Bake Sale Day!

Money is low at Casa Alba orphanage. Low to the point where there isn't enough to last until the beginning of October. And, of course, this weekend just happens to be "Zilele Marghitei" (Marghita's Days).Marghita's Days is an annual fair that happens at the end of September.
They close down the roads in the center of town, have carnival rides and games, vendors, traditional foods made over grills and kettles hanging over fires, and even a stage set up for various musical and dance acts. It's a big deal. I personally love it. Marghita comes alive for these 3 days. Everyone is outside and stays outside pretty much for these 3 days straight. You get to 'see' Marghita.

The deal is this though. The rides : almost $2/ride. Expensive right?. (Minimum wage is about $300/month). If there's not even money for the essentials at Casa Alba to last the month then there definitely isn't money for the kids to be able to go on the rides this weekend.Caleb and I got to thinking about this and came to the conclusion that we needed to do some baking. That baking then would need to be sold for donations towards the kids at Casa Alba being able to go on rides at Marghita's Days this weekend. So what did Caleb and Mom do all morning - make cookies. I'm serious when I tell you that Caleb did his fair share. We made PB cookies and Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies. There are 21 kids at Casa Alba and I wanted to try and get 6 Lei per child. 6 Lei will pay for 1 ride or a small toy. So that came to a total of 126 Lei that we needed to raise. We prayed that Jesus would work through the cookie sales and get the money the Casa Alba kids needed for this weekend. Caleb and I made a sign, stuck the cookies in a huge tupperware box thing and headed to the Foundation. In the four years I have been here I have yet to see a bake sale. I think that's a pretty American thing to do. So, that being said, I really had no idea how this concept would work - especially with the Romanians. We headed to the office and all of the workers bought cookies! And, the coolest thing is, they gave donations that went way above and beyond what the price of the cookie should be. I was so proud of Caleb...carrying around the cookies and putting the money in the little bag. And, hilarious, he insisted on wearing his apron from the morning while we were selling the cookies. He wanted everyone to see that he had really made the cookies - not just Mom. May I add - he has such a sweet heart. When people were confused about the concept or didn't have the money, he just gave them the cookies instead. He was so eager to share!

Right. So we got home and I counted the money - 106. 50 RON! YAY! There were a couple of people who took cookies today and didn't have money but promised to pay tomorrow. Maybe that will bring us exactly to 126 RON? O sa vedem...we'll see.Regardless, Jesus DID provide a lot of money for the kids' enjoyment this weekend. I am so thankful for that.

Next Thursday morning will not be spent making cookies. Thursday mornings are 'school mornings' now for me. I will begin again the Bible classes I started online over a year ago. I am really excited about being able to have a morning per week to focus on this. I believe that investing time in this learning will have a huge impact on the ways that God is using me here in ministry.

This afternoon was spent at Casa Alba with program for the Green and Purple rooms. They are a lot of work! I am exhausted. : ) They are so cute though - even the more difficult kids. I was thinking today that I just wanted to grab them all and hug them for hours and hours!
They really need Moms and Dads...