Another Orphanage

Around Christmas time we went to this orphanage to deliver Christmas presents, and we've gone back only a few times. H2H is hoping to have our program here next school year. This orphanage has a lot of the younger kids, they are so adorable! The director here is a visionary and really loves "her kids." The kids are pretty well behaved and are eager for us to be there more often. This is a place we'd love to work at next year!

The kids loved the balloons (which didn't last very long :)

Mark and Kristi (short team member) with some of the new kids

Rebecca and Aurelia

Mark put a couple of the boys in the tree, they loved the new view

Playing with the parachute with the Clarksburg Team

Andreea blowing bubbles

One of the real little ones, Alexandru, who was three or four (he gave two different answers when asked how old he was)

The kids in line for lunch

They hold hands and go two by two into the lunch room...so precious!

Will you continue to pray for H2H's plans for the summer and fall ministry? For God to open the doors for us to serve these precious children who are close to his heart and for these kids to learn about the Father who loves them.

Heroes Carnival

Last week was the end of the school year so we had a fun carnival to celebrate. We have studied heros during the year so we brought in costumes for the kids to dress up in.

Lots of the girls dressed up as princesses, like Ana and her sister Flori.

As always Alina was all smiles, she loves to be held up high and to cuddle.

Her brother Marius had a blast, he enjoyed being Superman.

We had many stations set up with different games, relays, and activities. Each activity had something to do with the qualities of heroes that we studied, like integrity, honesty, loyalty, etc.

And here is the best princess of them all!

We also watched the kids' graduation program and were very proud of the kids.

The next day we went back to play some games, and it was really hot, nearing 100 degrees. We played water games and were soaked within five minutes. We made up around 150 water balloons and had so much fun.

Sunday the transition house girls and boys graduated from our program. We had a ceremony for them, then a meal and swimming party. Many of the previous graduates came to celebrate too. We are really proud of them and ask for your prayers for them as they move on to the next phase of their lives.

Children's Day

June 1st is Children's Day in Romania. So of course, the question we got from the kids at the orphanage during the week prior was, what are you going to bring us? This year we had gifts from our home church in MI, Fair Haven Ministries. The Wednesday night KICK kids (Kids in Christ's Kingdom) made little gift bags for them in March. A special thanks to our church family back home! It is great to have our church involved with the kids here, and of course the kids enjoyed getting a special gift.

KICK Kids Coloring Cards

KICK Kids Assembling the Gift Bags

Handing out the Gift Bags

Rebecca with Alina - The card reads: Dear Romania, I hope you like kick.

Mark with Marius

Vic - The outside of the card said : Jesus loves all the children of the world, it was in English and Romanian.

Ioana and Vali

More kids checking out their gift bags.

There are a lot of different ways to be involved in our ministry. We covet prayer for us, the kids we minister to, and the directors (Romanian gov't), and guidance for H2H. We are always in the need of more hands, hands to love and hold the kids, to minister to more kids than just the staff can reach. And of course H2H could always put your dollars to use impacting kids lives forever. Check out h2hint.org for more info, or drop us an e-mail if you have any questions.

April - May 2010 Newsletter

Buna ziua din nou din Romania!  Hello again from Romania!  Having finished language lessons in March we were able to focus on our ministry to the abandoned kids here in Romania.

We spent lots of time with the girls at the transition house and got to know them better.  We celebrated Easter with them and did lots of fun activities with them like dying eggs and making cookies.  We had a fun scavenger hunt that told the Easter story using Bible verses in Romanian.

We enjoyed working in the baby hospital more and more and were able to see many babies make great progress.  Often when they come in they are behind developmentally but it is amazing how fast they can catch up with the right amount of attention and care.  We really enjoy holding the babies tight because they love to cuddle.  Some of the older ones like to jump and bounce too, and we love it when they smile and laugh.


At the orphanage we helped with the classes but we focused more on relationship building.  The kids love to talk with us and we can finally (mostly) understand them and can respond back.  They love to hug and climb on us and play games inside and outside.

In between April and May we took a short vacation to Scotland and had such a great time.  We packed a lot into just three days, seeing Edinburgh, Glasgow, and beautiful country.  Everyone there was so friendly, especially our hosts, who made us feel at home and took us on a wonderful tour of the countryside.  It was a great time to celebrate Kirsteen's birthday, (our Scottish missionary friend), and recharge our batteries a bit. 

These two months were great for practicing our Romanian language.  We still have a lot of learning to do but we have been able to translate for teams and have full conversations with people.  We thank God so much for blessing our learning and opening our minds, and we continue to ask for prayers for our language to solidify.  Here are some other prayer requests:
- This summer will be our biggest ministry time as we have camps for the kids, pray for planning, safety, fun, open doors to show Christ to these kids and open hearts so they will recieve Him.
- For God to continue to lead and guide us in everything we do and for us to have the faith and courage to follow.
- For our family, friends, and supporters, prasing God for them and asking Him to bless and take care of them.
- Thanking and praising God for being with us and our organization and our kids, and asking him to continue to watch over us and bless us in all we do.

Thanks again for your prayers and support, we could not be doing this without you!  Remember that we write every week on our blog: www.weloveorphans.blogspot.com .  We love hearing from you so please e-mail us if you get a chance.
In Christ's Love,
Mark & Rebecca Essenburg

Village Museum and Babies

On Thursday we had a free day because the painting team went up to the mountains. We went and visited the Village Museum (Muzeul National al Satului) and Herastrau Park. It was a nice and sunny day, with the temp in the upper 80's. We enjoyed learning more of the history of Romania and how life was before communism.

A House and Farm Buildings

Wooden House...I think they should go back to these!

Loom, work area inside

Living and Sleeping Area

Stove, probably good for making pizza...even though pizza isn't Romanian!

Mill

Wooden Church

Often I wonder what life was like 200-300 years ago. It seems much simpler, and although it was a hard life, I wonder if the lack of distractions was helpful to keep focus on what is important. Family values, community, and most importantly a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

A Smile from a Baby: Absolutely Priceless!

Mark and Rebecca with Ryan and Danielle

Mark Sweating it out with Two Babies

What a privilege it is to love God's precious children!

An Animal Kind of Day

Friday was the May birthday celebration at the orphanage. We had grilled sausage, pork, cabbage salad and cake! The food is one of the things the new director has improved, he wants the kids to eat healthy and get the proper nutrition their growing bodies need. As we have mentioned before, the monthly birthday celebrations are also the new director's doing.

Rebecca with Doina (a B-day girl) and Vic

Ana with her rabbit she got in her present from H2H

Mark and Lorentiu in front of the gazebo and music (new also)

Spring is here and that means: puppies! Kids with a puppy and cat.

Another new thing is the chickens and pigs. The new director wants to teach the kids responsibility, so they get assigned chores such as giving water to the animals.

Petrisor and Costel with the pigs

Who can resist an animal and kid photo?

I think the dog says "lasa-ma in pace!" Leave me in peace!

Ana and Mark monkeying around.

We are very thankful for the new director's enthusiasm and vision for the kids. Pray with us for endurance and guidance for him (Domnul Matei) and continued great relationship between him and H2H. We really enjoy the new atmosphere at the orphanage, it makes it easier to have fun with the kids and do our programming there.