Okay, well I'm officially really bad at blogging. Things have been very busy here in Tinca lately with different teams coming in and plans being made for the lodge where teams will stay.
Last Sunday, the 17th, we had around 123 Americans at church, which was awesome. For the most part, the music is very similar to what we do at home, except in Romanian. Since there were so many Americans there, the worship team would sing in Romanian and then they would to a verse or chorus in English, so that was very cool. Jordan stayed home and Rachel was sick so we rode with Michelle and Urb to church and after church was over, their car wouldn't start. One of the guys from church jump-started their car so we would be able to drive back to Tinca. It turned out that Urb's alternator was broken or something. I don't really know anything about cars.
Monday & Tuesday we had teams from Team Mania come and help with the kids and clean the lodge. They were a big help. Tuesday Jordan & I found out that we have lice, which is always a good time. So that night we did lice treatments. We think I might've gotten it at the beginning of the summer because mine was really bad. Wednesday, Jordan, Brandi, and I took the day off and went into Oradea so Brandi could get a tattoo. We were planning on taking the bus to Oradea but it left at 7:30 in the morning and her appointment wasn't until 2. Mihai found out about it and told us his sons could just take us for 10 lei a piece. So Wednesday morning Mihai's 24 year old son, Cosmin, showed up. He was very attractive...yepp. We've all been boy deprived this summer so yeah, that's all I'm going to say about that. So we got to Oradea and he wouldn't let us pay him, which was super nice. We at lunch at a place called The Lactobar..it was a "retro bistro." So after lunch we walked to the tattoo parlor. While we were there, Jordan and I decided to get our noses pierced. I thought it would hurt a lot more than it did. It wasn't too bad and it was very clean mom, don't worry. The scary part of the day was trying to get a taxi to take us back home to Tinca, which is about an hour drive. We had our address written down so we talked to the taxi driver, kind of. He agreed to take us and he even spoke a little English. It was crazy how cheap it was to take a taxi. It was about 90 lei for the whole ride, which is about $30 USD. So it was $10 each. Back home it would be sooo expensive to take a taxi for an hour drive. But I think we were all just excited that we survived the trip.
Saturday Rachel picked us up to take us to the Center so we could have some internet time but on the way we stopped in the Gypsy village because two of our girls' house caught on fire the night before and she wanted to check it out and see how repairs were going. This was the first time we really got to go into the village and interact with the people. I've been in the village before, but every time it just really gets to me. No one should have to live like these people have to live. It was pretty muddy out from the rain. Some of our girls ran up to us when we got out of the van. Calina, the youngest, was sent home the day before with like two pairs of pants on and when we saw her all she had on was a t-shirt. We all just exchanged looks. There's a big difference between seeing pictures of people living in extreme poverty and then seeing and smelling it for yourself. It make me sad that our kids have to go home to this, but it makes me glad that there are organizations like Forget-Me-Not Ministries who are going out to these villages to help in any way possible. Yesterday we babysat Iza, Simona, Samuel, and Abel while Rachel and Erin went into Oradea to buy things for the lodge. They actually behaved pretty well except Simona was refusing to take a nap. We had to call Rachel and she talked to her and she finally laid down. About 5 minutes later she was in hysterics crying. I went in there to see what was wrong and she was like, there are monsters and they are going to come and kill me! So I held her and Iza looked for monsters in the closets and under the beds and outside. She eventually fell asleep on my lap and I fell asleep with her. Simona has a tendency to get close to people and then push them away. For a 5 year old, she is one angry little girl. But yesterday was one of the sweetest moments I had with her.
It's crazy how many days I have left here. We leave in like 8 days. Part of me is really happy to be able to go back home and see my family and friends and be with the things I am familiar with. God is definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone this summer, and I think it was something I definitely needed. I keep hearing the phrase, God gave you a ticket to go over there and he gave you a ticket to come back. As much as I would love to not get on that plane next week, there's a reason I am going back home. I've been given a great opportunity for a great education. I am a semester and an internship away from finishing my undergrad degree. After that, who knows. Who am I to say what God has in store for me. I never in my life thought I would spend a summer working with gypsies in Romania, until that opportunity opened for me. Now I am just excited and anxious to see what else God has in store for me, I just pray that I will be open and willing.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
It's that time of the week again
It's crazy how fast time is moving here! Here is a little update of this past week...
Saturday
Saturday we went into Oradea to check out the tattoo place. For all of you Harry Potter fans reading this, Brandi already has a phoenix tattooed on her arm, which she got for her cousin, but it is also Dumbledore's patronus in the Harry Potter series. So, she is planning on getting the words "Expecto Patronum" on her forearm with the elder's wand shooting sparks up into the phoenix. It's gonna look really cool so she set up an appointment for next week to get it done. Tattoos here are a lot cheaper than in America, like half the price. After we checked out the tattoo place we went to the mall by the walking street. After Oradea we just hung out at the house.
Sunday
Sunday we went to church at Salem in Oradea. Simona, Samuel, and Abel were also with us. After church we got to treat ourselves to lunch at Capitoleum, it's one of the higher end restaurants in Oradea. It only costs like $15 to eat there and it is soo good. I think most of us got the chicken kiev, which is a chicken breast with some kind of sauce and cheese inside. It's flame. After lunch we did some grocery shopping and then went home.
Monday
We usually don't have the kids on Monday's but there was a team coming so the Isaiah Center was up and running. The same team that came last week came back to help with cleaning and helping with the kids. It was soo hot on Monday, at least 100. Then, in the afternoon it started raining which cooled everything off so that was nice. Then it started hailing which was crazy and scary because the kids kept running into it. Mihai came in to tell us that the house we live in had lost power and we wouldn't have any until the next day so he drove us back there to grab some stuff so we could spend the night at the Center. Rachel, Iza, and Samuel were also spending the night at the Center and Erin and Simona spend the night at Rachel's house. Iza, Samuel, and I watched Tangled together. They were so funny. I was worried Samuel wouldn't be able to follow along with the movie since it is in English but it kept his attention the whole time and he was like "That girl has so much hair!!" It was too cute. It was nice to have some snuggle time. Jordan and I risked getting lice and slept in the kids' beds that they use for naps, but we were lucky and we are still lice free.
Tuesday
Tuesday the Center was closed so we just kind of hung out and did our laundry. Samuel told Rachel that he had a dream that Jordan died and I dug out her eyeballs. I was just like, ohh gosh. Although one part of me hopes that he didn't really dream that and was just saying it, I hate to think that's something he just made up, he's like six years old. Forget-Me-Not Ministries finally closed the deal on the house we have been living it so it was a huge praise. The house will be fixed up and used for teams to come and stay. We were really excited because that meant that Maria would be moving out. She is sweet and all but we are excited to finally have some privacy and not have her family running around the house all the time. We went back to the house and Maria and her family were there but they were in the process of moving everything. There is a huge yard next to the house and it still had all kinds of junk in it so Rachel gave them until the next day to move everything out. So, we had one more night with Maria.
Wednesday
Wednesday the team came back and they were a huge blessing because they were able to go to the lodge and clean rooms. Wednesday was also the first day for us to begin our little stations. Brandi is teaching English, Jordan is doing percussion, and I am doing piano/a little voice. We started with the three oldest, Iza, Abel, and Florica. Iza and Abel were pretty good at following with what I was doing on the piano but Florica was just kind of doing her own thing. If it offers her some kind of outlet to let some stuff out then that's fine with me. We went back home and it was so nice because Maria was finally about to leave. She and her family finally left and Brandi went to go into the shower. Brandi came back in afterwards and asked if Jordan or I were in the kitchen area and we told her no and she told us that her heard someone jiggling the door handle in the kitchen door which leads outside. We were all like, okay that's weird. A little bit later Brandi and I went to go make sure everything was locked up. We went to go outside to lock our front gate and take the key inside when we saw a car pulled up and turned their lights off. At this point we were still inside with the door locked. We saw a man get out of his car and just stand at the gate. We decided this was not normal so we went to our room to go call Rachel and tell Jordan. Then the man started knocking on our door (he had reached over the gate wall to get the key to unlock the gate) and yelling "hello." We asked who it was and it got quiet, which was creepy. At this point we were all pretty scared. Then we heard car doors open and close and the car left. Rachel said she would come by to check things out. She came over and the four of us sat on the front steps on the front porch just to see if anything else would happen. About 15 minutes later the same car came by, saw Rachel's car out front, and did a U-turn and went back the other way. We were all like, ookay well that's weird. Rachel said the car was Maria's son's. After some more time passed nothing else happened so Rachel left and we locked everything up. We were all super paranoid the rest of the night and then we saw a HUGE spider. It was disgusting. I hate spiders so much. Yuck. But yeah, we were all pretty freaked.
Thursday
Mihai came to the house and picked us up since it is so hot right now. We told him what happened and he told us he would find out. We secretly call him Liam Neeson because we just feel like he would judo chop someone in the throat to protect us. We didn't have a team on Thursday so it was nice to have some normal-ness at the Center. After lunch, the kids laid down for their nap. They were asleep until like 4:30! It was crazy. They had to of been super tired. In their homes in the village it's about 10 people in each mudhouse and it's usually only one room, sometimes two. So, they can't get too much sleep when they are at home. We didn't get to do our lessons yesterday because of their meganap, but that was fine, they needed the rest. After the kids got sent home we went home and decided to go swimming in the river that is right across from our house. There are always tons of people down there so we decided to try it out, and it was wonderful. Granted, I probably saw too many guys in speedos that I never wanted to see....yeah. But the water felt great. There's kind of a little island in the middle of the river so we laid our towels and stuff down and went and sat in the water. I feel like this is going to be a daily tradition now.
Friday
Today we had a team come from Aquire the Fire, it was two groups of 18 13-17 year olds. One group got sent to work with kids in the village and the other group stayed at the center and did some skits and lessons with the kids. The kids behaved very well and sat still and listened. Marianna plopped in my lap and cuddled with me while they were doing their lessons. She is usually very loud and crazy so I was kind of surprised she was being very shy around the team. The kiddos are napping now and when we wake up we will do some lessons with them and then we will go home and get in the dirty river and cool off!
Saturday
Saturday we went into Oradea to check out the tattoo place. For all of you Harry Potter fans reading this, Brandi already has a phoenix tattooed on her arm, which she got for her cousin, but it is also Dumbledore's patronus in the Harry Potter series. So, she is planning on getting the words "Expecto Patronum" on her forearm with the elder's wand shooting sparks up into the phoenix. It's gonna look really cool so she set up an appointment for next week to get it done. Tattoos here are a lot cheaper than in America, like half the price. After we checked out the tattoo place we went to the mall by the walking street. After Oradea we just hung out at the house.
Sunday
Sunday we went to church at Salem in Oradea. Simona, Samuel, and Abel were also with us. After church we got to treat ourselves to lunch at Capitoleum, it's one of the higher end restaurants in Oradea. It only costs like $15 to eat there and it is soo good. I think most of us got the chicken kiev, which is a chicken breast with some kind of sauce and cheese inside. It's flame. After lunch we did some grocery shopping and then went home.
Monday
We usually don't have the kids on Monday's but there was a team coming so the Isaiah Center was up and running. The same team that came last week came back to help with cleaning and helping with the kids. It was soo hot on Monday, at least 100. Then, in the afternoon it started raining which cooled everything off so that was nice. Then it started hailing which was crazy and scary because the kids kept running into it. Mihai came in to tell us that the house we live in had lost power and we wouldn't have any until the next day so he drove us back there to grab some stuff so we could spend the night at the Center. Rachel, Iza, and Samuel were also spending the night at the Center and Erin and Simona spend the night at Rachel's house. Iza, Samuel, and I watched Tangled together. They were so funny. I was worried Samuel wouldn't be able to follow along with the movie since it is in English but it kept his attention the whole time and he was like "That girl has so much hair!!" It was too cute. It was nice to have some snuggle time. Jordan and I risked getting lice and slept in the kids' beds that they use for naps, but we were lucky and we are still lice free.
Tuesday
Tuesday the Center was closed so we just kind of hung out and did our laundry. Samuel told Rachel that he had a dream that Jordan died and I dug out her eyeballs. I was just like, ohh gosh. Although one part of me hopes that he didn't really dream that and was just saying it, I hate to think that's something he just made up, he's like six years old. Forget-Me-Not Ministries finally closed the deal on the house we have been living it so it was a huge praise. The house will be fixed up and used for teams to come and stay. We were really excited because that meant that Maria would be moving out. She is sweet and all but we are excited to finally have some privacy and not have her family running around the house all the time. We went back to the house and Maria and her family were there but they were in the process of moving everything. There is a huge yard next to the house and it still had all kinds of junk in it so Rachel gave them until the next day to move everything out. So, we had one more night with Maria.
Wednesday
Wednesday the team came back and they were a huge blessing because they were able to go to the lodge and clean rooms. Wednesday was also the first day for us to begin our little stations. Brandi is teaching English, Jordan is doing percussion, and I am doing piano/a little voice. We started with the three oldest, Iza, Abel, and Florica. Iza and Abel were pretty good at following with what I was doing on the piano but Florica was just kind of doing her own thing. If it offers her some kind of outlet to let some stuff out then that's fine with me. We went back home and it was so nice because Maria was finally about to leave. She and her family finally left and Brandi went to go into the shower. Brandi came back in afterwards and asked if Jordan or I were in the kitchen area and we told her no and she told us that her heard someone jiggling the door handle in the kitchen door which leads outside. We were all like, okay that's weird. A little bit later Brandi and I went to go make sure everything was locked up. We went to go outside to lock our front gate and take the key inside when we saw a car pulled up and turned their lights off. At this point we were still inside with the door locked. We saw a man get out of his car and just stand at the gate. We decided this was not normal so we went to our room to go call Rachel and tell Jordan. Then the man started knocking on our door (he had reached over the gate wall to get the key to unlock the gate) and yelling "hello." We asked who it was and it got quiet, which was creepy. At this point we were all pretty scared. Then we heard car doors open and close and the car left. Rachel said she would come by to check things out. She came over and the four of us sat on the front steps on the front porch just to see if anything else would happen. About 15 minutes later the same car came by, saw Rachel's car out front, and did a U-turn and went back the other way. We were all like, ookay well that's weird. Rachel said the car was Maria's son's. After some more time passed nothing else happened so Rachel left and we locked everything up. We were all super paranoid the rest of the night and then we saw a HUGE spider. It was disgusting. I hate spiders so much. Yuck. But yeah, we were all pretty freaked.
Thursday
Mihai came to the house and picked us up since it is so hot right now. We told him what happened and he told us he would find out. We secretly call him Liam Neeson because we just feel like he would judo chop someone in the throat to protect us. We didn't have a team on Thursday so it was nice to have some normal-ness at the Center. After lunch, the kids laid down for their nap. They were asleep until like 4:30! It was crazy. They had to of been super tired. In their homes in the village it's about 10 people in each mudhouse and it's usually only one room, sometimes two. So, they can't get too much sleep when they are at home. We didn't get to do our lessons yesterday because of their meganap, but that was fine, they needed the rest. After the kids got sent home we went home and decided to go swimming in the river that is right across from our house. There are always tons of people down there so we decided to try it out, and it was wonderful. Granted, I probably saw too many guys in speedos that I never wanted to see....yeah. But the water felt great. There's kind of a little island in the middle of the river so we laid our towels and stuff down and went and sat in the water. I feel like this is going to be a daily tradition now.
Friday
Today we had a team come from Aquire the Fire, it was two groups of 18 13-17 year olds. One group got sent to work with kids in the village and the other group stayed at the center and did some skits and lessons with the kids. The kids behaved very well and sat still and listened. Marianna plopped in my lap and cuddled with me while they were doing their lessons. She is usually very loud and crazy so I was kind of surprised she was being very shy around the team. The kiddos are napping now and when we wake up we will do some lessons with them and then we will go home and get in the dirty river and cool off!
Friday, July 8, 2011
I Wish I was Better at Titles
Okay, here is a recap of this past week.
Friday
Last Friday Rachel picked us up and took us to the Isaiah Center so that Brandi could fulfill some homework requirements. Jordan and I sat in on their meeting and listened to Rachel talk about her time in Romania and how she has gotten to the point she is at now. As I was listening I was just so amazed at everything she has seen and the things she has done. She told us about how she was able to enter an orphanage here and it was just absolutely heartbreaking. The orphanages seem normal at first with babies in cribs. But the babies are tied up in their cribs and as you go room to room you see older children up to 18 years of age who have warped bodies from being tied up in a crib their whole life. Romania is in the process of entering the European Union so they have been trying to clean things up, but the orphanages remain the same, it's just covered up better.
After our meeting with Rachel she took us into Oradea so we could do some site-seeing since we really haven't been able to yet. She dropped us off at walking street which is basically an out-door mall with tons of little shops. It was nice to be able to relax, shop, and eat some Greek food and gelato. Rachel picked us up and took us to the Christian bookstore. We found some Bibles that are bilingual with Romanian and English. They were kind of expensive but I'm really glad I bought one. We drove back to Tinca and had girls night with pizza, hair coloring, and a movie.
Sunday
Sunday we went to church in Oradea. There was a team from Canada visiting for three days so the youth minister from that church gave the message. It was nice to hear some familiar English. After church we hit up MickeyD's and then went to Real to do our grocery shopping. Then we went back to Tinca to finish up some laundry and just relax for the rest of the day.
Monday
Monday was the 4th of July. This was really weird for me to not be home with the food and fireworks. Rachel was super sweet and invited us all for an American celebration. We ordered pizza and watched Independence Day. Abel had spent the weekend with Rachel so Samuel, his brother, showed up knocking on the door of the center. He is sooo funny. He just looks at you with these big eyes and this cheesy smile. He is gonna be a ladies man when he gets older.
Tuesday
Tuesday we had a team from Cincinnati, Ohio come and help out. They were able to start working on a bike rack for employees and the kids and they helped sort out clothes in the attic. We were really excited to have Monica back because the kids actually behaved a little better. Nothing too out of ordinary happened until we went home. Brandi went to go take a shower and came back and saw that there were tons of spiders all over her bed. We all thought that was weird so we started looking around and there were tons all over my clothes hanging on the top bunk of my bed. We decided that an egg must have been in one of the bunk bed poles and it obviously opened. It was probably the grossest thing ever. Blechh I hate spiders.
Wednesday
One of the first things we did when we got to the center was tell Urb what was going on with the spider situation. He was awesome and he took a can of Raid and went to our house and sprayed our room. We went with Mihai to go pick up the kids. We got to Florica, Maria, Simona, and Calina's house and there were a bunch of people yelling. The girls came running to the van and Florica's mom had her by the arm and then I saw her hit her super hard. I had hoped to avoid seeing anything like that this summer. I think the thing that got me the most was that Florica brushed it off like it was no big deal and it happened all the time, because it probably does. I think it just makes me really mad that the government here does not care about the gypsy community. If you report any kind of abuse they say, well that's just how the gypsy's live and that's how they'll always be. Once we got to the center the kids were super excited all day because "Mama Erina" was coming. Erin stayed with Rachel for a year right when the center first opened. Now she comes back for a few weeks every summer to visit with the kids.
Thursday
Thursday was hot. It's been pretty cool here so far which has been awesome but yesterday it was sooo stinkin hot! Erin came right before the kids laid down for their nap. She is super sweet. The kids were soo funny, they were so excited. After the kids woke up there was a water fight with water guns. I found this big water gun so I chased after them and got some of them pretty good. Abel thought it would be funny to put soap in with his water and then it got in my mouth. Yuckkk.
Friday
Today Erin brought the kids a bunch of surprises. She got them some super cute clothes and little toys and a Toy Story slip-n-slide. Next thing we knew the kids were stripping their clothes off and going through the slip-n-slide. They loved it and were hilarious. The kids are napping now and probably will for about another two hours. Then they will get up and play or do a craft until it's time for them to go back to their homes. It's not my favorite thing to send them home at the end of the day, knowing what they go back home to, but it's important for them to maintain that relationship with their family, otherwise they will never want to go home.
Friday
Last Friday Rachel picked us up and took us to the Isaiah Center so that Brandi could fulfill some homework requirements. Jordan and I sat in on their meeting and listened to Rachel talk about her time in Romania and how she has gotten to the point she is at now. As I was listening I was just so amazed at everything she has seen and the things she has done. She told us about how she was able to enter an orphanage here and it was just absolutely heartbreaking. The orphanages seem normal at first with babies in cribs. But the babies are tied up in their cribs and as you go room to room you see older children up to 18 years of age who have warped bodies from being tied up in a crib their whole life. Romania is in the process of entering the European Union so they have been trying to clean things up, but the orphanages remain the same, it's just covered up better.
After our meeting with Rachel she took us into Oradea so we could do some site-seeing since we really haven't been able to yet. She dropped us off at walking street which is basically an out-door mall with tons of little shops. It was nice to be able to relax, shop, and eat some Greek food and gelato. Rachel picked us up and took us to the Christian bookstore. We found some Bibles that are bilingual with Romanian and English. They were kind of expensive but I'm really glad I bought one. We drove back to Tinca and had girls night with pizza, hair coloring, and a movie.
Sunday
Sunday we went to church in Oradea. There was a team from Canada visiting for three days so the youth minister from that church gave the message. It was nice to hear some familiar English. After church we hit up MickeyD's and then went to Real to do our grocery shopping. Then we went back to Tinca to finish up some laundry and just relax for the rest of the day.
Monday
Monday was the 4th of July. This was really weird for me to not be home with the food and fireworks. Rachel was super sweet and invited us all for an American celebration. We ordered pizza and watched Independence Day. Abel had spent the weekend with Rachel so Samuel, his brother, showed up knocking on the door of the center. He is sooo funny. He just looks at you with these big eyes and this cheesy smile. He is gonna be a ladies man when he gets older.
Tuesday
Tuesday we had a team from Cincinnati, Ohio come and help out. They were able to start working on a bike rack for employees and the kids and they helped sort out clothes in the attic. We were really excited to have Monica back because the kids actually behaved a little better. Nothing too out of ordinary happened until we went home. Brandi went to go take a shower and came back and saw that there were tons of spiders all over her bed. We all thought that was weird so we started looking around and there were tons all over my clothes hanging on the top bunk of my bed. We decided that an egg must have been in one of the bunk bed poles and it obviously opened. It was probably the grossest thing ever. Blechh I hate spiders.
Wednesday
One of the first things we did when we got to the center was tell Urb what was going on with the spider situation. He was awesome and he took a can of Raid and went to our house and sprayed our room. We went with Mihai to go pick up the kids. We got to Florica, Maria, Simona, and Calina's house and there were a bunch of people yelling. The girls came running to the van and Florica's mom had her by the arm and then I saw her hit her super hard. I had hoped to avoid seeing anything like that this summer. I think the thing that got me the most was that Florica brushed it off like it was no big deal and it happened all the time, because it probably does. I think it just makes me really mad that the government here does not care about the gypsy community. If you report any kind of abuse they say, well that's just how the gypsy's live and that's how they'll always be. Once we got to the center the kids were super excited all day because "Mama Erina" was coming. Erin stayed with Rachel for a year right when the center first opened. Now she comes back for a few weeks every summer to visit with the kids.
Thursday
Thursday was hot. It's been pretty cool here so far which has been awesome but yesterday it was sooo stinkin hot! Erin came right before the kids laid down for their nap. She is super sweet. The kids were soo funny, they were so excited. After the kids woke up there was a water fight with water guns. I found this big water gun so I chased after them and got some of them pretty good. Abel thought it would be funny to put soap in with his water and then it got in my mouth. Yuckkk.
Friday
Today Erin brought the kids a bunch of surprises. She got them some super cute clothes and little toys and a Toy Story slip-n-slide. Next thing we knew the kids were stripping their clothes off and going through the slip-n-slide. They loved it and were hilarious. The kids are napping now and probably will for about another two hours. Then they will get up and play or do a craft until it's time for them to go back to their homes. It's not my favorite thing to send them home at the end of the day, knowing what they go back home to, but it's important for them to maintain that relationship with their family, otherwise they will never want to go home.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
And the exhaustion sets in
We are about halfway through our stay in Romania and I think we are all feeling it. I am so tired. Like, more tired than I have ever been in my life. Spiritually, physically, and emotionally I am drained. We are tired but we are pushing on.
This week has definitely been the hardest for us. Monica, the woman who helps us translate to the kids and is the main Bible teacher, left for the week to go to a camp. So, the three of us got to plan the lesson time, which was really cool to be able to do that, but hard since the kids didn't want to listen to us. They are a sneaky bunch of kiddos and they think that since we don't understand them they can do whatever they want.
Today a family from Holland came with a bunch of shoes, stuffed animals, and a walker for Alex. This is a big blessing for him because it will help his legs get stronger so that he will be able to walk on his own soon. The girls made one of the visitors bleed so five of them got put in time-out and later they will have to do some kind of chore. After nap time, the kids who didn't get in trouble today will get to play in the water while the others have to just sit and watch. This is a new way of discipline for them because they are just used to getting knocked around at home.
But besides that one incident today, this is the best the kids have behaved all week. Which is a huge praise because they have been pretty bad this week. Please be praying for the kids. I can only imagine the kind of stuff they see at home which makes them act the way they do. It shouldn't be a first instinct for a little 4 year old girl to spit in her hand and slap another girl across the face. It just shouldn't. I know what we see here isn't even the worst that goes on at home. And that's what I think scares me the most.
This week has definitely been the hardest for us. Monica, the woman who helps us translate to the kids and is the main Bible teacher, left for the week to go to a camp. So, the three of us got to plan the lesson time, which was really cool to be able to do that, but hard since the kids didn't want to listen to us. They are a sneaky bunch of kiddos and they think that since we don't understand them they can do whatever they want.
Today a family from Holland came with a bunch of shoes, stuffed animals, and a walker for Alex. This is a big blessing for him because it will help his legs get stronger so that he will be able to walk on his own soon. The girls made one of the visitors bleed so five of them got put in time-out and later they will have to do some kind of chore. After nap time, the kids who didn't get in trouble today will get to play in the water while the others have to just sit and watch. This is a new way of discipline for them because they are just used to getting knocked around at home.
But besides that one incident today, this is the best the kids have behaved all week. Which is a huge praise because they have been pretty bad this week. Please be praying for the kids. I can only imagine the kind of stuff they see at home which makes them act the way they do. It shouldn't be a first instinct for a little 4 year old girl to spit in her hand and slap another girl across the face. It just shouldn't. I know what we see here isn't even the worst that goes on at home. And that's what I think scares me the most.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Weekly Recap
Sunday we all loaded up in the van and headed to church in Oradea. It's so cool to hear songs that we sing in church in America but they are doing it in Romanian. They sang 'The Stand' which is a powerful song in itself but in Romanian it was just even more powerful. You could definitely feel God's presence there. There was a team from Chicago there so the sermon was in English and they translated it into Romanian. It was nice to hear a familiar accent and language. The message was very powerful and charismatic, which was very different for me. After the sermon they had a time of healing for anyone who wanted to be healed. They also said that if anyone was touched by the sermon to come up to the front to be prayed for and probably 3/4ths of the congregation went up to the front. It was pretty awesome to see.
After church we did our weekly McDonald's tradition. We traveled back to Tinca to go to a big baptism celebration. Rodica, the woman who cooks at the Center, had a daughter who was being baptized. There were about 12 altogether and hundreds of people came out to see the event. I think it was even broadcasted on the radio because they brought in a famous Romanian speaker. It was neat to see how they approach baptisms here. They make the people take a class and they are generally 16-20 years old when they make that decision. They take it very seriously over here.
This was about a 5 hour event. Afterwards we went to Rodica's house to celebrate with some sarmale, aka cabbage rolls.
Monday we went over to Rachel's to just hang out and help her get ready for her parents' arrival.
Tuesday we picked up the kiddos and got them dressed. The team from church on Sunday from Chicago came to the center for a few hours and do some skits hang out with the kids. They wanted to pray for all of the staff so we got in the middle of their circle and they began to pray. Then they started speaking in tongues. Now, I'm not saying that I don't believe that this stuff can happen, but as far as I have been taught there needs to be a translator or something to interpret. And there wasn't. I know they were doing it out of a good spirit and heart but honestly it just made us feel kind of uncomfortable. After a little bit we went with them to the village to pray for the kids' families. We stopped at Abel and Samuel's house first, then Alex's, and then David and Naomi's. David and Naomi's mom became paralyzed from the waist down after she gave birth to David. The team prayed for her but they were like, if you have faith then you will start walking right now. I looked at Jordan and Brandi like whaaaaaaaat? It was just really hard for me to not cry and I was fighting back tears because this woman was sobbing saying that she believed but she couldn't walk. It was just heartbreaking. The team left the room and Dave stayed and talked with her to tell her it was okay and basically just made sure that our relationship with this family wasn't ruined because they are one of the few Christian families of the kids. We went back and hung out with the kids for the rest of the day.
Wednesday was Iza's 8th birthday. The girl loves Hunchback of Notre Dame because the main girl character is a gypsy. Rachel was talking about how Iza gets made fun of at school all the time because she is a gypsy and so it's pretty cool that she can find a strong female gypsy to look up to like Esmerelda. So Iza dressed up like Esmerelda, her grandpa dressed up as the jester, and Dave dressed up like Quasimodo. After the kids' nap they had a big party with chocolate cake from America, gypsy skirts, moustaches, and water guns. I was soaked and exhausted by the end of it.
Today the kids have varied from insane to cuddlebugs. They are napping right now and they probably will for about another hour. Today we taught Abel how to say "you cray-cray." He thinks it's hilarious and so do we. The team from Chicago came back to go into the gypsy village. Dave talked with the translator to have him tell that if any of them were planning on forcing miracles then they shouldn't go. Especially with all the superstition that the gypsy's believe in it probably would be a bad idea to tell a woman that it's basically her fault she can't walk. But one of the girls from the team came in and apologized for the other day so that was good.
Tonight we might go into Oradea with Rachel for a bit and then we'll probably all pass out for a good night's sleep.
After church we did our weekly McDonald's tradition. We traveled back to Tinca to go to a big baptism celebration. Rodica, the woman who cooks at the Center, had a daughter who was being baptized. There were about 12 altogether and hundreds of people came out to see the event. I think it was even broadcasted on the radio because they brought in a famous Romanian speaker. It was neat to see how they approach baptisms here. They make the people take a class and they are generally 16-20 years old when they make that decision. They take it very seriously over here.
This was about a 5 hour event. Afterwards we went to Rodica's house to celebrate with some sarmale, aka cabbage rolls.
Monday we went over to Rachel's to just hang out and help her get ready for her parents' arrival.
Tuesday we picked up the kiddos and got them dressed. The team from church on Sunday from Chicago came to the center for a few hours and do some skits hang out with the kids. They wanted to pray for all of the staff so we got in the middle of their circle and they began to pray. Then they started speaking in tongues. Now, I'm not saying that I don't believe that this stuff can happen, but as far as I have been taught there needs to be a translator or something to interpret. And there wasn't. I know they were doing it out of a good spirit and heart but honestly it just made us feel kind of uncomfortable. After a little bit we went with them to the village to pray for the kids' families. We stopped at Abel and Samuel's house first, then Alex's, and then David and Naomi's. David and Naomi's mom became paralyzed from the waist down after she gave birth to David. The team prayed for her but they were like, if you have faith then you will start walking right now. I looked at Jordan and Brandi like whaaaaaaaat? It was just really hard for me to not cry and I was fighting back tears because this woman was sobbing saying that she believed but she couldn't walk. It was just heartbreaking. The team left the room and Dave stayed and talked with her to tell her it was okay and basically just made sure that our relationship with this family wasn't ruined because they are one of the few Christian families of the kids. We went back and hung out with the kids for the rest of the day.
Wednesday was Iza's 8th birthday. The girl loves Hunchback of Notre Dame because the main girl character is a gypsy. Rachel was talking about how Iza gets made fun of at school all the time because she is a gypsy and so it's pretty cool that she can find a strong female gypsy to look up to like Esmerelda. So Iza dressed up like Esmerelda, her grandpa dressed up as the jester, and Dave dressed up like Quasimodo. After the kids' nap they had a big party with chocolate cake from America, gypsy skirts, moustaches, and water guns. I was soaked and exhausted by the end of it.
Today the kids have varied from insane to cuddlebugs. They are napping right now and they probably will for about another hour. Today we taught Abel how to say "you cray-cray." He thinks it's hilarious and so do we. The team from Chicago came back to go into the gypsy village. Dave talked with the translator to have him tell that if any of them were planning on forcing miracles then they shouldn't go. Especially with all the superstition that the gypsy's believe in it probably would be a bad idea to tell a woman that it's basically her fault she can't walk. But one of the girls from the team came in and apologized for the other day so that was good.
Tonight we might go into Oradea with Rachel for a bit and then we'll probably all pass out for a good night's sleep.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Week One
It's been a good week so far working with Forget-Me-Not Ministries. Every morning we walk/ride our bikes/ or get a ride to the Isaiah Center which is just about a mile down the road from where we are living. We ride in the van to the gypsy part of Tinca. It's amazing how in just a few blocks you can go from nice houses to extreme poverty. It's the norm for little kids to just run around naked and by themselves. When we picked up the kids on Tuesday you could tell they had a long weekend. Sweet little Simona just sat there and sucked her thumb. It really just makes you want to walk up to their parents and smack them in the face for all of the physical and sexual abuse that these kids go through, but you can't.
It's been a fun few days getting to know the kids' different personalities. They are a crazy, rowdy bunch. Friday and Saturday people are coming to the Center to talk to the staff about how to deal with these kids since they are all special needs. They all pretty much have reactive attachment disorder and they look for you to get angry and hit them because that's what it's like at home and that's what comforts them. It's really sad but it is amazing how every year the kids have improved. It just gives hope that maybe one day they will be the ones to end the cycle of abuse in the gypsy community.
It's been a fun few days getting to know the kids' different personalities. They are a crazy, rowdy bunch. Friday and Saturday people are coming to the Center to talk to the staff about how to deal with these kids since they are all special needs. They all pretty much have reactive attachment disorder and they look for you to get angry and hit them because that's what it's like at home and that's what comforts them. It's really sad but it is amazing how every year the kids have improved. It just gives hope that maybe one day they will be the ones to end the cycle of abuse in the gypsy community.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Salem, Selgros, & Sunshine
Yesterday the three of us got picked up by Rach, Dave, Iza, and Samuel and we went to Oradea to go to church at Salem. The church service was about 3 hours long which I know probably seems like a nightmare to some people, but it amazingly goes by pretty fast and is pretty awesome. Rachel translated a lot of service to us so we could understand what was going on. It's really cool how they do some of the same songs that we do in contemporary church services in America but in their language. It's a good reminder that we all worship the same God despite a different language and culture.
After church we stopped through McDonald's and got some lunch and then went to Selgros to go grocery shopping. I think this was a little more overwhelming than we thought it would be. Jordan, Brandi, and I exchanged some money and grabbed a shopping cart and started to explore. Selgros is like Wal-Mart on crack. The bad part was that we couldn't read any of the labels so it made shopping difficult. We got lots of fresh fruit & veggies, meat, and bread. We also got some huge 6L bottles of water for the week since we can't drink the water in Tinca without getting dysentery or something fun like that. We also found this stuff that's like Nutella but a different name and is super cheap and delicious.
We got home around 4:30 and took like a 3 hour nap. It was awesome. Then we just kinda hung out around the house. We noticed that there were a lot of people just kinda walking around in the house so that was kind of weird at first. Maria's family had come over to do a cookout type thing. One of her sons who spoke English came in our room and invited us to go outside and hang out with them. They were all super nice and hospitable. It's really hard to say no to people when they offer you things here.
This morning we were all pretty much wide awake around 7 AM so we went outside to go lay out in the sun. Maria gave us blankets and insisted we go lay out in the huge field next to the house that has a bunch of chickens, tires, and just random things. We laid out there for a little bit and then went inside to get ready for the day. Now we are at the Center just hanging out and will probably work on organizing some stuff. Tomorrow is our first day with the kids!
After church we stopped through McDonald's and got some lunch and then went to Selgros to go grocery shopping. I think this was a little more overwhelming than we thought it would be. Jordan, Brandi, and I exchanged some money and grabbed a shopping cart and started to explore. Selgros is like Wal-Mart on crack. The bad part was that we couldn't read any of the labels so it made shopping difficult. We got lots of fresh fruit & veggies, meat, and bread. We also got some huge 6L bottles of water for the week since we can't drink the water in Tinca without getting dysentery or something fun like that. We also found this stuff that's like Nutella but a different name and is super cheap and delicious.
We got home around 4:30 and took like a 3 hour nap. It was awesome. Then we just kinda hung out around the house. We noticed that there were a lot of people just kinda walking around in the house so that was kind of weird at first. Maria's family had come over to do a cookout type thing. One of her sons who spoke English came in our room and invited us to go outside and hang out with them. They were all super nice and hospitable. It's really hard to say no to people when they offer you things here.
This morning we were all pretty much wide awake around 7 AM so we went outside to go lay out in the sun. Maria gave us blankets and insisted we go lay out in the huge field next to the house that has a bunch of chickens, tires, and just random things. We laid out there for a little bit and then went inside to get ready for the day. Now we are at the Center just hanging out and will probably work on organizing some stuff. Tomorrow is our first day with the kids!
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