My Life in Romania (So Far)

Thank you for your prayers! They have been very important to me because, in addition to normal enculturation, I have been going through several other changes in my life here in Romania, which I will describe below. I want to share with all of you my daily living situation since the last time I wrote. In the first week of July, I moved into another apartment. I realized that I was spending a lot of time on the other side of the city. I decided to cut the commute time in half by moving to the west side of town, called Manastur. I live with a very nice lady named Victorita. Thank God we are getting along well, like in a mother-daughter relationship. The apartment is small and modest, not as modern as the other one I was living in, but all that does not matter. What matters is that I feel peace and experience very open and honest dialogue with Victorita. The new apartment building that I am in has several older folks in residence, and it is a joy for me to greet them and see how they are doing. I am closer to everything here, and that has helped to relieve some of the stress caused by lack of time.

To help move around a little bit more quickly and to have more flexibility, I bought a used German-made purple bicycle. It is a surprise for me to see how much I am using it to go places, and it provides me needful exercise as well. Recently, to help accommodate longer distances, I decided that a car would be beneficial for my ministry. With the help of Floyd and Claudia, who works at the St. Dimitrie Center, I bought a used 1996 Volkswagen-Polo. I am now able to use my time much more efficiently.

Every Tuesday, at St. John the Theologian Church, is a Bible study group which I like to attend. I listen to the discussions about the topic presented by the people and the priest. Usually the topic of discussion is the previous Sunday’s Gospel. Afterwards, there are refreshments, and many people stay and chat with each other. There I have the opportunity to work on language skills and to meet young people, which may provide further opportunity for ministry in the future.

I recently also attended a benefit concert at a school for children of families that cannot afford to provide their children with an education. The program consisted of two soloists with Cluj-Napoca’s symphony. It was beautiful to listen to such talented performers and to participate in such a worthy cause.

Another portion of my time is spent communicating with my wonderful supporters back home. Your response and comments to me minister to me far more than you may know. I consider this activity an important part of my missionary responsibility, because this work is growing through the Holy Spirit and as a direct result of your prayers and support. I want to stay in touch with you because you sacrificially offer your prayers and support, which produces growth in our partnership, which then pours out to the mission field here in Romania. Through the help of the Mother of God, I am developing a rhythm and an organization of different ways of communicating with all of you back home on a regular basis.

Building Friendships: My Progress on Learning the Language and Culture

Recently, I had to find a new language teacher because Nicoleta was finishing her maternity leave and would no longer have time for my language lessons. Thank God I found a new teacher relatively quickly. Her name is Lavinia. We are continuing to use the Growing Participator Approach to language acquisition. This approach is described best as using the model of how a little child learns a language. I surely have my struggles. One of them is patience: I want to understand and speak in Romanian with no struggle (the way I speak in English) as soon as possible. However, others have told me, and I keep telling myself, there will be a time when that goal is reached, but it just takes time. Fr. David Rucker, OCMC Associate Director, said to me on his visit here, “It takes perseverance to learn a language." Learning the language is one of my primary goals because of its importance to the ministry here and, through God’s help, I will continue to do my best with enhancing my Romanian language skills.

Regarding Romanian culture, I am discovering that you should bring something with you when you visit someone. I was invited over to the home of a Romanian family which I often visit. They know the nice lady with whom I live, Victorita, and so they invited her as well. As we were leaving to go visit, she said we have to bring something: “We can’t go with empty hands." I thought to myself, "Well, I visit them often, so should I bring something every time?" So on our way we bought flowers and chocolate for the little girl. When we left, as usually happens when I leave them, they gave me some food to take home. Another part of the culture that I am beginning to learn about is how important connections are in Romania. The saying "It is not what you know, but who you know" is very true here in Romania.

It is a good struggle for me to build relationships, because it helps me to use the language, to understand the culture better, and to witness how God is at work within Romania. I am taking time to be with new friends here. Iulia is a peer that I met at the Bible study group. So far we have gone on two excursions together, and we are learning much about each other. There is also a church organization like our Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) called The Association of Orthodox Christian Students in Romania (ASCOR).

I participated in an ASCOR summer camp that was organized by college students. The camp has been going for 5 years and has had OCMC teams come to help out in the past. This year was the first year where they were able to do without the OCMC team. The theme of the camp was "All for one and one for all." The ages of the campers were from 12 to 18, and there were 38 kids at the camp. We had a campfire, sang songs, had morning and evening prayers, played organized sports, had discussions with the priest, had small group discussions, and did arts and crafts. These kids and college students were fun for me to be around, and they taught me more about the language, culture, and building friendships.

My work at the Protection of the Theotokos Family Center (PTFC)

As time permits, I volunteer at the PTFC and help out with babies. I try to go to the Center early in the morning, because then I get to meet the mothers of these beautiful children. I want to continue seeing them so that our relationships can grow. I can only go so far with our conversations because of my beginner-level Romanian. It is hard and frustrating for me when they do open up to me and I can’t understand or communicate to them what I want to say.

We have two new babies who are about 4 months old. The mothers are living in the maternity center. They can only stay there for 6 to 8 months. They are looking to find work so that they can take care of their little ones. The PTFC helps them during this desperate time they are in. Through our partnership, you and I are both participating in helping these mothers and their babies. I want to say "thank you" to you and your parish for your ongoing prayers and support!

One last note: baby clothes and shoes for children from 3 months to four years old and baby products (diaper rash ointment, Gel-Fast Teething Pain Relief, baby oil, baby powder, etc.) are much more expensive in Romania than they are in the USA, and the PTFC does not have enough funds to buy them for the babies. If you feel your parish would be interested in holding a clothing drive for the PTFC, please email me at c.semon@ocmc.org. I am looking forward to hearing from you.