Canadian Tenderfoot

This past week and a half, we had the opportunity to serve along side a Canadian tenderfoot team. We enjoyed getting to know them, serving with them, and telling some of our story and H2H's story. We did a variety of different activities. One morning we went out to the Girls Transition House to prepare the garden. We also served at the baby hospital, helped at the orphanage and had a special girls day for the graduates. The many hands were much appreciated, they help hold the babies, play with the kids, and help us spread the love of Christ.

Corni and Mark getting pulled around by the rototiller

Debbie giving Mila a summer doggie-do

Janie officiating the arm- wrestling match

Coloring in the heroes class

Music Class

Beam walking

Old friends being reunited (Andrea and I met in 2007)

Ulica goofing off at the Botanical Garden

Eating ice cream, part of the art class's reward

Short term teams are an important part of our ministry, and a great way to see and be a part of the many aspects of H2H. Come be a part of our life changing ministry, impacting the kids and our own hearts for eternity!

Back To It

It is hard to believe that it has been a week since our wee visit to Scotland! So many things have been going on, it's the start of the busiest ministry season of the year. We have a team from Canada here now and are working with them, translating and helping them to help us minister. We have been really enjoying having them here and have been enjoying playing a larger role in working with them since we don't have language classes to go to.

The baby hospital was quarantined again for a week and a half, due to an isolated case of a bacterial infection in another hospital. We don't know all the details but it was due in part to a doctor's negligence. Because of that all the hospitals in Bucuresti were closed. Thankfully we have been able to get back in again because we are supplying a large amount of diapers since the state cut off funding for diapers.

We helped out with the wedding of two graduates of the transition programs, the wedding was at the team house on Saturday. We did lots of work on the house and yard, including laying sod in the front because the grass was so bad. The wedding was great and the weather was beautiful, everything went very well.

Florin gave me a flower for my birthday and all of the kids told me "La multi ani" which means happy birthday. They also asked where the candy was because when it's your birthday you are supposed to bring candy for everyone. I was going to get some but totally forgot, so I sent some along later and it was handed out in my name.

Rebecca and Krista playing games with Ana.

I had a birthday party where I received lots of chocolate. Jenny made earthquake cake which is one of my new favorites.

We took a group of kids out for a reward challenge. At class they can receive points for attending, paying attention, not disturbing the class, etc. We took them to McDonald's for lunch and then to a park for some play time. They were all very excited and had a great time.

Alina showing off her happy meal prize.

Vali enjoyed the slide.

All the kids had fun on the play set, and they even wanted us to join in. It was a beautiful day and it was a great way to reward the kids for their good behavior in class.

Scotland Lochs

On Saturday we had the opportunity to travel to some of the countryside and see three different lochs (lakes). First we went to Loch Lomond. The weather was quite overcast at this point. We stopped to have some tea and scones (yumm!) and have a view of the town.

Luss Church, Loch Lomond

Mark and Rebecca in Loch Lomond

After every stop we changed cars so that all the Americans could ride with different Scottish hosts, it was a good way to get to know each couple.

Loch Long (Ship Lake)

Arrochar Church, Loch Long

Loch Fyne, city of Inveraray

Inveraray Castle

Laspic, Maggy, Kirsteen, Jen, Jenny, Rebecca, Mark (Krista)

We took a tour of the castle. Mark was impressed by the large armory.

Inveraray Bridge on Loch Fyne

A wee bit of snow atop a ben (mountain)

Black goats, the wee ones were adorable!

After our road trip we had fish and chips at Wilma and David's flat. We had a great day, it was a wee bit chilly, but it didn't rain. We thoroughly enjoyed our short stay in Scotland. Everyone we met was so friendly and we enjoyed all the hospitality we were treated to!

Glasgow

The second day of our trip to Scotland we toured and shopped around Glasgow, Kirsteen's home town. First we took a bus tour of the city on a double decker bus. It was raining on and off but that didn't stop Mark from sitting outside on the top level. It was worth the peril because when the rain let up he was able to take pictures that couldn't be taken from inside. The tour lasted nearly an hour and a half so we were able to see all of the main attractions there.

The city chamber in a square filled with monuments

The clock tower in merchant square

The Doulton Fountain, the largest terra-cotta fountain in the world, near the People's Palace

Glasgow University

Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

A typical city street with classic architecture and lots of shopping

A classic building with a tin roof

After the tour we ate at a chinese buffet and went shopping. The girls found some interesting hats and were joined by a fun loving woman who wanted to be in the picture.

A rainbow seen from Kirsteen's church in the evening

In the evening we had a birthday party for Kirsteen at her church with her friends and family. After the nice meal there were three desserts to chose from, Mark had one of each plus an extra piece of his favorite, then we had cake. There certainly was never a shortage of food on our trip!

After dinner we played some fun games

And got tangled in a web of yarn. The most fun of the night came when our Scottish friends were making the plans for the next day, trying to figure out who was going, how many cars to take, what to do for food, what route to take, where to meet in the morning... we were all laughing uncontrollably by the end.

Edinburgh

This past weekend we had the opportunity to take a wee vacation to Scotland. It was a chance to meet more people involved with Heart 2 Heart Scotland and relax before the business of spring and summer ministry. We arrived late Wednesday night and left Sunday. Thursday we went to Edinburgh and spent the day there. We met Leslie for lunch at the Filling Station and after that we headed up to the castle.

Jen, Krista, Scottish man, Kirsteen, Rebecca, Jenny, and Mark behind the camera :)

The Edinburgh Castle, view from the bus

The Castle

One of the beautiful views from the castle

Another nice view

Scottish National War Memorial

The other side of the war memorial

Krista and Jenny, it was their first time in Scotland as well as ours

Mark and Rebecca being traditional tourists of the UK

Along the Royal Mile

St. Giles Cathedral

The Palace of Holyrood House (Royal Residence of the Queen)

And to top it all off, pink sheep! Sorry that the picture is not very good, but if you click on it, you will see the sheep a wee bit better. We had dinner at Wanda and Brian's house, a delicious meal and they even snuck some haggis into it!