Special Times

For the whole last week we had the boys from the transition program staying with so that Doru, the leader of the program, could have a little time off. We had a great time with them and they had a great time here with us. We worked a lot in the yard and on the garden to get it ready for planting soon. I also had them work on a big project for us.

In the weeks prior I had designed a fence for the garden and had them prep the materials at the transition house workshop. We have wanted a fence for a long time to keep the dogs out and to protect the plants from stray soccer balls in the summer.

We dug the holes and mounted the steel posts first, measuring as we went and filling the holes with cement. This was a hard days work which resulted in a very sunburned neck for me.

The next day we mounted the boards, which was much easier work.

Dan and Norbert from the Canadian team came to help and we finished up quickly.

We then had a ribbon cutting ceremony with the whole team, the project was a huge success! I am very happy with how the fence turned out and the boys are very proud of their work. For them seeing this kind of accomplishment means a lot.

We also went to the orphanages and played Easter games. We took the opportunity to tell the true reason for Easter.

We had a big celebration with the transition house graduates and the current boys. Aurel found the special golden egg which countless other people had come so close to. There was a cash prize for finding it so I had hidden it really well.

Here we are with the entire Canadian team and many of our staff.

Rebecca and Bekah, one of our interns.

Us with our boys and Dori, our other intern.

Lastly, when I went to take the boys home some of the Canadian team came with so they could see the villiage where the boys live. We went on a walk and naturally stopped in to see our friend Catarina (middle). She invited us in and gave us each a dyed red egg. Tradition holds that when the burial cloth of Jesus was taken from the tomb it was put in a basket that had eggs in it and the blood from the cloth turned the eggs red. Then we hit our eggs together saying Isus a inviat - Adevarat a inviat. This is an easter tradition where the person who wins collects the egg that cracked and the one with the most eggs at the end wins. It is always fun to take part in the celebrations of another culture, and the people in this village are always friendly and eager to share.

Catarina is always so welcoming and told me that I don't need to address her in the formal tense anymore because we are very good friends. She said that we are her best friends. It is so neat to be able to build this kind of relationship with the people around us. It opens up doors for ministry to a whole different group of people than the kids we normally work with. Especially in Catarina's case I think again of James 1:27, which calls true religion caring for orphans and widows. By how excited and happy she is every time we visit I can see how she longs for meaningful relationships, just like our kids. God has called us here for this very purpose.

Please continue praying for strength and wisdom especially as the summer approaches. Also please pray for health, Rebecca has a bad cold and I have had a milder one on and off for the last couple weeks. Now we think we have caught a stomach bug. Please pray for energy and against the attacks of the evil one. Thanks so much!

Canadians And Boys

This week we have had a great time working with the Canadian team! Last year some of them helped paint the team house and they are back again for a full program, this time the week before Easter. The timing is perfect because we have more time to work with them this week since the kids are on vacation. It is a real pleasure to work with them again and we are having lots of fun!

Sunday we had a boys day with our transition house graduates where we started off playing volleyball at Tineretului Park in Bucharest.

Then we played some soccer and went to the team house for dinner and some talks about jobs and how to be a good worker.

The next morning we went to our normal down south place and worked with some of the kids there, teaching special lessons about Easter. Most people in Romania celebrate Easter because it is a Orthodox holiday but most of them don't know what it is about at all. I asked one of my students why we celebrate and his answer was "because that's what people do."

We played fun Easter games with eggs but the focus was on Jesus - just like Christmas, Jesus is also the reason why we celebrate Easter. We celebrate because he took our sins on himself when he was crucified so that we can be saved. He was raised from the dead so that he could conquer death and give us the gift of salvation. What better reason to celebrate?

When we came back to Bucharest we took the boys who are in the transition program with us, and they are staying with us the whole week. We have a special project that they are working on which I'll talk about more in another post. They are great, we love spending time with them and pouring into their lives. They need lots of guidance and support, would you pray for them?

We took a day trip to Sinaia where the beautiful Peles Castle is and had great weather. It is always a treat to go to the mountains.

These are our friends Dan and Luella who we got to know last year.

The boys in our program, they enjoyed the day and were glad to get home and eat some homemade pizza.

Everything is blooming here and we are really enjoying the colors and beauty all around us.

Does anyone know what this is? I don't have a clue but there were lots of them growing in the woods on the mountain and they were pretty interesting.

Wishing everyone a happy Easter from Romania. Isus a inviat - adevarat a inviat! (Jesus is risen - He is risen indeed!)

Spring Thankfulness

Spring has come here in Romania. Trees are budding, flowers are blooming, and the grass is green. I love spring, the renewal and the warmth that comes after winter. The new life is exciting, and full of hope. This is also how I feel about so many of our kids here. They are beginning to blossom! The beauty around me reminds me of all I have to be thankful for.

I am thankful for the kids who really think about what we say. The ones who are ready to start applying what they have learned to their lives. Kids that are excited to go to church, to read their Bible, to talk with us; they are like a breath of fresh air!

I am thankful for friendships here, old and new. We had a chance to hang out with Miriam one afternoon, we met her at summer camp 2008. The support of friends, close by and far apart, is very encouraging for us. Your prayers give us the strength to do God's work here.

I am thankful for fun times with the kids. Here Bekah, our intern, is riding one of the bikes at the Boy's Transition House. When you know the kids well enough to truly enjoying playing with them is very special. It gives you the energy to go through harder times with them.

I am thankful that this in not my work, but it is God's. He is the one who changes hearts, gives new life, and does more than we can imagine. I am thankful that every child I work with he cares about them deeply and loves them even more than I do. And I am thankful that I can leave them in his hands, for he is faithful and will complete the good work he has started. It is such a privilege that God has chosen us to do his work here!

Relationships Matter

In our working with abandoned kids here in Romania there is one underlying theme to what we do. Everything that we do is aimed at building relationships with the kids. We gain their trust by being there for them when they need us, by showing them a love like they've not seen before, and by pouring ourselves into them. The longer we do this the more they become attached to us.

Just by going to our classes with the kids we are able to build up our relationships. We show them that we are there for them and that we care enough about them that we left all that we had to help them. What we teach isn't nearly as important as just being there for them. It seems like it is working.

The kids always enjoy doing something new, and looking through a microscope at things they've never seen before is really exciting.

We use fun activities like this to get them interested in the subject and to teach them things that they probably wouldn't learn at school. The great thing is that by helping them we can get to know them better, it is a win-win.

Over the weekend the girls had another sleepover to teach the girls about relationships, abstinence, and STD's. Imagine what spending a whole day and night can do for relationship building. These girls can have good role models in us that they don't have anywhere else.

In the time of the girls sleepover I stayed with the boys in our transition program. We had a great time talking, watching movies, and playing games. Staying with them for a whole weekend sure does boost relationships. I can begin to see the personalities, likes and dislikes, and other things about them. I can then minister to them better because I know them personally.

Building relationships doesn't only apply to our kids. Over the summer we got to know a woman in the village, a widow of 24 years named Catarina (on right). The last time I visited her she told me about her eldest sister who is 90 years old. This time we visited her and found her other two sisters and one of their two daughters. It was a really fun visit, though it was challenging to focus on understanding what they said when there were usually multiple conversations going on at once. I had my laptop computer with me so I showed them pictures of us, which was a real treat for them. They asked me lots of questions about America, how it is different from Romania.

They couldn't believe that most people don't have their own chickens and other animals, instead they go to the store to buy everything. Houses being built out of wood and covered with plastic siding sounded really weird to them because in Romania houses are build with cement and bricks.

They also noted that I was not Orthodox but a Baptist, which is what pretty much everyone who isn't Orthodox is called. I said that though the traditions are very different the heart of my belief is the same as theirs, that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ through God's grace. They agreed and we had a nice conversation about God. Their faith was evident and was an encouragement to me that there are many faithful people here, even if they are the minority (which we can also say about our country).

That's what our relationships are really all about, to point people to Christ. The kids we work with and the people we know are precious to us and we long for them to know Jesus as their savior. We are so thankful for our call to do this in Romania. If you know Jesus as your savior then you are called to do the same thing, whether it is at home or abroad. We aren't super special people, we're just normal people following God's will for our lives. You can do the same!

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.