A Van Horn Weekend

Let me first tell you a little bit about the Van Horn’s. Melvyn and Bonnie Van Horn are from Texas!! They, along with their youngest daughter Hannah, are here in Romania as missionaries. They live in Lugoj which is a city about 40 minutes from Pestere where my team is living this month. They work with orphans and widows and during the Summer work with several churches to put on Vacation Bible School. 

We met the Van Horn’s our first weekend in Pestere and that same day they asked if they could have us over for dinner or for a day. Both my team and they were so on board for this I think mainly because contact with another family from the States is rare, especially Christian families. 

What Melvyn worked out with our host is for my team to come stay with him and his family at their house in Lugoj for a whole weekend, Friday through Monday. I cannot tell you how much my team enjoyed this past weekend. Wonderful, amazing, needed, great, fantastic were all used when we discussed our time with them together after getting back to Apa Vie. 

Our time with them was definitely relaxing and we got to have a lot of fun. We played games, watched movies or tv shows, talked, ate a lot of food, went bowling, but we also got to help them prepare for VBS that starts for them on the 20th. They are doing Ocean themed VBS and so we cut out fish to make a mural, drew turtles, sea horses, dolphins and sharks and several of us painted them. We also traced a Bible verse in Romanian and colored that in. It was all a lot of fun and we got really creative. One of my favorite projects that we did though was the jellyfish. We took large plastic (throwaway) bowls and spray painted them neon orange and hot pink. Then we took plastic table cloths (pink, orange and light green) and cut them into strips, stretched/stressed them and then taped them to the inside sides of the bowl. Turn them over and you have jelly fish. They looked so cute, and my whole team enjoyed helping them with these projects. 

Today was our last day with them and they wanted us to come with them as they went to visit a few widows. Oh how obvious it was the love that these women have for Bonnie. They were so delighted to see her and Melvyn (and I guess us too). When they received their Bibles you could see on their faces how much it meant. Even though the Bibles are in large print, two of the women will still need to get reading glasses to read them and Bonnie and Melvyn are planning on helping them with that now. 

As we went to the houses we got to visit with these women. How heart breaking it was at times and how joyful it was at others. These women are treasures, they are such treasures. I’m so glad that they have Melvyn and Bonnie who so obviously love and care for them, who pour into them spiritually as well as see to their physical needs as well. 

 

This family, the Van Horns, really impacted my life this weekend. Not only was it amazing to feel like I was a part of a family, it was wonderful to just see their heart for Romania and their vision for why they are here. 

 

Till Next Time,

Kara Faber