We Wait You

A Dream that may Come True

Thu, 2 Sep 2010 09:25:28 PST

One of my heart's dreams is for my book to become available in Romania. I would love for people in Eastern Europe to be encouraged with some of the amazing things God has done in their midst. Two things happened this week that have encouraged me that my dream may become a reality before too long.

An impromptu book signing occurred at the end of the staff conference. I arrived with a suitcase stuffed with 30 copies of my book in English, not enough for all the staff but enough for the ones who asked for a copy, the ones who are fluent in English. Late at night, as I bid many tearful good-byes, people kept bringing me their copy for a personal autograph. Many had started to read We Wait You at the conference and were excited about the possibilities of giving the books to their ministry partners.

Yesterday, my train to Bucharest was 2-1/2 hours late. Our stop in Brasov was shortened to just one hour. Yet it was enough time to meet with the director of a Christian publishing house. She had read my book already and wants to take on the project of translating it into Romanian and publishing it in Romania. I'm thrilled about the possibility. One option would involve it being completed much sooner but would involve a financial investment on our part. The other option may mean it wouldn't be printed for a couple years. Either way, it will mean that these stories of how awesome our God is may be available in the Romanian language soon. I am humbled and excited. I can't wait.

A Celebration I'll Never Forget

Wed, 1 Sep 2010 09:38:49 PST

The event that brought me 11,000 miles happened last night. It was a night so rich and deep in significance that I will never forget it. I believe God was glorified as we praised Him with one voice for doing what only He could do in Romania. About 20 people shared different aspects of the work of Campus Crusade in that country over the years. Some spoke via video; most of us spoke in person. Some blazed the way as early as 1978 by making secret trips to encourage believers. Some of us moved in-country after the revolution 20 years ago. Laughter and tears flowed freely. The ones of us who followed God's call to serve in Romania felt honored and appreciated. The current staff serving there were encouraged and strengthened in their faith.

Each speaker recounted stories of God's grace and described what life was like in the time they served. When I spoke, I reminded that God is the same today as He was in 1989 when He brought them freedom. Today their needs may be different, but God is not. He can still do the impossible.

The theme for the conference was: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory because of They lovingkindness, because of Thy truth." (Psalm 115:1)

When I was deciding whether to attend this conference, I considered if the money for my trip might be better spent by sending a check to the ministry. I honestly didn't know. My husband asked me what the Romanian staff would say. "That's easy," I said. "They would say they'd rather have me."

Last night, I posed that question to several people. "We want you," they said. "We're so glad you came." So am I.

Generations

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:51:40 PST

Every once in a while, God allows us to glimpse how He has used us in peoples' lives. This is one of those times for me and I will always treasure it. I have had precious conversations with spiritual children here - fruit from my team's ministry that has remained for 20 years and has borne more fruit and continues to bear fruit. Many of these dear ones whose lives God allowed me to touch are spiritual nieces and nephews, led to Christ by brothers and sisters on my teams, but whose lives I also touched. More generations are also present: grandchildren, great nieces and nephews, great-grandchildren. I feel encouraged, honored, grateful, and humbled by their words to me:

"Thank you for the things you taught me."
"You will always have a place in my heart."
"I will forever remember your smile."
"Thank you for coming to Romania and for staying so many years."
"We love your tender heart for Romania."
"You will always be one of us."

Some have thanked me for my sacrifice in coming to them. But it doesn't feel like I gave up anything - at least not in hindsight. A missionary's love for the people to whom God has called them is like a parent's love for their child. It is not something sought after; it is God-given. It can't be explained; it defies logic. A child's actions can not change a parent's love. All of we Americans at this conference have expressed the same feelings of being overwhelmed with emotion. As I look at the room full of Romanian staff, I'm not sure they fully comprehend how deep our love is for them. No, it was a pleasure, not a sacrifice.

Getting Filled Up

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 06:10:06 PST

Already, after only a day and a half in Romania, my heart is full. I have had many conversations with dear friends, some in Romanian, some in English, most half and half. We've laughed as we've relived funny memories (remember when ant was translated aunt?); we've discussed struggles the younger staff have with raising their financial support; we've grieved together friends who are no longer with us. But mostly we've connected on a heart-to-heart level that defies explanation. Many of the Campus Crusade staff were students when I met them in the early 1990s. I know their stories of when they came to faith in Christ. Some have been on staff 19 years, almost as many as I served. They were in their early twenties then and now they're in their early forties - the age I was when I left Eastern Europe for the States.

This morning, as we sang "Holy is the Lord" together in the melodic Romanian language, I looked out on those faces that I and my teammates have loved and prayed for over the decades. The tears starting flowing. One of my favorite things to do here was to sing worship songs together in Romanian. I realized, I am back. I'm in Romania. After the singing, I slipped out to catch up with David and Susan, my former teammates. One of the guys came running after me. "They want you on the stage," he said. We ran together down the newly mopped hallway, into the conference room, over all the microphone cords, and onto the stage.

Daniela (pictured above) spontaneously interviewed three of us women who returned for the celebration. The first two answered their questions in English. She asked me how I felt coming to Romania. I took the microphone and said, "Mi-a fost frica" and told why I was afraid of living in this country at that time. Everyone applauded and many told me they were so encouraged that I still remembered how to speak in Romanian. God has answered my prayers to cause a little of the language, rusty as it is, to come back. He's also answered my prayers to allow me to quickly recover from jet lag and adjust to the new time. How can it get any better than it is already? Yet I expect it will. I can't wait for the big celebration in just two days.

Familiar and yet vastly different

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 02:36:38 PST

I am back in Romania. It feels more than a bit surreal to be here, or maybe that's just the jetlag. As my plane started its descent yesterday, I seriously thought I had boarded the wrong one in Frankfurt because the Bucharest airport I knew did not look anything like this one. I remembered my first time landing at this airport, 20 years ago. Soldiers in their long wool coats and Russian hats had lined the tarmac and inside the airport, with their machine guns poised. Nothing was automated or computerized in those days. Lists were written by hand; luggage was carried in on carts. Now I waltzed through a clean, orderly, and modern airport. Nothing was familiar except the colleague who met me to drive me to the conference site.

The gorgeous sunshine and blue skies made the journey a pleasure. We glided along new, smooth highways. Modern gas stations and fast food places were interspersed with handmade baskets and rugs for sale along the side of the road. And the cars! There were so many, mostly sturdy German ones, very few Dacias from the Communist era. Since it was the end of the work week, I experienced a new phenomenon in Romania - a traffic jam. We navigated spruced-up towns with flowers adorning windowboxes and sidewalks. The Romania of my memory became visible once we hit the mountains: familiar haystacks, shepherds and their sheep, horsedrawn wagons laden with hay, beautiful carved wooden gates, women sitting on benches gossiping, widows dressed in black walking, men riding bikes home from work.

When we stopped to get some water, I thanked the clerk in the store by saying, "Koszonom." My brain automatically opened up the Foreign Language Drawer and out popped the greeting in the last country I lived in - Hungary. I meant to say the Romanian "multumesc" but the wrong words came out. And then as I filled out my registration card at the conference center, I wrote out "Richardson Taryn." I'd put my maiden name - my name when I lived in Romania and so I slipped back into that identity. I am changed with a new name but still the same at my essence, just as Romania is.

Thirty hours after my husband and I left for the airport, I arrived at the hotel, bone weary and brain fogged with jet lag. The excitement of catching up with my dear friends kept me going until bedtime Romania time. This morning, the first sound I heard as I opened my eyes was the timeless clip-clop of horses' hooves pulling their wagon to market. I've come home. Some things will hopefully never change.

Stay Tuned for Travelogue

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:26:25 PST

I'm leaving for Romania in less than 24 hours! I will be posting blogs and pictures every day. Hopefully the internet connections will be working every day so you can see them. My flight (actually, three flights each way) arrives the following day, August 27. There will be a 5-hour drive until I reach my destination in the Carpathian Mountains. By then I'll be more than ready for bed. So I can't promise when I'll actually post the first travelogue blog, but it'll be as soon as I can.

I'll talk to you soon!

Business or Pleasure?

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:00:05 PST

It's crunch time. Nine days remain until take-off for Romania and I can't wait. When I tell new friends about my trip, I realize that it doesn't fit into a typical category and it's hard to get a handle on it. How will I answer the question at customs about the purpose of my travel: Business or Pleasure?

It's not exactly a reunion, although I will be catching up with many old friends and it does have the element of celebration in it. It's not even a mission trip, at least not in terms of going to a foreign country (or a different culture in your own country) for one specific and much-needed purpose (handing out Bibles, building houses, babysitting missionary kids). People often return from these trips without ever having entered in to the culture - how can you in such a short time? - or even having had conversations with the people - don't you need to speak their language?

One new friend summed it up by saying my trip will be like the apostle Paul going back to encourage the churches he helped plant. That’s it exactly. I will spend time with spiritual children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and on for generations - many of whom I've never met because they were born spiritually after I left. Some are cousins and nieces, spiritual children of my teammates - the extended family helping the young ones thrive. My heart’s desire is that I won't stay on the surface or in shallow water, but instead dive down deep and stay down deep the entire week. I hope to talk about heart issues, the real stuff of life, with these dear friends. (And because of that, a big prayer request is that God will bring back my language ability, which has been hibernating for a decade now.) I expect to be exhausted and exhilarated at the end of the week.

Together, the current Campus Crusade staff and those of us returning will rejoice in what God did 20 years ago. He broke through the bars of iron holding the people of the Eastern Bloc captive, opening the floodgates for His gospel to come in and pierce hearts and change lives. We'll praise Him for what He is doing now and look forward expectantly to even greater things in the future.

So what's the purpose: Business or Pleasure? It's encouragement.

Mosquitoes: Why?

Mon, 9 Aug 2010 14:09:06 PST

God's creativity soars in the animal world. Magnificent deer. Comical kangaroos. Ponderous elephants. Cuddly koalas. What was He thinking when He made mosquitoes? My husband, bless his heart, never gets bitten. He has a natural mosquito repellant: Me. People love me in the summer time. Whenever I’m in a group, it's as though everyone is doused in Off and encircled by citronella candles. Everyone except me. I end up looking like a teenager covered in red acne welts.

Today is one of those days when I question why I wanted to become a writer. I have a short story and an article due this week and I've spent the last two hours staring at my blank computer screen. Writing is such a solitary activity (especially when attempting to work from home). I need people to energize me. Problem is people energize me so much that I forget about writing. Today, I decided to prime the pump by working on this blog, hoping that ideas would begin flowing. As you can see by today's subject matter, that hasn't happened yet. All that's happened is that last night's mosquito bites started itching. Again.

So I researched some fun facts for you about the mosquito. Only the females bite. Figures. They live between 3-100 days and the friendlier males only live 10-20 days. Each female lays between 100-300 eggs at a time and produces between 1,000-3,000 offspring. And the reason they bite us is that they require the protein from our blood for their eggs. Lovely. So I'm helping each one that bites me to produce up to 3,000 more delightful mosquitoes. I come back to my original question: Why?

A Time to Celebrate

Wed, 4 Aug 2010 13:00:46 PST

This week marks one year since our dream house became ours, and eight months since we moved in. We are celebrating! The way we found our house was totally a God-thing and it's obvious that He prepared the way for us. This is the first home I've ever owned. Taking care of a house and a huge yard is a lot to start at the ages when most people downsize, but we're up for some physical labor. And because of the aches that come with that, we're thankful that one surprise benefit has been how much easier it is to sleep here with no one living upstairs. Every night, the only light outside is the lightning bugs and the only noise is the melody of the cicadas.

Maybe we're still in a honeymoon phase, but we love our new life and new town. We finally chose our church and no longer feel untethered. The decision was very difficult with several wonderful churches in town. In such a short time, we've come to love many people who are members of churches we didn't choose (making the decision harder), and we're thankful that our friendships with them will continue to grow. We'll be working shoulder-to-shoulder with them to reach this community for Christ.

One challenge for Steve and I has been adjusting to being home together each day. Neither of us has a real job since Steve's retired and I’m unemployed. (Actually I’m freelancing from home, but my intermittent checks make it feel like I'm unemployed.) But we're getting into a rhythm and keeping very busy with boundless ministry opportunities, relationships to build, and a gorgeous area to explore. God has been good to us!

A Well-Watered Garden

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:58:01 PST

It’s been a long, hot summer. Friends in Europe and Asia have been wilting along with us in the States. (Except for Northern California, that is.) And this is the summer I'm trying my hand at gardening, for the first time ever. Before now, I've only grown plants inside the safety and shelter of a flower pot. I’m learning a lot – mostly through my mistakes - about how to take care of my garden, and about how similar my garden is to my own spiritual life.

Most of my flowers survived for a while in the drought and extreme heat of the last two months. They looked fine from the outside and I couldn’t tell anything was wrong. Their colors were vibrant and they put on a spectacular show. But when I touched the soil down deep, it was as parched as a desert. There came a point when several of the flowers could no longer fool anyone that all was well. The signs began to show: yellow leaves, withered leaves, droopy heads. They looked tired; desperate for life-giving water. Sprinkling water on the leaves only helped temporarily; it didn’t affect the plant long-term. The only solution to their thirst was to flood their roots, the point where they connect to the source, every day.

There are other things I can do to help my garden succeed. While some flowers can survive in the baking sun, others will need to be moved to a shadier spot next season in order to thrive. Likewise, I need to position myself in the best environment for my own growth. Some bully plants tend to take over and need to be cut back, so they won’t grow wildly out-of-control and overshadow the more delicate flowers. Often I'm the bully plant that needs pruning. Mulch around the flowers helps them hold the moisture in at their roots so it doesn’t trickle away. Friends can help me remain close to my Source and remember. The fragile plants need to be protected from vicious predators, predators which often parade as harmless. Turns out even our cute friends Bambi and Bugs are out for themselves and won't hesitate to devour our flora.

Flowers need a lot of care. So do people.