Being Present I am a doer. It is in my DNA. I grew up in a family of doers. I grew up in a church of doers. I value hard work and productivity and honestly feel my best at the end of a full day where a lot was accomplished. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a doer, but in this last season God has been reminding me that doing is not as important as being. Even pre-covid, H2H and the atmosphere of the Romanian orphanage has been changing. There is a huge movement to reduce the number of children in the institutions. That is a great concept, and one that we’ve worked toward and prayed for for years. But, it has changed the feel. The days of pulling up in the van and having 50 kids running and yelling “americani!” are over. The numbers of kids in one facility have been dramatically reduced. The kids are still glad to see us, but the mob mentality and hype are not still present. I miss it! I don’t like the change. I miss the numbers and the hype and the thrill of the kids running and shouting that I had arrived. Who doesn’t like the feel of people being thrilled that you’ve arrived? I also don’t particularly like change. I like to know what the schedule is and what the program will look like and which kids I will see on what days. Then covid hit and the changes kept coming. The accessibility to the kids was reduced or even removed for a season. I was called back to the US to support my Dad and family as he fought for his life. Back to Romania then back to the US for furlough and called to support my second family as Mark Gregory lost his life. Wave after wave of change and grief on different levels. I’ve been back in Romania, since January and God has been reminding me that He is God and I am not. He doesn’t need me to do anything. He occasionally chooses to use me in a situation but He wants me to be present with Him and let Him work. One of the reminders of that came on March 9th as Heather, Nicu and I sat outside of the hospital awaiting news of what was happening inside with Melissa (one of our staff) and baby Oliver. Just a few hours earlier Melissa’s water broke, 6 weeks early. As we sat and waited Nicu said. “Jen, you really have been there through my whole life. From when I was 9 and brought to the orphanage, to when I was in high school and you visited me there and made sure I was doing my homework, to the transition program, my baptism, my wedding, my joining H2H staff, and now sitting with me while my first child is being born.” The thing that Nicu was grateful for wasn’t anything that I did, but that I was present in milestones of his life. The greatest way we can show God’s love to others is by showing them that we are present through their lives, because God is ALWAYS present in our lives. It doesn’t matter if there are 100 kids or 1. It doesn’t matter if I like the situation or I don’t. It doesn’t matter if I accomplish a task or not. What matters is being available, being present, and letting God work. Oliver and Melissa are still in the hospital, but making steps everyday to be able to come home. H2H is still here. Some days we are allowed to go in to the orphanages, some days restrictions keep us out. Some days have the feel that I like, some days don’t. But in it all God is faithful. He is God and He allows me to be an example of Him in this world, one moment at a time. Here is some of the current news of what we are up to: -Out of the 5 facilities that we work in on a regular basis we’ve been allowed into 3 of them full time. One of them we have to take a rapid covid test before we can go in. Just today we had a meeting with one of the directors of one of the centers we haven’t been allowed into, and once a few more forms are signed by some of the higher up in the state system, we will be allowed back in. Seeing the kids when we went to drop of the forms was wonderful and food for my soul! -Like in many areas we go in and out of being in lockdown. For us lockdown means a curfew and we are not allowed to leave our house without paperwork filled out about where we are from and were we are going. There are occasional check points where you may be stopped and checked. -In some of the lighter restriction times we were able to have some H2H family moments. We celebrated Karla’s 6th birthday and Eric’s 3rd birthday (2 of our “grandkids”) with small parties. We had a baby shower for Melissa. We also had a going away luncheon for Wanetta and added Nicu and my birthday’s into the mix. -We are hopeful that we’ll be able to have a Easter celebration here at Pipera (Easter for us in on May 2). -We don’t know what we will be allowed to do for summer ministry, but we are hopeful that we will get to have the kids out of the orphanages on some level. -We have one girl in the transition program and are going to be adding one more hopefully in the next couple of weeks. -Financially things continue to be a struggle for us. While, my job is to mete out finances here in Romania, it has been stressful at times. God keeps reminding me He is God and I am not in this area as well! We have several items and special projects that we don’t know where the funding will come from. If you’d like to help, please contact Jodi or myself and we can give you more details! As always, thanks for being present in my life! I always know that I’m loved and supported and that is such a blessing! Love, Jen

Back To School!

Just like everyone around the world, this fall brought up the question "how is this school year going to look?" We typically deal with this question during September as we wait for each orphanage to figure out their schedules, which then has a domino effect on our schedules. Septmeber is actually one of my least favorite months of the year because there tends to be a whole list of questions that people need answered, but I can't answer them until other people make decisions! Because of that we plan what we can and have a general stucture in place and then have to adapt based on what curve balls the orphanages or schools throw our way. This year, with the added chaos that is everywhere our flexibility has had to be particularly adept! The good news is that the majority of our ministry locations have reopened enough to let us back in with our programming. There are a few special needs locations that are still closed to us. But over all we are up and running! The new director of one of our orphanages invited us to a back to school party with the kids. It was unique to be invited to an event like this that we didn't plan. It was a really nice evening. We were able to spend some good quality time with the kids there. I had a small group of the teen age boys that wanted to hang out. All of these are boys that I've known since they were small. It is a special honor to still be picked to hang out as they get older. The director had asked us to bring pictures of the kids from various stages of their lives. It was fun to look at these pictures and reminince. He also challenged them to write down a dream or wish for this school year. We lit up laterns and let them go as a symbol of those dreams and wishes. I really enjoyed the whole experience!

Our grandkids continue to grow up as well. Ruthie began 4th grade, Karla her last year of pre-school and Daria another year of pre-school.

Another fall activity for us is canning zacusca. This is a kind of spread made from eggplant, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Corni and I got about 20 jars canned for this next year, plus put roasted eggplant in the freezer that we can pull out to make salata de vinete. If you don't know what that is, you'll have to come for a visit and try it out!

August Life

August was quite a month. It felt very strange to be in August without having just finished summer camps, without have our pool filled with kids on a regular basis. We were allowed to return to visiting most of our kids in most of the facilities. There were new regulations and hoops to jump through. Masks at all locations, having a negative covid test at another, at a couple of locations they established a sanatying tunnel that you walked through and got sprayed down with disinfetant. Our staff was willing to go through whateve hoops necessary to be able to be physically present. We were able to start up different programmng and meet weekly or bi-weekly with most of the kids! For me, August was a balance between caring for Ruthie and Karla, helping get ministries back up to full functioning levels and event planning! We had two weddings in August, both of which I coordinated. The first was Bella and Marian. They got married in the Team House back yard. It turned out to be a lovely event and everyone was very pleased with how it turned out.

The second was actually a reception for Melissa and Nicu. They were officially married in June after having to postpone from their orginial April date. They had it a event hall close by. There was a unity ceremony and reception. It was a very nice day and extra special because a handful of the kids from the orphanages were given permission to come and be part of the day.

After two weddings in two weeks I was able to take a quick breath. I was able to take a small group to the seaside for the day.

We finished the month by celebrating Daria's 5th birthday.

We were wrapping up a small, energetic team mainly from Michigan when the first clue that something was about to happen to change things up hit. We had two days left with the team. My staff arrived back at the team house with the news that there was a document on the gate at one of our orphanages that said because of the Corona Virus outside visitors were not allowed in. We were allowed in on that day, but the next a full quarantine was issued and our team was not allowed to spend their last day visiting the kids. While this was difficult for them, we were very thankful for the timing of the closure. Missing one day was tough, but getting here and not being allowed to see the kids for one week or even two would have be very difficult.

We celebrated lots of birthdays with the team. Karla turned 5, Eric turned 2, Nicu turned 22 and I turned 46! We got the Michigan plus team sent back to the US. We all figured this quarantine would last a week or two. Like most people, we scoffed at the idea that it could be a month or longer. The thought of not being able to get into the centers for longer then 1-2 weeks unfathomable. We reassured the kids that called daily and some hourly and by the minute that we would be back as soon as we could. Two weeks in, we realized that this might last a month, so we started to adapt our ministry. We were able to continue academic tutoring online for the most part. We even saw an increase in studying habits for some kids because they didn’t have much else to do! Our staff would also call and give weekly challenges for memorization of verses and math facts etc. We began having youth group on Facebook live one evening a week. By the end of April, we were past the thoughts that this would be over shortly, but surely wouldn’t last into summer. We continued to do what we could through online venues. We planned a special worship night online. Our kids love to sing! I thought my parents might enjoy tuning in to our little concert so I called to tell them to get online. My call to my parents came a few minutes after my Mom had gotten the call that my Dad was Covid positive and being put into Intensive Care. Within a day my Dad was on a ventilator and I was trying to find a way back to the US. “Impossible!” I was told. “Maybe after a few weeks.” But God opened a door and a week later I was in Kansas. It was a difficult decision to go. Not because I didn’t want to go and be with my family, because I desperately did, but I had no clue how long I’d be gone and no clue of when I’d be allowed back into Romania. Ironically, 20 years after Jim issued me the challenge that I couldn’t return back to Romania until I was able to tell God “I’ll stay for as long as you want me to.” I was returning to the US with the same idea. I knew I’d be in the US for as long as God wanted me to. The control was totally taken out of my hands. Most of you walked through the journey of my family with my Dad in the hospital. It was a rollercoaster ride of lots and lots of ups and downs with many moments when we thought my Dad wasn’t going to make it through, but 47 days later he came home. Words cannot express my families’ thankfulness for all of the many prayers and support offered through the H2H family. My Dad received cards from many of you and messages and endless prayers. So often he’d ask “do you know who this person is?” and almost always it was someone from a H2H team. We’ve always run H2H as a family. It is one of the things that I love about what I do, and the tangible showing up of my H2H family when my biological family was in crisis is something that I will never forget. We were so very moved and touched and humbled.

A few pics of my Dad in the hospital and getting released! While in Kansas I saw two of my nephews graduated from high school, got to wedding dress shop with one of my nieces, and my family had a celebration of life reception to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary.

Through another set of impossibilities I was able to return to Romania in July. God was so very good and faithful in so many ways. While all of that was happening with my family, the staff here continued to walk faithfully through the unknown and show up for the kids in what ever way allowed. Slowly, the doors were and have been opening for us to see the kids again. It is usually in a very small group setting, but we are so glad to be able to be physically present in their lives once again. We had to forgo summer camps, but we are being creative in ways to still be present. We’ve been able to do some VBS style day camps and we’ve started weekly youth group meetings in most locations. We are planning a drive in movie night at one location and continue to try to bring little pieces of joy into their days. I believe one of the most important aspect of H2H ministry is showing our kids glimpses of God. We want them to know that He is there through everything, so we try to be there throughout. I know that this season and crisis has been one more example to our kids that even through a pandemic H2H didn’t forget us and fought to be present in our lives. If they can see that and trust that maybe, over time they can trust in our God who is always present and always longing to be part of our lives.

Life Takes a Turn

So, the big subject of the month has been the Corona virus and the effect it is having on each and every one of us. Here in Romania March 11, they announced that all of our facilities were under quarantine, so we couldn't go into the different orphanages and visit. This announcement was followed by school being cancelled for 2 weeks. I thought that things would pass pretty quickly as Romania tends to overreact when it comes to this sort of thing. So for the first week I kept Ruthie and Karla, who were also out of school and it kind of felt like a spring break. We had been needing to replace one of our refridgerators and while Jim was here we were able to purchase one. It was delivered and the highlight of week 1 was painting it and turning the box into Karla's house. We also went down to the camp and spent a day painting. The girls came along and spent the day playing with Chi Chi. Al the end of week one Romania went from recommending staying home to making law. The law says that no one is allowed outside of their house without a document that gives details that you are doing one of the approved activities. There are police and military out checking people's documents. It has been a challenge for sure, but we are trying to use the time constructively. We've worked on cleaning and organizing, planning for camps, plus trying to do as many activities on line with kids as we possibly can. We had a facebook live youth group this week. One comment that has been made many times is that these type of restrictions and police/military presence reminds Romanians of the time of communism. Though this is a different root, it is interesting to get a small taste of what it is like to not have freedom of movement. I'm so thankful for all of the freedoms we do have and am thankful for all of the blessings that we've been experiencing through this time. One of those blessings has been extra time in study and prayer. I've been reminded over and over that we are to have a spirit of joy not fear. I also have been counting my blessings and among those blessings is my family, the H2H family, all of my kids here, all of the wonderful people that I've met through all of these years, my church families both here and in the US, and an amazing group of people that love and support me in so many ways. Please be in prayer for our kids. They are confined with different levels of care and attention. Also, please be in prayer for h2h funding. This crisis has definitely effected our funding. We know that God is in control and are waiting with expectation to see Him work in amazing ways.

March Team!

The end of February we had a team of 6 women arrive. Five were from Michigan and one from Illinois plus Jim. Four of the 6 had been here before and so it was a pretty seasoned team. They stayed for two weeks and we packed them full. The first day they were here we had a staff vision summit. Jim and I spoke to the staff about 20/20 vision and the direction that H2H is heading. Jodi sent some fun decor and games and the team made lunch for us as we met. It was a great time to regroup and make sure that we are all on the same page. Day two, we went to church and then had a big birthday bash at Pipera. It was a perfect time for a family party since we hadn't had a h2h family event since New Year's. Karla's birthday was Feb. 26, mine March 3, Nicu's March 5th. and Eric's March 6th. So instead of 4 separate parties- how about 1 big one! Karla turned five, so she had an LOL table and cake and Eric turned 2 so his was Cars. We had a fun afternoon. We had a pinata, gifts, cake and fun time together. The team had lots of good time visited kids in all of our different locations. Being the first part of March, Romania celebrates Martisori, which is the end of Winter the begining of Spring. The colors are red white and flowers are the norm, so the team did lots of Martisori crafts with lots of different groups of kids. We also spent 3 days down at our camp facility (the boys transition house). The team visited groups of kids in Rdv, but we also started painting the club for our summer camp theme. I enjoyed this group. It was a great two weeks of serving together!