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!