Sun, 8 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Hey Everybody!

Tomorrow we are leaving for Camp!!! I am so excited! 6 days of non-stop interaction with the kids! We have been doing camp prep everyday for the last week so we are all really excited and ready to go to camp!

Each day we are having the kids go to three clinics in the morning for 50 minutes each. After that we have lunch and an hour break, in that time I definitely plan to nap because I'm pretty sure I'm going to be exhausted! After that we get together with our "age groups". Each group is led by one of the Romanian staff and there are anywhere between 2 and 5 Americans in each group. The kids are split up into age and gender groups. I will be with the girls that are 18+. I'm really excited! Especially because most of them speak English! We will be spending a few hours a day with them and I hope to be able to form some friendships while we are together. A few of the girls have admitted to being a little intimidated because they are older than us, but I think it will be fun! But anyway, we will practically be with the kids from 8am till 10pm so they will be LONG days! I am so excited! I really feel that I should give it ALL I've got because even if I'm absolutely exhausted for one week, it will be worth it to make a difference for these kids! God is my strength so I will let his love work through me!

Please continue to pray for all of us because this week will be very hard! We all really appreciate your prayers!

...and I really appreciate that we have a week after camp off! =P yay!

Sorry that it has taken me so long to send out another update, but we have been really busy preparing for camp!

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Hey Everybody!

I have been having a great time in Romania! I have been here for 6 days now and I am so glad to be back! Coming to the Ministry Center was like coming home. I really feel like God has prepared me to come back because everything has been so perfect since I've been here. Although I had some problems at the airport, I wasn't going to let the devil keep me from doing God's work.

On the plane, I was seated next to some of the team from Shafter, CA. I was able to talk to one of the girls, Tiffany, who I have become very close with in the last week! When I got to the apartment, I was greeted by Breann and showed around the apartment and later that night I met Julie and Monica. I have had so much fun with these girls! We've gotten very close over the last week. It seemed like after the first night we all just clicked. I have had so much fun working with them and just hanging out at the apartment with them. I'm really sad that Monica and Breann are leaving on Monday! =(

This week has been very productive. On Monday, most of the team went to SF. Ana orphanage and a few stayed at the Ministry Center to work with the kids of the families in the Social Work program. I was really blessed to be able to stay with those kids. I worked with them when I was here in January and I really bonded with one of the girls, Cristina. I brought her a picture of us in a frame and a stuffed animal that I was able to give to her at the end of our time together. She loved it and it was so great to see how much it meant to her. It was also really nice that she remembered me. On Tuesday, we went to Chitila to paint the fence. We were told that no team has EVER finished painting the fence. At first we all thought we could do it because we didn't realize how BIG the fence really was! Over the course of two days, we were able to get a lot done, but we were just another team to NOT finish the fence. It was so big and we were really close to finishing, but we just were not able to. We got more done than any team, but we had about 5 sections on the inside of the gate left. It was incredibly exhausting, but well worth it. The gate looks great and I'm sure that our work is well appreciated.

Thursday was a lot of fun. We started out going to Marin Pazon, the Rehab hospital. We brought the trampoline and the inflatable water slide. The kids absolutely loved it. You could see the joy on their faces as they jumped on the trampoline. There was always one person from the team or CTL staff for every kid that got on the trampoline and most of the time we had to hold them up. Even though it was incredibly tiring, it was so great to be able to hear those kids laugh the way they did when they were up there. My legs have been sore for the last three days because I spent most of my time on the trampoline with the kids and I had one boy that kept pulling my arms around his stomach while we were jumping because he couldn't hold himself up, so I was completely holding all of his weight and trying to jump. It was such a great start to the day.

Later on Thursday and in the morning on Friday we were at #6 orphanage. The team had a whole skit and game planned out so the days seemed to go pretty smoothly. We were all exhausted and had a hard time staying awake on the ride over there, but it was really good to see the how much the kids enjoyed playing with us.

This week has been physically exhausting, but it has given God the opportunity to show how his power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). God is so good and so faithful. Whenever I feel like I do not have the energy to make it through the day, he gives me strength. He is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer (Psalm 18:2).

Thank you so much for your support and your prayers. I want you to know that you are making a difference in these kids' lives.

Please continue to pray for me throughout my stay here because your prayers are always appreciated! And also, please pray for the wonderful Romanian Staff. They work so hard and are such a blessing here in Romania.

Thank you again! And I hope to see all of you when I return from Romania. I look forward to sharing my stories with anyone who will listen!

I love you all very much!
~Katie

Katie’s Updates