Well our last team of the summer left this past week and I guess that means we have finally wrapped up an incredible summer of ministry. Things really slow down out here in August. A large portion of the population takes vacation and everything just seems to chill out a bit. The kids were away at the mountains for a week and got to ride horses and raved about the good food (meaning soup). We have spent the past few days just hanging out with kids. We had a couple of older kids over for dinner (when the little ones were at the mountains) and we watched a movie and hung out and talked. Haley has been bringing books and having story time with the little ones and afterwords we play cards and laugh and joke. We brought a Romanian dubbed version of the Jungle Book to the orphanage a few days ago and the kids sat transfixed for 2 hours laughing along with the movie. If anybody started talking they were quickly met with a chorus of shhhhhhhhs's. This is quite rare as even movie time is accompanied by a cacophony of small chatter and side conversations, but they had been so incredibly bored that they were determined to suck every ounce of entertainment out of the movie. 

working hard!

don't we look fancy?!

We also just finished camps with groups of teenage boys and girls.  My favorite part of girl's camp was spending time with small groups of girls chatting about life. Translation: girl talk!  But conversations that begin talking about Edward vs. Jacob turn into real discussions and comments that are important and meaningful.  I thank God for those times when he gives me opportunities to speak value and love into a young girl's life.  

hanging out by the lake

just dance was a hit!

young beauties

 Steven spent a week with the young men playing soccer, slip n' sliding, and talking about how God is near to us in the midst of trials.  He and the boys had a great time getting away and just being boys together.

ultimate frisbee

with some of the awesome boys

how many people can fit in the swing?!

buddies for life!

I can't describe the feeling.  But I wouldn't change it for anything.

We are well into summer and enjoying the sun and summer camps with the kids! We get to spend time with the kids in small groups and do lots of fun activities.  We have Bible stories, skits, games and crafts.  But the biggest hit is definitely the POOL!  The kids live for the pool and stay in the 3 straight hours each day without tiring!  We are enjoying the time with the kids so much, and despite the sunburns (haley:) and chlorinated eyes, we LOVE summer camp!

making picture frames

hula hoop frisbee toss

melting ice blocks with their bodies!

swimmy time!

watch me jump!

steven giving his message about the race for God

goggles!

boat races in the pool, super fun!

 The best part of camp has been seeing the kids outside of their typical environment.  They get so excited to ride in the car on the way to camp and look out the windows.  They love eating different food and checking out our house.  We love being a part of a normal experience for them and watching them enjoy themselves.  Having small groups is great; each kiddo gets lots of attention and one-on-one time with the staff and volunteers.  We are so thankful for the experiences we have here each day.  Walking through life with these precious kids is the biggest blessing we have experienced in our lives.  Our prayer is that God continues to speak into each child's heart and that they would know how great His love is for them.
-haley

      Summer has been in full swing and we kicked it off with two trips out to the Carpathian Mountains with some of our teen boys from 3 different orphanages. We had a great team of Volunteers from all over the states. Adam from Michigan came out; Parker, Drew, and Ryan from Kansas; and Jason and Bryce from my home church in San Diego, The Wave, were also along for the ride. We hiked to an amazing cross at the peak of one of the mountains that is visible from the mountain towns below. We also hiked through some amazing valleys and saw some stunning waterfalls along the way. We took a day to head out to the lake and a few of the boys were crazy enough to get in. The trip was also really encouraging as I led the boys in worship and taught many of the lessons in Romanian. It is really encouraging to be able to listen to their questions and being able to respond to them in their own language. Each morning and evening we sat down around the fire and made our way through James 1 while looking alongside the life of David.
      One thing I was really struck by as I studied and prepared the lessons for the trip was the time between God's promise that David would be king and the coronation of David. The young shepherd boy was anointed by Samuel at the age of 16, but did not actually become king until he was 36 years old. For 20 years David ran in fear for his life, watched the priests loose their lives after looking after him, and lived in constant fear wondering whether or not he would see the light of the next day. But all along he never lost faith. He followed God in all things he did and continued to dedicate his life to the Lord.
      I felt that this was important for the kids to understand. Many of them have heard about God's love for years through our programs, camps, and hanging out. The truth of God's love can be easily forgotten as they still they find themselves abandoned, in the orphanage, and in the midst of emotional and physical pain, but God has not forgotten them. James tells us to find joy in trails and it is building our character and faith. My prayer as that each boy would come to know Christ as savior, God, and king. That they would recognize that in the midst of trials and difficult circumstances that God is near and that they would find hope and victory through Christ and flee from feelings of defeat. Please join me in prayer that the truths of God's love will continue to soften the hearts of our boys and that his grace and forgiveness will sustain, heal, and build them up. Please visit weloveorphans.blogspot.com to see more pictures and an excellent write up of the trip by Mark!

Our first group of boys at base camp!

Bryce and Jason from my home church The Wave came out on the trip

Cold morning hood pulled tight. And of course horses grazing in the background

A valley of snow we came across on our hike out to the cross.

On our way to the cross

A giant cross on a mountain point. A World War One monument.

Door at the foot of the cross.

Mark with on of the boys overlooking the mountain towns below.

Looking back on the cross.

We hiked to this great look out point that looked out over a majestic valley. Bryce with one of the boys looking over the edge counting sheep grazing at the bottom of the valley.

Taking a break on a log.

Mark and I on the way up an amazing water fall trail .

Bryce convinced some of the boys to jump into the freezing cold lake!

Beautiful lake view.

One of our amazing camp fires.

Leading worship with the boys.

Last week we got to hand out a ton of clothes (donated from America) to the kids. They were really excited, especially the younger girls! It was fun to see their personalities come out as they got to pick out their clothes. Some of them put all their clothes on at once because they liked them so much! It was really fun to "shop" with them.

yes!

piles o' clothes

adding to the pile (I like shopping too!)

look how cute I am!!!

We also had a party with 12 teenagers from my dance class. We had them over to our apartment to play Just Dance! They LOVED it! They played for 4 straight hours and couldn't get enough of it! We also had pizza and red velvet cake which they enjoyed.

steven is actually really good!

so much fun!

taking a break!

we are all doing something completely different...

I am always amazed by the generosity of our kids.  The other day, I was working at a orphanage out of town, and little Robi and Ionela picked flowers for me because they missed me and sent them home with another staff member. The kids are always looking for ways to show their love and affection.  It is such a blessing to be a part of that!

love this face!

cute siblings!

We organized a movie night for an end of the year celebration for our character class.  I tried to find an educational movie, but went with Finding Nemo instead!  The kids really loved it, plus they got popcorn and soda!

total concentration

While there are so many wonderful days, there are also hard days.  Sometimes our hearts feel so burdened for the kids, and all the ways we cannot help them.  Sometimes that is overwhelming- we love our kids so much and want to be able to fix everything for them, but we can't.  It's days like there where I ask God what he is doing and feel the weight of what the kids go through on a daily basis.  I was thinking about what the bible says about God's promise to us, that he has a plan for our good.  And I came across Psalm 30:11-12 "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.  You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" What I get from this verse is hope, and that's the best thing I can offer my kids, hope in their true Father who will never abandon them.  And for that, I will dance.
{haley}