Oh my goodness it is month 11 of this amazing journey I
began 10 months ago. We are now in Romania and working with Casa Shalom. Our
contact is an American woman named Becky who had a passion for reaching out to
the children here in Romania, especially the gypsy children. When she first
started Casa Shalom it was an orphanage but when the government changed it
became too expensive for her to keep the orphanage open due to all the new
government regulation that were set into place. Now Casa Shalom is a place
where different groups come to use the facilities and also they use it to hold
their own camps for kids.
Last week we had the opportunity to help work a church camp
that came to use the facilities here. We were able to be apart of the programs
as well as helping the staff in the kitchen and with games. The purpose of the
camp was to have a Bible memorization tournament. They had sessions during they
day were the kids would compete to test their knowledge of the verses they were
supposed to have memorized. What was amazing to see was the change that some of
the kids went through during just the four days they were here. They all came
in with an amazing knowledge of the Bible but by the time they left the
realized the importance of understanding what the Word was actually saying. It
isn’t just about knowing, it is about understanding. The passion that we were
able to see in these kids and be apart of praying for them was so great.
I have found a new love for doing work behind the senses. We
have done everything from clean rooms, clean bathrooms, wash dishes, chop
vegetables, sweep floors, mop floors, pull weeds, wash dishes, pull weeds, wash
dishes, and just any other odds and ends that needed to be done. It has been
amazing to see how just doing the small things can be such a great help.
(So we are really good at unpacking but then we had to clean up our mess for camp.)
Our time here so far has been great. We get to have a great
experience tomorrow by going to see the Jon Bon Jovi concert in front of the
Parliament Building in downtown Bucharest. Can’t wait! (pictures to come later)
(Oh and we have been able to do all this with our two amazing squad leaders, Tricia and Andrew.)
P.S. I want to open up the opportunity for anyone and every
to ask any question that you might have about my experiences on this trip. I am
willing to answer any question big or small, spiritual or not spiritual, deep
or just surface level. You all have been such a huge part of this race for me
as well so I want to thank you so much for the comments and prays you have sent
my way. Thank you for all your support and love throughout this trip.
So either leave your questions in the comment box or email
me at: [email protected] and I will write a
follow-up blog answering each and every one.
