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.