Pictures, Pictures.

Catalina and I at a New Year's Eve Celebration

Part of our group at the Baby Hospital

Love her smile!

A beautiful baby girl

An intense game of spoons with our new Romanian friends

Beautiful night sky from our house

Our team + Romanian friends at the New Year's Celebration

The best way to celebrate the New Year-thanking God for the last & anticipating His blessing in the next.

More to come-special thanks to Charles Zablan for taking some great shots!

Blessed & In Awe

 If I had an entire week with each one of you, to sit down, tell stories, and answer questions, it would be too little time to fully explain and give shape to what God did in Romania, to fully describe His awesome faithfulness.  He moved in ways I can hardly begin to believe, let alone convey.  For that, I am incredibly thankful, to God, and to all of you, because I know that the prayers of all of you were monumental in accomplishing the work of God that our team witnessed.  I have never felt so fully bathed in prayer.  So thank you-you were a blessing to so many people.

I fell in love while in Romania-with the people of Romania: a baby girl with big blue eyes and no name, a little girl with a great big toothy grin, and a woman who was in awe of His extravagant love for her.  I fell in love with His people, and, along with that, more in love with Him.  I prayed that God would give me a bigger understanding of His heart, and He answered that prayer with amazing clarity.  The compassion and incredible love that He feels for His children is almost overwhelming at times.  Friends, this experience in Romania changed me, is continuing to change me, to alter the fabric of my heart-He's using it to make my life more clearly mirror His.  I feel so blessed.  So blessed to have shared in loving His children.

"For the word of the LORD is right and true;
 He is faithful in all He does.
 the LORD loves righteousness and justice;
 the earth is full of His unfailing love."
  -Psalm 33:4-5

Transition House

Finally, part three of the ministries of Heart to Heart.

The Transition House is a very special place.  Each year, teenage orphans apply and are interviewed to be a part of the transition program, run by Heart to Heart.  In the course of the transition program, 4-8 students per house (the girls in Bucharest and the boys in a neighboring city) are involved in what is like a life-lessons fast-track schooling.  They start out very basically, sometimes learning what we would deem extreme basics, like learning to take a shower, take care of clothing, and clean.  Later, these life lessons grow a bit more complicated, the girls learn to cook (their teacher, Sanda, is the best!), do basic sewing and mending, computer skills, and they even have the opportunity to gain a nail technician education.  The boys learn trades like welding and carpentry.  Basically all the skills needed for living on their own-all the things that parents usually teach their children.  Throughout the process is a close-intense discipleship program.  Staff members live with the transition house students, and they begin to truly see what it means to belong to a family, to have someone that they can depend on.  For many orphans who have grown up hearing about God's love, this is where it actually hits home.  Lives are changed, eternally.

One girl who was in the very first year of the transition program was one of our translators for the trip.  She told us that when she began the program, she was very disobedient.  She said she was filled with so much hate from all the things she had experienced in the orphanage.  She began the program, only to be kicked out for violating the rules of the transition house.  Later, after some cool-down time, she decided to come back and finish the program.  It was hard to believe that this woman had once been a rebellious teenager!  She is now soooo filled with the love of God!  She is now involved in the baby hospital ministry of Heart to Heart-daily going to care for the smallest of His little ones.  As I worked alongside her there, witnessing her whispering, "Jesus loves you" to those babies, I was truly in awe of God's power to save and transform.  She is one of many who has been forever changed.

Orphanage

The past two days, we've spent some time working at a local orphanage.  In the evenings, we've been talking a lot about the nature of the orphanage system, and I've learned a lot.  The orphanage we've worked at is an orphange for children with special needs.  Although this is true, some of the children are not disabled at all.  For the ones that are, there aren't really many programs that exist to help them advance in abilities and understanding.  As Jenn, who has ministered here for 10 years said, "Special education doesn't exist here."

The kids come from various backgrounds: some have been in the orphanage since infancy, some were abandoned by their families, some ran away.  Some are gypsy, others have slavic heritage, a few are actually Romanian.  They all have so many needs.  They're very unstructured, from what I have seen, manners are something that the teams here really try to teach them. They don't seem to have a very big understanding of right and wrong, what is acceptable and what is not. We spend most of our time just loving them.  Playing Uno (which, it turns out is universal), jumping rope, playing a game of soccer, and coloring are among some of our favorite activities.  They mostly just want to be loved! Hugs, laps that can be filled with kids, and hands to hold are all ways we show them Jesus' incredible love for them. 

Babies!

I'm splitting the ministry that I've been working in so far into three different posts, by the groups of kids involved.

The first day we were here, I went to work at the baby hospital.  First of all, the hospital was very different from my concept of a hospital.  As we walked up the steps, the building looked dirty...mud everywhere around the entrance, etc.  Inside, the first thing you notice is the overwhelming smell of smoke.  (Smoking in the hospital is still allowed.) Secondly, the stray dogs that roam all of Bucharest were also present in the building, laying in stairwells and hallways outside of the main patient halls.

We walked upstairs to the infant wing with gifts for the nurses on duty (some of them don't like outsiders coming in to help with the babies, so the gifts are almost like a peace offering/bribe) and as we walked into the infant hallway, the overall datedness of the interior of the hospital was crazy.  Think 1950's paint, floor tile, and ceilings. Our group of 5 was split between three rooms with about 6-8 babies in each. They ranged from ages of 1-6 months.  Corny, the Romanian we traveled and worked with, told us that the babies become 'very very happy' when they see the Americans coming.  You see, the nurses don't really play with the babies, they interact, literally at arms length, to do the basic things like feeding and changing.  (They also occasionally come in to 'flip' the babies over from tummy to back...think the robotic motions of a pro-pancake flipper and you'll get the idea of their interactions.)

So, for about 5 hours, we fed, changed, and held these dear little ones.  Some had siblings in the cribs next to them; two pairs of twins were in the room I worked in.  Most had nametags with their first and last names, some babies had no names at all.  To deal with this situation, the nurses use numbers to identify the babies for feedings, etc.  My favorite was #9, a baby with no first name but the last name of Florea.  He was much smaller than the other babies in the room, and Corny told me that he had had some sort of problem with his legs awhile ago which had required surgery.  A little IV end was still in his little hand, covered with a sock so he wouldn't mess with it.  One thing we noticed fairly quickly was how these babies craved attention.  When we walked in, they were all pretty quiet, but after we had begun to hold them and then set one down to pick up another, the first started to whimper to be held again.  Florea basically shook until you picked him up again.  It was a long, challenging, but wonderful day. Through it all, God impressed upon me the wonderful love that He has for these little ones that not even the nurses seem to feel for.  He has called them each by name, even if they don't have one legally. 

Here at last & loving it

So much to tell!

My first international travel experience was a crazy one to say the least. I was delayed out of Minneapolis/St. Paul by 4 hours, then ended up missing my connecting flight to Paris because of that delay.  So, I was re-routed through London instead, and then flew into Bucharest.  I arrived at around midnight in Bucharest (we're 8 hours later here than in the midwest) and found that my luggage did not end up following me as closely as I would have hoped.  Luckily, the airlines were able to locate my luggage and send it to the house where I'm staying within a few days. 

Through all of those delays and missed flights and lost luggage incidences, God was extremely faithful.  He guided me to meet various people in airports along the way: I met several friends in the Minn. airport, including an English teacher from northern MN, a girl from the airforce stationed in San Antonio, and a couple of guys who were on their way to climb to the base camp of Mt. Everest.

On the plane to Chicago, I met a delightful little girl and her mom, and, after we had shared our various travel plans, she said they would be praying for me & the rest of my trip. God is so good.  En route to London, I met two guys from Iran and a family from India.  The Indian family's little boy was quite excite-able...not necessarily a desirable trait to have when you're on a red-eye transatlantic flight, but he was a cutie anyway. 

When I arrived in London, I had several hours to kill, so I explored the airport and did some people watching.  As I wandered, I discoverd an what the airport termed a 'multifaith prayer room'.  I did some more wandering, and then decided to check it out.  It was kind of like an afterthought, compared to the sleek design of the rest of the airport.  An older, very small room, with a closet full of religious mats and shawls.  I sat and waited and had some time with Jesus.  I asked Him what He had for me, and pretty soon, several muslims walked in to pray.  As they prayed, I asked God to give me words, and He did.  "Who do you worship?" He instructed me to ask. So I did, and we chatted. It was just another excellent example of His goodness. 

The team house and team here in Romania is wonderful.  It's very homey and comfortable-an excellent place to re-group after a long day of ministry. As I finished my travel, I thought to myself, "God definitely knows what He's up to, even in the middle of flight delays, missed planes, and lost luggage."

Rejoice in the Lord Always.

Last week as I arrived home for break, I began to feel drawn to several particular verses of scripture.  I set out to memorize them, and they have proved so encouraging while I wait on His faithfulness.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:4-7 


Today these verses have been especially helpful.  I learned that I'll be flying to Romania alone (except for Jesus that is).  Originally, I was supposed to meet up with various team members in airports along the way, but now I'll be meeting them when we arrive in the airport at Bucharest.  

Pray that God would provide direction as I navigate the O'Hare and Paris airports! I'm choosing to view this as an exciting opportunity to live by faith and trust in His provision.  Another thing I have been in prayer about is the current snow-storm that's blanketing our area.  Pray that God would lift it in time for me to get to the airport on Saturday and for flights to leave on schedule. I have full confidence that He will work all these little circumstances out for the glory of His Name. 

I've been busy getting my bags packed with ministry supplies, including hot cocoa packets, marshmallows, coffee, cake mixes, and Christmas candies (all requested by the H2H staff in Romania).  I also spent some time working on some crafts to do with the kids during free time.

Here are a few little 'puppets' that I put together.  Some paper bags and construction paper, along with googly eyes and fuzzy pom-poms-all that's needed for a kid-friendly craft! I made up kits of each of these to take along.

I've also been practicing my Romanian.  My personal favorite phrase: "Isus te iubeste!" (Jesus loves you!)

I want to thank you all again so much for your prayers and support.  It means so much to me that you've been so excited to join me in this work from Him.  Praise God for the awesome family He has given us in our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus!