From the rising of the sun...Most

...to the going down of the same. The name of the Lord is to be praised. Praise ye, the Lord!
Praise ye, the Lord!

Caleb is having rest time on his bed right now and that is what he is singing. I am constantly in awe of how Jesus speaks to Him, uses Him and grows Himself in him.

It's a beautiful, fairly warm and sunny day here in Marghita. Today is Friday - that means market day. The streets crowd themselves with a mixture of horse-drawn wagons, Communism era Dacias and newly imported European cars. It's an interesting mix for sure.

My goal for market day today? Yes, there's usually a goal for me when I head to that insanely crowded outdoor market each Friday. Today. Strawberries.

See, here in Marghita, we get strawberries only 1X/year when they are in season. You can't get them otherwise. So for about 2-3 weeks now we'll all eat strawberries as if our lives depended on them. I'm not joking when I say that Caleb and I downed almost 2 Kilos just for breakfast this morning. They are so good. And today, I wanted the best strawberries for the cheapest price.

The strawberry sellers are a little sneaky here. They'll show up early and sell at 7 RON/Kilo and then 3 hours later go down to 4 RON/Kilo. Usually early bird gets the worm but here it's a little opposite. They just trick you into thinking you got the worm. I know, I know - very tricky!

Because of a meeting I had this morning I actually couldn't get to the market until almost Noon. I started asking the strawberry vendors "Capsunii - cat dati?" Strawberries, how much are you giving them for? Most of the vendors said 4 RON/Kilo. Then, then I found the 3.5 RON/Kilo vendors.

SUCCESS! Then it was decision time. Which 3.5RON/Kilo vendor has the best strawberries?
I walked from one to the other a couple of times before deciding on the guy who had the least dirt all over his. I picked up 4 Kilos. I dropped 2 Kilos off at Casa Alba for the kids to eat as snack this afternoon and took 2 Kilos home for Caleb and myself.
I've been buying strawberries for the kids at Casa Alba each day this week now. I have no idea why the staff aren't buying them for the kids - hello, 3.5RON/Kilo!! (It's 2.4 RON to $1 ).
So I've taken matters into my own hands concerning the kids and strawberries and have just been buying for them. A lot easier than going through all of the 'powers above' to get money to buy them out of the Casa Alba budget.

Mihai had a hard time today...they got out of school early so he was outside playing. Another boy was bothering him and wouldn't stop so Mihai pulled out every swear word he knew.
Yup, that means he was in trouble. I asked him if I could sit next to him (his punishment was to sit at a picnic table and not be able to play) and we talked some. We talked through what happened, why it happened and how he could choose better next time. Then we talked a lot about how his heart was feeling. It didn't feel good, he said. We prayed and asked Jesus to clean his heart up from the swear words and to make him feel better. Then, he decided he was strong enough to go and apologize! I was pretty proud of him!

Chicken Breast

Life is so much easier when you can buy defrosted chicken breast.
Yup.
That's pretty much all I have to say.
Oh, except for this.
Props to Marghita for finally having a meat store where you can actually buy defrosted chicken breast.
I, for one, am very thankful.

Duminica (Sunday)

Man my head is in a million different places tonight. This is due to various factors...

1. My update in person/support raising trip planned for June is taking many, many detours from its original plan. Trying to not freak out about this and trusting that God has something better in store is proving to be easier said than done. I think that when you have all of the plane tickets bought and they can't be switched well...well, okay, it opens up an even bigger door for God to do something more miraculous. I can't not go to some cities just because the presenting Romania things have fallen through because the tickets are already bought. So, yes, God must have something pretty incredible planned for those times in each city! Please pray that I can focus on this and not just become saddened by what *isn't* going to happen or financial support that *won't* be raised because *my* plans have fallen through.

You know what? I was going to list all of the other reasons why I'm everywhere but I think that there's no purpose really in that!

So, instead, I leave you with some really awesome highlights from this past week.

1. The YWAM team from Budapest prayed for me yesterday before they left. It opened a door in my heart and after crying for some hours (no, really) I now have a lot more hope for what God is doing in my life right now. Their time of praying broke and restored me all at the same time.
The Holy Spirit was moving like crazy - the words they spoke over me were very prophetic and with every word I could point to a time over the past month where God had spoke the same thing or led me to the same scripture. So, I knew that it was Truth being spoken.

2. The Casa Alba kids are learning Proverbs 3:5 this month and are doing a GREAT job!

3. Worship at church this morning was pretty much a repeat deal of the YWAM Budapest team praying yesterday for me. More brokenness, more restoration.

They've translated another song and although I think the Romanian is more powerful than the original English (sorry not to diss the English it's just that there's something about the translation that rocks my face off even more) here are the words for you. God opens my heart into His presence immediately with the first notes of this song.

Planetshakers : You're my Healer

You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease

I trust in You
I trust in You

I believe You're my Healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my Portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus You're all I need

My Healer, You're my Healer

Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
You hold my world in Your hands

Clown-in around at Casa Alba!

One of the men on the Budapest YWAM team does clown ministry. He and two of the other ladies came to Casa Alba this afternoon and did a program with the kids. The kids loved the clown and loved how he told the story of Noah through his presentation. The ladies did macaroni necklaces with all of the kids while the clown then went around and made whatever balloon animal/shape each kid wanted. I have to admit it was a bit chaotic, as I expected it to be. Our kids really have difficulties in being thankful for what they are given and being respectful. I believe it's more than just a 'kid phase' since all of our kids are like this all the time. In my eyes it's a huge spiritual battle. I think I told all of you last summer that doing the Bible Camp for the 120 gypsy kids was a piece of cake compared to doing the same program with the 20 children at Casa Alba.
On a side note, it was hilarious driving the clown to Casa Alba and back today. You should have seen the people's reactions when they saw him in my car!

There is a Swedish construction team here this week as well. One of the members is a man named Kea. Kea is in his 70's and one of those men that when you meet him you immediately can feel God's presence around him. He comes about 2X/year and when he isn't here he is in Sweden collecting donations, putting together construction teams to come and work here, and raising financial donations. When he comes he spends his time praying, teaching and pounding in nails. He is a chef by trade and this week we've gotten treated to his food creations 3 times already!
So, why am I talking about Kea so much? There's a passion in Kea and a depth in his faith that makes me want the same in my relationship with Christ. Everytime Kea comes I immediately connect to the Lord in a fresh way. When I first saw him last week he saw me coming and said "Kelsey, GOD IS FANTASTIC!" I started crying and the Holy Spirit filled me with so much joy as I yelled back "Yes, God is Fantastic!" There's a connection between Kea and I - I'm not sure how to explain it. I think we both desire to see God's redemptive power go crazy here in Marghita...and, it's not that others don't want that. It's just that somehow we get how each other wants that and we connect somehow in that. Or, maybe I shouldn't say "somehow" as I know it's the working of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ. All this to say that I have been GREATLY ENCOURAGED by Kea here this week.
I keep asking him when he is moving here. He just laughs. To think that a man in his 70's and me at almost 27 could truly call each other brother and sister in Christ. Really neat huh?

Annnnnd the day is over...

Whew. What a day. Hardly any sleep last night and then Caleb woke up just 5 minutes after me and immediately woke up his friend, Dani, (staying with us for a week). That means at 6:25am I hadn't even gotten a chance to mix the boiled water with the instant coffee before 2 little boys started chasing each other around the house. We took Dani to kindergarten after first picking up Antal from Casa Alba (he attends the same kindergarten). After, Caleb and I bought breakfast for the office staff and dropped it off with a note for them to enjoy! Then we headed over to the donation warehouse (we call it the depot) where I picked out some carpets to replace old ones I have in my apartment. We received a ton of donated carpets which are just for the volunteers. How cool is that? Caleb and I hustled over to Casa Alba for Bible program with the pink room and then off to the FCE Club for lunch. After eating really fast we then ran to the kindergarten to pick up Dani and Antal. We walked Antal home to Casa Alba and then we walked home and crashed in our beds with books for 'rest time.' After a quick snack it was back to Casa Alba for program with the Purple and Green rooms. We learned how to "respect missionaries" today. We talked about what the definition of a missionary is : someone who tells others about Jesus, and does that wherever God wants them to. And then I asked them "do you know any missionaries?" I honestly was curious to see if they knew any...then, in total surprise, they said "Kelsey!" I looked at them funny and then went "oh yeah, you're right!" : )
We talked about how Peter was a missionary and he went and shared about Jesus wherever God wanted him to. And, that they can be missionaries in Marghita too! After the 2 hour program I headed home with Dani and Caleb and we ate blueberry pancakes and fruit salad for supper. Then into bed.
By the way, my neighbor from my old apartment building just knocked on the door with a bag of fresh eggs from her mom's house. I am so blessed by them.
OKAY. Onto another subject. Below are some pictures from my new place. Things aren't put into place perfect and I still haven't managed to have the table totally cleared yet...but, it was neat enough the other day to snap some photos!

The kitchen...ohhhhhh yeah.

The dining room section off from the kitchen. Big storm (furtuna) approaching outside.

Living Room

Hallway with 2 nice sized closets. You can see the door to the apartment at the end.

The "comfy couch and chairs" that came with the living room!

Visitors!

This week part of the YWAM Budapest team is here serving alongside us.
Check out who they are at their website :

http://www.ywam-budapest.com/

Devotional Updated

Click on the pink "Weekly devotional by Kels" under the "Ma gandesc" title to the right to see the updated devotional for this week!

Be encouraged!!

Cowboy Caleb

Some pictures of the new apartment.

Okay, I'm finally caving in. My Dad has been on my case for pictures of the new apartment. I have been unwilling because it still isn't unpacked yet. Not the apartment, but the boxes that are everywhere. Don't give me a hard time, please, it's kind of a lot to do everything by yourself sometimes : ) Yes, I have had some help, do not think me and Caleb have been abandoned in moving time. But, unpacking boxes is something I need to do for the most part because only I know where everything needs to go. Pickin' up what I'm puttin' down? Finding time to unpack, be Caleb's Mom, full time ministry, planning and preparing for the update-in-person trip in June, and get all of the summer ministry planning done...and realizing that the last time Caleb and I had a break just to be Mommy and Caleb...well, it kind of piled up. So, I have taken off today and tomorrow to try and work on some of those 'piled up' things. Anyway, back to the point. I took some pictures out of my living room window and off my kitchen balcony. That's as much as you'll get today! (Happy Dad??) On a side note, my apt. owner (who lives in France), called her friend who installed the Thermopane windows to come and measure for screens. I can't just tack up screening like I've done in every apartment before. I have to get the Thermopane screens. They are pricey. Anyway the guy came over today to measure and roughly estimated the price to be 560 RON or, according to www.xe.com $236.97. I told him I definitely could NOT afford that at this time but maybe I could work out a monthly payment plan with him. He said he would call me in a few hours and confirm the price with me and then we could discuss payment options. I get the call and he says "Listen, your renters are the "________"(he said their names) and we are really, really good friends. The wife begged me to give you a really big discount and since we are so close I have decided to do so. We will give you all of your screens for 420 RON ($177.73)." Okay, that price is still pushing what I can afford but by doing some serious belt tightening this month I think I can pull it off. I am so thankful. What a blessing for today! Today has been gorgeous. High 70's, beautiful sky and everything seems peaceful. What an opportunity to have a day like today! Another blessing for today! I took the pictures the other night. Enjoy!

Sunset out of my living room windows.

Marghita, off my kitchen balcony.

Kitchen balcony View 1

Kitchen balcony View 2

Caleb Turned 4 Today!!

Click on the picture below to see a slide show of the birthday pictures! He told me tonight, as I was tucking him into bed, "Mom I want to have my birthday for 6 more days!"

Caleb's 4 Birthday

Some changes...

I'm trying to freshen up the good ol' blogspot here. It may change a bit every day until I lock into something I really like. Have fun though dealing with it : )

Ciutelec...the elderly home where we do a worship service each Thursday afternoon. Major changes happening there. Quick background first. Okay so during Communism kids were born healthy and then abandoned. Shoved together in cribs, without any bonding, they developed Reactive Attachment Disorder syndrome. 2/3 of all children who experience abandonment develop this of some degree. There are young adults living in Romania who were serious victims of this disorder. If you were to see one today you would think that, of course, they were born mentally retarded and their behaviors so destructive and violent that, of course, they should be in a round the clock special care facility.
Well, the thing is, the worst of these young adults were scattered among old peoples' homes during Communism. The government trying to hide them... Well, communism is over and there are hundreds of these extremely destroyed young adults living in our area alone.
They cannot live on their own. They are in all definition of the word - destroyed. They can be very violent and throw large and dangerous (to themselves and others) tantrums. They live in facilities where they are beaten because they are not controllable. They are growing older and there seems to be no place that accurately meets their needs, both physical - emotional and spiritual.
It's a very ugly leftover of Communism.

Well, like I said before, a lot of these teens and young adults as they grew older during Communism were hidden away in old people's homes.

Ciutelec is now going to become home to 31 of them next week. 2 of these young people arrived 2 weeks ago. Today one of them, not exactly attacked, but tried to hurt me. Thankfully he didn't break the skin anywhere. Other than being a little scared I was okay. What scared me the most was that I could not get out of his grip - he was stronger than me. And, I was pushing one of our residents up the hill in his wheelchair and he started rolling down the hill. Finally a staff member, after I yelled to her for help, yelled at him to let me go. He began a string of really awful swearing and hand motions to accompany it.

This is just 1. 31 more come next week. Ciutelec has gone from being an old people's home to now a psychiatric ward of sorts. The current residents are really scared. The staff has promised to "isolate" these 31 in a seperate building. And, Ciutelec recently cut staff so that leaves - as one resident explained, 1 staff for the 31 new residents per shift.
It is going to turn into Hell there.

It is not the fault of these young people. It is the fault of pure evil and the communism that it tried to mask itself behind. All I could think today was "this young man was most likely born a healthy baby boy...and now he is destroyed."

To keep those 31 new young people isolated in a building - what kind of life is that like?
And, for the staff at Ciutelec who is used to working with old, sweet people in wheelchairs...to now work with seriously mentally ill young adults. Whew. That is going to not work so well. I'm sure that physical abuse is going to become quite common.

I feel so empty for words to even pray about this. I just want to say "God, look at my heart - do you see the hurt over how this is going to turn out for everyone...does it have to happen this way?"

The new people coming....
The current residents....
The staff...

Very, very rough transition next week. Please pray as God leads you. I'm sorry that my thoughts were everywhere. It is difficult to explain what you understand once you see.

Great Day at Casa Alba!

Today was a really hopeful day at Casa Alba. There were glimpses of breakthroughs everywhere and I could barely contain myself! Although my joy was kind of masked between my cold having returned from Wednesday...but it was there, honest!

First off, it was garden morning with Mihai and Joni. Joni was at a staff person's house so it ended up being just Mihai and I. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed being with Mihai. How he listened and learned how to pull weeds carefully among our sprouting corn and beans. We worked together as a team and only 1 time did I have a major behavioral issue to address. I loved being with him today. (What Kelsey, you don't love being with him all the time?) No. I don't. But, I CHOOSE to love him everytime I'm with him despite the choices, usually bad and hurtful, that he makes all the time. This is the FIRST TIME since January that I have had a day with him like this.

This afternoon Hattie and I did program with the Green and Purple Room kids. We have started a book with them called 'I learn Respect.' It talks about the Biblical meaning of respect and how that was shown in the Bible and how we should strive for that today. The stories and activities fit perfectly with our Green and Purple room kids. And, they are probably the 2 most DISrespectful rooms of children at Casa Alba. Today, for the FIRST time, we were able to get through the lesson with the children ATENT and not having to constantly be reprimanding.
This is a HUGE breakthrough for these kids and their time in program.

It's about time...you pray for months you know and finally one day it goes as it should. Praise the Lord!

Mayo and Spinach

My brother, Kyle, sent me a Sam's Club box of Mayo packets about 2 years ago. Kind of a joke, kind of not. Anyway, when I make food that requires Mayo I sit there and squeeze out Mayo from each packet until I have what I need for th e recipe. So Kyle, this is proof that I'm actually using them!
Only 500 more packets to go...Spinach salad...no problem for Alex and Caleb!