Rested and Back in Ministry!

Sue (The Vee) here...

It brings so much joy to my heart to watch the relationships being built between the Bee's and the girls of CP2, as well as the children of Sabolciu. When we arrive at Sabolciu for VBS, it's exciting to see the children run to greet us and with hands held tightly, walking down to the chapel. You can see the love the girls have for these children all over their faces. As a whole group, these children can be quite overwhelming, but when the Bee's individually work with them with their crafts you can see a gentleness in their spirit.

Since returning from camp, the girls of CP2 seem to want to spend every moment with us, on top of us at our house. As soon as they enter the house for Bible study, they run into the room and climb into the Bee's bed. (And hog the computers!) Bible studies are filled with enthusiasm and questions. and it seems like they're making more crafts for us, instead of themselves. Since four out of the six girls that have been coming for crafts&Bible study are aging out of CP2, it's incredible to see the Bee's come along side me in my desire to find these girls a home in a Godly environment.

Now it's time for the Bee's:
If camp wasn't enough nature for Chelsea Burt, Sue and Ali Bee decided to drag her along back into nature. This time there were no safety harnesses for her to cling too. We joined 6 of our Romanian homies, and 2 CP2 girls (see this is ministry) for a hike into the mountains an hour outside of Oradea. Our trip began with a 7 AM train ride, followed by an hour walk on the tracks, where Chelsea found all of the dead frogs of Romania. After the uneasy, ankle twisting walk on the train tracks, we found ourselves in a cave...which was the only place in Romania with air conditioning. After climbing slick stairs and uneven ground, water rushing below us, and clay dripping off of the walls around us, we finally made it out...I mean, we really enjoyed it's beauty....Anyway,

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after making it out, we stopped for some lunch. Then we decided to take a real hike, the steep, muddy, I'm going to slip to my death kind of hike to see a quaint and beautiful, yet not what the picture showed, waterfall. It was nice and refreshing, and soon Ali Bee decided to rock climb to the top so she could get in the middle of the waterfall. It was magnificent, or so I've heard. The water in the pool was crystal clear with a hint of blue, but also freezing. After the waterfall, we journeyed back on the train tracks searching for the infamous yellow dot trail. We thought we found it, and we risked our lives up a mountainside full of slippery rocks, just to realize that the trail did not exist. Or had existed 10 years ago, because all that was left was a bunch of overgrown weeds and trees on the way down the mountain. Okay, so it wasn't really a mountain. Sue says it was only about 10 meters, but that was one heck of a 10 meter slippery slide on our butts, downward. Ali Bee taught Chelsea how to do the backwards turtle crawl. If you don't know what this is, Ali Bee will be holding a seminar when we return. Anyway, Chelsea Bee found some more dead frogs on the train tracks, but good news followed. We met an old man, shirtless, with blue running pants who pointed us in the direction of the REAL yellow dot trail. Ali thought he was a creeper, but turns out he was Romanian Map Quest man. This hike was much better than the first. It was more scenic as we strolled alongside the river bed until we found our way back to the tracks. The yellow dot trail really started to pick up right across the tracks, up a "REAL mountain" as Sue says, but Chelsea took one look and said, "NO way". So we decided to take the tracks all the way back to the train station, where we took the next train (which arrived 2 and a half hours later) back to Oradea. While waiting for the train, Ali and Chelsea, with the help of Eva, found some more gypsy kids to entertain. But they were quickly shooed away by the train station manager for making too much noise. Chelsea and Ali that is, not the kids....okay, just kidding.

One last adventure that doesn't really pertain to the children, but goes along with the Facebook album, "What the VeeBee's Do When No One is Looking" is what we encountered yesterday after the pool. So here's the story, all about how my life got twisted upside down...sorry, Fresh Prince attack...back to the story. So we filled it, so the gas tank is completely full, and we headed to the pool. It was cloudy, so we had the pool ALLL to ourselves. After 3 hours of cloud bathing and swimming, we ventured out to our vehicle to find none other than a river of gasoline spread around the car. Gasoline that costs $7 a gallon. Needless to say we were slightly aggravated. BUT, since our Bible study the day before pertained to suffering and endurance through trials, we giggled about the fortune lying on the side of the street. Using Google Talk, we texted Mr. Bee (Ed Behrens). His response was, "Just find an Auto Zone, or stick a twig in the oil tank". I think he forgot we were in Romania, funny guy. So we were standing on the side of the street far away from our car.. Because every European smokes... While Chelsea Bee is selectively asking for help from attractive Romanian boys who drive nice cars. It was all out of fun... None of them stopped.. that's how we knew they weren't for Chelsea Bee. After calling everyone in Sue Vee's contact list, we came to the realization that today was No Cell Phone Day, and Sue, holding back her frustration, told us to rejoice in our trials. So Holy. But then...it happened. The ringtone, Bamp, bamp, banamp bananananan.....then a voice...it was David Vede. He was coming, along with his Romanian mr. fixit skills (which these kids are born with by the way) to fix our urinating car. A steady flow of gas urination. Vede fearlessly sped his ministry van to the scene...he got some help from the pool/hotel maintenance guy and plugged the hole with a screw. Now came the tough part. The decision to let Sue Vee start the engine alone, or to die alongside the Vee...we chose the latter. Yes, it's true. Were writing this blog from Heaven, with some help from the the Big Guy...J.C. Great wifi, gotta tell ya...better than any internet cafe I've ever been too...okay just kidding. We got to the apartment, where our poor red car sits outside dribbling. It's now just a steady drip instead of the rushing rapids it was before. We'll update you on how grocery shopping goes taking the tram.

That's all for now. VeeBee's over and out.

p.s. don't stress...only 14 more days until you see our smiling faces once again.