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!

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