MOVING DAY!

Today is moving day!! I am sitting in my apartment full of bags and furniture ready to be packed into 2 vans and a trailer. I am so anxious but I know that God has His hand in this move and in everything that I do. It is sad to say goodbye to Oradea, my home for the past 2 years, and to all my dear friends here. The past two years have been full of seeing friends, visiting my kids from the center and packing up my apartment. I also had the chance to head down to Timisoara to visit some friends that were in town. I also had to say farewell to two friends that are moving home. It was so sad but I am excited for what God already has planned for them.

One of the memories I will be taking with me from these past weeks of being back in Oradea after being in Simleu for the summer was when I went to visit my Gypsy family. I hadn't seen them since April and I had missed them. I bought some school supplies then headed to their home. I ran into Susana on the street and she ran to me and threw her arms around me. We walked arm and arm to their home where I was greeted by the entire family. What a blessing! They were constantly hugging me and asking me how I was doing. Their mom, Mandra, gave me a gift when I left, I was truly touched. They are a sweet family. Though they are struggling, they are trusting that God will provide. I love how God works. I went there to bless them but I left blessed myself. I miss them!

Camp Joy

Summer is flying by. Camp Joy was a huge success. A team of 12 of us, Romanian and American worked together to do VBS in 5 different Gypsy villages. We had music, Bible study, crafts and lots of games. We had a lot of fun and I was truly blessed by the kids. Watching them learn about God and His Word.

This has definitely been a summer of growth. I feel like I have been pulled in every direction, allowing God to mold and shape me into the person He has for me to be. I know that I will continue to be pulled out of my comfort zone as I will be starting a sports ministry in Nusfalau. Even though it is so overwhelming at times I am overjoyed with all the possibilities to serve the church and the children.

Please pray with me as I am searching for an apartment so I can move to Simleu from Oradea in September. I am also in search of a car so that I will be able to get out to the villages. Then most importantly working on getting a visa.

Be Blessed!!

Visa update

To anyone who reads my blog, I am sharing my news with you first before sending out an email later this week. Since returning to Romania I have been trying to find someone to help me with getting a visa. When I came back I knew that I would only have the 90 days given to my by my tourist visa (the stamp in my passport). I have a found a wonderful organization and am excited to do ministry with them. The director has invited me out to spend the summer with him and his family in Salaj ministering with them but my 90 days would be up and I would be heading back to the states. So I have come up with a plan..... I am heading home April 21 and will be home til June 17. This will then allow me to be in Romania during the summer and then the visa process will hopefully begin soon after. This is an answer to my prayers and I have complete peace about everything. God has been oh so good to me and I am so so so thankful!!!!!

A little side note and totally random. When I first came back the trees outside of my kitchen were just beginning to show some buds and now they have leaves and are so beautiful. Spring is here which I love, minus the rain. God's beauty is all around us.

Be blessed!!!

Return to Oradea

Back in Romania!!! What a whirlwind of getting back. I arrived on the 18th for the night. Took off to Timisoara. It was a great way to arrive and to see the countryside for 3 hours. You can definitely tell that spring is here. Farmers working their land by hand, the shepherds out with their flocks of sheep and the trees blooming. It is so good to be back here.

My apartment is finally back together and cleaned. I am so excited to go to the center tomorrow and see the kids for the first time in over 5 months. Church today was so good. I couldn't believe the amount of people that kept coming in. It was a packed house and we ran out of chairs. Also what a relief to find out that I hadn't lost all my Romanian. I was able to have some good conversations with the girls from my small group and catch up with them.

What a good day!!! It's good to be home!

Time is flying by

I can't believe how fast my time at home is flying by. I have been home now a little over 3 months and head back to Romania next month. There is so much to do and so many people to see before I leave.

A brief summary of my time at home:
A week in Hilton Head with my grandparents and friend Lyndsay from college
Visiting friends in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Louisville
Playing in the volleyball league at church and winning the tourney
National Missionary Convention
Trip to Newport News Virginia to visit a team that came two summers ago
A wonderful Christmas with my family
Passion Conference in ATL with 22,000 other young adults (so POWERFUL)
Rodeo

There are so many things to be thankful for. I am thankful for all the things that I have been able to take part in.

I cannot wait to get back to Romania and get back into ministry and see the kids that I work with. I also know that it will be hard to say goodbye to all my family and to my new and old friends.

Thank you to those who have been a source of encouragement to me and for those who have supported me last year. I am so excited for what 2010 holds!

Hey everyone!! So I am up at 3:30 in the morning due to a mosquito having a feast on my hands and arms. Ugh!!! So I thought I would share what is going on here in Romania. The past week has been really good. I have been trying to get everything done before I head to the states here in 8 days. 8 DAYS!!! I can hardly believe it!! Saturday I had a wonderful time with my small group from church. We each shared about the struggles we are currently going through and asked each other what the Lord is trying to teach us through them. It was my last meeting with them until I return in February.
I hope the next few days fly by. What I really want to say is I wish it was already Wednesday afternoon and my mom and sister were here!! Soon enough though! Lots to do before they get here and I still need to start packing!!
Not looking forward to saying goodbye to the kids this week.
Well I am gonna try to get back to sleep. Hopefully no more bugs attacking me!
Night all!

Last week was one of the best weeks I have had in Romania. The week started out with me having 3 of the gypsy girls over for a sleepover. After the center that day I went home with them to make sure it was okay with their mother. I was then given a gypsy skirt to buy from the mother. I had been asking for awhile now. So they dressed me up with the skirt and a scarf and we took lots of pictures. We then headed across down to my apartment. We played Uno and watched part of a movie. We then went to McDonalds which was an adventure for sure because two of the girls have never been there before. After we ate we came back and did some craft stuff, they took showers and then went to bed. The next day I made them pancakes and took them to the mall to buy school supplies. Then we headed back to their house where they pulled everything out that I bought them and talked about the whole night. Their mother Mandra was telling me about how she had a limp and her leg had been bothering her and she had been praying and crying out to God to heal her. She has been healed for 3 weeks and she was explaining how she now believes in the power of prayer. She wanted her daughter to write down my name so that she could pray for me and my family. That was a huge moment for me. The people that I came to serve and to minister to are now ministering to me. I really feel like this family has accepted me and I love them to pieces.
Later on in the week, Susanan told me that her older sister had something to tell me that the Lord had laid on her heart. When I recieved the letter the next day I felt so blessed. A fourteen year old girl felt the Lord telling her to tell me something. The letter basically said that God has me in His hands, He loves me and wants the best for me.
Friday I took Ana, the girl that I have been praying for, to the mall for a movie and dinner. We ended up seeing Hannah Montana which was hilarious because I was the oldest person in the theater. We then had pizza and bought school supplies for her and her two sisters. When we got back to her house she pulled out everything to give to her sisters and to show her mother. Her mom started to cry and was so thankful for what I was able to give the girls. She then told me about how her husband and her had gotten divorced and she now has to raise 4 children by herself. But Praise the Lord she found a job and started today.

These two families that I shared about are the two families that I have visited off and on throughout the year. Their children are so precious to me and I will miss them so much while I am in the states. So this was basically a summary of my great week. It may not seem like much but to me, feeling accepted by these families is very important to me. Oh and I almost forgot one of the best parts at least for me. On my way home after dropping Ana off, all the kids were outside in the neighborhood or part of town and they were all yelling at me and came running up to me. These are all kids from Children of the Promise. My heart just swelled up. I was thinking all the way home, the kids love me!!!!!

9 days til my mom and sister get here and 15 days til I will be in the states. So much going on and so much to do before I head out but I can't wait to see friends and family. But I know I will miss the kids and my friends here.