“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

 Acts 16:9

Following are some excerpts from letters from Heidi and Benjamin from over the last few weeks. Thank you for your prayers for them and for us in Romania.

Benjamin:

Hey Mom, I'm not sure if this is going to send anytime soon because the email is going weird again, but I'll write anyway and it'll send when it wants. Y’all’s emails have been a blessing and an encouragement the past few days. Thank you. I'm feeling a lot better than yesterday and Sunday. I sound like a frog, but my throat doesn't hurt so badly. That might also have something to do with the fact that I've started taking a lot of meds because it was really hurting. Last night I had a good night's rest. Had high fever, but it broke sometime in the early morning and I woke up soaked in sweat. So I hope that means this illness is on its way out. Thank you and everybody else for your prayers. They offered to put me on antibiotics, but I had just gotten off of another dosage for my arm, so I thought this one was better left to run its course.

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With the kids it's been up and down. Lots of highs where everything is great, then other times that things are rough. Part of having to be in charge is that sometimes you have to be the bad guy, but the mornings and evenings with them have been awesome.

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I won't even try to get back to all of the emails y'all have sent over the past week or so. Last week somebody was working with the electricity up the road and they severed most of the phone lines leading to the different people who live in the area. So that's why you haven't heard from me for so long. I'm sorry I wasn’t able to get back to y'all, but I appreciate so much y'all continuing to write even though I wasn't getting any of it. Today is the first day in awhile that we have had email or phone lines...so that's that. When the emails finally came in, they got like 40 emails total and 25 of them were for me!

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I have been having good days. I kind of have that feeling like I had at Siret (November newsletter) the last time I was there. Like I’m about to walk out of these kids’ lives ‘til eternity...what have I left behind? It’s a hard deal because sitting here at the computer, I feel all fired up to give them my everything. But when I get there with them, I don't really know how. I mean, how do you give your all when you're playing a game or trying to get them to do their chores right? God's helping me though. Also, how am I supposed to be giving my all? By being a good leader and driven worker who works really really hard or by being a chilled person who'll just relax with them? It's hard for me because I feel like it's my duty to keep the kids busy because that's what I'm here to do, but when I'm trying to keep them busy and having fun, then I don't get quality time with them. I'm starting to get much more relaxed and personal and beginning to let big organized games slide because they're not going to remember the nice organized games we did, but the time we spent with them one-on-one, really paying attention to them.

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I went to an Indian wedding today. It was quite amazing… overwhelming. Definitely not what I want at my wedding, but it was interesting. I'll have to describe it better when I get home or later on because now I'm really tired. All I'll say is that it was noisy, happy, and chaotic.  I'm sure there was no rehearsal for today's wedding. Joel and I were instant celebrities because we're white-skinned (well, tan, white-skinned!). Popularity is easy to come by here in India!

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This week has been adventurous so far. Yesterday Joel and I had a nice trek back to a hill that we'd climbed before in the past, but wanted to climb again because the view is so amazing. So we did and we had fun in the morning climbing around on the rocks on top. Some good rock climbing there, then in the afternoon we had our first personal encounter with a monkey. We didn't think anything besides the fact that it was cool, so we went up and were calling it. Then somebody with a bit more wisdom came up and told us to beat it---that the monkeys are very dangerous and carry rabies.

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I’m down sick again and it really stinks. Please pray for me. Really want to make the most of this last month. I have been having great times with the kids and some awesome talks with them too. I've got those bumps in my throat and today they've really drained me. I've rested most of the day and am heading back to bed now. I hope they clear up fast. I will get back to you more when I'm feeling better. It's nothing serious what I've got; it’s just worn me out. Can I soak my feet in clorox water if I've got a wound or a cut on a toe?

                                                                   Love you,

                                                                   Ben

 

Heidi:

I am planning on getting a bike. It will be much easier because  I have to leave a half hour early for a ten minute bus ride to school because you never know when the bus will come. I am really tired of waiting around for them. Today, the only other Chinese student who talks to me introduced me to a Chinese girl he had met who wanted someone to practice English with. She is a student at the same college where we attend. He thought of me and I told her (Emma) that she could come to the classes I teach at the other campus, but that at the moment I couldn’t set up other things because I still needed to see how I will manage my time with school. Not that I don’t want to help her, but I don’t want to commit to something that, in the end, I won’t be able to do.

She called this afternoon and asked if I could go to dinner. I already had plans to go back to the school for the English Corner so I told her another time. Well, I got to the school and called Emma because I couldn’t find the place where they meet. She came and met me and told me that it was cancelled for tonight. We talked for a bit and she gave me a gift. I was really surprised and the truth seems to be that she needs a friend more than an English tutor. She gave me a note and said that she values a relationship with me because she thinks she can learn many things from me---not just English---and that she would write them down and use them for her life! Wow! Kind of scary.

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It is so humid here, just like back in Louisiana. The stairs are dangerous. They are so wet, you could easily slip. Nothing dries. Sweat runs down your face without your putting forth any effort.

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I have my passport in hand once again. It cost 50 and was quick once I got to the police. The lessons are self explanatory. We are still on things that I semi know and we are a small class, so I am not having a hard time. I was surprised to be the only foreigner at the English Corner, but I called Emma to come; she helped me out. She studies physics and speaks English better than many of the English majors. I only stayed an hour. It is at the far campus and I wanted to get home. I met her today for lunch and she will come over tomorrow for dinner. Of all the people here, she really understands about missing your family. She is from a town about five hours away from here and she misses her family as well.  I am good. The weather is overcast, humid, and wet, but not raining.

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I do ride the bike most places and it is so much easier. I am thankful for it. This is the only country I have ever heard of bike traffic in. We have bike traffic jams---that’s how many there are.

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Spent a lot of the afternoon cleaning up mildew; there are tons of it around here with the damp weather. Today I went wild with bleach and threw away things I didn’t think we needed. I got carried away a bit I guess, but don’t know when I'll have time again.

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I really, really want to leave them with more than English. I want the things that we talk about to be things that help them in their lives in the future, not just stuff we discuss because it is in the book. I don’t want to waste their time and mine.

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Tonight I plan on joining the discussion at the State Church.  I am trying to prepare the lesson for Tuesday morning. I hope that  I will be able to figure out how to use the equipment so as to be able to use the things I have prepared.  Anyway, need to practice my Chinese before I go to class.

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Hi there. It is the end of the day. I met up with the Vietnamese students whom we went to see during the Chinese New Year. They were happy to see me. If I learn Chinese from anyone, it will be from them. They don’t speak English. Anyway, it came off well.

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Went to the local Church tonight for the discussion; it was good. There were over 50 people tonight and only two English speakers. There was one guy in the group that I was talking to who kept agreeing with me and I finally asked him why he kept telling the others that I was right? He looked at me and said, "I am one of you!"

                                                                      Love you,

                                                                      Heidi