Hey Everyone,
It has been a few days since the last post, and there is a ton to catch up on. On Thursday, April's team went to Luminitza, which is the orphanage that handles children with special needs. Nate and April worked with a few of the older kids and Kellen and Kelsey worked with the two pre school aged children. Nate also took one of the autistic orphans on a walk with a staff member to a store and bouht him some candy, then they had a pretzel eating race that was quite a hit.
Ryan's team went to Tei, which is a day care center, but a lot of the kids still sleep there and spend a lot of their time there. The kids were adorable and learned about how God changes us, which was illustrated by reading the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, then they made their own butterflies. The kids there were so loving and well behaved, it was a blessing to get to meet them and spend time with them.
After lunch the whole team stayed at the ministry center, where low income families were welcomed for a VBS lesson and games. April was asked to help a few girls who were a part of the "Heart to Heart" program that Children to Love does, with english lessons during some of that time, and she willingly gave her time. The Heart to Heart program is where a CTL staff member works more closely with a smaller group of orphans on a more personal level. She helped the girls and made a strong connection with them and they invited her to go ice skating with them on friday.
On Friday, April, Nate, Kellen and Kelsey, went to Orphanage #6 and made snow men with the preschoolers. Ryan, Christie, Bree, and Larissa went to Sf. Ana and talked about David and Jonathan from the Bible, and how to be a good friend. After the lesson everyone made friendship bracelets.
After lunch the whole team, minus April, went to orphanage #7 where they taught on friendship again, and made more bracelets. Each team member was given multiple bracelets, some even got necklaces, and one team member even got a ring. All of this was so encouraging, just seeing that even though our time there is limited, we are still able to connect a little with each kid we come in contact with and hopefully show God's love to them.
April went ice skating with the girls she had given english lessons to, and continued to strengthen the relationship between CTL and those girls, which was awesome.
On Saturday the team woke up bright and early at 7:20 and got on a train and went to Sinaia. There they toured the Peles Castle, which was teh summer home of King Carol I. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful city. Everything was covered in snow and the team had a great time.
The trip continues to go well and God's hand is definitely upon this group. Thank you so much for all your prayers. I hope you continue to pray. God has for sure been working in our VBS, which we had to rework on the fly a little, but the fact that the kids are loving it is just a testament to how great and powerful our God is. Thanks again for all your prayers, love, and support.
-Team Romania
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Ce Faci?
hello again,
So far our trip is going great. God is really providing for our team, the staff, and most importantly, the children here in Romania.
The last couple days have taken us to new orphanages and ones we had already visited. April's team went to Chitila, which is a mostly girls orphanage which also has orphans with mental handicaps. Ryan's team went to Sf Ana, which they had already visited, but met a whole new group of kids.
The next day April's team went and visited Tei, which is an orphanage of mostly pre schoolers. Ryan's team went to Luminata, which is for kids with autism and also behavioral disorders. Then after lunch, Ryan, Larissa, Christie, Bree, Kellen, and Kelsey went to #7.
Then on Wednesday, both teams together went to #6 which also deals with preschoolers in the morning and then in the afternoon both teams went to Chatilla where it was crazy. Some boys came in and listened to the lesson, so it was a big mix of people. There was tons of climbing on team members, and shouting and wrestling. But it was a great time and we all left there feeling like we were given as much love as we had tried to give to the orphans.
Romania is going great so far, continue to pray for God's blessing on this trip, also, for health as nate and bree are starting to get sick.
Thanks again, and God bless.
-Team Romania
So far our trip is going great. God is really providing for our team, the staff, and most importantly, the children here in Romania.
The last couple days have taken us to new orphanages and ones we had already visited. April's team went to Chitila, which is a mostly girls orphanage which also has orphans with mental handicaps. Ryan's team went to Sf Ana, which they had already visited, but met a whole new group of kids.
The next day April's team went and visited Tei, which is an orphanage of mostly pre schoolers. Ryan's team went to Luminata, which is for kids with autism and also behavioral disorders. Then after lunch, Ryan, Larissa, Christie, Bree, Kellen, and Kelsey went to #7.
Then on Wednesday, both teams together went to #6 which also deals with preschoolers in the morning and then in the afternoon both teams went to Chatilla where it was crazy. Some boys came in and listened to the lesson, so it was a big mix of people. There was tons of climbing on team members, and shouting and wrestling. But it was a great time and we all left there feeling like we were given as much love as we had tried to give to the orphans.
Romania is going great so far, continue to pray for God's blessing on this trip, also, for health as nate and bree are starting to get sick.
Thanks again, and God bless.
-Team Romania
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Hello again,
well first things first, I know it is a little late, but, we got to Romania safely and without any delay, except for five boxes that got stuck in Zurich for a day. But other than that we all made it safely to Bucharest. For the parents who read this sorry it took so long to get that information out, we just got internet.
We have already had our first day of ministry. In the morning Team A, which is April, Nate, Kelsey, and Kellen, went to orphanage #6, which is all pre schoolers. Team B, which is, Ryan, Larissa, Christie, and Bree, went to S. Ana, which has kids anywhere from 7-14. Each team brought a lesson, a game, and a craft to their orphanage and all the kids seemed to have a really good time. But beyond those three things, just our presence being there seemed to be of great benefit for the kids.
Then, after lunch, the teams joined back up and went to Orphanage #7, which had kids a little older in age, from 12-18. There we told a lesson on God's love for us even when we sin and how we don't have to carry around our guilt, even when we do mess up. The craft was face painting and the girls seemed to really enjoy it, Nate and Ryan went outside and played soccer with the guys, which ended up turning into a big snow ball fight. Nate and Ryan lost.
It has been difficult at times not knowing any of the Romanian language as we interact with these kids, but it is amazing to see how powerful God is, that he can work through that. His love is too great to be held back by a language barier, his love crosses over that.
Oh yeah, when we arrived it was snowing, and it snowed all that night. It has been pretty cold, but all the team members are pretty prepared and have been handling it like champs.
The last couple of days have been free days since the staff gets the weekend off. We toured the People's Palace, which is the second largest administrative building in the world, behind the pentagon, and walked around the city checking out the various shops Bucharest has to offer.
Tonight has been spent planning the VBS programs for the next week and has been pretty succesful. The trip is going great so far and it is awesome to see how God is moving on our team and in the orphanages we come in contact with.
Some things to be in prayer about:
That we continue to build on our team unity
That we build relationships with the Children to Love staff and can be an encouragement to them
That God blesses our VBS programs and that they are effective and well recieved
That we continue to strive to know God more
That God gives each team member patience for one another
That God continues to bless our travels on the public transit and we are able to continue to travel safely
Thank you so much for reading about this and being in prayer over it. Without God and your guys' support, we couldn't be here right now. Thanks again!
-Team Romania
well first things first, I know it is a little late, but, we got to Romania safely and without any delay, except for five boxes that got stuck in Zurich for a day. But other than that we all made it safely to Bucharest. For the parents who read this sorry it took so long to get that information out, we just got internet.
We have already had our first day of ministry. In the morning Team A, which is April, Nate, Kelsey, and Kellen, went to orphanage #6, which is all pre schoolers. Team B, which is, Ryan, Larissa, Christie, and Bree, went to S. Ana, which has kids anywhere from 7-14. Each team brought a lesson, a game, and a craft to their orphanage and all the kids seemed to have a really good time. But beyond those three things, just our presence being there seemed to be of great benefit for the kids.
Then, after lunch, the teams joined back up and went to Orphanage #7, which had kids a little older in age, from 12-18. There we told a lesson on God's love for us even when we sin and how we don't have to carry around our guilt, even when we do mess up. The craft was face painting and the girls seemed to really enjoy it, Nate and Ryan went outside and played soccer with the guys, which ended up turning into a big snow ball fight. Nate and Ryan lost.
It has been difficult at times not knowing any of the Romanian language as we interact with these kids, but it is amazing to see how powerful God is, that he can work through that. His love is too great to be held back by a language barier, his love crosses over that.
Oh yeah, when we arrived it was snowing, and it snowed all that night. It has been pretty cold, but all the team members are pretty prepared and have been handling it like champs.
The last couple of days have been free days since the staff gets the weekend off. We toured the People's Palace, which is the second largest administrative building in the world, behind the pentagon, and walked around the city checking out the various shops Bucharest has to offer.
Tonight has been spent planning the VBS programs for the next week and has been pretty succesful. The trip is going great so far and it is awesome to see how God is moving on our team and in the orphanages we come in contact with.
Some things to be in prayer about:
That we continue to build on our team unity
That we build relationships with the Children to Love staff and can be an encouragement to them
That God blesses our VBS programs and that they are effective and well recieved
That we continue to strive to know God more
That God gives each team member patience for one another
That God continues to bless our travels on the public transit and we are able to continue to travel safely
Thank you so much for reading about this and being in prayer over it. Without God and your guys' support, we couldn't be here right now. Thanks again!
-Team Romania
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Our First Post
Hey All,
It is the night before we leave for our trip, and so I thought we should get this blog started giving you all an introduction to our team and to the trip.
Team Romania is comprised of 8 members:
April Gregory, who is a co-leader
Ryan McAneney, who is also a co-leader
Nate Gentilin
Larissa Niessen
Christie Lloyd-Jones
Kellen Peltack
Kelsey Mahler
and Bree Binstock
This team has been formed and called to go to Bucharest, Romania where we will be working with orphans throughout the area.
Our team verse is Matthew 25:40
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
That verse was chosen just show that as we serve others, ultimately it is our service to God.
Our Team Purpose Statement is:
To bring the love of Jesus Christ to orphans in order to further God's glory, and encourage each other as a team towards spiritual growth.
As we prepare to leave and embark on this journey God has called us on, we do have some prayer requests:
-That tomorrow, our travel day goes smoothly, that we make our flights and don't lose any luggage in the process.
- that the whole team stays healthy while overseas
~ our hearts will be prepared for what God is going to do in our lives, and that we be willing to work out his will in romania
~that our team will be able to communicate effectively with one another so there won't be any conflicts
~for God to prepare the hearts of the kids and staff members we are going to be ministering to
~that as we interact with the Romanian people, we will be able to communicate with them, that we will respect their culture through our words and actions, and that they will see a difference in us that is Christ living in our hearts
-that everything each one of us does will reflect God's everlasting love to everyone we come into contact with, be it the orphans, the orphange workers, the missionaries, or even the flight attendants.
I am sure that as we go on we will have more things to be praying for and more stories to tell.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and to stay updated. Make sure you keep checking as we will be updating this throughout our time in Romania.
Thanks again and may God bless,
Team Romania
It is the night before we leave for our trip, and so I thought we should get this blog started giving you all an introduction to our team and to the trip.
Team Romania is comprised of 8 members:
April Gregory, who is a co-leader
Ryan McAneney, who is also a co-leader
Nate Gentilin
Larissa Niessen
Christie Lloyd-Jones
Kellen Peltack
Kelsey Mahler
and Bree Binstock
This team has been formed and called to go to Bucharest, Romania where we will be working with orphans throughout the area.
Our team verse is Matthew 25:40
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
That verse was chosen just show that as we serve others, ultimately it is our service to God.
Our Team Purpose Statement is:
To bring the love of Jesus Christ to orphans in order to further God's glory, and encourage each other as a team towards spiritual growth.
As we prepare to leave and embark on this journey God has called us on, we do have some prayer requests:
-That tomorrow, our travel day goes smoothly, that we make our flights and don't lose any luggage in the process.
- that the whole team stays healthy while overseas
~ our hearts will be prepared for what God is going to do in our lives, and that we be willing to work out his will in romania
~that our team will be able to communicate effectively with one another so there won't be any conflicts
~for God to prepare the hearts of the kids and staff members we are going to be ministering to
~that as we interact with the Romanian people, we will be able to communicate with them, that we will respect their culture through our words and actions, and that they will see a difference in us that is Christ living in our hearts
-that everything each one of us does will reflect God's everlasting love to everyone we come into contact with, be it the orphans, the orphange workers, the missionaries, or even the flight attendants.
I am sure that as we go on we will have more things to be praying for and more stories to tell.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and to stay updated. Make sure you keep checking as we will be updating this throughout our time in Romania.
Thanks again and may God bless,
Team Romania
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