October 2008

I know it has been a while since I last wrote, and it is amazing how fast summer has come and gone. The warm/ hot weather has been replaced by cool/ wet weather. I am so not ready for winter to get here.

The final details on the new ministry house are being done, but already we have been able to host 2 teams in the new house. It has been such a blessing having the teams here, and not having to drive across town everyday to get them. The teams were also a blessing to our ministries . They went in and visited hospitals, helped paint different rooms at Casa Agar and were a blessing and encouragement to our staff and the staff at the hospitals. The last team went into the baby hospital and did foot and hand massages for the nurses. The nurses were so amazed that someone would come in to do this for them. They had never been so pampered in their lives.

Casa Agar is full of new mothers and babies. It amazing to watch their lives transformed as they get to know God more. Everyday there are new challenges with the moms, but God is transforming their lives.

It is going to be hard to come home ( U.S.) next Spring, . Romania is where I belong, this is home for me. Yes, the traffic drives me crazy, parking is even worse, new challenges come up all the time, and I seem to have more responsibilities, but I wouldn’t trade places for anything I am so thankful that I am here doing what God has called me to do.

August Update

OK I know it has like 4 months since I have done an update, and I wish I had a great excuse but I don't. Life has just been moving at full speed and I have been hanging on for the ride!

So what has happen since I last wrote....

I honestly don't remember what happened in April- it seems like 20 years ago. In May we had our staff retreat. I was an interesting retreat because we were able to take most of our staff to England for a conference. The church that hosted this conference waived the registration fee and also provide us with free housing. It was an awesome experience for all of us. It was great spending time away from work with the girls and yes we did some serious shopping in England... we found TJ Maxx's sister store there, TK MAXX's. For the best part was the worship- there is nothing like having worship in your own language. And the worship team rocked it!!

A few days after returning from England we had a team. Like always team, this team was great! They jumped in worked like busy bees. A few days after the team left we (all the AG missionaries in Romania) got in our cars and drove to Croatia for our annual retreat. This was the first time we had a retreat there, and well it was pretty, but the water was cold and it rained the first few days. Let me tell you something for all those thinking of driving from Romania to anywhere in Europe, "Romania has the worse roads in all of Southeastern Europe. it took us a day just to get out of Romania. and it was crazy!! The roads outside of Romania are all toll roads and are great, worth whatever it cost to drive on them!!!

So this brings me to July... July we moved!! The house wasn't done, but we wanted to get the big items in so we wouldn't mess up the walls so we moved those things at the beginning of the month. (Also was secretly hoping that if they saw our stuff in the house they would work on the house faster). On the 14th we had our big moving day!!! It was a stressful day (ok week) and I would like to forget about it, but we did it, we moved into our new ministry house. (Having our stuff there the weeks before, didn't make them finish it faster!!) The first night there, Coco and I had no electricity, one working sink and toilet and no hot water!! By the second night we were able to run extension cords thru the house to get power to some rooms (we borrowed it from the neighbors). And the unpacking began and is still in the process. The waiting for them to finish the house... still in process. I had to wait 22 very long, stinky days to get hot water in my house. Had to wait about 18 days to get a shower in my house. I am still waiting for my kitchen sink to be put in; cable, Internet, and phone to be connected; my stove to be hooked up(we have to make 2 holes in the wall for the gas vent and hood- have one already); and of course I am still waiting for the electric company to come out to "officially" hook up my power! And not to mention all the little things that need to be done, before the end of August!! But the good news is... I am finally in the new house! God has been so faithful in supplying this house for us!!! Hopefully when the house is completely finished I will post beautiful pictures of it. But in the meantime here is what it looks like now- it's a mess!!

(Yeah, still trying to figure how we are going to open the stove, this is as far it will go.)

At Casa Agar we have had several moms come and go these past few months, right now 2 of our moms are at camp with their kids and are having a great time. Please keep them in your prayers this week as God makes an impact on their lives. One of our moms was baptized a few weeks ago at church. It hard to believe summer is almost over, and fall is just around the corner- and that means teams start up again!! (you can go to my website to download my latest newsletter to more updates from Touched Romania and to see more pictures. www.ellenamunguia.org)

Well that my life in nutshell! It a little crazy but that is how I like it!!!

(sorry for any grammar errors or typos but it almost 1 am here and I only got like 3 hours of sleep the night before!)

Checking in!

I know it has been over a month since I last wrote, sorry. But life has been busy here. The world came to Bucharest last week for NATO summit, and that made life a little more difficult here. Traffic was rerouted, or blocked. Business shut down. Construction stopped. It was crazy. But life went on here, and we managed. Glad they all left though.

Easter will be celebrated in a couple of weeks here, and so everyone is getting ready for that. I will spend Easter Sunday and Monday at the Casa Agar. Not sure what the plan is going to be, but I will be there.

I am excited cause my brother is coming this week to visit. And so we will be hitting the road and exploring Romania. He wants to go to Bran to see the castle, so that is what we will do. It will be nice to have a week off.

Coco is getting big!!! She has more friend than I done. I think she know just about everyone who comes walks by our place. I am going to have put up a sign that say "Please do not feed the dogs," cause well she getting extra treats from people passing by. Coco has even made a new friend, who come and takes her for walks. One of our volunteer from the ministry live nearby and he came and asked if could take her to the park. So last week she went 2 to the park with him and will probably go again with him. She is so spoiled!!

I think Spring has finally arrived

Well, I think I can finally say that spring has arrived in Bucharest. How do I know? Well the weather is warmer; the grass is starting to come in; the flower stands are filled with tulips and well, the traffic if back. Now that the snow has melt, people seem to be driving more. Oh well, I guess this is the price I must pay for warmer weather.

The past few weeks have been crazy; I am still trying to figure out what happened to February, it just went by so fast!!! But I can't dwell on the fact that February came and it is now March, too many things to do now.

Our first team has come and gone. It was a fast week, but a little stressful. But despite all of the chaos, God moved mightly. We hosted a Women's conference and about 120-130 women came. My prayer is that the seeds that were planted during this conference will grow over then next few weeks.

I am excited about my up coming foster care outing next month. I try to do at least one activity a quarter with the foster kids and this quarter we are going to Children's amusement park. I can't wait to hear the laughter of our kids. Please keep this program in your prayers, we are trying to invest more in the lives of our kids and foster moms.

God is doing great things at Casa Agar. We now have 5 moms and 6 kids. The house is alive with laughter. Our kids range from 1 month to 6 years old. Please pray for our moms as they go back to school, go thru job training, and find jobs. Also pray for the moms as they leave our program, that they would continue to make the right choices.

The new house should be done in a few months, and so hopefully we can move in early this summer!! I can't wait!!! I am so ready to move and get set in the new place.

On a personal note- Coco is 3 months old now. Getting bigger everyday!! The moms at Casa Agar love her and so do the kids. She is still getting use to all the people at the house but for the most part she loves visiting the house (especially cause they feed her).

Lots of meetings and Coco

Well the snow is finally melting and we are sitting on the plus side of the termometer and January is almost over. It has been a fast month, trying to get back into the swing of things and gear up for the new year.


This past week has been busy. My regional and area director were in town so I spent 2 days in 8 different meetings with national leaders and partners. It was very intersting to meet and spend time with the different leaders. And yes some times, especially on the first day of meeting I felt a little out place (could it be that I was in meetings with all men- Romania is male oriented culture and well some are not use to accepting women in leadership.) But I sat back, put a smile on and did the best I could. The nice thing is I did make a few new connections.


But to be honest I was so excited when the meetings were over and Friday finally came. Why you may ask? Because I was able to a late Christmas/ early Birthday present for myself. I bought myself a beautiful little chocolate lab name Coco Chanel. She is 6 weeks old a tough little girl. It is funny to watch her and my roommate's 18 month old yellow lab; Sami play together. They play fight, he is teaching her how to act and she is teaching him that he doesn't have to be afraid of the baby gate that is put up. (I have a feeling she is going to be teaching him some new trick in the future.) He eats her food and she eats his. The act just like a brother and sister.

The next few weeks will be busy, but that is life here in Romania. Have a blessed week!

Snowed in

Well I knew this day would one day happen and it has finally happened. Got a little snowed in today. How do you get a little snowed in?? Well if you work the night shift and the next morning there is a whole lot of snow, but the next shift comes in and helps dig you out. You get a little snowed in cause, you can go home, if you decide to leave your car at the office and walk home. A walk that normally takes 15-20 minutes take about a hour and you have snow up to your knees....in my book you are snowed in. But I did make it home and was able to take a warm bath and get into my warm bed. The bad news is I am going to have to go back to the office and try to dig the car out, but i think i will do that tomorrow.

What a way to start off the new year!! This is just God's way of saying He has great things planned for this year! And the year has started off great! On January 1st one of our moms gave birth to a baby boy. Both mom and baby are doing great and will be home as soon as a car can go them.

I can't believe that it is 2008!! I know God has great plans for this year and this year belongs to HIM!!

Stay warm!