Roberta Bustin is our other host in Sighisoara. She's from Arkansas and speaks with a gorgeous southern accent, even when she's speaking Romanian! Roberta retired from teaching chemistry at a Nazarene college twelve years ago, and decided in her retirement to come to Romania and plant churches!
One of her responsibilities is as the leader of a Nazarene congregation in Sighisoara. She also leads a church plant in a village about 30 minutes from the town. Roberta led us up and down over Sighisoara's famous cobbled streets (currently all torn up as part of a never-ending "improvements to the infrastructure" of the citadel area, which has been going on for several years now with no end in sight) to her little church building in a pleasant neighborhood.
What she wanted us to see was the club the church runs for elderly folks. Many are quite poor, they live alone, and without the church they would be almost completely isolated. The church is open each day from 10 till 12, and they can come and socialize, drink coffee, have their blood pressure taken, and receive a time of precious human contact. We were greeted by Mia who runs the program. Each of the seniors shook hands and gave us a hearty "Buna ziua!" (Good day.)
So much of what Christ calls us to do is very simple -- to open our eyes to those in need and simply to love them. The church may not be able to meet every need, but it is such a simple thing to overcome the loneliness and isolation that would otherwise be the daily lot of these folks. As a result of coming to the seniors club, many have joined the church, extending their "family" further.
So much of what Christ calls us to do is very simple -- to open our eyes to those in need and simply to love them. The church may not be able to meet every need, but it is such a simple thing to overcome the loneliness and isolation that would otherwise be the daily lot of these folks. As a result of coming to the seniors club, many have joined the church, extending their "family" further.
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