Summer Camp

Summer camp is coming soon and the children of Stroiesti are already asking me about it.  This year, we want to do something a bit different.  Instead of having a 7 day summer camp with 25 children, we want to have two 5 day summer camps for more children, up to 45.  The first camp would be for children who have finished the 2^nd grade until age 13.  The second camp would be for teens aged 14-18.  We have not had a teen camp in Stroiesti and this is an exciting opportunity to reach more teens.

The challenge however, is that there is no team from America to help us with the camp.  We are in need of a team of men and women to work with these amazing kids.  The team would be able responsible for organizing games and skits for the children.  They would also be responsible for organizing some of the crafts.  At this point the theme of the camp is still undecided.

The children’s camp is June 17-22 and teen camp is June 22-27.  The team from America would have the option to rest on the 22^nd while staff drops off the children and pick up the teens.  The team would have an opportunity to do some sightseeing in Suceava and explore the painted monastery of Voronet after the camp.  The team would also be able to visit the children in their homes in Stroiesti and meet their siblings and parents.

Are you unable to join us for camp?  You can sponsor a child or teen.  This year camp is $100 per child/teen for five days of camp.  This $100 provides 3 good meals and 2 snacks each day, a warm bed to sleep in and many activities during the day.  This does not include transportation.  We also need camp counselors/translators.  Romanian counselors/translators are $200 for the entire 10 period.

If no team is able to join us, we will need extra counselors from Suceava.

Please pray for us as we plan the summer camp.  Pray for a team and sponsorship for the children and translators.  Pray for each child or teen coming to camp that their hearts will be open to God’s word.

Sledding and the Youth Rally

So last week the kids had vacation.  It was a balmy 36 F. and sunny, so  I went to the village on Tuesday to go sledding with the kids.  I, of course, forgot my camera.  There were over 20 kids on the hill (road) sledding.  Several times, we all had to rush to the side of the road for passing cars.  And at one point all sledding stopped for 15 mins as a funeral procession, open casket and all, went by. I do believe that was the first time I’ve ever seen an actual dead body.   But as soon as the procession passed, we were all back on the slopes.  The kids begged me go sledding with them and so I took many trips down the hill with 6 year olds to 14 year olds driving. I took more trips down the hill than I actually wanted.  But it was fun.  At one point, there were 4 kids plus me on one sled.  The kids had made some jumps on the road.  The sleds have metal runners with wooden planks (or split logs) to sit on.  There is no padding so going over the jumps was rather a shock to my body.  I’m not as young as I thought I was.  My back is still hurting from sledding.  But it was well worth it. 

Saturday, I took 8 teens from the village to a “youth rally” in the city.  It was very different from any youth rally I had ever seen in the states and unfortunately, my teens (and I) were a bit bored.  But that didn’t stop them from goofing off during the break with my camera. I was talking over the evening with a friend of mine and she reminded me that God’s word never returns void, so even if it wasn’t the most exciting evening, the teens did hear God word.  The next morning, Brother Florin took a number of kids to the same church in the city, and six of teens from the night before went.  And they are ready to go back next week, so regardless they are still interested in going to church and learning about God.

Sleep-Over: Part 2

Last night, two of the girls from the mentoring program spent the night with me.  Silvia could not join us because she is babysitting her nieces this week in another village. So only Anca and Alina Gabriela came over.

We had a great time.  We baked muffins, played games and watched movies.  Anca made french fries and I made pizza.  The girls were very helpful in clean up after cooking.  They have an obession with washing dishes, which is not a bad obession to have, I think.  The girls were able to get  shower, sleep in their own bed, and sleep in!  I really enjoyed having the girls over and look forward to our next sleep over.

Eating ice cream!

All ready for bed.

January Birthdays

 

Happy Birthday Maria, Ioana, Daniel and Gabriel!!!!!

Sleep-over

This week, the kids have a week break because ’ end of the semester at school.  So, I was thinking about what I did during my vacation time when I was a little girl.  My mom always let me have sleep-overs.  Three girls: Diana, Ana Maria, and Alina, were invited to spend the night.  Ana had only missed one Sunday School since August and Diana and Alina only 2.  The girls came over and took showers (re:lice) and we played games, ate lots of food including ice cream.  We made valentines and painted nails.  It was a very good time.  The girls were very excited and stayed up late (they usually go to bed at 8pm) and then were up at 6 am..  Sunday morning, they came to church with me in the city and after lunch we all went to the village for Sunday school.  It was really fun to have the girls over, but now I need to get some sleep!

Getting ready for bed

Snuggled in Bed!

Prayer Requests and Wish List

I have updated the Daily Prayer Request page, as well as the Wish List.  Please go to my website to access these lists.  Please feel free to pass them on to others!  Thanks.

Pictures from Christmas

The Christmas Play went very well.  The Culture Hall was very cold but people still came and all the seats were filled. Parents who usually don’t come to events came to see their kids in play.  Many of the kids I work with, are considered from the wrong side of the tracks and don’t get much credit, but it was those kids who were staring in the play with “the American girl”.  A children’s choir came and performed and even brought hand bells.  A visiting pastor shared a short gospel message. It was a wonderful program and my kids were the stars!  They looked so cute in their costumes.  I was so busy that I wasn’t able to get many picutes.  

 We were worried that there wouldn’t be enough boxes for all the children there, but like the loaves and fishes, the boxes seemed to multiply and there were even a few extra.  My friend, Ana, who is my partner in crime in the village, told me about a very poor family from her church. We had enough boxes to take to them.  The family was so grateful for the Christmas packages.

One of Herod's Soldiers

The Christmas play...It was very cold!

Passing out Christmas boxes to a poor family

Very happy children!

Back in the swing of things

It is so great being back in Suceava and back into the village.  Last week, I went back to school and saw all my kids.  They were happy to see me, but they weren’t happy reviewing vocabulary. I told them, they can’t learn English unless they learn their vocabulary.  (And that if they learned their vocab we could play games with the words!)

I visited some of the families and had great conversations with them all.  Parents told me how the kids had been waiting for me to return.  I visited with Bogdan and Diana and found that their father returned early from Portugal.  The weather had been bad there and prevent the men from working for 3 weeks, so they came back to Romania.  It was a successful trip.

Sunday school was great. Not all the kids heard that Sunday School was back, so we only had about 19 kids.  There was also a funeral in the village and some of the kids like to go to the funeral to get candies etc.  But it was a good day at Sunday school.  We started learning about Moses.  The children paid lots of attention thanks to the new flannel board set! 

So things are going well.  There is a lot of snow on the ground and I’m getting more confident driving on the snowy/icy roads in the village. I’m very grateful for my winter tires.  My Southern Friends and Family…YOU HAVE NO IDEA!   

This weekend its supposed to get to about -4 fahrenheit so pray we are able to stay warm!

That last bit of packing…

My little niece....and I could have gotten away with it....

I know this has nothing to do w/ the ministry here in Romania, but it was such a funny picture I had to share it with all of you!

I’m back

I was welcomed back to Romania with a lovely fresh snowfall.  So pretty.

My travels back were fine and much quicker only 18 hours this trip. I stayed in Ploiesti with choir director Eduard and family before returning to Suceava.  It was a blessing to be able to get a good night sleep before taking the train north.  My friend picked me up from the train station and helped with my very heavy bags. 

I’m looking forward to seeing my kids on Sunday! Thank you for your prayers.