Family Week

We spent all of last week with our families, it was really nice to spend time with them after being gone for almost a year. In some ways it seemed like we never left.

We went to the pier and boardwalk in Grand Haven with Mark's Mom & Herb. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed the awesome views. We ate lunch at Pronto Pup, which makes their own corn dogs. They were so delicious.

Of course we had to stop at Temptations for their homemade ice cream. It is the best!

We went to tea at Aunt Henny's place and each of the girls received a beautiful hand-painted necklace from cousin Ann. Our friend Holly is selling these necklaces as a fund raiser for their next adoption.

We went over to Rebecca's brother Mark's place for dinner and did some fishing. Here is her Dad's catch.

And brother Mark's nice fish.

We went to the Frederick Meijer Gardens with Rebecca's Mom and sister Elizabeth. There was a Chihuly exhibit over the entire grounds which was really awesome.

A lake filled with Chihuly glass.

We went for a bike ride along Muskegon Lake and out to a gourmet lunch with Mark's Dad & Julie. We also went to Mark's Uncle Milt & Aunt Gladys' 50th anniversary party and saw lots of family there. After that we went to dinner at Sandi & Jay's place (Mark's sister and brother-in-law). Mark's brother Kevin, Dad & Julie, and Uncle Carl & Aunt Joyce were also there.

It wouldn't be a complete get together with Sandi & Jay without homemade ice cream, so we made some the old fashioned way. It went great with the brownies and strawberry-rhubarb pie!

Sunday we talked at our home church Fair Haven Ministries about our time in Romania. We had a lunch after church to share more pictures and stories. In the evening we talked at the church Rebecca grew up in, Caledonia CRC, and had a get together after that for Rebecca's family.

Monday evening we went out sailing on Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan with our friends John & Karen. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed every minute.

Our time home has been wonderful; even though we've kept busy it has been fun and relaxing. We have really enjoyed spending quality time with family and friends and will be doing the same thing this week.

Time with family and friends

After the business of summer ministry and camp fun, we had a little time of doing different things. We were able to go to our friends wedding, Costin and Ana. We got to know them at our Bible study through AlphaOmega Church.

Us with the happy bride and groom

The last week we spent in Romania before our time in the US we spent cleaning and organizing. We cleaned Snagov, the team house, and organized the basement. In the basement of the team house we have rows of bins of ministry supplies. From these supplies we make crafts, give away school supplies, hygiene items and much more. One evening the summer interns wanted to go over to our apartment to go to the park by our house.

Katie and Amanda on the swirly teeter toter

Mark and Krysten swinging

Hanging out

We left Romania on the 12th for just over two weeks to spend in the US. During this time we are speaking at 4 churches and visiting family and friends.

Precious was a bit shy at first

Sam was goofing off since the moment he saw us

Lexi likes to call Rebecca: "Mark"

Looking at pictures together

Mark went fishing with the guys, Jonah and Scott

Fishing

Our first Sunday in the US we talked at Red Pine Bible church. It is a small church with a big heart. We were able to talk for 20 minutes during the service so we told about what we did in Romania and shared a few stories about individual kids. Then we opened up for questions and after the service we met people and showed more pictures. It was a very nice time and we felt very welcomed, loved, and supported by the people there.

Mark's cousin and pastor of Red Pine, Rick, and his wife Tammy.

After church we went out to eat at a large buffet and then went over to Mark's aunt Sharon's place to visit with family that came to the church service. It was very nice reconnecting with them and they are so very encouraging of what we're doing in Romania.

Summer Wrap Up

After finishing our trip to the orphanages in the south we joined a new team to work in the orphanages around Bucharest. We spent time each day with the children who weren't at the camp at the Girls Transition House. We also went to the newer orphanage several times to try to build up relationships there since we are hoping to work there in the fall.

The boys missed climbing all over me so they made sure to make up for lost time.

We got lots of hugs and kisses.

Handing out balloons at the new orphanage was really crazy, I started running and the crowd chased me until I handed out all of them. It was great to come to this place several times because we are starting to get to know the kids there. They are very precious as this is where the youngest kids are. They love it when we come and are always very excited. Rebecca already has a special friend who begged her not to leave. We enjoyed coloring, making crafts, playing games, and giving piggy back rides to the kids.

We also got to play at the pool parties for the kids at camp. Laurentiu was really excited to be there and was really fun all day.

I also had the chance to go to the baby hospital again which was so fun. We both love working with the babies so much. Mihaiela, Florica, and Ana Maria have all been at the hospital since we started there and it has been great watching them develop.

Ana Maria

Florica

This has been a great summer and it is hard to believe that it is over already. God has been so faithful and we feel like He was leading all of us the whole time. We prayed for open hearts and for decisions to follow Christ and many kids asked Jesus into their lives. We got to plant and water seeds but it was so exciting to be able to take part in the harvest as well. All of us are so thankful that God answered our prayers and it was a fruitful time. Thank you all so much for your prayers, we know that prayer played a huge part in everything.

Boys School

This past week we were at the boys school. We did basically the same program that we did with the girls the week before. Several of the boys would remember the entire Bible story skit and did really well memorizing the Bible verse. After the four days of the program, we took they boys to the boy's transition house for a carnival.

Eating lunch inside due to rain

Alex getting candy at the bowling station

Ionut doing the limbo

Singing Worship Songs

The modern Joseph skit- Mark was the chocolate factory owner

Rebecca and Oli- he was so sweet and happy to have a friend by his side

Playing a tag game

Futbal

Fishing game

Zip line

The boys school is a special needs school and we were concerned about how the week would go. But God is faithful and answered our prayers, we had a great week and know that the seeds we planted were not in vain. I think all of us on the team have part of their heart left with one of the boys.

Coming Home

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well, we are having a great time with summer camps already and are already nearly halfway through the summer. We want to thank you so much for your continual support and faithfulness. We wanted to let you know that we will be coming home for a very short vacation in August. We will be arriving Thursday August 12 at 6:40 pm in Grand Rapids, on flight AA 4279.

We will be speaking at Red Pine Bible Church (17195 Red Pine Dr., Kent City) on August 15 at 10:30 am. Then on August 22 we will speak at our home church Fair Haven Ministries (2900 Baldwin St, Hudsonville) at the 9:00 and 10:45 services, and there will be a meal and presentation around 12:00 pm. This would be a great opportunity for you to see us and hear more about what we're doing here. We would also like to talk there about how you can come to Romania if you're interested. We will be speaking at Caledonia CRC (9957 Cherry Valley SE, Caledonia) at 6:00 that evening. We will also be speaking at Evergreen Ministries (4512 48th Ave, Hudsonville) August 29 at the 9:30 and 11:00 services. We will leave for Romania around August 30 but don't have the flight info yet.

If you would like to get together with us please let us know and we'll see if we can work it out. Two weeks is a very short visit but we hope we can see as many of you as possible.

Super Team Camp 1

This week we were part of the super team running camp at the girls school in the south. There wasn't enough room to have the girls come to camp at the girls transition house so we had a team go to their school each day. It was a great week filled with fun, spiritual growth, and relationship building.

We started each day with worship and a skit that showed someone having courage. This was the theme of our program. Then we would break into small groups and go over the story again and ask questions about it. We had journals and memory verses and we had them color something about the story.

Mark playing the part of Jesus, preaching as the paralyzed man was lowered through the roof of the house.

After the lesson we would play games and go to lunch, and when we came back we would do crafts and play more games. We also shared why we were in Romania with the older girls, some of whom have aged out of the orphanage but still hang around there.

We played water games one day which was really fun, especially since it was so hot outside.

We especially enjoyed bonding with Miki and Veo, two girls who we were close with at camp two years ago. One of the most fun parts of the day was when the little ones came, they would run up with such excitement and hug us and sit in our laps, how wonderful.

Stela was glad to see Mark again, over the holidays she gave me a knitted wall hanging and this time she gave me a bracelet. She is really special and has a big tender heart.

Pipe cleaner crowns were the biggest hit out of the crafts.

The highlight of camp for me was the day when we talked about Jesus in our small groups and then asked if anyone wanted to ask Him into their hearts. At least two girls in our group said yes and when we prayed the prayer more joined in. It was such an exciting feeling to hear so many little voices following along inviting Jesus to be in their hearts. This camp went so well, the girls were very receptive and open and we had a great time. Thanks so much for your prayers and please continue to pray for the next camps.