Summer Fun!

We had 6 weeks of camps with one other mini day camp for an orphanage with some special needs girls. We had around 120 kids in attendance. Over the summer we had 10 American team members. We also had about 15 of our graduates return to be Sefi de Trib, or Tribe leaders (counselors), along with 2 girls from a local youth group. There were so many amazing moments of camp that I couldn't begin to pick one or describe them all. So here are some visual favorites to give you a taste!

June 2019

For Us June is always the wrapping up of the school year and the big inhale to start summer ministry. For me that means a lot of juggling, trying to make sure all the details are thought through, all of the ministry supplies are located or purchased, the right documentation has been submitted and approved by orphanage officials to be able to bring the kids to camps, and making sure our staff and volunteers are ready on every level. This means I'm having lots of meetings, working on lots of lists, schedules, and documents plus shopping and gathering materials. Because we did camps down at our Boys Transition House this year for the first time we had quite a bit of prepping happening there to get the facility ready, which I wrote about in earlier blogs. Whew! As I look back it was definitely worth it! We had only 1 of the 4 of the young people which started the Transition program in the fall graduate. The other three succumbed to the pull of leaving Romania to work in Western Europe. We are very proud of Angie that she completed the program well and were able to have a small graduation ceremony and pool party for her. Ruthie and Karla finished their school years with Ruthie finishing second grade and Karla her second year of preschool. For the first time, Ruthie went away to overnight camp. She went to Tennis camp at the Black Sea. She did pretty well! We had a couple of work days down at the camp and I'm really pleased with how things turned out. Our theme was Kujua, which means "to Know" We presented to overall plan of God from Adam and Eve to the need for sacrifices, to Jesus coming to be our ultimate sacrifice, and the hope of heaven. This was done using a Hume Lake curriculum and we had a camp setting. We were also able to take most of our Romanian counselors down for a day of mock camp in prep for the summer. We took them through a day and let them play and be campers. We ended the day with a pray time around the camp. One of my favorite moments of the day was walking around the camp and seeing our kids that are new grown up adults, praying for the camps that were to come. June 24th camps began! Ready or not!!!.....

Team Time

For two weeks in May we had a team of 14 from the Biola Conservatory of Music. Bob Feller, has been a friend of H2H for many years and brings a group every other spring. This year he had 11 students and 2 friends join him. Out of the group we had a very unusual occurrence--more men then women in the group! During team time I do a lot of talking and driving. If you've ever been on a team with us, these two pictures probably look familiar! One of the projects with all the willing hands on this team was to work on getting things ready for summer camp. And work we did! We built a outdoor canopy, moved and built furniture, painted, worked on decorations, made benches and tables and did some cleaning, among other things! I was impressed by the willingness to jump in and the dedication to work long hours. We got more done then I anticipated! I took a fall off off a scafolding table during the work. I banged up my right side pretty good. I'm still feeling the effects in my right arm. Pray for healing for me, that this won't hamper what needs to get done for the summer! The group was also able to do several concerts and music teaching with the kids and community. The quality of music was great and I know that everyone enjoyed it. The kids that have been learning instruments with Heather were also greatly encouraged by fellow musicians. While down at the Boys Transition House, preparing for camp, I was able to feed my roots....You can take a girl from the farm, but you can't take the farm from the girl! The BTH is in the country, surrounded by fields and farmers. A few fellow adventurers, from the team, take a morning walk with me each day. We walked the hills and the fields. One day, we explored an old vineyard. It was one of the best in Romania, until the communist party took it over and destroyed it. It is now ruins. We enjoyed exploring them. We enjoyed it so much we went back another day, with their instruments so they could play in the old hall. Thanks Biola for another great time of ministry, growing and learning together!

Spring Fun

Highlights of April: Field trips: The Peris school asked us to help provide transport for their classes to go on field trips. We had two days of activities. The first day we went to the Natural History Museum and the park and the second day we went to the zoo and to McDonalds. The kids enjoyed the days and the teachers were very grateful for the help, without which they wouldn't have been able to take the kids anywhere. Nicu was my special friend at the zoo. He started wandering off and I told him to stick with me and he did. He had my arm for the rest of the day. He was recently removed from the orphanage to a different location as punishment for an event from a year ago, which makes the memory of this day extra special. Please pray for Nicu. He has had an on again, off again relationship with God and H2H for awhile. He has a big heart and I pray that God protects him and that the things that he's learned over the years sustain him during this time. I pray that he will come out of this stronger in faith. Easter: The other highlight of the month was celebrating Easter. This is always a big H2H family event. We have a big meal and a legendary egg hunt. Here are some favorites from the day!