I had planned to leave Romania and travel thru Europe... instead I will go home. My sister is now pregnant. [That happened before the elopement, on a drunk binge in Las Vegas. She has since, however, turned her life around completely. Gilbert is a good man. I admire them both for the way they've struggled through their ignominious beginnings.] I am needed at home. These things happen.

I used to think I was strong. I had Q.T.s every day, I prayed... now I know I am weak. I dialed the phone more than a hundred times today in my efforts to reach home and resolve my money problem. [I was ripped off by a money changer on the street and had my wallet stolen on the bus in Eforie Nord.] Without my Visa and low on cash, I would be very vulnerable indeed if I didn't know that God was taking care of me. Indeed, toward that end He has provided me with the card of a baptist minister here in town (he's from Tennessee). But as much as God is taking care of me, I still test Him as I did today at the phone. Maybe it was His fault that I couldn't get through, that still doesn't give me the right to cuss at Him. I just want out of this place. [At this time the team had already left the country. I was alone, truly.]

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12-28-95 Springfield, OR
Playing catch-up. If I hadn't lost this thing I would have had it with me on my trip to Oklahoma and Florida. Michael Anderson asked me to be the Best Man at his wedding on December 6th. I said yes, but stopped in Oklahoma on the way down so I could see Mandi. We spent the weekend meeting every relative she has [which was a lot] and I caught a nie 3-lb. Largemouth bass in a mudpuddle. [It was a small farm pond.] Anyway, Mandi and I are together now. No more Erin, no more Brad [Mandi's ex-boyfriend. In fact, I convincerd her to break up with him before we left Eforie Sud. ], just Jon and Mandi. She really is awesome. I've never known anyone with such an encouraging spirit.

After a weekend in Oklahoma it was off to Florida for a week and a wedding. Michael's bride, Tami, is fantastic. I think she and Mike are great for each other. I had the opportunity to get to know her dad and the pastor when he- the father- took us deep sea fishing. Interestingly enough, Michael didn't come with us. He stayed home and packed while we caught fish. It was a slow day, but I finally caught my kingfish. He was about the same size as my barracuda and shark.

The wedding itself was beautiful. Long, but beautiful. Tami had 7 pieces of music in the ceremony. Something I learned over the weekend is just how much Mike has influenced my life. He is so sensitive and emotionally 'in touch.' I know those are qualities I admire and desire for myself. Having him for an example has helped a lot as I seek to learn how to deal with my own emotions.

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[There is SO much more to say about the trip to Romania. In fact, I wrote a 4-5 page report for Educational Services International about the trip. If I ever find it I will include it here. In the meantime, it proved to be the beginning of the greatest relaitonship in my life... Mandi, which deserves much more attention. JS 1-28-06]