Time With The GTH Girls or Van Problems

Last Friday evening we went to our Bible Study group and we took JT, Ryan and Danielle along with us. We thought since we had a vehicle and a driver (JT) we would drive there instead of taking public transportation. There was a train going by and for some reason in Romania they put the crossing bar down 10 to 15 minutes before the train comes so it creates a huge traffic jam. We tried to get around this by going a different way but that was also backed up so we were running pretty late. We parallel parked on the side of the road along with many other cars. When we came out of the building after Bible Study we were surprised that the van was not there and neither were any other cars! We looked around and then called Costel, the Romanian President of H2H. Thankfully we were very near his house so we walked over there since it was so freezing outside. Costel made some phone calls and finally found out that the van was towed because we were in a no parking zone. We didn't think we were especially because of the other cars there and because we didn't know the signs well enough. Thankfully God provided for us - just that day Costel had picked up one of the vans that had been gone for months being repaired! We made it home late and picked up the van in the morning, then we headed to the Girls Transition House. We spent the night and did lots of fun activities like:

Cooking

Playing guitar

Getting a manicure

And making a puzzle, playing games on iPhones and real ping pong, and watching Mr. Bean. We spent the night there and Sunday morning we were going to go to church with the girls, but the van wouldn't start. After wearing ourselves out by trying to push start the van on ice we called Jenny and she came and picked us up. After about 10 minutes that van overheated! JT took the cap off the antifreeze tank and we saw the most spectacular geyser. We were at a service station so we bought jumper cables, JT & Mark waited for the van to cool down and then drove back to the house to jump start the dead van. Everyone else walked to the staff apartment and waited to be picked up. It was quite the weekend for the vans, but the fun wasn't over. Tuesday we were going to go to the GTH again before going to the orphanage in the afternoon. Low and behold the one remaining drivable van had a flat tire, and we couldn't pump it up because the seal was broken. So we changed that tire and then continued on. Once there we helped make lunch while JT worked on the vans and Ryan & Danielle taught the girls a lesson on anger management.

Fun times at the orphanage as usual.

Please continue to pray for the doctors to let us in the baby hospital, it has been such a long time since we've been there.

Please also pray for those who want to come on a trip here that God will work out the details.

January Fun

Since the large part of the Holiday Team left and school has begun again for the kids we have restarted our normal schedules. Besides going to class and studying we have continued to go to the orphanage once or twice a week. The baby hospital is closed again because of a confirmed case of the H1N1 flu, we haven't been there for two months so we miss our babies. Thankfully the holiday team was able to go for a couple weeks to care for the babies.

Each time we go to the orphanage we do crafts with the kids and they always love it!

Alina is almost always all smiles!

We went to the boys transition house for lunch and they were very excited to have us spend some time with them. Mark asked Mihai what they had in the workshop and he showed each room with pride, plus his new bike and the dogs and the soccer field they made in the yard, he is so happy to be there.

We went to the orphanage in the south to give out clothes to the kids there. Ionut was very excited to see us as he remembered us from camp.

We gave each orphan at least one complete outfit plus a coat. We had them come up one at a time so we did crafts with the rest to keep it under control. The kids all had so much fun and loved their new outfits. Our new intern Ryan (left), JT (soon to be full time staff, middle), and Rob (short term team member, right) handed out the clothes.

Back at the orphanage we normally work in, Vic is always bouncing around. For a little while I enjoyed having him sit on my lap playing some games. Our other new intern, Danielle (married to Ryan) joined in the game.

I also had fun wrestling with some boys on the mats in the gym where we do our programs.

Also this week it snowed a lot so we have enjoyed the beauty of it and have been trudging through it everywhere we go.

Winter 2010

This past week was very full. We went to the orphanage on Monday and Saturday, and had language lessons on Wednesday and Friday. The big holiday team left on Wednesday, now there is a smaller (7 people) team until Sunday. We are beginning to adjust back to our "normal" life of class and studying, and working with the team when our schedule allows.

A wintery view of the orphanage

The team playing games with the kids

Marius is always playing with any sort of gadget he can find (yes, he, don't be fooled by the vest ;)

Rob and Bogdan

Here are some things you can pray with us in 2010

-That the doors would remain open to work in the orphanages and baby hospital. One orphanage director in particular has been making our work difficult. And the baby hospital may be closed again due to the babies having colds.

-Health of the staff, team members, and the kids we work with

-Support raising, for long term staff and for those coming on short term trips (We personally have been doing very well, Thank-you God!)

-For wisdom and direction of how we can best work with the kids

-For 2010 to be a year when Christ our Savior is revealed to our kids, and that they would come to personally know him

-Language learning, it is a long process even after you complete the 6 months of class

Holiday Team Fun

For the past week and a half we have been enjoying working with our first full size team since we've been on staff. We've been off from language and we have spent all of our time with the team which has been a great time. Right away last week the team split in two and we went with the smaller part of the team out of Bucharest to one of the orphanages there. It was a jam packed time, we went to apartments of the orphans there and had Christmas parties at each of them. At the parties we gave Christmas presents, played games, and read a Christmas story. The children were so excited and had a ton of fun!

Our team with the kids from one apartment.

We played a game where the kids had to open a present that was wrapped in lots of layers, and they had to wear oven mits. At this apartment the phone rang and it was for us! Some of the kids we were close to at camp had heard that we were coming but they were with relatives for the holidays so they called to talk to us. It was a nice surprise! The best part was that we could understand most of what they said to us, they said they missed us so hopefully we will be able to see them again soon.

The kids had a ball with the balloon stuffing game!

At the first apartment Mihaela immediately attached to us. Rebecca told her that we were married and she said that she already knew, and we hadn't even met her before! Apparently she and a sister were just dropped off a week before with only their birth certificates and a phone number. She was so affectionate and it was wonderful to hold her tight.

We got to meet again many kids that we knew from summer camp and many of the older ones remembered us. Lili on the left even remembered beating Mark at card games at camp.

We finally got to see Elena again and talk with her in person! We met her at camp and she had one of the biggest impacts on us because of the wonderful relationship we built. We have kept in touch with her through letters until now and we were really looking forward to seeing eachother. She is so kind and soft hearted and caring and we love her so much.

Halfway through the week the teams reunited and we went to the orphanages around Bucharest to play and hand out more gifts. We had fun coloring with Ana are glad to see her making progress since she came to the orphanage. When she came to the orphanage she barely spoke or smiled at all and now she is quite vocal and smiles a lot. She loves to be held and to sit on laps and she is very sweet.

This is Mark's new favorite picture, we love spending time with Alina, she is always beaming and wanting to be held and talks up a storm, she has made a big place for herself in our hearts.

It was also great to have our friend Amanda on the team. We caught up and spent time with her and it was fun working with her. It was wonderful seeing someone from home in person and we thank her so much for coming to check out what we're doing and to help these kids out.

We have had a great time with this team. They have been friendly and hard working and have been a blast to hang out with. We have learned a lot from this about how we can help to serve teams when they come, as this will be one of our main responsibilities here. We look forward to more teams coming and would be especially thrilled if more people we knew came like Amanda did.

Tomorrow we start language classes again as this team is leaving. Please pray that we will be able to get back into learning and our studying rhythm. Please pray that God continues to give us the ability to learn the language as we start the second half of the lessons. Please also pray for safety in travels for the team and for some new people who are coming for a second team. Please pray that this trip has a big impact on the team and that it helps each person to draw closer to God's plan for their lives. Please also continue to pray that God works in the lives of the kids that we work with and all the others who don't have anyone helping them through life. They are what this mission is about, we long for God to change their lives and make them followers of Him. Thanks so much for your part in our mission, prayer and support are what God uses to change lives!