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Leaving Romania the first time after having moved there in the Fall of 2000 was difficult. I was eager to go back home and spend quality time with my friends and family. Yet, my heart was torn, because I had truly begun to feel “at home” in Romania. My understanding of God’s call to Romania during this season of my life was stronger than ever before.

Arriving back in the United States, I was surprised to encounter an unexpected case of culture shock. We were walking out of the Nashville airport and towards the parking garage and I noticed the sparkling clean, new cars in the parking garage.

So I remarked to Dad, “When did they start selling new cars near the airport?”

Dad said, “Trevin, that’s the parking lot!”

The cars were so new and clean, and they looked so expensive that I had automatically assumed it was a lot for buying new cars. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that I could be walking through a simple parking lot. Suddenly, I was awestruck by the wealth of my country.

If the unfamiliarity of poverty can shock a person, so can the unfamiliarity of wealth. After three months in Romania, I had become adjusted to the lack of wealth that I saw on a daily basis. Returning to America proved to be a culture shock in the opposite direction. Instead of being wowed by the poverty all around, I was incredulous to see the wealth of my own people.

During my first night back in the States, after I unpacked and settled into my room, I decided to go downstairs to get a glass of water. When I got to the staircase and saw our hall and foyer, it hit me again just how rich we Americans are. I looked at the beautiful staircase, the foyer, the banister, the front door, the hall, and then I remembered all the evenings spent at my Romanian village house. A family with three boys and a girl, just like mine. And somehow they manage to live, cooped up in a tiny three-room house with a kitchen. No bathroom, no shower, no running water inside at all.

Here I was walking down the stairs to a spacious kitchen to drink clean, cool water from the refrigerator, without effort. There on the staircase, my eyes filled with tears. I was so thankful for all that I had and for the life I’d been given. But my thanksgiving now included my times in Romania, experiences that had opened my eyes to see just how much I had been blessed.

Spending Christmas in the U.S. that first year was special. But I was excited about going back to Romania for the next semester. My church would be sending a medical and evangelistic mission team, and I was to help with the logistics of the trip. Also, I couldn’t wait to go back and continue the working in the village church and seeing the teenagers discipled. What I didn’t know was that I was coming up on a big disappointment. My honeymoon period in Romania was over.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2008 Kingdom People blog

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