Romania Trip 5/22/06

Fourth Day On The Job.....Let's Meet Meg

Today presented many challenges for the Teleios Team. The camp received several inches of rain during the weekend which proceeded to fill up the two trenches prepared for the Infiltrator chambers. So the team and several workers from the camp began their morning communicating with Hungarian-English sign language and prioritizing the tasks for the day. Based on the dimensions of the trenches, close to 100,000 gallons of water needed to be pumped out of the trenches before work could begin. In addition, the ground was so wet and muddy that moving heavy equipment in the area became a calculated task with each move. So the Teleios Team had a busy day ahead of them with several opportunities for new team member names to evolve. By the end of the day, Leah move up an extra level towards "Sewer Princess", Meg remained the "Birthday Girl", Ed switched names between "Norton and Sewer Man", Bonnie became "Puff Mama" (due to her feet swelling), Floyd became the "Handsome Sewer Boy" and Rebecca remained "Boss Lady". It was also decided that those of us girls that worked with Bonnie during the day were called "Puff Mama and her Peeps". Now that you understand who is who, we can continue to describe the day.

Once the team pumped the water out of the trenches we began to "relevel" the ground for the chambers and dig 2 more trenches for the day. We also received news that the truck from Poland delivering the Infiltrator System was in northern Romania and scheduled to arrive in Brasov by 9:00 pm this evening. This was exciting news because Gyula could help process the delivery through Customs on Tuesday morning with hopes that the System could arrive to the camp after lunch on Tuesday.

As worked continued through the day, the sun came out and helped to dry the ground and trenches. The team asks you to continue to pray for clear, sunny days and strength for the team to persevere with the work ahead.

The morning devotion for the team was about "Gracious Uncertainity" (from Oswald Chambers "My Utmost For His Highest") within this devotion Oswald noted that "To be certain in God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sign of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our life with surprises....But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful certainty and expectancy. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in - but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful in Him."

This devotion was so applicable to the situation the team faced Monday morning the neat thing was that God provided us with this message to help us refocus on what was important as we started our day with what seemed like an overwhelming list of tasks ahead of us. By the end of the day we were able to celebrate the completion of the digging of two addition trenches and an deeper appreciation for communicating with others through language barriers to accomplish a common goal. We are grateful for the privilege God has given each of us to be a part of His work at Camp Harghita and we look forward to our future surprises with this project as we strive to glorify Him in all that we do.

Two of the trenches for the Infiltrator System filled with water during the rains received Sunday.

"Boss Lady" and "Handsome Sewer Boy" work to translate the work priorities with Janos.

Removing rocks from the trenches for the Infiltrator System.

Leah had the chance to interview "Birthday Girl" and here is a chance for you to Meet Meg through the interview....

Meg (on the left) and Leah capture the GPS coordinates to map the sewer system for the camp.

Leah- Could you think of any better way celebrate your birthday?
Meg- Actually I can't. Birthdays are times to celebrate another year of experiences, and our trip to Harghita made this birthday one I'll never forget.

Leah- Is it fun to celebrate your birthday in another country? How did you celebrate?
Meg- It started this morning with all the staff and workers singing "Happy Birthday" to me after breakfast. Then, following a very busy day on the job, I was taken out to eat at a local restaurant where we celebrated with good friends from Romania and England while enjoying an outstanding Hungarian meal.

Leah- What's different about the people and the environment on this trip to Harghita?
Meg- When I was here in November we were working with people I already knew, so it was easy to do what we had to do with the assessment of their wastewater and water system. On this trip, the need for more people on the Teleios team and the operations team has made certain aspects, like language barriers and equipment difficulties, slightly more challenging.

Leah- Do you enjoy helping Rebecca with wastewater projects like this?
Meg- Most definitely because it gives me an opportunity to learn new skills, while assisting her with my abilities to help solve problems, as well as see the big picture and envision the result.

Leah- What's your favorite thing that we are doing?
Meg- Working together as brothers and sisters in Christ for the good of the environment of which the Lord made us stewards.

Leah- What do you think of the equipment and tools?
Meg- Well, that's not my area of expertise. However, I have used a decent shovel in my time and wouldn't mind having one with me on this trip.

Leah- What do you think of the shopping?
Meg- I'm still looking for that perfect gift for myself ... (and my sister, of course).

Leah- What are your abilities in projects such as this?
Meg- My diverse background allows me to bring a plethora of abilities to this project.