Day 1- Arriving in Romania

After 4 flights and multiple trips through customs, our team has finally arrived in Romania.  Praising God that all the people and luggage arrived safely in one piece.  When you travel this far east, you actually gain a day according to the world time zones.  So though we left Vancouver Canada on Tuesday morning, we arrived in Sibiu, Romania on a Wednesday afternoon.  Going back will be the same in reverse; we will leave on Saturday and arrive on Friday!

To help us with our jet lag and adjust quickly to the 12 hour time difference, our goal was to stay up until bedtime in Romania.   Pastors from Bethany Baptist Church, our gracious hosts Sabin and Roland planned a fun day for us. Though our home base will be in Sighisoara, we flew into Sibiu and got to tour this beautiful city to start to get to know the culture.  We started at a traditional Romania restaurant.  Some favorite new foods include schnitzel, which tastes like chicken fingers, and this amazing garlic sauce that goes great as a condiment on everything.  Unlike in American culture, though they bring the salad out first, you should not eat it until your main entree arrives.  

Next we visited some landmarks downtown.  Here is a group photo in the town square:

We got to go into several churches. One had a ornate sanctuary with artisan stain-glass windows.   Another one we visited was built in 1471 and is currently being renovated to maintain the original structure and rich spiritual history.  We hiked up to the top, up a windy and steep staircase to see the original bell and experience a great view of the city. 

Next we got back in the car to travel to our bed and breakfast and finally get some sleep.  Everyone enjoined some much needed down time.  Though we were all so tired we found the energy to shower and get pizza delivered!  No one thought they were hungary until we started eating!  

Ended our team time with this prayer from Ephesians 3:14-21 because we know He is far more able to do all that we ask of think (ESV).