What's It All About Anyway?

Here in Romania we lead very busy lives, we travel around working in three different locations with around one hundred different kids. Rebecca teaches science classes and I teach english classes to kids at all levels, from first grade to post high school. It can be stressful at times and it is easy to get caught up in all the business, planning, and logistics. So why are we here? What is our goal in working with these kids?

Part of the goal is to enrich the lives of kids who don't have much of a chance of succeeding in life. They aren't given the tools or training to do well and they already have a stigma of being abandoned. English classes are one way we can help, teaching them how to communicate in a language that has become the business language of the world.

Teaching science helps the kids to have an interest in their surroundings and gets them excited about learning. Schools don't do experiments here so they are always so excited about what Rebecca shows them.

They also love doing crafts. It is good to help them to learn that they can accomplish something by themselves. They learn to take pride in their work.

All this is good but there is something more to what we're doing. Even though it is important, if we just focus on what we're accomplishing in our classes we're missing the point.

We are here to pour love into these kids' lives and to build relationships with them. Only through that can we give them something that will truly change and shape their lives - the love of Jesus Christ. He said in Matthew 19:14 "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."

When we love these kids, which we do as our own children, we are building relationships with them that will point them toward their savior. And what a rewarding "work" this is! To hold these kids in our arms is such a wonderful feeling, knowing that they love us and have put their trust in us which isn't an easy thing to do for an abandoned child.

We have the privilege of discipling some of the older kids, our youth groups are continuing to thrive, Monday night we had 34 in our small apartment in RDV! In recent weeks some have decided to be baptized which is so exciting. Others have accepted Christ recently, praise God! This is what it's all about, loving these kids and leading them to the Lord. Thanks for your continued prayers, God has been encouraging us here very much lately. Please continue to pray for these kids and our ministry, also for strength, health, and wisdom for us and the rest of our staff. Thanks for being our partner in Christ!

Love

Since today is Valentine's Day, I figured I should talk about love. If you haven't noticed yet, Mark and I love our job and the kids we work with. It is such a privilege to do God's work here, to be his hands and feet. God is constantly growing our love for him and his children.

Here two of our transition boys are washing our van, a task they gladly completed.

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in the truth." 1 John 3:18

This is a picture from youth group. It is so great that this year we are able to talk freely about God's love! It is such a great opportunity for the kids to have fun, learn about themselves, and most importantly learn about their heavenly father who loves them.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

This is Cristi, and he really liked our former interns, Krysten, she reminded him of his sister. He wrote her a note telling her he missed her, and that he wants her to come back to Romania. How great it is to be able to have relationships with these kids!

"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart, and a good conscience and a sincere faith." 1 Timothy 1:5

This is one of the cooking classes, they love cooking/baking, and especially the eating part :)

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8

We have had so many beautiful sunny days lately, truly a gift from God! I have learned to love deeper than I thought possible, our kids teach us so much. We are truly blessed to love them, and be loved by them.

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." 1 John 3:16

Back In Romania

After our Christmas vacation in the states we made it back to Romania without any problems and have been trying to get back into the swing of things ever since. While we were gone the kids asked the other staff quite often where we were and when we were coming back. They missed us a lot and we missed them too, so it has been great seeing them again.

There have been some beautiful mornings where hoar frost covered everything.

More hoar frost; it happens when it is really cold and foggy so ice crystals form on everything.

The boys at the transition house were really excited to see us, we had a great time with them. We caught up on what we did and what they did and we got back into our english and science lessons. Tuesday we celebrated Cezar's birthday with a cake and some picture taking time.

Our friend Tom came with us and we had a great time not only with the boys at the transition program but also with those at our youth group in Rosiori.

Tom and Mark took a walk with Cezar while the other boys were making his birthday cake. We stopped by one of our friends in the village, Catarina. She has a nice size house but can only afford to heat this one room. I couldn't stand up straight and forgot about that once and hit my head. Catarina, even though very poor, still offered us some home made bread and was so overjoyed that we came to visit. I'll have to go back soon to give her this picture because she loves getting pictures of us to display in her house.

We had lots of fun in our youth groups, the opening game was to find a 5 lei bill that was hidden in the room somewhere. We then talked about being lost and read the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son. At one of our locations while we talked about this one of the girls asked how to accept Jesus, so at the end of the time we prayed together as a group, and nearly all of the young adults their prayed along! Praise God for this and please pray for these kids that they realize what this means for them and they start to grow as children of God.

Mariana used an electronic game to teach the alphabet to the young kids.

Their reward for being good was some play time on their toys.

The kids always enjoy coloring so we include it in our activities as much as we can.

We ended the week with a surprise birthday party for Jenny. It was a 70's themed party and we played twister and listened to 70's music.

Dori trying out the chocolate fountain.

God continues to confirm to us that this is where He wants us. The kids love us so much and we love them back and our relationships are producing fruit already. It is so encouraging to know that God is with us and is using us. Please continue to pray for strength and wisdom as we minister here and continue to pray for all those we are ministering to.