Thankfulness

The sun shines brightly most days in Lubbock Texas. We are surrounded by the warmth of the love of our family and friends, and we are led by God's peace. We have settled into a new home, new jobs, and a new pre-school. Olivia is loving the constant availability of her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We are so blessed...We praise God for His love and faithfulness to us.

We would like to thank you for your prayers. We hope that you will keep in touch.

May God continue blessing you and yours as you serve the God of Glory!

Leave of Absence

In late August the Meador family will be leaving Romania for a three month medical leave of absence. We want to thank you for your continued prayer and support as we seek care for Cindy's health issues and discern God's direction for our lives. Please pray for spiritual growth for the people and work of the Church of the Nazarene in Romania.

Tigmandru Baptism

We just returned from Tigmandru where Pastor Roberta Bustin baptised four believers in a lake near the village. Rev. Norman Patterson and I assisted her. After the baptism we enjoyed a grilled sausage picnic together. I preached in Sighisoara on Sunday morning where I shared some of the signs of a great church: a community of people who need God, obey him, worship him and speak boldly for him - (based on the church of Acts chapter two).

Vacation days!!!

We just got back from a vacation at the beach in Bulgaria, and to the mountains of Sinaia, Romania. You can click the link above (Photos from Romania) for more pics from our trip.

A Simple Gesture

[Cindy] I walked into the small store and bought a bottle of water. On my way out I saw a young girl waiting for her coffee to exit the coffee machine. I reached out and patted her shoulder and smiled at her and went on my way. I climbed into the van and as I was shifting into gear the young lady passed by the van, turned, smiled and waved at me. I returned the wave and the smile. It warmed my heart. She said something that I couldn't hear, and then she turned around and walked over to the van. I rolled the window down and she began talking to me. I didn't get much of what she said. I told her that I only speak a little Romanian. She smiled. I touched her shoulder and wished her a good day. She wished me the same. As she walked away she turned once more and we exchanged smiles and waves again. I prayed for her as I drove home. Maybe I will see her again. U[ntil then I will continue to pray for her. God knows her name. He knows where she lives and what she needs. I close my eyes and I see her precious little face. "Be with her Abba, comfort her I pray."

Olivia's Spring Song in Romanian

Trash Day

About a week ago a car pulled up at the old abandoned house (in front of our house) and workers donned themselves with rubber boots, gloves, and masks. They then stepped into the old house and began to clean out all that was in the three story building. It took them 2 days and several dumpsters full of trash to clear out most of the contents that had accumulated. The trash is now gone and the open windows and doors are now covered with a wire mess that prevents any further dumping. OH you bet I am singing praise to my precious Lord!! It was exactly one week after our street was newly paved with asphalt that the car rolled up and the workers exited ready to do some serious cleaning. After seeing some little mice exit and enter the old house a few days before, I am thankful that He sent in a cleaning crew - You bet I am giving God the credit. He is listening...

He's listening...

About a month ago Scott began planning and plotting the removal of the concrete driveway (chipped and crumbling) in front of our house. He wanted to have the driveway resurfaced with asphalt. The cost of the project; expensive and labor intense. A few weeks later, a backhoe turns down our dead-end street and begins tearing out everyone's sidewalks and driveways. We parked ourselves in front of the window and wondered, "what in the world are they doing?" A few more days pass, and we curiously watch the work crew as they begin laying new curbstones, and packing in new dirt with the all-purpose whacker packer (dirt compactor) and prepping for the, you guessed it, resurfacing of our sidewalks and driveways with ASPHALT!

For me, this experience confirms in my heart and mind that God is listening - that He is watching and working in ways in which I am completely clueless. Let's think about the details:

1. The timing (a month after Scott's conversation).

2. The involvement of government employees (remember, we live in Romania)

3. The cost (self explanatory).

4. The labor(which included heavy machinery instead of the physical labor which moves the job along quicker and saves the backs of the laborers).

Are you getting the picture? I believe with all of my heart that this is a gift from my heavenly Father. God whispered into my spirit, "My precious baby girl, oh how I love you. I delight in caring for you. How I long to care for all of my children this way. But, many of my precious lambs aren't paying attention to my care. They overlook how I personally work to comfort them and to provide for them. As I long to care for you, I also long to care for all of my children in this way. Never, forget that, my precious lamb." Oh my Lord you listen, you hear, and you answer in ways beyond what is deserved or expected. I Praise your Holy Name!

Now, I am wondering what God is up to with the abandoned, trash-filled building in front of our house. I believe that He, the almighty, loving King is planning a wonderful surprise for His daughter who lives on Viilor street in house number 4 in Bucharest Romania. With anticipation and expectation, I watch and I wait.

$6.74
What we pay per gallon for diesel!

The Stamp

A Bank withdrawal is harder than you would think since we have to take along a special rubber stamp of our official logo, wrapped in paper and tied up with a rubber band for the ink sludge accumulated over fifteen years. The stamp requires a black ink pad, also wrapped and tied and the bottle of refill ink. Then there's the sheet of paper stamped a thousand times to test that the stamp is properly inked and positioned. All of this is carried in a jumbo zip lock bag inside a black carrying case. It just feels so 20^th century! Why do we do this? “Because the Bank requires the stamp” we were told “and that is the way it has always been done here.”

I asked about a self inking stamp. “Oh, you can't do that” we were told “because in order to get a new stamp you need a document of some sort from some department of some government office ... and we don't have the document and probably can't get the document without causing the end of the world....”

But one of my spiritual gifts is hardheadedness, so I found a place where they make self inking rubber stamps, thinking they would be eager to make a sale and wouldn't care about the missing document. WRONG! They do care about the missing document.

Later the epiphany hit! - what if the man at the self inking stamp store would sell me a blank self inking stamp? I could make my own! So I went back. He studied me like he was thinking “if this American would buy a blank stamp, what else could we sell him!” I rushed home, used a razor blade to slice the old stamp off the wooden base and glued it onto my new self inking stamper. My hand trembled as I pushed down, gently to test the stamp – caaashuuunk. It worked! I couldn't wait for the moment to whip out my new stamp in front of our office administrator. He said “I didn't think I would live to see this day”:)

Six months later...

Ce Faceţi? Well, that's about as far as I can go after 4 months of language study – ha-ha. We have been studying for 4 months and we praise God that we are detecting small steps of progress. About a month ago we actually began hearing words that were familiar instead of just a bunch of unknown sounds. It has been interesting to discover the differences and similarities between Spanish and Romanian. The first few months Spanish always came out first, instead of "Buna Ziua" in response to someone's greeting we would automatically spit our "Buenos Dias" - a very weird experience. We have sat and looked at each other and said, "Why did we agree to go anywhere again?" BUT, God, our most perfect Father, has calmed us and confirmed for us that we are where He wants for us to be. We praise Him for the peace He gives us in the midst of our moments of frustration with the language. One of the most interesting things we have discovered about Romanian is how influential communism has been in the development of the language. Before the revolution (1989) there were no names for certain colors (mauve, purple, etc.). After the revolution color entered the country. Why you might ask - the clothing available was all made of basic colors. Bright colors didn't exist! They didn't wear bright cheery colors! WOW! That is just one example of how influential communism has been in the language. And of course the language is just one aspect of this most intriguing culture.

Driving in Bucharest is another cultural lesson – I (Cindy) am proud to say that I do drive now. It took me a few months to get it settled in my mind to do it. It is amazing the level of independence you lose when you go somewhere so foreign, so different. It is also an amazing opportunity to fortify your dependence on God and the faithfulness that He has to fulfill His plan for your life. We are doing our best to not begin "administering changes" right off the bat - why? Because we have so much to learn about what has happened in the past, what is currently happening, and dreaming and planning with an educated understanding for the future. The entire country of Romania is our assignment. We are praying constantly for God's guidance because we truly are walking in the dark. BUT thankfully we aren't in charge, God is, this is His gig. He is leading us one step at a time. We have had to implement some changes that began prior to our coming. Scott has already led his first district assembly as D.S. We have visited our three congregations (Bucharest - capitol city, Sighisoara & Tigmandru - located in central Romania). Through relationship building with our fellow laborers we are learning so much about their culture (attitudes, mind set, daily life, pressures of society, their theology, etc.). God is moving in our churches. He is reconciling souls. He is transforming families. He is building His church.

Olivia is attending a Romanian daycare. Overall she has done well. She has had her moments of adjustment, of course. She is learning Romanian. She has schooled us a few times on how to correctly say a word - funny hu?! We are guessing that in a few more months she will really get it and speak it well. She loves our church and she is settling in well. We are blessed.

We have had the opportunity to travel to Turkey (we were able to visit the ancient cities of Perga and Ephesus), Switzerland, and Bulgaria. We will be going to Macedonia and Hungry in the next few months, and I will be taking a course in Albania in August. God's blessings are rich and abundant, even in the midst of great trial and uncertainty. He is our loving Father, who is full of grace. May He receive all the glory.

2 weeks in Sighisoara

We went to central Romania to spend some time with our two churches in the area, to continue our language study, and to stayed with a Romanian family. The two weeks were filled with an array of experiences. Here is a glimpse:

• We ate soup and bread everyday for lunch. The soup was the first course…we were then offered a second course that usually consisted of some meat with a starch of some kind. We didn't eat a lot of fruits or veggies.
• Our host family got a lot of their food from the farm. We drank milk straight from the cow!! It was good - thick and slightly sweet. We think the way they "pasteurized" the milk was by boiling it on the stove. The eggs, potatoes, cheese, honey, and meat were more of the "fresh" foods that we ate. Bread was served in abundance - at every meal. One morning we were offered fried fish! Now that's a first! Interesting hu?
• Our host mom didn't think that Olivia was dressed warmly enough - she was constantly giving her new socks, hats, and tights. She loved having Olivia in her home.
• Our first week of language study was great! The second week we began the week with foggy, overstuffed minds. We have discovered that 2 to 3 weeks of intense study is good, but a break is needed to allow all that we have taken in to settle in our minds. It is an interesting experience. We had a great teacher. Her name is Elena. We plan to study with her again in the future.
• We visited our two churches (Sighisoara & Tsigmandru). We went to pray meeting at our Tsigmandru church. This church is located in a village where a lot of the people live in poverty. Our church has become a refuge for many of them. God has begun His work of reconciliation. There are great plans for the future. We believe that God's plans are to transform the village one family at a time. Please pray for this small community. Believe in God's great mercy for the people in this village. Believe that He wants to give them hope and new life!
• We sipped a cappuccino in a medieval citadel. We meandered through the grounds of a fortified church. We had lunch in the kitchen of a Hungarian lady who handcrafts beautiful Hungarian pottery (no we didn't go to Hungary - she lives in the Romania town called Corund). Olivia played in a playground in an underground salt mine. This salt mine has existed since the Romans!!
• We met with our leaders and we talked, planned, and prayed for current situations and for God's future plans to be fulfilled. We prayed for Cristian who has had limited mobility in his right knee since birth. Cristian is a new follower of Christ. Please pray for Cristian.

We would like to ask you for your prayers for God's continued work. Please pray for the people of Romania.

Breaza

Breaza

Breaza is the name of a town north of Bucharest where our church owns some property. It is a very nice piece of property. We are asking God what He wants to do with the property. We are praying about it becoming a retreat center. A lot of work will go into such a project. It would be worth it to have a place where people could come and find rest, refreshment, restoration, and much more. Pray with us would you? This property belongs to God - all for His glory and purpose.

Language Study

We have to praise God today because we are beginning to "hear" Romanian. We want to thank you for your prayers for us and we ask that you continue to pray for our language study. It is an important part of living, working, and ministering to the people of Romania.

Mulţumim Mult! (Thank you very much)

Leadership Conference 2008

In January we participated in a Leadership Conference at the campus of European Nazarene College in Busingen, Switzerland. More than 100 participants from all over Europe gathered for worship, seminars and small group dialogue. Did I mention the great variety of breads and smelly, great tasting cheeses served at every meal?
(The photo shows the 1,000 year old St. Michael's church near the campus)

Frozen Tree Art

The frozen trees are spectacular! We are amazed as we drive around Bucharest at the incredible beauty of the ice covered trees. People are slowly clearing side streets and walk ways. It didn't snow at all last winter and this is the most snow Romania has seen in many years.

Winter in Bucharest

It has been below freezing for a week. We had about 2 feet of snow that fell one night. So the neighbors and I got out and shoveled snow to clear our street. It was fun, but I hope we don't have more fun this winter!