It is so hard for me to believe that I am on my last flight back into the United States as I write this! Although my 40 day Romanian internship with Another Child Foundation has officially come to an end, the memories from this summer will stay with me for the rest of my life. Coming to work with the kids of Romania has always been one of the biggest joys my life. As a busy college student with an overbooked calendar during the school year, it is always such a blessing to leave it all behind for a little while and focus on things of lasting, eternal value. A lot of people ask what keeps me keeping coming back to Romania every summer and my answer is always the same: the relationships that are quickly formed with the different kiddos each and every summer. They all just want to be loved so desperately and as soon as they realize that you are there to love on them and serve, they latch on and hold tight! They are so thankful that someone is actually spending time with them and the huge smile that spreads across their face says it all : )
What an amazing experience this summer 2011 internship has been. M’Kayla and I have had the opportunity to work with such a wide variety of kids. We were able to work with the morning and afternoon program children at the Child Developmental Center, the Tarnaveni group home kids, the girls from the Buckner group home, and also the kids from the Zau orphanage. We have been able to minister to kids as young as three and four years old and even up to the age of eighteen—such awesome opportunity! Whenever we first arrived to Romania, we worked with the kids from the CDC who were enrolled in the kindergarten and after school programs. Next, we helped out the first mission team from Chicago with their camp for the kids from Zau orphanage and the Buckner group home. We were able to host a week long camp up in the beautiful Carpathean Mountains and provide the kids with clothes, hygiene products, medicine, and Bibles. It all went beautifully and we had incredible opportunity to talk to the kids about Christ. The next week we were back in Tarnaveni to host a vacation bible school for over 100 gypsy children. Although it was crazy and packed inside that small gypsy church, everyone had an awesome week filled with Bible Study, worship, scripture, activities, and goodies! For the remaining part of my internship, M’Kayla and I worked with the mission team from Lafayette and Houston. We brought the kids out of Tarnaveni every day to do different activities they could never do other wise. We were even able to help with the construction on the third floor burning and scraping off the old lead paint—it’s much harder than it looks, trust me!
I am constantly humbled by how powerful one hug or one loving word is to these children. It never ceases to remind me of how great and powerful the unwavering love of our heavenly Father truly is. “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27
I am constantly humbled by how powerful one hug or one loving word is to these children. It never ceases to remind me of how great and powerful the unwavering love of our heavenly Father truly is. “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27
Thank you to Another Child Foundation for giving me this incredible summer. Dacian, Gabi, Liviu, and Tim all did such a wonderful job to make sure that M’Kayla and I were taken care of.
Please keep M’Kayla in your prayers as she moves to Tigamorish for the last two weeks of her internship!
Please keep M’Kayla in your prayers as she moves to Tigamorish for the last two weeks of her internship!
