The People I Live With

Fortunately, I had a roommate for the last couple of years that I lived in Boise otherwise, I’m not sure I would have been ready to go from living by myself for 15 years to living with a house full of people! I’ve gone from living with one other person to 10 and surprisingly, it’s been great! The house is like Grand Central Station…we have regular visitors by the hour it seems and there is always something going on no matter what time of day or night!

As I have said earlier, it’s the people that make up a home and I have a wonderful home! In this update I will tell you a little about the people who call the ministry house home as well as those who practically live here – ha!


The Fouts Family
Brian and Cynthia, along with their three children (one of which was born 6 months ago here in Romania) moved here almost 2 years ago. Brian pastors the Calvary Chapel Bistrita church and teaches the Sunday morning service as well as a Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday night Bible study each week. Cynthia has her hands full with cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Kaidon (4), Sadona (2.5) and Sage (6 months). Brian and Cynthia are also the foster parents for two teenage daughters Cristina and Any. They’ve never parented teens before, so it’s been an interesting experience for them to say the least!


Cristina is 18 and working on finishing her high school degree. She is an extremely giving person and has many friends who hang out here at the house. She dreams of visiting the States one day as she has extended family in the Chicago area.


Any is 19 and is attending her first year at the University in Sibiu (a city about 3 hours from Bistrita). She is extremely homesick since this is her first time being out on her own. Any is a talented artist and seamstress. She won a scholarship last year for her fashion designs and has chosen that field of study at the University. She is living in a small dorm room with three other girls and is attempting to adjust to student life. I visited her last week and she has already made lots of friends and seems to be adjusting well despite missing home.


Clare is 26 and is from Houston, TX. She has been working with Romanian children for the past 4 years. She started with a volunteer organization and now has her own after-school program for underprivileged children. She helps them with their homework, teaches them English, washes, feeds, and provides clothes for them as well as loving them in other practical ways like birthday parties (complete with cake, decorations, and gifts). She has mastered the Romanian language and converses easily with everyone. She is going to tutor me in Romanian because I need all the help I can get!


Nicu is also 26 and is a social work major in college. He works for New Beginnings and also helps take care of things around the house. One thing I’ve learned from Nicu is never to trust him when he tries to tell me something in Romanian. He is notorious for twisting the words just enough to completely change the meaning…almost guaranteed to bring embarrassment if you fall for it!!


Narcisa lived with us for 4 months during her School of Ministry internship. She has just returned to the States, but it was great having her here! She speaks Romanian because…she is Romanian. Her parents immigrated to the US when they were teenagers, so they made sure their children all spoke Romanian while growing up. So, although Narcisa had never lived in Romania until this summer, she fit right in! We spent almost every day together for the past year (going to school and then moving to Romania together), so I miss her tremendously now that she is gone.


Radu is one of the teenagers who hangs out at the house so much he is considered part of the family. He is a natural with the kids. Whenever he is here he always has a kid or two crawling onto his lap for a good tickling or to hear a story. He is considering attending the School of Ministry in Bucharest next year. In the meantime, his passion is cars and he is either driving or fixing them whenever he can.




Ionut is another teenager who is over every day. His favorite past-time when he’s not in school is table tennis. Fortunately for him he lives with his grandparents who happen to live across the street ensuring easy access to the ping-pong table.













Marius just graduated from High School recently and hopes to attend college soon as he has a passion for computers and hopes to get a good job in the computer field. In the meantime he works at a car wash and helps out around the house.









Dorina is a high school student and best friend to Cristina. She often spends the night and is a joy to have around. She has a huge class load that makes my head spin just thinking about all the classes she takes.


Adi is the director for New Beginnings and is at the house most every day. He oversees every detail of the Family Centers…from rental home repairs to behavior issues with the children. He coordinates with the attorney, social worker, office staff, Family Center parents, and sponsors from the States. He is also the association’s driver and our main interpreter…truly an integral part of our lives here in Romania.

New Friends in Brasov

While I was in Brasov I got to meet some amazing people and spent an evening with them feeling like I was part of a big, wonderful family. Keala and Heather (pastors in Brasov) hosted the home fellowship in their beautiful (and spacious) apartment. Talk about having the gift of hospitality! They welcomed me with open arms, fed me, and made me feel right at home. Shane (pastor from Bucharest), and Doug Case (visiting from Boise) were traveling through and we had a wonderful time visiting with them as well as others from Brasov…William (new administrator for the School of Ministry), Rebecca and Gheorghe (family center parents), and many others. The house was filled with laughter, singing, food, children, hugs, prayer, and love. It was so wonderful to meet people for the first time and feel like I’ve known them forever. Consequently, my visit to Brasov holds many special memories that I will always treasure!

Babies in Brasov

Brasov is a beautiful mountain city in the center of Romania. I had the privilege of spending a day there last week where I had the opportunity to spend some time with Amanda Towle, a social worker from Nampa, Idaho. She came to Romania in September to spend 6 weeks conducting training sessions and assisting the workers and caregivers in our Brasov Family Centers. I was able to receive some valuable instruction from her as well as accompany her to the local hospital for a 3-hour volunteer shift.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at the hospital, but I had been told I would be helping with the babies. I had imagined sick babies, but aside from a few signs of colds and occasional bandages here and there, the babies appeared healthy. I soon discovered that many of them are there because their parents are temporarily unable to care for them. Some cannot afford the food, others are too young (the parents of one child are only 14 years old!), and I’m sure there are numerous other reasons. So, the babies are left at the hospital where they are given a bed and a number in one of the many rooms set aside for the infants. The nurses come by each room to feed and change the babies on a regular schedule several times each day. Fortunately, there are volunteers who come to help with the process and provide a little extra attention to the babies. I personally visited 6-7 rooms on two different floors. Between three to six babies occupied each room…although there were often several other vacant cribs in the room available if necessary. The rooms were relatively clean and bright, many of them with colorful paintings on the wall. There were just so many babies and so few hands to hold them that it broke my heart. I’m not very experienced with babies since most of my volunteer work is with children 3+, but it didn’t matter!! Really, it didn’t matter to these babies that I was a bit awkward with the bottle or that I struggled with lowering the crib railing…the fact that I held them and talked to them and fed them and played with them was all that mattered. It was so amazing to see their eyes fixed on me and feel their little bodies melt into my arms. One little girl was so serious when I first picked her up. She just stared at my mouth…I wonder now if it was the strange language I was speaking that threw her off. She might have been 8 months old, it’s hard to say. For at least 10 minutes I couldn’t get her to smile…and then suddenly, she decided I was okay and for the rest of the visit she was smiling and laughing like crazy. I loved seeing each baby smile and hearing the laughter…even if it was only for a moment. As I put each child back into their crib I said a prayer for them as they began to whimper and then forced myself to move onto the next room…with the sound of bitter cries piercing the air as I left. For me, that was the hardest part of all.

This experience lingers with me and I hope to return again in the near future.