Girly Camps

  The girls’ camps were all great successes! All of the girls were 14 and older and stayed for 2 nights in our home (Girls Transition house).  During these camps Josh was doing boys’ camps in the mountains or at the Boys Transition house.  

Girls Camp week 1.

Girls Camp week 2.

Girls camp week 3.

Girls camp week 4.

  We talked about having characteristics of an Olympic champion…having courage, integrity, making wise decisions in all relationships, and how to have a relationship with God.  It was very interesting to see how the different age groups responded.  They would either not discuss anything or say everything that was on their mind about each topic.  It was especially interesting to hear their views on what they would do in tough situations.  During my talk on integrity, I gave a few different scenarios; someone cheating on a test, someone stealing candy from a store, gossiping about a friend, etc.  After I gave the situation I would ask questions like, how would you feel? What would you do?  If you had integrity what should you do?  It was difficult to hear them say that they would eat a bag of the stolen candy before taking the other bags back to the store, or that they would cheat on a test right along with the other person to pass.  It is difficult to hear these responses as we are trying to directly influence their lives.  We want them to make the correct decisions to improve their lives, self-esteem and their relationships.   

Me talking about integrity.

  It is hard to think what I would say or do in these types of situations if I did not have the influence of my parents in my life when I was growing up.  How do you think you would be different without the direct influence of parents or grandparents in your life as you were growing up?  Would you believe in the same things?  Would you have dealt with the same struggles? 

  This is why it is so important that we do not forget why we are here and to not lose sight of God’s direction.  It can be so easy for us all to look to ourselves and think too much on why things are not going our way or to look to ourselves for answers throughout our daily lives.  We are each one piece of a big mission here in Romania with these kids!  You have a part in this as well.  Through your prayers and partnership with us we are able to be better used by God and directly influence these kids’ lives as examples for them.  They also learn more about how God intends us to be and how to live for His glory. 

  We played several games, made crafts, did girly things such as painted nails and did hair as well.  

  We also watched the movies Courageous and Soul Surfer.  They were perfect movies that went perfectly with our lessons.  And of course, we had a campfire, made S’Mores and had a time of sharing testimonies.  This was another very interesting moment for me.  We had a few team members share their testimonies and a staff member at the last girls’ camp.  This staff member herself grew up in the orphanage but accepted Jesus into her heart later in life and is now a great example for the girls and boys in the orphanages.  During her testimony, she said something that caught my attention.  She said, “I am happy that I grew up in the orphanage”.  As soon as she said this, several girls from the camp said, “me too, me too”.  As I was sitting there listening to her struggles and the things she endured, I thought why?  Why is she happy she didn’t have a choice and had to endure these things as a kid and why is she happy that because of growing up in the orphanage she still encounters discrimination today?  But she went on to say that if she was not in the orphanage, she wouldn’t know where she would be, if she would have food or not, if she would even be alive.  She also said that while she was in the orphanage she learned about God and how to have courage and integrity in her relationships.  This is the truth for these kids; Jesus Christ.  

  Orthodox is the main religion in Romania.  It is based on rituals and doing what the priest says is good.  Also, many Romanians and our kids think that to get to heaven you have to do good deeds.  Some of the kids do go to Orthodox churches but they do not learn about having a personal relationship with God and how to look to Him for comfort, redemption and strength.  Summer camp was an intentional time of teaching our kids about how to have a personal relationship with God and how to live for Him.  We did have several girls that had questions, wanted to look up Bible verses and wanted to discuss this more with us.  It gets us fired up for our lessons throughout the year and in knowing how to better help encourage them each day.

  This summer could not have happened without you.  Thank you so much for your commitment and encouragement!  It lifts us up when we receive messages and notes from you.  : )  We look forward to sharing more with you from our experiences both high and low, especially as we celebrate our one year mark in September.

*Prayer Requests:
   - Please pray for the girls.  That after hearing the lessons and feeling the Spirit through our discussions, that they will give into Jesus' calling for their lives.  I pray that we as staff will be sensitive to what they need encouraged with and what they need to hear to bring them closer in relation to God.
   - Please also pray for the girls and boys that are being interviewed for our transition programs.  Pray also for Josh and I that we will be ready to take on the responsibilities of being "house parents" for the girls transition house. 

Olympics Summer Camp

  We began and finished our summer "Olympics" before London did!  It was so much fun to have this special time with our kids in a more controlled environment, at the team house.  We all had a great time!!
  Josh was our "Master of Ceremonies" so he lead all of the different "countries" and opened the games up to begin!  It was fun to put his costume together and show the kids our enthusiasm for summer camp.

  We started out with the littlest kiddos (the youngest is about 2 or 3 years) and worked our way up to age 14.  In each group we had 10-12 kids from two orphanages which was awesome to have almost one adult per child each day!  It was so good for the kids to have that more one on one time and attention.  For the little ones we had them for one day then each of the other camps were two consistent days.  The weather was almost unbearable, but the good thing was we have a pool at the team house! 
  Our staff totally worked as a team to fill the days with fun, good lessons and more fun!  I prepared the crafts and Josh gave the salvation lesson.

  Josh used an illustration in his lesson of salvation.  He used gold glitter to represent heaven, black dirt to represent our sin, red candies to represent Jesus' blood that He shed for us, white flour to show how Jesus' death made our hearts clean and covered up all the dirt/sin in our lives, and green grass to represent our growth in God.  The kids really got into this illustration and made it an easier way for them to remember.  We even made bracelets to help them remember the colors and think about what they represent after camp ended.  He did a great job of making it interesting and easy for the kids to follow! 
  We sang songs and listened to stories...

We acted out the story of the 12 spies and the giants.

The people telling "Moses" what they saw in the giants' land...balloons were huge grapes!

Kids listening to Kirsteen & Corny tell a story about having good attitudes.

Corny & Kirsteen reading the story about Adam & Eve.

George listening to the Adam & Eve story.

Putting together the Bible verse they learned during Kirsteen's lesson.

At the end of Steven's lesson, he read a verse with one word missing. They were to run to which word they remembered finished the verse.

  Of course, we had some games and pool time!  We all had a blast! 

Listening to the rules of the pool...safety first!

Amador and the boys enjoying their boat ride.

Haley & Steven trying to pull their boat in first!

Me with Niko in the pool.

Iulian trying to get his frisbee to land in a hula hoop for points.

Josh & Iuli playing in the pool.

Lucica trying to knock over all of the pins.

Trying to pass the hula hoop down the line without letting go of our hands.

Brothers in action to win!

Tug of War!!  The kids loved it with the pool in the middle.

Andrei having a blast!!  : )

Oh no!  They're all tangled!

Cosmin was wanting Josh to push him down to the bottom of the pool so he could reach all the sinking toys.

Samir & I jumping in the pool!

They had to jump 3 times with a cup of water then dump what was left into their team's bucket.

Here Samir is trying to melt his ice block with his face to get the little toy out!

Florin & Cosmin trying to melt their ice block!

Josh keeping the ball from Vic.

Josh, Corny & Drew were the water balloon targets!

They look scared!

  During our break from the pool, I planned a craft of making boats out of materials like aluminum foil, wax paper, popsicle sticks, straws, yarn and tape.  The kids worked with one partner and got really creative!  We even tested the strength of the boats using marble as they floated in the water.

One boat held 43 marbles!

  It was such a blessing to be a part of God's work in the kids lives at summer camp!  Seeds were planted and we are prayerfully excited to see God continue to work in and through them so that they might one day believe and trust in Him more!

PRAISES:
  - We had a great end to summer day camps with the younger kids!
  - We have had some amazing team members that came and helped!  They have been a big part in our kids' lives!  Thank you!
  - We are healthy and feeling more a part here in Romania and within Heart2Heart.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
  - For our last 2 overnight camps with the older girls and boys.  That God will use us as He wants and that He will soften their hearts for a life dedicated to Him.
  - For the lost all over the world.  Here in Romania, there in the U.S., and in every other country.  It is so sad to hear the never ending stories of abuse, death, shootings, loss, sickness, etc.  God has overcome the sin and darkness on this earth!  May His name be forever called upon and glorified in all we do...everywhere!! 

Backpacking with the boys!

So I had the opportunity to go on a backpacking trip with boys from a few of the orphanages we work in!  Every year we do a backpacking trip into the mountains of Romania where we get to spend some one on one time with the boys.  It was a chance for building deeper relationships and planting seeds!  We stayed at the mountain rescue station and we did day hikes to waterfalls, a cave and to a WWI monument commemorating the heroes of that war.  Each location was absolutely beautiful and was a reminder that this was created so that we might worship Him!

WWI monument

One of the many waterfalls.

The monastery was built into the mouth of the cave!

Because we had so many boys that wanted to go on this trip we had to take two trips!  A bummer I know... ;)!  Personally, one of my favorite things to do was to spend that special time with each kid.  I found God had been putting me with boys that I hadn't really had deep relationships with yet.  Those kids who might be a rough around the edges or not looking for that kind of relationship were those kids that God brought me closer to.  God also was able to allow me to spend some time with my boy.  Some might recognize him from our support cards or letter we had sent out!  He has grown a little!

Marian all grown up!

Florin showing some love and me loving it!

The two "Joe cools".

The second trip had a different feel.  I didn't know the boys very well because they are from an orphanage in Rosiori.  I knew about them but had not been able to spend that time with them.  One boy that I was able to spend some personal time with was Amo.  Amo is among only a handful of kids in the orphange who have been baptized and runs hard after Christ.  His faith and actions are a constant reminder to his peers about the sacrifice Christ made for us.  It was through Amo spraining his ankle that I was able to sit and talk with him about certain things that I would never have had the chance to.  Another boy was Darius.  Darius was my challenge for group number 2.  He is at the age where everything is cool except the rules, so getting him to follow direction was difficult.  There were sometimes when he payed attention :).  But it wasn't until we arrived home when I realized just how much God had been working on his heart on this trip.  Before hoping in the van to head back to Rosiori I told Darius, "Be a man after God's own heart".  His reply was simple and humbling.  With his head down he replied, "I know, I need to be...".  That was moment I realized I am just an instrument.

Darius, our independent one of trip #2.

Amo in his morning devotions

Amo and Dani pozing on one of the rock formations.

I believe that the key to a successful ministry is understand that ministry is more about planting seeds than harvesting fruit.  Yes, fruit is extremely important and it is the reason we plant seeds but if we don't consistently plant seeds we won't get fruit.  Planting seeds is never what you expect and many times you do not get to see the fruits of the seeds planted but we must remind ourselves that our fruit lies in heaven and through planting seeds others will get to see the fruit and cultivation God has overseen.  The fruit that I get to see is rarely from something that I have done but rather from the hands that have served before me!

Some more pictures of the boys and the beautiful scenery!

lunch view!

Monastery in the cave

Little waterfall

Iounț and Gaj at one of the caves!

My view from camp!

going up the mountain!

We were in the clouds!