Scott & Lindsay Bert ~ Missionaries to Romania

Recent retreat with Petra

lsbert — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:54:00 +0000

Transition to Pitesti

lsbert — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:28:51 +0000

Christmas Shoebox Project

lsbert — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:17:44 +0000

We are excited to say that we are planning to do the Christmas Shoebox project again this year in Romania. It’s hard to believe that it’s already time to be thinking about Christmas, but if we want to have the boxes here in time, we need to act quickly. We currently have a young lady with us, Brittany Semler, who will be here for about 9 months and she has been welcomed in to minister at the Children’s Hospital. We are very excited about this opportunity and we would like to pass out the shoeboxes to the children in the hospital. We were told that there are usually about 300-350 kids there at one time. So our goal is to get at least 350 shoeboxes sent over to us. We would really appreciate your efforts in helping us to meet this goal.

The shipping company that we work with told us that we must have them ready for pick up by October 4^th to ensure that they will arrive in time for Christmas. So that really doesn’t give us a lot of time to work with. If you would like to participate in this project, please contact us at lsbert@yahoo.com or call 717-491-1939 for more information. Please download the file below for more information on how to pack a shoebox.

Packing Instructions

We have moved

lsbert — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:52:42 +0000

Praise God that we are now almost settled into our new home in Pitesti (southeast Romania). On August 15th we loaded up all of our belongings in a truck and headed across country. All of the logistical details went really well, which is really amazing. The only small inconvenience was that it was 100 degrees the day we moved. Thank-you to all of you that were praying for us.

We have been extremely blessed with an abundance of help regarding the move. Our GEM Romania team helped to load the truck in Timisoara and then our new church friends here in Pitesti helped to unload it. The biggest help came from Scott’s parents as they were with us for the last few weeks too and were a tremendous blessing in helping to make the transition easier for us, especially the kids! We are also thankful for Brittany’s help, the girl staying with us for the next year. Please keep praying for our family as we adapt to a new city, plan to get the kids enrolled in school here, start teaching English classes soon, our involvement at the children’s hospital, and our overall involvement with Petra, the church we are working with here.

Romanian Recipes

lsbert — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:57:39 +0000

Recipes: We thought it was time to put a few Romanian recipes on the website for those of you who,like to try new recipes. The Romanian food is really good and healthy too!

Tocanita – Romanian Stew – Recipe from a lady in Timişoara

2 ½ # pork, 5 onions, 1 red pepper, ¼ cup oil, 2 Tbsp. vegeta

1 Tbsp. paprika, 3 bay leaves, 2 Tbsp. tomato paste, 2 Tbsp. flour

Chop onions and pepper in small pieces. In large saucepan, fry onions and peppers in oil until soft. Chop pork in small cubes, add and sauté slightly. Add vegeta, paprika, bay leaves and enough water to cover. Simmer on low flame for 1-2 hours or until is very tender. In small bowl mix tomato paste, flour and small amount of liquid from pan. Whisk into pot to thicken. Serve with corn meal, mashed potatoes or rice.

*Vegeta is a dry mix of condiments that is an essential in every Romanian kitchen. It is used dry to sprinkle over meat or chicken before frying or baking, mixed in stews and meatloaf type dishes, and as a seasoning in potato salads and soups.

Mamaliga

Mamaliga, or polenta (corn meal mush), is a staple of the Romanian village diet. The villagers eat it almost every day topped with sour cream and/or fresh sheep cheese. At times it is made thick enough to slice and use as a substitute for bread. It is easy to make and is a wonderful addition to this stew. Try it! Just take a quart of water and add a teaspoon of salt. Slowly whisk in enough corn meal to thicken to a pudding consistency (it will continue to thicken a little as it sits). Serve immediately topped with stew.

Tabara de Post….Fasting retreat with the Vox Youth Group

lsbert — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:47:37 +0000

Lindsay had a chance to go on a weekend retreat with the youth from Vox. It was a much needed break for her, not to mention a great time to get to know some of the youth better. Scott made out good with the three kids at home, except for Emma getting sick and losing his cell phone! We travelled 2 ½ hours to a village with a nice little river running through it with a wooded area. The church owns a house there, which is located between the cities of Arad and Deva. It was a “fasting” retreat, which was really nice for each young person to set aside extra time to pray and just be alone with God. Each evening was a time for the whole group to share what God had been teaching them individually through scriptural passages. It was also fun for Lindsay to play volleyball with some of the youth and to watch some of the boys play fotbal de tenis (soccer tennis), which is really popular here in Romania. Another highlight for Lindsay was trying mamaliga for the first time. This is a very popular staple here in Romania that many people eat with shredded goat cheese or fried eggs.

Baptism at Vox Domini

lsbert — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:43:23 +0000

We were excited to be able to attend a baptism at Vox Domini, our church, in which 4 youth that we have come to know pretty well were baptized. In general, it is a “big” event here in Romania when a baptism takes place. The person being baptized usually where all white, give a brief testimony about how Christ changed his or her life, the pastor usually prayers for him or her and then there is usually a lot of special music during the service. It is more of a celebration atmosphere rather than something really formal. Many family members and friends come to be a part of this wonderful service. Following the service, there is usually food, and fellowship. We spent the afternoon at a picnic for the youth that were baptized. It was a lot of fun for our whole family! We played volleyball, football, and ate some grilled meats and lots of tasty desserts. Many Christian youth in Romania are not taken seriously about their walk with Christ until they are baptized. After that, they are given more responsibilities in the church and can then take communion.

Martisor Day

lsbert — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:59:10 +0000

Here in Romania on March 1st people celebrate Martisor Day, which marks the coming of Spring. There are many stands selling little ornamental pins which have various things on them like flowers and hearts, but always with symbolic red and white strings. We have not heard a definitive reason for the red and white string, but that it isn’t a spiritually based thing, but rather that it means something all together different. It is a tradition that dates way back. It tends to be more of a women’s holiday for some reason or another. March in general is a month to celebrate women as March 8th was their version of Mother’s Day. So during the entire month many women and girls wear these pins on their shirts for the entire month of March.