The Whirlwind Continues

Has it only been a month since I lasted posted!!! It feels as if time has gone very fast but the beginning of March seems like a very long time ago! Life continues to be full and very busy. There are many things going on with both H2H and the Ukrainian refugee project as well. Corni and I have continued to teach at Peris. I've continued to really enjoy this time. I feel as if we've been able to build connections with all of the kids now. This school is a combination of kids from the orphanage and poor children from the town. The kids from the orphanage know us well, but the children from town have gotten to know us and we've built new bridges. Yesterday we had a special afternoon of Easter activities with them. I used the resurrection eggs to tell the story of Easter. What stood out to me was that the kids from the orphanage knew the answers. They knew what the item in each egg represented from the story of Jesus and his crucifixion and resurrection. The children from the town didn’t know. It was a reminder for me of the importance of consistency and proof that teaching children the truth does pay off. We ended the day with Bingo (their favorite activity) and a Easter egg hunt outside.

I have a new staff member that has arrived. Her name is Caterina, but most people call her Cat. She was born in Romania and then adopted by an American family when she was four. She came back for a visit in 2010 and met H2H and has come back on 3 short-term teams and internships with us before deciding to join our staff. She's made an initial three year commitment to serve with us. One of the parts of my job is to help integrate new staff into life with our foundation and in Romania in general. That means lots of talking, showing the ropes and teaching how to navigate the public transportation system in Bucuresti. She has begun Romanian language lessons. We are happy to have a new addition!

Currently, two of my staff members Nicu and Melissa Perghel, are on furlough in the US. They are the administrators of the Boys Transition Program, so with them gone, I’ve had the two boys that are currently in the program staying with me at the team house. My favorite part has been morning devotions with them. We’ve been going through the book of James and I’ve really enjoyed teaching them and having good discussions about living out our faith. They’ve also done work projects with some of the other staff, continued academic tutoring and classes, and have helped out at the orphanage and refugee centers. Andrei started an internship at a job. Because of some special needs that Andrei has, we were anxious to see how he would handle a job. So far he’s done really well and the construction company that he is working with has talked with us about hiring him full time when he graduates from our program in a couple of months.

The refugee crisis has continued to be a big part of life here. The church that I attend has grouped with several other churches and organizations to give some organization and structure to the aid that we can offer. It is called UBC22. We have three locations that can house refugees. A large church in the city center is our intake center and temporary housing/transition center. People can stay there if they need a place for 1-3 nights and are just passing through. Our Snagov house, which is a H2H property, is for people that need to stay 1-2 weeks, and then we have a camp outside of the city for people that need to stay long term. So far we’ve had 1573 people that have passed through or are still receiving aid. In the first weeks I helped at the main location, but once we got Snagov ready to take in people my efforts shifted to help maintain that house and keep things organized and running there. I have several other people from my church that are in charge of transport and purchasing items, and I can assist when I have time from my other ministry. I go a few times a week and check in and spend time with them. I have had many special moments. I met a little girl named Masha and we played mister potato head for a long time which turned into hide and go seek. We could not speak the same language but being able to help her smile and laugh was precious. One of the mom’s said “you helped her forget about the war and be a child.”