Nutri-Grain Bars

Today was spent doing some odds and ends around the apartment and then some odds and ends around our new volunteer house. We have a construction team arriving from Sweden tomorrow so our construction guy and his wife asked if people could help organize the rooms where they'll be beginning work on. My duties were to move all of the couches to the middle of the living room, cover them and then empty the rest of the room. Caleb was "helping" me by vaulting himself over the couches. It was hilarious! I found some really interesting items hidden in the corners of that living room. Wasn't really sure where to put them exactly so, shame on Kelsey, I kind of just found new corners for them in other rooms. Okay, please don't tell anyone...

AND, OH MY WORD. Do you KNOW what arrived on the donation trucks from Scotland yesterday? NUTRI-GRAIN BARS AND COOKIES! I didn't even know that Nutri-Grain sold cookies as well. But they do - just so you know.

We headed home and found that the pink room kids were at the park next to our apartment. So Caleb and I headed there for about an hour and had a blast hanging out with Diana, Alex, Cerasela, Gina and Gheorghe! I think Caleb really, really enjoyed seeing his friends and playing with them.
As Caleb gets older he understands more his story and how he came to Casa Alba etc... Alex arrived the same week as Caleb to Casa Alba so I think Caleb really enjoys being with Alex. They've been buddies since babies, you know?

Yesterday Caleb was at it again...composing away. You may remember my post from the end of July with his super silly fan song? : ) Anyway, here he is on Mommy's guitar yesterday. Enjoy!

Friday Cooking Day

Yup, just got home from Friday cooking day. Every week we are required (and I love it so it isn't so much a 'requirement' in my eyes) to sign up to cook and clean for the team of missionaries here. I was sure missing the team from England though this morning (that's right - Tim, where were you?). The past two times I have cooked I had a team of youth taking over for me. Which, was really fun, I have to admit.

I was thinking a lot this ,while I was cooking, about miscommunication. This has been something that God has laid so much on my heart over the past year. Different people, different groups of people sometimes can struggle with something more than others. I think here in Marghita, those of us serving together most struggle with communication. Almost every day there's something jacked up because of miscommunication.
Earlier this year I spoke to my team about how this is so not how God wants us to live as brothers and sisters in Christ. God is NOT a miscommunicator. How He communicated, when He communicates, the way He communicates - it's perfect for every situation. So, I believe, we are called to strive to be good communicators. Even if it goes against our culture to communicate in a different way, we should. If doing so means that we are communicating better with each other. Unfortunately I don't see enough motivation - not just here, more in general - from those who love Jesus to want to be better communicators with each other. It just makes me really sad. Sometimes to be a better communicator means having to become really humble. I understand that - and it's really hard to give up pride in place of good communication. Believe me, the past 4 years on this team has been a learning process of this big time. I am more and more so choosing to give up the pride for the sake of good communicating but it's still not perfect...I know that. But, the deal is this - we have got to get over the "humble is hard" deal and just start communicating well. Miscommunication can cut so deep.
Right. So that's what I was thinking about all this morning while making Cheeseburger Pie for 24 people. : )

Caleb and I are in our final "free days." Monday will start the year's schedule. When I say 'year' I mean September through May - more of a school year. We've had about a week and a half of taking it easy, helping out where needed but no set schedule. Monday though - bring it on!
Each day will start with preschool for Caleb (Mommy style!) and then off to the various responsibilities and areas of serving that I am involved with here in Marghita at FCE. Mainly that will be at Casa Alba orphanage running the Bible programs with all of the kids. And, the great part is, my friend is going to do this with me this year. Yay!

I'm really hoping to get some more songs written and FINALLY be able to record the kids' romanian worship album. For two years now I've put this as a ministry goal and nothing has happened. Mainly, because I don't have a spare minute EVER.
And, also, I am praying that my bosses accept my new schedule for this year which would also include time to FINALLY continue the Bible courses I started online. I feel this is a door that God opened and I haven't been able to take it seriously because, once again, no spare minutes. These courses, I think, could help shape some of the giftings that God has given me - ones that I use on a daily basis. Would be good to give them more of a firm foundation - does that make sense?

Oh, and I just wanted to clarify how the heck I'm heading to the States in another week. Some of you were a little confused about this. My younger brother is getting married, my little sister bought me a ticket. Totally a surprise for me! So, there you have it. The shortest explanation I've ever given for something in my entire life. I was able to plan a stop over in Philadelphia on the way to the wedding to share about Romania with a church that I did a lot of growing up in. We moved there when I was heading into the 3rd grade and moved after I finished the 10th grade. I can't wait to go back and I can't wait to see my little brudder get married! Yay!

Annnd we're done with Wednesday!

Actually, should've been an hour ago. Can't understand why I didn't go to bed an hour ago. I usually hit the sack around 9:30pm (hold the comments please, all of you who are regular comment-ers on this.)

So today. Gosh did I wake up sick. It started Monday night and hit its peak last night/this morning. Haven't felt that sick in a really long time. After a few rough patches with Caleb over breakfast God gave me a huge blessing : a home made drum set. That's right all of a sudden Caleb wanted to make a drum set. He set to work collecting every sort of item you could think of and put them all over our couch. He would test it and then say "Mom I need another cymbal." Apparently all parts of a drum set are cymbals : ) Half of his play room and my tupperware cupboard are now on the couch. He used a set of colored pencils that he just got as his drum sticks. All morning long he did this. I was running at about 1.5% of my normal self so I was extremely grateful that he couldn't tear himself away from his project.
And, what did I do? Well I had front row seats all morning long to his new musical compositions while I cleaned. Yes, I cleaned. When I get sick I clean. I think I do it because I know I can't go back to bed and sleep (hello, 4 year old running the house alone then?) so I have to do something that doesn't require any thinking but keeps the hours moving...so I clean.

My new Casa Alba partner came over and, somehow - don't ask my how my brain did this, we planned all activities for Casa Alba for the fall. Yay!!

A friend took Caleb to our team lunch, I didn't think I could even walk there. I was really grateful for her doing that. During my time alone I was able to really prepare for a time of prayer that our Foundation was having this afternoon. And I gradually felt better and better as the day wore on...that is huge because I needed to be at a time of group prayer later in the day.
I asked my leaders if we could invite everyone and have a time of prayer. The finances here are really bad - it's been about a 2 year downhill process. For some months now it's been no money at all. I know individuals are praying and maybe groups within the foundation are praying - but we haven't come together to cry out to the Lord as one. You know? I was really excited when they agreed to this and set a time and place. God led me to some scripture that I felt was really fitting for our time - from Judges. Walking out the door to go to the prayer (Caleb had just come home) Caleb grabs his stomach and bum and says "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW." Merge burta. (If you know what that means). So we ended up late to the prayer - I felt awful. I had asked them to pull it together and I was late. But as a single parent I think I get a "Get out of Jail Free" card once in awhile, especially when your little one has an awful case of merge burta just as you are walking out the door. Poor little guy...
I was a little disappointed, initially, at the gathering for the prayer. Only because I really thought that a lot of the people would come from the foundation to pray. There were 5 of us volunteers, my 2 leaders and an additional 3 workers from the Foundation. At our Christmas parties, when every person that is part of the foundation comes, we have about 300 people.
No, I knew that all 300 couldn't come. But to be honest I thought that with the severity of the situation that more would want to come and pray together for it.
Baby steps. Something that I have been encouraged to work on - and have been trying to. Not having too high of expectations of Christians.
Seems a little backwards though at time.
Regardless, people came. That's fantastic! This is only the 2nd time since I have been here at this foundation that there has been an invitation to pray with people from all over the foundation. At the end of our time together I looked at my boss and said "So next Wednesday then?" He agreed. I look forward to meeting again.
It's not that God doesn't respond to individual prayers. It's just that when the children of Israel were in great need of provision or repentance or _______________, they cried out together - as one - to the Lord. There's power when the body comes together and enters His presence through prayer...

Caleb or a Horn Worm?

My parents always send Caleb e-mails with pictures of the wildlife around their house. Yesterday's e-mail was about 2 Horn Worms that my Dad found on his tomato plants. Caleb and I printed out the picture that he and Mom sent and have it posted in our apartment. This morning it was so cold in our apartment that Caleb grabbed a green blanket off from the couch to wrap up in while eating breakfast. I told him he looked like one of Grandpa's Horn Worms! Then I remembered that we had a tomato from our garden in our fridge - he grabbed it and fell quickly into the role of a Horn Worm. H-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s!

Today started off pretty rough with about 2 hours of screaming and crying before we got to "Horn Worm" smileys above : ) The day continued really well, though. We had a group of Hungarian missionaries from Budapest here. They went and brought about 15 of the residents from Ciutelec (an orphanage for adults with special needs - many of them elderly) to Marghita for coffee and worship. The residents loved the fact that these people spoke Hungarian (since most of them grew up in primarily Hungarian - Romanian families.) There was so much joy today as they worshiped the Lord together...I brought 3 Casa Alba kids with me to this time. Before leaving CA I explained to the kids that we were going to share the love of Jesus with some people who were very lonely. I was so proud, especially, of Mihai - going around, shaking hands, greeting each person. He is one special kid! Caleb even felt comfortable enough to begin dancing with the Hungarians during one song - (without Mom!!)...it was such a joy to watch him!

Most of you know that going to Ciutelec each week is something that I do. Although for most of this summer I actually haven't gone....one crazy summer! When I do go I usually help out with the singing and then do the teaching. As much as I enjoyed being with the residents today and worshiping with them it hit me again that it's something I need to pull back from. The ministry within the team and with the Casa Alba kids is expanding - a lot. For about 2 years now I've wanted to not be a part of the Ciutelec team on a regular basis but have realized that God had plans for me to continue. But now I really feel that it's time to step out. Not that I don't care or don't feel that God uses me there - or that I'm not needed...it's just too many things on 1 plate. I'm praying that my leaders will - hopefully - understand and give their blessing for me to leave this particular area of ministry so that I can better focus on the team and Casa Alba!

Almost time for our team's worship night...I'm really excited about the Lord has put on my heart to share. I am praying that He rocks their faces off with it. I'll most likely put a new devotional post up about this within the next day or two...

A few more "off" days and then, one week from today, begins "THE SCHEDULE." Somehow putting that in caps makes it have more importance or something : )
What is "THE SCHEDULE", you might ask? Basically it is what will happen on a weekly basis from now through May. Of course twists and turns will work their way in but it's a good deal to aim for, I think.

I feel like I'm just blabbing. Enough of this. Done. Gata.

For Arwen (and maybe some others...)

My younger sister says that Caleb is growing up so fast and it's hard that she can't be here to see it happen. So here's a picture from today Arwen! He is just so beautiful... He has been going around the house reciting this mini-rhyme :
"Bingle, Bingle Pop
The cars are in the shop.
Help them pass the time,
by finding things that rhyme!"
(From his pre-school leap frog 'computer' that Grandpa and Grandma brought in June!)
Also, on a side note, the playroom is clean. The living room is clean and people can sit down. Almost all laundry is put away from the past 2 weeks. Just so that you were updated from the last post : ) AND, I totally tricked Caleb tonight. My kid will eat anything - any veggie he is down for. Except, peppers and mushrooms. Once in awhile he'll fight me on onions but if he doesn't know that it's there we usually get them in the mouth without a hassle. Tonight we had a wannabe omelet with cheese and tomatoes and, I did some pan potatoes, added Yellow Peppers, Onions, Garlic and (because the open can from smoothies this morning was sitting next to the stove ) PINEAPPLE. I know, maybe a little weird but it tasted great. Because every item looked the same - had a similar color - once it made it to his plate, Caleb ate IT ALL and NOT ONCE did he pick anything out. I was pretty proud of myself I have to admit... : )

So you can put some faces with the stories....

We took a picture on our last morning together - here they all are! Trying to get 18 people to all look the same way in a picture turned out to be harder than expected :)
You may be wondering about the wall in the background. One of the days the team taught about Joshua and the Walls of Jericho. During the teaching rotation on that day they used this wall to have the kids march around. Our last day together I had the team fill in things that God had done during their time here, on each of the bricks on this wall. You can see some examples of those below. I'll keep this wall hanging up for my entire team to see - as a reminder of what God is possible of doing!

Sad Goodbye...

The team left this morning. They really became my friends these past two weeks. I know, high schoolers friends with a 27 year old? Let me tell you - these kids kicked my butt big time.
I wonder what it would have been like if I really had known Jesus the way they do when I was their age?

So now that the team has gone you may be wondering how my days will be spent : )

For the next 2 weeks Caleb and Mom will be having some serious catch-up time. I also need time to start preparing for Casa Alba's fall schedule. I think there will actually be 2 of us working together to disciple the kids - I am very excited about that!

Errands. Lots and lots of errands. Today Dani and Caleb, very willingly I might add, followed me around town as I did things that should have been done before today. For instance, picking up a package at the post office from France. Or, from Germany and England. The post office couldn't tell where the German package came from so they just wrote France. A couple of months ago, when I received another package from Germany, they wrote Poland. Again for the same reasons. The time before that they wrote Netherlands. For the same reason again.
It's hilarious. Really - c'mon you're smiling right now too, aren't you?
I also was able to do a pretty dang good job of using hand motions and every word I know in Romanian at the plumbing store today to get the final piece I needed to make my washing machine work. That's right, I am the proud owner of a washing machine! I almost had tears in my eyes as I did the first load today. Talk with my Mom if you want details on just how much of a difference having a washing machine in this apartment will make.

Cleaning my apartment. It looks like moving day here. That is not a good sign.
I have the kitchen sort of back to normal. Enough to make cookies and sourdough buns. Caleb really enjoyed helping me tonight. He took the cookie dough and made them into balls and then flattened them to the tray. So cute! Then he took to washing the dishes. He successfully, on his own, washed a few cups before splashing all of the water on himself and the floor!
Laundry from 2 weeks ago needs to be put away. The bathtub hasn't drained water in 2 weeks. I spent a couple of hours trying to clean out the drain with chemicals and home remedies. Neither worked. Then I pulled open the drain on the floor and was met with serious nasty uggghhh....not even a word to describe it. After cleaning that out I tried threading a wire up to the bathtub but it kept bending. Tried threading the wire from the bathtub to the drain on the floor. Kept bending. Nothing is working - arrrghgh!
My living room barely has room for people to sit and the playroom cannot be entered.
Yup, a lot of cleaning to do!

Tonight Caleb and I were praying for the kids at Borumlaca...that their hearts would continue to grow in the love of Jesus. That they would choose His life over what they are exposed to everyday. Please pray for these kids as you remember...

One day left...

I'm not really sure why I'm updating my blog at 12:38am. Probably not the smartest move on my part but at least I'm doing it!

There's one day left with the team from England. Tomorrow will be spent doing odd jobs and finishing up projects, as well as saying goodbye. They'll head out Wednesday morning around 10am or 11am I think.

The VBS finished today at Casa Alba. It went well but was really different from past years. I think because the team has poured themselves out so much that it was hard to find the energy to do Casa Alba. I could sense the same thing in my heart as well actually. Also I could see that God really connected their hearts to the gypsy kids in Borumlaca. Not that they didn't care about Casa Alba but HE did something different in Borumlaca that was hard to push aside to focus 100% on Casa Alba. I never heard the team members complain, just could see it in their eyes. You know? Regardless the staff and kids were really impressed and happy with the 5 days of program at Casa Alba.
Today was t-shirt day. The kids made t-shirts with a cross in the middle and then drew around their feet on either side of it....following Jesus. They LOVED the t-shirts today!


I want to share one cool thing as well. Before this team came I had really wanted to write a song that kind of tied everything that they were going to teach together. They could have a "team song" of sorts to sing with the kids. Making sense? Well everytime I sat down to write nothing came. At Borumlaca though one of the leaders and I were trying to translate an English song for the kids to sing in Romanian...it was their memory verse. She couldn't remember the tune exactly and I had never heard it before so out of that came a brand-new song. A song that the kids totally grabbed hold of - both at Borumlaca and Casa Alba. I can't wait to continue incorporating this song into the times of worship with the Casa Alba kids!
We were just in awe that God dropped the song in our laps. I tried so hard to write one and instead He wanted to literally just give it to us.
(Those of you reading this from the team's home church...make sure you have them sing it for you the next Sunday they're all back together!)

Anyway, just wanted to kind of update you all.
Also, Todd and Rocio have now arrived for their beginning of long-term stay in Marghita.
Check out their blog to the right of this post.
The team from England spent hours and hours and hours cleaning out their apartment for them.
I am so SO thankful for the servant hearts of this team. I'm telling you now, their leaving on Wednesday morning is going to be really difficult for me.
I usually joke through good-bye's so that I don't have to think about them too much. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to brush these goodbye's aside...
I never EVER anticipated the amount that I would be ministered to by these high schoolers!

It is hot...I mean really hot here.

We're talking about near 100 degrees each day along with extremely high humidity.
This is the deal - I love hot weather. Ask any of my family members - Kels is the one who most enjoys the heat. So, if I'm telling you that I am absolutely miserable right now then you know it is bad. Which, brings me round to the team that is here from England. They aren't at all used to hot weather - much less THIS hot of weather. Please pray for them. They aren't really sleeping at night and it seems impossible to find spots where they are busy serving that are in the shade, or at least a cooler environment. Even with fans last night most of them only got a few hours of sleep. We've moved them, as of tonight, to a different building that we are hoping will be cooler for them.

The word on the streets of Marghita yesterday and today is that tomorrow night there is supposed to be a massive storm that will bring the temperatures down from almost 100 degrees to 80 degrees. I'm hoping the humidity will take its leave as well!

We finished up at Borumlaca on Wednesday afternoon. As of yesterday the team is now staying in Marghita all day long. And, only half of the team is leading the Bible Camp (VBS) with the Casa Alba orphanage kids. In the morning they are in town - kind of spread out everywhere - serving in different areas. The half that isn't doing the Bible Camp continues these everywhere serving jobs in the afternoon as well.

I was pretty frustrated at myself today. Yesterday I went to buy outdoor paint for metal as some of the guy were going to repaint the gate that leads to Casa Silvia, our home for handicapped children. I thought I had clearly explained what I needed to those at the hardware store but they were really busy, and really stressed out. And, I also believe that I accidentally told them it was for a concrete gate (which are common in Marghita). So, that's right - I bought paint for outdoor concrete walls. Not until the guys were finished painting did they notice that the paint was coming off with water from their skin and tools...not a good sign.
That paint was so expensive and because of my mistake that money was wasted. I bought new paint this morning, the correct paint I mean : ) Still though -aaaaghghgh that money...!

The youth are going crazy for Jesus here, I am lovin' it. I'm also, I think, getting more used to their accent and seem to be asking the following question less "Huh? What did you say?"
Just for some reason I have the hardest time understanding them - I really feel stupid to be honest : ) Hello, we are both speaking English...right?
I've added a few new words to my vocab as well. Next time I see any of you in person - prepare yourselves...

Final Day at Borumlaca (Day 5)

Each day at the teaching rotation the kids learned about a man of faith from the Bible. Check out the very cool sketches the team brought along with them each day!

"I love God"

Today as a whole didn't start off so well, for me at least. I woke up at 6am (thank you church bells of Marghita) and still was running late for everything all morning. I hate being late - it really bothers me. And, it bothers me when others are late as well. So, I definitely wasn't excited about the impression I was leaving on the team that is here right now.
Then this sadness just set upon my spirit. I didn't know what was going on - what exactly was the Lord trying to tell me through this? We left for Borumlaca and the 2 things that were most on my mind were.

1. Good gracious these roads are awful - I don't think I can sit in the back seat of this van anymore. I did let the driver know that I did, in fact, want to make it to Borumlaca alive today. : )

2. The sadness.

So we get closer to the town and the heaviness was growing so just as we came to the "Borumlaca" sign I told them to stop the car. I literally could not even enter the town. We spent time praying and I hear God say, really clearly, "My presence will be with you." Over and over again He just kept speaking those words through the prayer time. I couldn't stop the tears...

We arrived in Borumlaca and I got out my guitar to start with the songs. As soon as I started worshiping with the kids God's presence was there. Whew. Immediately He changed my 'mourning' into dancing. What joy filled me! It was awesome - then I was like "bring it on! let's go day 5!".

The team of youth were, again, incredible. Seriously - there are not words to accurately describe how impressed I have been with these teens. I and another translator switched between the teaching rotation and the Bible verse station. The teaching session today really touched my heart. I know, that sounds cheesy. For some reason though, the message of salvation - brought in front of these gypsy kids - taught with such compassion from those running the group...it was really powerful for me. Most of the kids said that they wanted Jesus to live in their hearts - really awesome. Praying that the church that has been started in this village would be able to disciple these young faiths!

Today also was really cool because when the parents and kids starting spreading the word that we were making t-shirts...well, at the very end those that didn't have their kids in our program starting appearing - begging for t-shirts. The threats were a lot more serious than the tortilla chip madness on Day 1 so I immediately went to the team's leaders and was like - we're going to have to make a quick exit. I started praying for peace to settle over the angry, screaming crowd... By the time I got back to where they were, they had dispersed. We were able to finish the time with worship and say good bye to all of the kids! And, all of that happened without any of our rented vans having windows broken - which is what was about to happen when I ran to tell everyone that we had to leave.

God is good. His presence was with us. Amin!

Take a gander...

Yes, I just did use the word "gander." The words this team uses makes me smile a lot.
Tonight we had a debriefing at my house. Saved me the trouble of finding a babysitter for sleeping Caleb and I was able to unload a bunch of junk food in my house for ice-cream sundae toppings.

Score and score!

I asked them if I could do a little video "hello" and they agreed. They were pretty tired tonight so cut them some slack. Still though, some of the guys dug deep and pulled out their favorite Romanian phrase thus far..."esti frumoasa." Which means, "you're beautiful, girl."

Also appearing are Roland and Courtney. Roland is our team's translator and Courtney showed up for the ice-cream...I mean prayer time with the team tonight. She didn't understand why I didn't say hi on the video if she had to. I told her that there are enough pictures of me on this blogspot so just go look at them again. While looking at them imagine me going "Hiiiiii friend!"

Pictures! Borumlaca Day 1...

Update on Borumlaca

I would love to post some pictures only I have forgotten to bring my camera home 2 days in a row now. Maybe tonight I'll finally get myself together enough to remember!

I just wanted to update you all on how this week has been. You probably have guessed that a "YP" is some type of person by now : ) They are 13 youth from a church in England that have come to do VBS style programs with the gypsy kids in Borumlaca and, starting on Thursday, run the entire program again with the Casa Alba orphanage children.

We've finished 2 days at Borumlaca, this afternoon will be the 3rd. Day 1 was a little difficult. I had assumed that the kids would remember how we ran it last summer. Most of them said they weren't even here for the program last summer. That confused me. How the heck did 100 children just switch themselves out? I think they probably just forgot.
Mass chaos is the best word to describe our first day. The end got a little crazy though. Sorry for those of you that receive my weekly prayer updates when I used the word "violent."
I should have used extremely - extremely physical...pushing, hitting, screaming, kicking, people falling all over each other...all for bags of tortilla chips. The youth got into their vans and a couple of us stayed long enough to just empty the boxes of chips and shut the back of the van (from where we were distributing). I wasn't so much scared as much as extremely stressed out.
Interestingly enough, even with that experience and the difficulty in getting the kids to understand what the heck we were doing, most of the youth said at debriefing that night that they felt it went really well. We prayed for the next day that evening and during the trip there...

Day 2 ROCKED. God pulled a 180, you wouldn't have even known that it was the same group of kids and adults (who, by the way, were the ones pushing - screaming - kicking - hitting from the day before) from Day 1. The kids listened - we got into a good groove as a team - the kids stayed in their groups - and they UNDERSTOOD Moses (Moise in Romanian). Not just sort of got that the day was about a guy named Moses. More like they knew the story inside and out.
That rocked my face off the most. That the truth we handed to them they received and understood.

We are just about ready to leave for Day 3 at Borumlaca. The other night I played Passion's "God of this City" song for the team to pray over Marghita and Borumlaca.
I encourage you to pray that same for us today. We will do our final day, Day 5, on Wednesday.

What is a YP? Part 2

I figured it would be fun to continue the guessing game a bit.

So your hints for today are the following...

2. Someone who spends their morning holding up little boys from Casa Alba in tall trees so that they don't fall out and break every bone in their little bodies!

3. Someone who spends 3 hours straight holding a very tiny 1 month old baby whose Mom has abandoned her to the local hospital...praying that the contact will help reverse some of the horrible side affects of being left alone in a room all day except for when being fed.

What is a YP?

Took me awhile to figure that out as well. If you really want to know you'll need to book a flight to Marghita by Aug. 20th to find out. If you can't swing that I'll give you a hint. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

Hint #1 : There are 13 of them in Marghita at the moment.

: )

An original composition by Caleb at Casa Alba Camp last week!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Outdoor Camps are Over!

Breakfast, week 2 kids.I think they were much more excited about getting CEREAL for breakfast (something they don't often get) than me taking a group picture!

Playing outside, week 1 kids! I couldn't seem to get a shot of them all looking at me...don't worry though my update (coming out later today) will have a lot of close-up shots of the kids!

After an extremely bumpy, almost 2 hour drive in a blue van with apparently no shocks we, the 2nd half of the Casa Alba orphanage kids and adults, arrived back in Marghita. My neck and shoulders hurt so bad this morning from driving that van again - yikes! The majority of the kids and supplies were set up in the massive air conditioned 15 passenger van while I volunteered to drive the one mentioned above. The roads are really horrendous with massive potholes all over the windy road back to Marghita. I was really thankful that God kept us safe both weeks of driving up there and back...
The camps went really well. Thank you to all of you who were praying. The first week was pretty difficult. It rained almost the entire time and the kids we chose for that week definitely struggle with some behavioral issues that made working with them in a new environment pretty difficult. I think being with them for that time, though, allowed me to be re-burdened for them.
The second camp was amazing - the weather was perfectly hot the entire time. The kids, for the most part, handled the transition to a new environment really well. I feel that during this past week I fell in love with these kids again. Being able to do the camp a 2nd week also allowed me to have a second chance at running the camp and activities again. Mistakes from week 1 were fixed during week 2 : ) Also the spiritual environment was different week 2. The kids, in my opinion, really were able to grasp the truth that God is the Creator of all thing. The kids during week 1 seemed to not 'get it' the same way as week 2.
God is the Ultimate One...growing all seeds that were planted. I am so thankful for the time that the kids had OUT of Casa Alba. So thankful that I could be there to interact with each one. So thankful for the 'friend times' I had with the other adults there. So thankful that the kids were able to see God's creation right in the middle of a beautiful setting!
Thanks to all of you who, through your prayers and finances, allowed this camp to happen and allowed me to be there running it!