Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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It’s going to be tough to leave Viile Tecii…..I have gotten more attached to the ministry and people here than anywhere else we have been thus far. I want to give you an update about what specifically we have been doing over the last couple weeks, but I feel like it’s going to be hard to cover everything there is so much. God has blessed us this month with SO many ministry opportunities. Here are some highlights:

 
Some of us have been visiting the local orphanage every week since here, Tuesday through Friday in the afternoons. The orphanage here has been unlike any other we have visited. It is by far the nicest one, facility wise, we have been to. They house approximately 46 kids or so and the kids are a mixture of Romanian and Gypsy. The kids there CLING to you! It’s so hard to leave them everyday. We’ve been able to have some encouraging conversations (a handful of the kids speak English), playing games and just hanging out hopefully showing them Christ’s love. Going so often we’ve been able to build closer relationships and pour more into their lives. Yesterday was our last day there and we had to say goodbye….it’s the first time I’ve cried saying goodbye during our ministry work. When we started to say goodbye I think I’d already gotten to a point where I was telling myself, “ok we are leaving here soon…just say goodbye and move on, don’t cry….you won’t cry….” ….yeah, that didn’t last long, ha. The kids started hugging us and saying their goodbyes. Before I knew it one of the little girls I’d gotten closer to runs up to me, wraps her arms around my neck SO tight then in my ear said, “I love you so much” ….yeah….I couldn’t hold back after that and my tears started. As we continued with the goodbye’s one of the little boys, Paul, just kept hugging and hugging me. I finally picked him up and he put his cheek to my tear drenched face saying, “I love you” and gave me the sweetest little kiss on my cheek. I could tell you more goodbye stories but as I write I am brought to tears again…Oh man, how hard it was to leave them!! 
 
Here are some pics from the orphanage….they have these pretty yellow flowers everywhere and the kids love them.  They put them in our hair.  They also really love the peace sign, haha……..
                          

 

Not only have we gotten attached to the kids at the orphanage but also to the people of this community. Our contacts have been AMAZING and we’ve gotten so close to them. I’ve felt like we’ve truly become apart of the community here. We’ve gotten to know neighbors down the road, people in the churches we’ve visited; we’ve had the opportunity to share stories with these people and them with us. We’ve truly been able to share life and love with everyone here. I think they’ve taught me more about God’s community and true Christ centered love than I feel like I have them. They have made me feel so at home I feel like I’ve been here forever….and I don’t want to leave….but I am called to move on.

What next? We’ve actually found out that we WILL be staying in Romania another month. Because of a “glitch” we unfortunately will not be making the journey to the Ukraine next month. Although we’ll be staying in country we will be moving on from Viile Tecii. We will be traveling Monday night about 6 hours or so to right outside Buckerest. There we will be meeting up with all of the squad and will be doing ministry there for the month. At the end of the month AIM is having a huge conference for staff and alumni that we will be attending.   

And now for the pics, haha….I have taken so many here it’s hard to pick and choose which ones to put up. If you check the to left under my “browse photos” tab you can see even more if you like J. 
 
One of the kids I got closest to at the orphanage was a sweet little girl named Alexandra.  She loved taking pics and making silly 
faces!  Haha.  Here are just a few…..
 
 
Miss her already!