Well this last week has been full of kindergarten; homework; Sunday school and cleaning and I started to drive! so that has been an adventure of getting used to driving in a foreign country and there rules, which I think the biggest one is watch out for pedestrians and you can honk at any given time for any given reason, and speed limits as well as stop signs are really on vague guidelines... but all in all I'm doing okay with the driving.
We also had our first snow fall so that made everything look fresh and white for a half of a day... now things are just soggy and gross...
and as normal here are some pictures.
Every morning when the kids come to kindergarten they have some free time to play or color or put together puzzles and here are some pictures of that happening.
Snow ball fight, also the kindergarten kids.
Sunday school in Chiselet, this is the group of the younger kids.
Also in Chiselet and the Sunday school, but these are the older kids.
This is just a sunset that I really enjoyed. :)
A street in the village of Chiselet after the snow.
Every year around this time we begin to think about what we did, and what we didn’t do, what we should have done and what we shouldn’t have, the last days of December and the first days of January are ones of reflection; anticipation, and an attempt to change the things that we don’t like about ourselves or the things around us, we say things like “My new year’s Resolution is __________” or “This year I will not do __________” or “ I will start to do this ____________” and then for the next few weeks we are focused and determined to that thing or the things that we said we would do; but somewhere; short after our promises are made there is a place that we come to, a place that the reflection of the past year ends and the distractions of the new one begins and our old habits come creeping back in and our new ones slip away, and then in this place we begin to say self-comforting things like “Well, I made it to February this year!” “I’ll do better next year!” and the pressure of changing our lives habits thoughts are no longer as strong as they were maybe because everyone else, like you, has gotten to the same place. So what is the problem? Is it that we have good intentions but they are just that intentions. Do we really want to change that thing? For example do you really want to start making your bed every day? And if you do why do you have to wait until January first to start? It’s possible that we don’t want it badly enough, but just wanting it also is not enough there needs to be a deeper reason, or perhaps a larger perspective, like an example of a small perspective is this: I want to start making my bed because I don’t like having a messy bed when I go into my room or I like being able to go to bed at night having my bed made. But if we look at it from a bigger perspective like for example: I want to start making my bed because I realize that making my bed is a small thing but if I become disciplined in making my bed I then will start to build the discipline needed to other things every day with consistency, there is power in being faithful in the small things in life often we assume that in order to change our lives it needs to be something big, but I think the reality is that it’s the little things the little choices that will bring change into our lives. For example someone choosing the college and career it seems like those are big choices but they really are just more small choices that a part of a series of other small choices that lead up to the career that they are now going to college for, so we as humans really underestimate the power of the “Small” choices that we make. The Bible says in Luke 16:10-12 (NIV) “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” The change that we want to see in our lives starts with the little things, and the little things are easier to do like if I were to say I want to pray for 1 hour in the morning I would only be able to do that for a week maybe two at the most, but I know that I would get to a place that I would start to value my sleep over praying and I would convince myself that it is okay, that I did a good job for that one week, and then that would be another failed attempt to change and start doing something that I didn’t do last year, but if I started with a big perspective and a smaller thing I just may be able to start praying for 10-15 minutes every morning and after that becomes a habit for me than maybe I could change it into a half hour and make my way up to something bigger. But I need to start small. So with all that being said here is to a year of small things, of doing little things with big perspective may it be a year that we marvel in “mundane”
This is the group of people I spent New Years with. =)
The Fireworks I saw.
Raluca and I.
Mirela and I
And this is what happens when I try to do what the professional ice skater does in front of me... haha
So I safely arrived in Romania yesterday and am a little jet lagged but doing well, I have gotten to see most people, and although it is 48 degrees there have been many warm welcomes =)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
This is a video of some of my pictures that I took while in Romania.
Here is a copy of my support letter, and summery of what I did over the last nine months and also a letter from Two of the people that I was working with.
Dear Friends and Family,
“I thank God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3
I wrote this letter is to serve 3 different purposes.The first purpose is this, I wish to tell you is how important it is/was for your prayer and financial support. The second is to inform everyone that I’m planning on returning to Romania, and making the switch from short term to long term missions in Romania. When I go to Romania I plan to stay for a year at a time, and go from there I don’t know how long I will be doing this for. The third purpose of my letter is to sum up what I have done for the last nine months in Romania and what I plan to continue to do.
Okay, to cover my first point, You! I can’t mention all the times that I was doing something like washing dishes, playing with kids, helping kids with homework, preparing a Sunday School lesson, or laughing with new friends, when the simple thought of how dependent I was on all of you overwhelmed me. How dependent I was, first of all on your prayers and secondly on the money, without both of these elements I would be completely ineffective and unproductive in every way.The fact is, I would not be able to be in Romania because I could not afforded the plane ticket or monthly rent to be there; secondly once I was there I would not be able to do anything because I would not have the passion and strength to do anything without all of the prayers that were being prayed. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 “Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.”It is faithful partners in giving and praying like yourself that make it possible for people like me that feel called to be in the ministry of foreign missions.
The reality is we are all called to missions, and in this call there are three parts:1) Goers, the ones that go long or short term to other countries or states 2) Senders, the ones that provide the spiritual and financial support 3) Ignorers, the ones that hear the call to go and to send, but say “Leave that for someone else to do.”
My second point, over the course of the last nine months I realized God is calling me to be involved in Missions in Romania working alongside the ministry of Outstretched Hands of Romania for possibly the next 5 or more years.For this to be possible I need Senders to stand behind me and help me go. I need people to pray, that I will be in God’s purpose for my life and when he wants me to go somewhere else or do something else that I would do it with a willing and faithful heart. I also need financial support. If I have 45 people that are willing to support me for $12.00 a month, $144.00 a year, I will have enough money to continue to doing the things that I have been.This leads me to my third point of this letter
What have I been doing in Romania? I’m involved in fulltime ministry, mainly in two villages. The first village is Caramidari where I spend Tuesday through Thursday, and sometimes Mondays and Fridays depending on what is going on… There I wash dishes, make breakfast (jam sandwiches and tea for the kindergarten kids) and cereal and some other foods for the school kids, various cleaning such as moping and sweeping, washing walls and tables, helping kids with homework when the language barrier is not too hard, and during the summer I help with a kids program every day for about 3 to 4 hours.The second village I work in is Chiselet where I spend almost every weekend.I help with the girls program; we talk with the girls, play volley ball or soccer, or we watch a movie with them. I also go to the church service on Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons, I do a Sunday school program with kids ages 4 to about 10.I’m there the whole day and spend time with the people in the village.I also help some with the Jr. High and High School programs that are also on Sundays. Spending the night in Chiselet has really helped me work on learning how to speak Romanian, I also have plans on getting more serious with learning Romanian and also learn the grammar. Every Saturday I help with a girls craft program in Calarasi, the city that I live. Every Friday there are team meetings that I must attend.I take pictures in almost every location, even the ones that I’m not regularly involved in, and I also take them for teams that come and visit Outstreched Hands, in doing this it helps document the different events with photos.
With some of the support money I had that I did not need for rent or my plane ticket I was able to help out with buying candy for the Sunday School kids in Chiselet. I also gave to buy food for the school kids lunch and breakfast in Caramidari.I was able to print and give the people of the villages some pictures I took of their kids and families. This was a huge blessing! I also had a fund raisor in April of this last year and with all of that money we were able to take 23 girls to the black sea Thank you!
“But whatever you do, find the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated passion of your life, and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it. And you will make a difference that lasts. You will not waste your life.”
― John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life
Dear family, friends and all it may concern
For the past 9 months, we were privileged to have Amber serve with us as part of the team of Outstretched Hands of Romania. Amber became part of the team straight away, and right from the beginning the feeling was: "What would we have done without Amber!?"
She is such a wonderful person who loves Jesus Christ dearly, and demonstrates that love to the people around her.
Amber never hesitated to take initiative in meeting needs and helping out wherever or whatever the need might have been. She never stood back when it came to working long, hard hours. She is a very self-motivated and diligent person, doing everything as if unto the Lord.
At the Hope Center in Caramidari/Obor (where we are mainly involved) Amber worked in the following areas:
- Teaching and assisting with the kindergarten program
- Helping 1st graders with their homework in the afternoons
- Helping and presenting children's clubs during the summer
- Cooking breakfasts and lunches for the children at the Hope Center
- General cleaning (which included A LOT of dishes!!) in and around the Hope Center
- Photography of daily happenings and other events
We will really miss having Amber with us, as part of the OH team, and we are sincerely hoping that she would be able to make a speedy return!!
First of all I'm so bad at blogging... secondly I'm sad to write I only have one month left here in Romania and then I will return to PA for an unknown amount of time... Umm I was just in Vienna with Carmen good friend and the girl that I have been living with, we visited her family and Cami, a girl that was here in Romania for about two month, and we visited her and her family as well. Tomorrow will be the start of getting the kids ready for school and getting ready to start kindergarten, the hope center, the place that the we do the kindergarten and help the kids with home work, got a fresh coat of paint on the inside with washable paint!! The fact that it is washable is a big deal because the walls get pretty bad in a day so it is quite a big deal that we can wash the wall without all the pain coming off. And because I take pictures and they are easier than typing things.
Cammi
Laura, on the left, Me, in the middle, Carmen, on the right.
Me and Carmen, and a real clown.
Me and Cammi.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Well the team has come and gone, my mother surprised me and came with them that was nice.
Umm I'm still doing well summer is going well it is hot here, and right now what we are doing is Mondays are off days, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays we do a kids program with the kids in Carmidar Tuesdays we sing some songs and pray with the kids, and Wednesdays we watch a movie and make popcorn or have watermelon for them, and on Thursdays we do a craft with them. Umm Fridays are still team meetings and Saturdays I still have the girls craft thing and Saturdays and Sundays I'm in Chiselet and Saturday night is church and Sunday is kids and youth. We had a trip with the Girls from Chiselet with the money you gave and we went to the beach I will put together the pictures so you can see how much they enjoyed it, it was a really great time and they really enjoyed themselves, and the boys had a soccer camp which you also helped make happen, Thank you so much for being apart of what I'm doing here by prayer and also financially I wish you could be able to experience it first hand and not just hear it from me.
