Wedgies, Spas, and Ogras!

This week at camp we had the privilege of having older kids from Ogra, the local gypsy village where three of the other interns have been doing literacy camps all summer. Also, the team from my home church, Wedgwood, was here this week, which was such an incredible blessing and encouragement! 

Diana and Julia, painting nails...

Sweet Estera and I...

Julia, an intern from last year, was also here this week with the Wedgwood team. Her and I worked together this week, and we had such a blast loving on the kids on our team! It was so great to get to explain to them the Gospel, as many of them have never heard of it, or if they had heard of it, they do not remember anything about it. Though they looked at us with confused faces, it was so great to explain to the kids that there is joy in salvation, and joy in God! My prayer for them all is that seeds might have been planted, and that they may grow into men and women of God! 

Echipa Verde!

A highlight of the week was on Friday when we gave the kids their gift bags. Though each group of kids are given gift bags each week, the incredible joy these kids showed when they opened their bags showed me that it was even more special to them. As Julia and I sat there watching them open their gifts in pure joy, it seemed like Christmas. Thank you to all of you who supported the Wedgwood team in coming this week and making this week possible with these kids! It was such a good week, and I know it will not return void! 

Another highlight this week was Tuesday night when we interns did a Spa night with the kids from Casa Rebeca and Casa Ana Nadia (the LOC houses). There were four stations that all the girls rotated to and we did pedicures, manicures, hair, and face masks for them. It was such a fun time!! 

Anna, and Daniella

Laura, and Ibi getting pedicures! 

Heather, Kristina, and Dita!

Eni, and I 

Week 6 of camp was such an incredible encouragement, and I am so thankful for the Wedgwood team! We are about to enter our last week of camp, and I am so excited for it, yet nervous that my time here in Romania is coming to an end. Pray for strength and renewed energy for this week. Pray for the precious kids we are going to meet this week, that they will be receptive to the Gospel and God's love for them!!! 

A few of my favorite things...

Like I said before, I apologize for being absent the last couple of weeks. Since it was the middle of the summer, it seemed like everything was coming to a peak and was super busy. So here's what I've been up to the last two weeks.... 

Beniamin and Denisa, from Ogra the Gypsy Village. Week 4 of camp. 

The rest of my team on the last day of camp, week 4, when I had to stay home sick. 

I love the sunflower fields behind our house.... 

"Let all creation rejoice before the Lord!" Psalm 96:13

I mentioned to you in the last blog how we were chased by sheep last weekend. Well, here's some pictures to prove it....Dita thought it was funny....

Fanel climbed a tree....

And then the sheep moved in on us more....

...and we all ran away. This is real life people. We were chased. By sheep. 

Even though we were interrupted from our nice picnic in the forest by sheep, we all had a great time! This is all the sheep survivors... 

Then on Saturday of last week a few of us decided to try out public transportation and go to the big medieval festival in Sigishoara, the birthplace of Dracula. We showed up to a bus stop hoping to find a bus to take us to the festival an hour away, and were turned down by the bus driver. Smh. So we walked away and finally found a different bus stop that would take us to Sigishoara and piled in like animals for our hour bus ride, pictured above. 

We had such a great time at the festival and it was definitely an adventure  trying to get home too. We were so lost but ended up getting back home, even though we were dropped off an hours walk away from Bex, the American missionary's, apartment where we were having dinner at. It was definitely worth the adventure though....

Me at the festival...

But the adventure for the day wasn't over. Saturday night after leaving Bex's, we decided to take the elevator down the 7 stories, since we were so exhausted from walking all day. As I was warning Kerra, Hannah, and Anna whom I was in the elevator with that it was going to make this horrible screeching noise in like 15 seconds, it screeched....and stopped. We screamed. And then panicked. We were 7 floors up, and the elevator was hanging by a thread...I mean, the light of the elevator was (pictured above), why would the elevator not be?!? After screaming for about 10 minutes and no answer, I turned on my phone and made an emergency call and we were able to get out. It was definitely freaky, but fun at the same time. We had such a good weekend, but we were so glad to get home after being chased by sheep, lost in Dracula's hometown, and being stuck in a communist elevator. 

Me, Anna, Hannah, and Kerra stuck in the elevator. 

This last week of camp was our 5th week of camp. It was so great, and we had the LOC kids with us. This is my team, echipa galbin (yellow) at Vetca on Friday. 

This week we did something new... "decorate your intern". I apologize for the graphic picture of myself; I was a pregnant, Indian, Mrs. Joker, tribal woman. Or something. I don't know, but my team did great I guess. Ha! 

We finished off this week with lunch at Dona Cafe in the center today. I love Sunday lunches...always such great conversations. And great lemonade. :) 

Missions.

So a few people have asked me what my take on missions is now that I have been immersed in it for almost 2 months now. Do you still want to go into missions full time? How do you feel about short term trips vs. long term trips? Is it everything you thought it would be? Not only are these questions people have been asking me, but I have been asking myself. And the question is "yes". Yes, yes, and yes! Being in Romania for six weeks I have seen almost every aspect that Livada Orphan Care (LOC, or Fundatia LOC) is involved in. I have seen the cry of the child who doesn't want to go back to their orphanage because of untold reasons, the cry of the teen who has been abused and forgotten, and the cry of the baby who can't even crawl and lays in her bed all day at the age of 3! But on the other side, I have seen transformed lives. The life of a man who once lived in the orphanage and has been renewed by Christ and is now pouring his heart back into the kids at the orphanages. The life of the kid who has such a passion for Christ despite the torturing, forgotten life she lives. Although the stuff I face here in Romania is hard, and heartbreaking, it's been beyond beautiful. The past six weeks I have been gone, I have been struggling with the question as to why all this pain and suffering is necessary. And in turn, what am I supposed to do about it? What is my role in this big scheme of things? What is missions all about? 

God has graciously shown me a few things that have answered my questions. Yes, I want to and need to be involved in missions. He said "Go and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:19), and that "religion our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to look after orphans and wisdows" (James 1:27). But the great thing is that I can do that anywhere, it doesn't have to be just in Romania. It can be in the great city of Shawnee, or here in Tirgu-Mures. Why would I not be involved in missions? But missions is hard. I don't understand why the girl on my team was completely shut off and didnt want to talk to anybody, and squirmed like a baby and squealed "no!" when you would go give her a hug. I don't understand suffering and pain. It just doesn't make sense. In John 9 Jesus approaches a man who has been blind since birth, and his disciples ask him why is this guy blind? What did he do to deserve it? (Why is this child neglected, abused, and tormented? What did she do to deserve it?!?) Jesus answered his disciples with "Neither this man nor his parents sinned...but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him". It is incredible to think that everything is used for God's glory, even suffering. This whole earth beats for Him!! I'm so thankful it's for His glory! 

It is true that before I came to Romania I may have thought that missions was definitely all about sharing the Gospel through the words I say and maybe a little bit of action. But throughout these last few weeks in a country where I cannot simply speak and people understand me, I have seen that it is through playing frisbee with a child for hours on end even though you're tired of chasing the frisbee she doesn't know how to throw that the Gospel is shared. It is through cleaning an infected wound on one of your kids knees all week, because he has no concept of cleaning. It's through kicking a soccer ball with a child for hours, even though you're exhausted and sweating like a dog. It's those moments when I am so exhausted, that God always does something beautiful. Now don't get me wrong, sharing the Gospel verbally is definitely important, but faith without deeds is dead (James 2:20).

I only have two more weeks here in Romania, but I'm thankful my mission doesn't end then! Stay tuned for another update about actual camp stuff from the last few weeks... 

This Beautiful World

I realize I have not posted in two weeks, and for that I apologize. But for a quick update, I just wanted to let everyone know that things are going great! Camp has been great, and I will be updating about that and other stuff sometime this weekend I hope. 

Today as we took the one hour drive to Vetca where we have camp on Fridays, I was overwhelmed by God's beauty! The hills are beautiful, the fields of flowers are breathtaking, and the herds of sheep are, well....overwhelming! In fact, last weekend while us interns and the kids from the LOC houses were having a nice little picnic...we were chased by sheep. We were just enjoying our time in the forest, eating pufoletes, playing uno, and having a grand time when a herd of sheep moved in on us. It was the most hilarious thing ever...Fanel climbed a tree, and the rest of screamed like babies and ran as the sheep came after us. Yes, the sheep attacked. Believe it. Anyways, back to how absolutely beautiful this place is...today it rained. I never really care about rain, and sometimes I hate it because it ruins plans. But today, I loved it. It's been kind of hot lately, and by kind of I mean really. :) It's that hot where no matter what time of day, and no matter what you do...you're always hot. But God was so gracious to bless us with rain and cooler rain! It's the little things in life that count! 

I Like to Mov it, Mov it!

This week we were Mov (purple). You could hear us throughout camp screaming "I like to Mov it, Mov it! I like to Mov it, Mov it!" It was quite entertaining, but it got the shyest of them all on my team to get involved. This week we had the "younger" kids of a few group homes from around, but of course, I was with the older ones of them :) Most of my kids were around 13-14, and it was such fun getting to know them this week!

This is Carol, the only boy on my team all week. He has such a tender heart, and was so compassionate to the younger kids around him. 

Of course camp was a blast, as always. We love dancing, winning games, and going to Vetca! It's so much fun! This week though many of the stories that we have heard since orientation back in Dallas a few weeks ago about neglected, abused, and forgotten kids, came to life this week more so than previous ones. A few of my kids shared a piece of their heart with me as they told of the troubles they faced at home, with their family, and what they have experienced growing up. It's a lot easier to simply hear their story and send up a quick prayer for that forgotten kid you haven't met yet than to actually meet the kid that that "story" is happening to and share in the pain with them. 

This week I had the privilege of becoming friends with a precious girl named Cristina. She always has a smile on her face, and is so generous with the people around her. Through small group time I found out that Cristina is indeed a Christian, which was such an encouragement for me! Cristina allowed me to catch a glimpse of what it might really be like to suffer for Christ as she talked about her persecutions from the kids since she is a Christian. Cristina lives in such a rough environment, and even though she longs to further her relationship with Christ, she doesn't have a mentor or anyone to really direct her in the right way. I am thankful for Cristina and the light that she is in her dark world at her home, and pray that she might be blessed and used to further our Father's kingdom! 

Cristina!

This weekend we also had the opportunity to go to the nursing home with the kids who live in the Livada homes and give fruits and flowers to the residents. Three years ago I went to the same home, but it did not make it any easier this time. There are 105 elderly placed here, and only 6 caretakers on staff. Locked away from society these precious people only get visits from the Livada foundation, since most of their families have abandoned them. I was so proud of the kids as they walked straight up to these elderly, ignoring their smells, and offered fruit and cards to them. The love of Christ was shown through them as they patiently waited, and often translated for us interns who had no idea what was going on! 

This week has been a crazy week, filled with emotions and tough realities. Within 30 hours this weekend we have had to call three ambulances for three different injuries/illnesses. All 3 are okay, though there will be some serious recovery time. Pray specifically for Chris who dislocated his knee Saturday night and was rushed to the emergency room. He is in extreme pain and will not be able to lead a team this week at camp. Thankfully, we have extra help this week to make up for his absence, but pray for peace and healing for Chris. 

Tomorrow starts a new week and I look forward to telling you all about it! This week starts our halfway point, so be praying for renewed energy, strength, and joy! To God be the glory! 

The Beauty of the Cross

Camp week two was such an incredible blessing!! There were multiple sicknesses, high heat indexes, and yet God was still glorified as we came out strong and finished the week out! 

This week I was with two translators, two Americans from Allen, TX, and they were all such an incredible blessing and a huge help. It was so encouraging having someone alongside me this week lead our team, echipa alb (white team). We had the "little" kids this week from a couple state care homes, but I got the older ones of them all. Each kid was such a blessing, and so much fun to be with all week! Below we are pictured on the top of the hill at Vetca from Friday.  

We played games of course...but my favorite time this week was team time. These kids are brilliant, and I loved getting to talk about the beauty of the cross, and the hope we have in Christ with them. 

I am so grateful to have met these new friends this week, and ask that you will join me in praying for them. For Iulia, Adrian, Andrada, Iulia T., and Clementina. That they might come to know the Lord more and more, and especially for a couple of them who are professed Christians. Pray that mentors might step up and that an example of the love of Christ might be set before them. But most importantly, pray that they might fall in love with our Father more and more. 

This week was an incredible journey, and next week will be different as well. There are going to be new lessons to be learned, new people to meet, new relationships to build, and new love to pour out on some precious children....I CAN'T WAIT!! :) 

Echipã Maro!

  Well, week one of camp has come and gone-talk about a "Wild West" Adventure (our camp theme)! I lead my team by myself, with the help of my four translators. In future weeks I will most likely have at least one other leader from the states helping me, but since this week the team from the States was small, it was just me. 

My team consisted of six kids from the local orphanage, Sincrai, as well as a few kids from Raegan group homes. With most of them having special needs, they struggled to understand the material we talked about this week at camp. However, I am trusting that God will use what was said, and the fun we had, to reveal the Gospel to them even more so throughout the rest of their lives. 

First I am going to give you all a brief overview of what a regular day of camp looks like. In the morning we have group time where we, the interns, do ridiculous skits, in which I appear in as Liza Beth.... :) 

(skits)

There is a short message by the camp pastor and then we head to 4 different stations which consists of recreation, memory verse, craft time, and small groups... 

(my team during craft time...) 

(Dancing during free time...) 

The rest of camp looks much the same in the afternoon, with of course a different twist to it and a lot of free time and camp wide games. My team was at a disadvantage since we had only 6 team members, so we lost each game every day. But, the enthusiasm and joy these kids had spoke a lot to me. They didn't care at all, and they were just having the time of their lives! 

On Friday's we take the kids and head to camp Vetca, a camp site about an hour away in the country. It was such a good time with the kids, as they rode horses, went on scavenger hunts, played on a slip and slide, and heard more about the love of Jesus. 

By far though, my favorite part of the entire week was Friday before the kids left and we were able to bless each of them and pray over them specifically. It was such a great moment to thank God for what He has done this week, and what He is going to continue to do with them. 

  

My team, echipa maro (brown team)! 

This first week consisted of mainly figuring out how to do camp. How to use a translator, what level of knowledge the kids have, and how to simply share the Gospel in this Roma culture. I was graciously reminded earlier this week through my devotional time of Philippians 2:12-13: 

"Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you  to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." 

I am so thankful that this is not all up to me, but that God has everything under control in order that his good purpose might be fulfilled. Such a great reminder! 

Please continue to pray for these precious children, that they might come to know the Lord as their Savior. Pray that they will give God their fears, anxiety, troubles, doubts, and everything that entangles them and that they might understand His grace. 

Until next time, 

La revedere (bye)!