Kristina’s Updates

Saying Goodbye

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:25:31 -0700

Did you all know that it is the end of June!! Well I can't help but see how fast this month has gone by! I am now working on actually saying goodbye to kids and to friends. Last night I was able to write some going away letters, and the tears just started coming. They are tears of love and of joy, because my life has forever been changed by the friends and the kids I have met here! It is all part of the process with saying goodbye, but I pray it is not forever. Before I came to Romania, I knew that if God wanted me to stay that I would. The whole time since I have been here, that hasn't changed. It is all in God's hands, but I know that the desire in my heart is to come back.

For those of you who don't know, my parents were actually able to come and visit me for four short days. Each day I packed full of events and people for my parents to meet! We had a wonderful time together, and I was blessed because they were able to meet my family here in Romania! My parents also were able to come into the orphanages with me and spend some time with the kids. One event that sticks out in my mind, is when we were at an all girls orphanage. The girls really wanted to get close to my dad, but they didn't know if it was ok. To show them that it was ok I went and sat on my Dad's lap. Two seconds later 5 others girls jumped on! :) Then they couldn't leave him alone! I hope I will get to see all of you soon! I come home July 3rd and I am thankful to be in the U.S. on the 4th! I plan to spend the month of July home with my family, and I hope to see a lot of you then too!

Blessings, and thank you for your prayers, as it is really hard to leave these kids that I love so much!

Prayers and Blessings,
Kristina :)

Laughter

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:40:09 -0700

Laughter....
This morning started out with more sun than normal. I was at the Rehab orphanage in the morning, with some of my other staff members from CTL. We had quality time with some of the older kids in the classroom...going over different material with them.   Then we went outside and spent time with the kids in the playground. Overall it was a normal morning...:)
Then in the afternoon I was at an apartment with about 9 kids total. It is an apartment I am not able to go to all the time, but I know all the kids from the camp I went to the first week I was here. However, today we had such a great time. We worked with their math and english homework, and then we spent time talking! I get asked the question why I don't have a boyfriend...which then allows me to tell them why. I enjoyed this time with them so much. They of course laughed about how I said certain words...which would mean at least a 5 min. pause in the story, because we were all laughing. It was such a sweet and pure laughter... I wish you could have been there!! :)

Dear Friends,
   This month is quickly coming to an end, something I think about almost every single day. I am still trying to figure out how to deal with this. What I mean is, how I will say goodbye. When you invest all that you have into so many people...it is hard to know where to start, but I know that Lord is watching over all of this.
   New events! Recently I have had a lot of kids over to my apartment. Most of them have been from the social apartments. I only have two or three at a time. I love when they come over though, they quickly want to help with everything. They actually fight over who can help me make a salad or make french fries!! :) Then, when they go back to their apartment..the other kids ask when they can all come over. I have always dreamed of being a 'mom' who would have all the kids over at her house...so that I can keep an eye on them all the time!! And I am not even a mom or even close to that chapter of my life...but I have the kids!! :) hehe... It is just a blessing to be able to provide a place for them to feel at 'home'!! I want them to know that they are cared for and can relax. We have such a great time laughing and playing games! God's faithfulness amazes me! What a Great God we serve!
Blessings and Prayers
Love Kristina

Lumineata

Sat, 3 May 2008 10:24:27 -0700

Isn't it amazing how much kids know...even when they are so little. There is a girl at the Rehab center (kids with disabilities), and she is 1 year and 3 months old. Lately, every time I go into the room, whether someone is holding her or not and I say here name, her face lights up into a huge smile. Yesterday I was in her room right before nap time. I put her in bed, and went to say goodbye to another girl in the room. However, as I walked away Lumineata started crying...so I went back and I sat next to her crib. She can see me through the crib and she laid down right next to me. She took her little hands and put them next to my legs. It struck me, that she knew that I was there...and it meant something to her. She stopped crying the moment I sat next to her. She was happy to know that I was there. I almost started crying right there...I have never actually cried at the center before, but I was able to hold it in. I am so thankful that the Lord has placed me here, and I keep praying for someone to take these kids home...Lumineata just wants to know that she is loved and is cared for, and she seeks it out. When I first set her down into her crib...she started crying right away. One of the staff members from the center then commented that she now learned what it means to be cared for in someone's arms. I am thankful for that - they don't see it that way.
Pray for my little Lumineata, her name means "little light" and she is a light!!

Kids are Growing

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:19:46 -0700

Hello Dear family and friends,
When you work with kids everyday you see the good times and the hard times. Working so closely with these kids I hear about 'things' that happen in the orphanage, or in the social apartment. It might be 'things' with relationships, with school...however, so often these 'things' break my heart. I am so very thankful that the Lord has allowed me to play the guitar...when I don't know how to express how I feel to the Lord I sit down and sing it to Him! It is a good way to get all your emotions out! :) Through all the pain, the Lord has shown me that it is worth it, that He desires me to be here holding and caring for His children.
It is interesting how kids slowly open. There are some that will jump into your arms right away. There are others who take their time, and it has been rewarding to see those who now come to me and open up in a new way. So many of them have a hard shell on to protect themselves, and it takes a while before they let someone get to know them. They know that I am here for them! I love being able to see kids grow up right before your eyes. One of the boys from the apartment started shaving and you can just see him have more confidence!
Last week I was able to take Cristina (a girl from the social apartment, who is 15, and is Oana's younger sister) out for lunch. She is having a hard time with school, and it is very important for her future that she does well and passes. She told me all about her classes, the good and the bad. Then we came up with a way to motivate her to go to school! She is a sweet girl and she has a great heart, but she doesn't see the importance of school for her right now. Pray for her if you think about it.
I was able to take Georgiana to Church again with me, then to the park and later we made it to my apartment. She seems to get more and more comfortable each time we go to Church and to my house. It is amazing to watch her. She stood in my room, in front of the mirror for about 10 min. just talking to herself. And I am sure she would have stayed there a lot longer if I hadn't called her away. She has a lot of discipline problems...because she is in the orphanage with kids who have disabilities. I am trying to get her to ask for things, and to wait if she needs to. Her patience isn't very long, but we are working on it. I wish that someone would just come and take her home.......
These are just some of my stories I wanted to share with you. Thank you for your prayers, and for blessing me! May God be close to you today!
Blessings and Prayers,
Kristina :)

Church and a Helper

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:05:23 -0700

Hello Dear Friends and Family,
I wanted to give you some highlights of this last month! It is always hard to know where to start, so I will start at the Rehab center (kids who have disabilities) where I spend each morning. I have enjoyed seeing how God has moved in the hearts of the staff at Rehab. For example just the other day I changed a dirty diaper and one of the staff members said, "Thank You Kristina." It wasn't like that when I first came into the rehab center. I had a chance two weekends in a row to take little Georgiana (a girl who is almost three, who was born with a hole in her heart) to Church with me. On the way to Church she took everything in, and at Church she was singing her heart out. We then joined the smaller kids of the Church, which went ok. The first week, she stayed for about 10 min. and then we left and went to the park. She was scared of being outside her comfort zone. The second week she stayed a little bit longer, and she seemed to take in the actions of all the other children. However, she has a hard time being patient...(don't we all) :) I was blessed to have her join me at Church.
I have another praise...but it is kind of a long story. Here we go! I met a girl on New Years and have kept in touch with her. We went out for coffee four weeks ago and ended up talking about Church. It was all in Romanian...so there are just some things I can talk about more than others. She told me that most of her roommates were Christians, and so I asked her about her faith. She said she is Orthodox, because it works for her. I told her about the Church that I attend here, and told her if she ever wanted to she could check it out! She agreed to it, and so I waited to see what would happen. Sun. came and she couldn't come, but I tried not to get discouraged and hoped for the next week. The next week she ended up coming to Church and she LOVED it. She really enjoyed the worship, and afterwards she said the music was just stuck in her head!! Praise the Lord. Her name is Niko, so please pray for her. She works a night job so sometimes it is hard for her to get up on Sun. mornings.
It is Oana's birthday today and I am going to her apartment to celebrate! Oana started helping out at least two times a week at Rehab in the morning. What a gift Oana has! I am amazed at the way she can just sit down with the kids and love on them. God has given her a gift, that is for sure. There are many people who walk into rehab and can't deal with the kids there....but my dear Oana has a gift. There is a little girl, Luminita who has grown on Oana. I am blessed to see Oana give back and love on the kids around her.
The kids at the apartment are doing well too. I usually go there on Tues. and Thurs. after lunch. They are doing well in their English lessons, and when we go out to the park together we usually practice. When we are in the park, I meet all of their friends and then everyone gets to practice a little bit of English! I really enjoy taking them out to the park after they have gone over their Romanian or English homework. After we come back from the park, I am able to praise them on what they did well for the day.
Every Thursday evening I am still spending time with a group of three girls. This last Thurs. we went to Mada's house (one of the CTL Staff members) and we cooked a meal together and then talked about what was going on in their lives and at school. We meet once a week, because they are in a type of counseling session to be encouraged in their personal identities.
The other orphanages I visit after lunch Mon., Wed. or Fri. God has been so good in building relationships at each orphanage, and I so often wish I could be two places at once! There are just so many kids that I want to spend time with, but there is only one of me! :) I thank the Lord for kids with open hearts.
On Friday evenings I am part of a Bible Study with some other girls my age. We meet in someone's apartment and right now we are going through the book Captivating. It has been so encouraging to have this group. We are able to talk about our week, how we saw God at work, what we are struggling with and so on. It is wonderful to have friends who can pray for you and lift you up when you need it. I thank the Lord for all of you, thank you for your prayers, they do more than you know!
May the Lord bless you today and show you His heart!