It has been a while since my last post, but it has been a busy week without a lot of free-time at the ministry center. Last week, we started ministry on Tuesday and spent our afternoons at the office. We cleaned and organized and packed for camp. It was far more exhausting that spending time with kids would have been. I never want to see another plastic tub in my life. After we finished cleaning, the interns have been working on skits that we will do for the kids at camp, they are both mimes to Christian songs and they have been a lot of fun to learn. In one of the skits I get to play Satan. I know... it is a little odd, but I have to say I enjoy it a lot.
This week there were a lot of new arrivals. Kelly came from Turkey to here. She is originally from North Carolina but has been studying in Turkey for 2 months and wanted to spend the rest of her summer here. A married couple, Meg and Lane are here for a short time. Meg was an intern a few years ago and wanted to come back and visit. We also got a lady named Carol from California who came to work with Rehab. She works with autistic children in the states an I am excited to learn new things from her. On that note, if things continue, I will probably be going to Rehab camp at the end of August. I am excited and nervous, I will be helping to feed and bathe the kids as well as sleep in the same room as them. It will be quite a challenge and I will need a lot of prayer. Camp for the kids is next week and I will need a lot of prayer for this too. I will be spending most of my time with the 16-18 year old girls. I found out today that there will be six of them and four of them don't want to go to camp. I pray that I will be able to connect with them despite the language barrier and that God will soften their hearts so that they will open up to what they hear and see there.
It has not been all work and no play here. On Saturday, we went to Obor were there is a giant swap meet-ish group of stores. It was fun to see the Romanian way to shop and I bought a few things to take home. On Monday, the interns took a trip to Brasov. It is a beautiful historic city and we saw the Biserca Negru (Black Church) as well as the Castel Braun which was built in the 1300's I think. It was great to get away and spend time with the interns and get to know them better... a lot better. The rest of this week, we will spend preparing for camp some more and getting as much rest as possible.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
A week with the Bakersfield Team
This has been a great (if tiring) week. The team from Bakersfield came with five football players and two coaches to play soccer with the orphanage boys. Every afternoon they would go out to a field and play hard, they would come back to the ministry center exhausted but what an impact. There are pictures of the boys (all of them) tearing up on the last day when they had to say good-bye. It is so important for these boys to see that they can be strong men and love Jesus at the same time. Inimi Deschise really needs more of this influence and it was so refreshing to see. But, the Bakersfield team was not all boys. There were also six (I think) girls and a teacher from BC who came to talk to the girls about beauty on the inside. we would come to the ministry center in the afternoon and make purses and do hair and nails and make-up, then the girls would talk about how even though it is fun to feel pretty on the outside, God cares about what is on the inside and He thinks that we are all beautiful because that is how He made us. I loved taking part in this and I really think that some live were touched , both American and Romanian.
On a personal level, this was a hard week. I got sick on Wednesday and even though I completed the day, I'm afraid I wasn't much use, I felt better physically on Thursday but was faced with an emotional hardship. Kristina was an intern who has been here for a year and she is such a beautiful person. She has a great heart for kids, especially those with disabilities and she has spent almost every morning there for the past year. In only a year, it is so obvious how she has made an impact on those around her and her departure on Thursday was hard even though I have only known her for three weeks. It is a big comfort that she will come back because Inimi Deschise is the perfect place for her to use the gifts God has given her.
So that was my week, some prayer requests would be that preparations for camp would be just what was needed and for the health of everyone on staff.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
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