Stories

One thing we do every week is have a story and craft time with some 1st and 2nd graders. They have so much energy, but they really enjoy being read to. What do we read them? A Bible story or another story with Christian morals. It is a great opportunity for them to learn more about the best true story of all.

I am always thrilled when they remember the details of a Bible story from a prior time they have heard it.

Modern version of the good Samaritan- run over by a car, got to love the kids imagination (or realization of the driving here :)

One of our goals is to help rewrite these kid's stories. From a story of that is lacking in love to one that is full of the only true love. From a story that seems like there is little hope for the future, to a bright shinning future full with the knowledge of the source of hope.

Every day our lives are writing another page of a greater story. What is your story saying?

Our Weekend

This past weekend we both had the opportunity to go beyond our normal ministry. Mark spent time at the Boys Transition House because we had a sleepover with some of the girls. Nine girls spent the night at our apartment. We used this time to talk about relationships, STD's and abstinence, and to grow closer with the girls. Several of the girls shared their stories of how the came to be in the orphanage, and how much better it is than their previous home life.

The welcome sign (bine ati venit = welcome)

The girls

Painting nails

Hanging out with Bekah, our intern

Mark spent the weekend with the boys at BTH, hanging out, watching them work and just spending the quality time with them that they crave.

Welding

House construction

Helping a neighbor

We both enjoyed our weekend, which is good because we will be doing this again in over a week. Continue to pray for these kids, to make wise choices, but most of all to make the decision that will change their life forever, to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior!

Mission Possible

Last week we had the Mission Possible team here from west Michigan. We enjoyed working with them even though they were only here a short time.

We played bingo with kids in an English class, the cards were written in Romanian were called out in English. The kids had to help their team member with their cards too since they didn't know Romanian.

We had a play day at one orphanage on Saturday, the weather was great and the kids were excited.

We played games, ran around, and talked with the kids for a few hours.

The Mission Possible team comes to Romania with Heart 2 Heart every year. Interestingly we might not even be here now if it weren't for them. A group from our church went with them in 2005 and then in 2007 those same people took another group from our church which we were a part of. Through that God called us to work here full time. It is amazing to see how He works through all things to accomplish His will.

Celebration time in March

This past week we had some extra hands with us at times. We have a new intern and it is the beginning of team time! We also celebrated the beginning of spring (March 1st) and Women's/Mother's Day (March 8).

One of the youth groups

Using a microscope for the 1st time!

We spent some extra time with the team at one of the orphanages, here Mark is with some of the newer boys there

Playing games

The boys from the transition house, under Sanda's supervision, cooked a meal for the team. They were very excited to have extra visitors!

Georgiana and Cristina, two of the sisters from one of the english classes

One Tuesday (the 8th) we went to the boy's school celebration. Here one class is telling a story about mothers.

Reciting poems

Mitica

Gabi- It is always funny to see the boys dressed up as females, but that is what happens when most classes are all boys!

We have enjoyed our time with the team so far and look forward to spending more time with them this week. We actually know most of them from before, and have visited some of them when we were home (they are from Jenison area).

January - February Update

January and February were completely different months spent in completely different countries. In January we were home celebrating Christmas and visiting our family and friends. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed spending the holidays with them.

We enjoyed catching up with everyone, spending as much time with them as we could in our short time home. It is great being able to Skype while we're in Romania but seeing our family in person was just great. Nothing can replace the genuine quality time spent together.

We spent lots of time with friends, often seeing someone for lunch and dinner. We ate out at our favorite restaurants and many people cooked us wonderful meals. Even though we were busy we felt recharged from this time and it was great to see so many of our closest friends and family.

At the end of January we returned to Romania and hit the ground running. We quickly got back into the swing of things, again working in our normal locations and being reunited with our kids. They were very excited to see us again, they missed us a lot. While we were gone they asked the other staff often where we were and when we were coming back. We got lots of kisses and hugs and were able to feel the love of these kids who are so eager to have someone who loves them in their lives. We realize what a privilege it is that God has placed us here to be those people to them.

Many great things happened in February, our youth group at one location grew to 34 teens, many of whom are making decisions to follow Christ, with a few even wanting to be baptized. This is also something to pray about, as this group meets in our small apartment which is extremely crowded with that many people. Please pray that God would provide a place that we can have this group and possibly even be able to do more things with these youth.

Please also continue to pray for:
-Health, wisdom, energy and safety for us and the rest of our staff.
-Continued direction for our english and science classes.
-For the kids that we work with that they would be open to us and to Christ.
-For God to provide people to come this summer to help us run summer camps.
-For safety and providence for those traveling here on short term trips in the next months.
-For generous support for our organization, H2H, as funding is very lean right now.
-For us as a couple to have time for eachother in the midst of the business.

Thanks so much for your support and prayers. We are constantly reminded of the great people back home who are praying us through this challenging but rewarding ministry. Know that you are a big part of what is happening here - God's kingdom is moving forward!