Fall beginnings // Some hard things

Hello everyone! I hope you're all adjusting to your fall schedules as school starts back and everybody starts getting busy again. :) I am currently in my second week of fall ministry here in Bucharest, but I'll only focus on the first week for this post. I'm going to try to update once a week for the remainder of my time here (which, if you were wondering, is only 81 days now).

The beginning of my week (last Sunday) was a rough day for me. I was uncertain about fall plans and we were going to visit the orphanage, and I just was not in the right frame of mind to go there. You see, going to the orphanage is hard in many ways. First of
 all, it is located in a very impoverished area of Bucharest called Ferentari. Ferentari is mostly slum-like apartment buildings and run-down stores. The people you pass on the street look desperate and sad. When you get to the orphanage, it's surrounded by a twenty foot wall...not the most welcoming sight. There's graffiti and it overall does not look like a place for children.

Once inside the orphanage, kids surround us and ask a million questions and give us a million hugs--my favorite part. :) We had brought a craft and we set it up for the kids, who went to work right away. This part of the visit went smoothly. I helped this little cutie, Georgiana, on her craft...

Georgiana is adorable and so tiny. She's only 5 or 6 years old, and the thought of her living in this institution with very little chance of ever being adopted breaks my heart. Another thing about her is that she calls everyone "mama". When you think about the fact that she doesn't even know what that means, you end up crying on the phone to your parents for thirty minutes (I mean, maybe that happened). :)

So yes, last Sunday was a very hard day for me. But it was only one hard day out of 100 or so happy days I've had here. And God does bring little things into your life to encourage you, such as messages from friends and family at just the right time (you know who you are). Also, the next morning in my quiet time, I read Ephesians 1:5-10, which says,

     

...in love, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

What a great passage. It came as a breath of fresh air that Monday morning and I have had the most encouraging week! Here are two more pictures from that Sunday, though, before I move on.

Monday and Tuesday, my new roommate Sarah and I explored Bucharest a little bit, since she just arrived last Friday the 19th.

The People's Palace.

Sarah and I. :)

A cute little side street we found by accident. We ended up having lunch at a cafe there.

Wednesday and Thursday, we visited the kids who are in apartments. Only four apartments total, because we aren't allowed to visit some of the kids until school starts back September 12th. It was really encouraging to have conversations with these older kids and hear that they all finished school and passed their grades.

Saturday, we visited the orphanage again. I think Saturday is going to be our regularly scheduled visiting time for the rest of fall.

Got to see Georgiana again. She was eating a chocolate croissant. :)

Cami and I took selfies with these sweet girls. :)

I'll end with a nice picture of Cismigiu Park, where I went with Sarah earlier today. 

This week, we will visit the apartments again and also go tour a foundation where I'm hoping to volunteer this fall. I'll also get to pick up my official visa paper, with my picture and everything! :)

Praises:

-The kids at the apartments and orphanage are doing well.

-We have adjusted to our fall ministry schedule.

Requests:

-Continued health for me and the other interns and missionaries this fall

-Travel safety. I am going to Greece, England, Cluj (city in Romania), and Constanta (also city in Romania) in these next 80 days before I leave. :)

-The kids we work with. Pray for health, good behavior, and for them to see Jesus through us.

Love you all,

Maria

Camp wrap-up!

Hey guys! Sorry for the long absence of posts through this last month or so. We were finishing up camp and I didn't get pictures to share until yesterday. :) Last time I wrote, I was in the middle of camp in July with four weeks to go. Here, I'm going to give an overview of each week and finish with a bunch of pictures from various weeks. :)

Week 4 we worked with kids from Constanta for the second week in a row. This was in coordination with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) and PRR (Project Rescue Romania. It was great to be able to work alongside them and hear what all God is doing through them in Constanta. The kids they brought really enjoyed all the activities we had, especially the new ones who have never been to camp before.

Week 5, we had day camp for small kids from the nearby village of Fitionesti. The kids were so adorable and had such a great time! We played a few different games tailored for little kids and I was still a game station leader. For this week (and week 6) we also had a team from England join us. They were very fun to meet and work with.

Week 6 rolled around and it was time for us to host boys from Fitionesti. These guys played soccer literally ALL day long down on the pitch! They also loved the slip-n-slide and anything competitive like games. I liked this week in particular because I've been at camp with some of these kids for the fourth year now.

The final week, week 7, was for girls from Fitionesti. These girls really enjoyed our coloring time and making band bracelets. Although I'm not a super crafty person and was definitely out of my comfort zone, I tried to help out as much as I could. :) It was also great to see these girls really enjoying their small group time as well, where we got to share the Gospel with them in a more personal way.

Since camp ended a little over a week ago, we've been moving around a bit in Bucharest, as well as finding time to relax, unwind, and get prepared for fall. I'm now staying in an apartment with three other girls, and a few other people have been moving as well. I think now we're all situated and ready to begin fall ministry this week! We have an orphanage visit scheduled for today and apartment visits ready to begin Tuesday.

Here are some pictures from camp weeks 4-7 (and a few from the past week as well, for fun!).

Playing in the creek!

Last evening--everyone gathers around the fire and shares their favorite thing about the week.

Coffee on the weekend in Bucharest to recover. :)

My station one day was parachute games with the little kids.

Tug of war!

Loving the slip-n-slide!

The whole group of day camp week.

Day camp kids blowing bubbles.

Frisbee games!

Prepping spaghetti for the whole camp!

Fitionesti girls doing the scavenger hunt.

They also enjoyed coloring the Bible verse pages.

The hike during the Fitionesti boys' week.

Picking flowers during Fitionesti girls' week.

Another of my stations--horseshoes with the Fitionesti boys!

Even the older boys got into coloring the memory verse pages!

But as soon as they would finish, it'd be time for soccer again. :)

During girls' week, we figured out that over 50 people can fit in my tiny house at camp...we ran out of people to stuff in. :)

Staff volleyball squad!

Visiting the People's Palace on a weekend with the British team.

The view from the balcony of the People's Palace.

A sunset from an evening walk in Tineretului Park last weekend.

Thursday, we visited Herestrau Park and rented rowboats.

David, Ioana, Rachael, and I in our rowboats.

I'm super excited to keep you guys updated a little more frequently this fall! I have a lot planned and I can't wait for you to hear all about it as it happens. :)

Praises:

-Camp is finished and went extremely well!

Requests:

-I only have 90 days left here. Pray that I would use them to the fullest and schedule wisely.

-Visits to the orphanage and apartments would go well today and this week.

-Continued recovery from camp...we were all very tired and are still getting into the swing of things here in Bucharest!

Much love,

Maria

Camp week 3!

Hey everybody! I'm very sorry I missed a week of posting. I didn't have access to any pictures from week 3 so I just decided to wait until I did. :) So I have pictures for you, yay!

Week 3 of camp we worked with orphanage kids from a city called Constanta, which is located at the coast of the Black Sea. I've seen these kids at camp for the third year now, and I've also gotten to know the YWAM and PRR missionaries who work with them.

My jobs at camp were pretty much the same as week 2: meal prep, leading songs, activity station leader, etc. I also got to be a team leader for the obstacle course this week, and my team won...definitely a highlight. Here come some pictures!

My station one day: horseshoes.

Ball relay races!

Slip n slide...I did not actively participate that week, but you can see me on the right monitoring haha. :)

Florin and I with our teams for the obstacle course!

Roasting marshmallows on the last night.

The whole crew of week 3!

This is just a random pretty picture of the field surrounding camp that I took yesterday :)

Hopefully I will have another post for you next weekend on week 4 (last week) when I get pictures! Just know that week 4 went super great and I can't wait to tell you all about it next time. :)

Praises:

-Week 3 &4 of camp went really well and everyone got along and had a great time and learned a lot about Jesus.

Requests:

-Week 5 of camp is day camp (little kids from a nearby village who don't stay overnight). Pray that it would go smoothly.

-I've been a little under the weather this past week, so please pray that I'll be back at 100% by Monday!

Much love,

Maria

Camp week two!

Hey guys! I'm super excited to be writing to y'all about week two of camp. It was a very fun, enjoyable week...quite a contrast from week one!

I'll start with a brief overview of what my jobs were last week. I have lots of pictures of this week, but unfortunately my laptop is dead and I can't load pictures from my phone. So I will edit this post tomorrow to include images. :) So, for my jobs. I helped with food prep quite a bit week two, so I was in the kitchen for almost every meal. Making food for 70 is a lot of work. :) I also was in charge of a game station during rotating activities. And I chaperoned creek time and ran the trading post (where the kids get snacks using points they earn from participation and good behavior.

The kids this week were from two orphanages in two different cities: Mizil and Urziceni. They mostly got along well with each other, which was awesome. Here are some pictures from the week! Enjoy. :)

Morning worship session.

Lining the kids up to be divided into teams for activities.

Activity stations! Andrada's team dominated the frisbee game. :)

Ianis during a water relay race. :)

Beanbag toss!

More water games.

Obstacle course winning team!

Lunchtime. :)

The trampoline is always a favorite.

Ioana and I making the kids s'mores Thursday night.

The entire week 2 crowd.

Praises:
-I finally got my visa!!!
-Week 2 of camp was great.

Requests:
-Week 3 of camp has begun! Please pray for staff and camper health.
-Pray that the kids would cooperate and play nicely together.

Pictures to come!
Maria

That first week though...

Hey everybody! I'm sorry you've been without an update for another 10 days...I'm SURE you're anxiously awaiting word from me. :) The first week of camp has come and gone and there are six left. I rode with the kids on the train back to Bucharest Friday and had a great day of rest yesterday. This morning I went to IBC (International Baptist Church) and Dylan (former youth leader at my church who arrived Friday) preached there.

To be perfectly honest, I almost didn't write this post (on camp week 1). It was a very rough week with a lot of challenges. The kids we worked with are from Ciresarii orphanage in Bucharest and also there were some kids from social apartments in the city. They are very hard kids.

Although this week was somewhat discouraging to me at first, I eventually (on the train ride here actually) realized that no matter what, these kids heard the Gospel taught. Sure, they may have talked through some of the lessons and acted out during the singing time, but I know they heard Jesus taught at least a little bit. And nothing bad can come from hearing about Jesus.

The entire group (note the awesome staff safari hats). I'm the seventh person from the right in a lime green tshirt.

Week 2 (this week), I'll be working with orphans and street children from Mizil, another Romanian city. Part of the staff will be comprised of IMB missionaries and their team that works with these kids regularly. I'm looking forward to chatting with the IMB missionaries especially.

I'm very sorry this post is short and almost picture-less. I'll try to have more pictures for next week! 

Praises:

-Rachael & David, Cami & Steve's daughter and son-in-law, and Dylan made it here safely.

-I'm getting my visa next Monday! I know I said that last time, but this time it's real. I think. ;)

Requests:

-Week 2 of camp starts tomorrow! Please be in prayer for the kids coming and the staff.