UPDATE: Orphans in Sabolciu

Great news from our foster care staff! Back in October I blogged about a prayer request for a pair of semi orphans that were living in the gypsy village of Sabolciu (read about them here). And pretty much everyone who went to the construction site with STS saw them. It was that week that our foster care staff finally worked out to get them in a home. It was very difficult because of different laws and because the mother, who was living in another village, would not let us place the kids. But finally we worked through it and God provided a family that was willing to take both of them in. The pictures here are from before and after they were placed. I have been out to Sabolciu a ton these last couple of months and honestly I think in this picture is the first time I have seen Rodica (the little one) smile. This literally will make all the difference in these kids lives. Now that Alina (the older one) does not have to provide for her little sister they can play and live like kids are supposed to and grow up in a good household with loving parents teaching them the word of God. Its not every day you get to see fruit like this in ministry so we are all very excited. Continue to pray for them as they integrate into their new homes.

Spring Break Teams

Sorry for the long absence. Out of the last four weeks we have had three teams, and when teams are here, they are my life. Actually though, short term teams really are a big part of our ministry and are certainly a blessing. We had a rush in this last month because of spring break in America which meant we got a lot of youth teams. The first was Church of the Apostles (amen belongs here) from Atlanta, GA. As they are my home church I was very involved in the planning and the organization for their team. It was really a blessing for me to have them here and supporting me and this ministry. Also, it was on that trip last year that I decided to spend a year here so that made it even more special. Not to mention I got to see all my friends and family. The next two teams were from Calvary Chapel (the ministries home church). One was a youth team from Ft. Lauderdale and one was a team from the Bible College in Hungary. Over the course of the teams we really got a considerable amount of ministry in. The first two teams leveled a building in Sabolciu to make way for the kindergarten we hope to start building there this year. Also the Ft. Lauderdale team did an awesome youth outreach in Tinca with a well known band here in Oradea. We had like 300 people show up which was really cool. And of course both the kids at CP2 and the Hospital were extremely blessed by all three teams just pouring into them. It was a great, although exhausting, couple of weeks for our ministry. Some of the STS team blogged for us on our ministry blog so if you want to hear more about what happened through their eyes you can check that out here. Thank you so much for your thoughts and your prayers. Check back soon because we have several things going on that I want to share with you.

Sunday in Sabolchiu

This Sunday I went to church in town and met a guy who has been volunteering out in Saboulchiu, one of the gypsy villages where we are focusing. He said he was going out there for church and so I went with him to check up on the kids and see how everything was doing out there. Turns out they had been working over Christmas break (with this volunteer, Calin) to memorize the ten commandments. I was blown away to see these kids who cant read, recite one by one all ten of the commandments. Of course they were still beating up on each other but I am all about the baby steps and having such a fundamental aspect of the Christian faith that they can access whenever they need (most of them cant read so memorization is pretty much the only way they have to retain God's word), is far from a baby step to me.

I'm Back!

Hey guys ... sorry for the long silence from me but I am back and better than ever ... just kidding, but seriously. I have had a fantastic Christmas break being home will all the family and everything. But I am back on the gypsy side of the pond. Everything is just as I left it. Its been great to see everyone and all the kids and everyone in the office. I think they missed me. So anyway the last week I have been working really hard to get Cornel ready to head stateside. Ive been working on videos and powerpoints and things like that. So that is all to say the man with the plan could be heading to a city near you. For those in Atlanta, I am pretty sure he will be speaking at STS one Wed so get a hold of my mom or Jonathan Adams if you would like to get in on that. He will also be spending some time in Houston so if anyone is interested please contact my mom at graylinda@bellsouth.net. She is trying to get him set up to talk to some people there. Anyway expect more updates very soon and feel free to comment or email me.

It's Raining Shoes

On Tuesday, Diteo and I drove down to the city of Targu Mures. Buckner Ministries has a mission center there. They are based in Dallas, Texas and one of their big outreaches is a program called Shoes for Orphans. We picked up a load of around 750 pairs of shoes to bless the kids in our ministry. I dont know if you have any idea what that many pairs of shoes look like but we filled our van to the brim. I had shoes on my lap for the return trip. It is really going to be a blessing to a lot of the gypsies especially but certainly the orphans as well to have these shoes for them. And even better, Buckner is coming here in a few weeks to bless us with even more shoes! By the time we get them all distributed, everyone who is in any of our programs will have new shoes for the winter. God really provided and it is really cool to be his hands and feet in getting these shoes to those who really need them most. Check out my flickr site for more pictures of the unloading extravaganza. Hopefully I'll be able to grab some shots of the distribution and I'll get those up soon. [Pictures]

Prayer Request: Orphans in Sabolciu

The other day when Cornel was coming out to Sabolciu to check on the progress of our church plant, he saw two children on the side of the road. He stopped to talk to them and it turns out the four year old was taking care of her two year old sister because their grandmother had died and left them with no family. We checked out where they were staying. It was nothing short of appalling. It was a room no bigger than a broom closet with about a foot of trash on the floor. We need to be praying that Child Protective Services will step in and do their job. Once they have gotten through the legal work then we can step in as a ministry and help find them a foster home. They are very vulnerable right now and beg for all of their food. Pray that God will protect them and find them a place to live as fast as possible. Thank you for your prayers.

Buckner Shoes

Just had a team come through from Illinois. Their church, Buckner (based in Dallas TX) has a ministry center in another city in Romaina so they just stop by our project on their way south. But they are a huge blessing becuase of the shoes they bring. Every year they donate shoes for our entire ministry!! This year the shoes got caught up in customs but they were able to get us 200 shoes for our foster ministry and all the kids at CP2 (the orphanage). It was amazing to be able to bless all those kids with new shoes for the winter. And to top it all off, in a few weeks we will be able to get the almost 2,000 shoes that Buckner sent from America!!! It will be great to get shoes out to the gypsies who are walking around bearfoot in this cold. God has provided in a big way as he always does!