March Newsletter

March 2007

123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709
208.321.7440

Str. Ion Vidu Nr. 25
Bistrita -BN Code 4400
Romania, Europe
40.075.118.3962

On March 1st we celebrated a special day here in Romania...it's called Martişor and it's celebrating the coming Spring. To celebrate, the girls buy the boys a small gift. It's a little pendant with thin red and white thread. The red represents love and the white celebrates peace. The pendants are either spring flowers, a horseshoe or some other figurine. They are pinned on the shirts and worn throughout the day. It's a way of saying thank you...not just because Spring is coming, but for the kindness the men have shown the women. It's kind of a fun thing...everyone really gets into it. There are street vendors everywhere selling these little pendants. I actually received 6 of them from my English students because our class met on that day. It was awesome! Then we had another holiday on March 8th called Woman’s Day…kind of like our Mother's day...only it's for all women. The men buy flowers and candy for the women and go out of their way to make the day special. Teachers all over Bistrita were carrying home armloads of flowers on that day. The boys in our English class got every girl a small bouquet of tiny white flowers and a card…they even wrote mine in English! All of the New Beginnings family center mothers and workers were treated to a special lunch at a local restaurant and we had a great time visiting with each other and enjoying the special day. Spring truly is a really wonderful time here in Romania!

We took the youth group bowling this month and had a great time! There is only one bowling spot in town, but it is really nice! Small (only 6 lanes), but cleaner and nicer than any bowling alley in Boise! Only one of the teens had actually bowled before, so it was really fun to be there for their first bowling experience. They did pretty well for their first time! It wasn’t too expensive…a little over $3/game...including shoes...which were all brand new! Something a little different here in Romania…they gave us little footies to wear over our socks...like surgeons wear in surgery. It was kind of weird, but hygienic -ha! It was really fun and nice to bowl again for the first time in a long time.

My work at the orphanage is going well and the kids are really becoming attached to me. The little girl named Mia pulls me to a spot in the room, and then motions for me to pick her up. When I do, she wraps her arms around my neck and puts her head on my shoulder. She just stays there...when I try to put her down and play with her...she goes through the whole routine again. It's wonderful that she is expressing her love that way, but sad that she doesn't get it on a regular basis. I have never seen any of the other workers there holding her like that although I know they love her. Everyone always smiles and warmly greets her when they see her; I just think she needs a little more affection. I am happy to provide it! I'm worried about Georgel though...he is the blind and autistic child who hits himself...slaps his face mostly...lately he's been pulling his hair out. In fact, he has pulled out whole chunks of his hair! In only three days he had a good 1/4 of his gone! It's so sad. They decided to give him a closely shaved haircut as a result and he is doing better now.
One of my goals at the orphanage has been to take the children outside! They rarely get to leave their crib; much less their room…so to get outside is a rare experience for them. I have been able to take both Mia and Georgel to the park. It’s a 15 minute walk and I think Georgel actually enjoys the walk more than the park itself. I think the playground equipment is a little overwhelming for him at times…although he LOVED the swing when I put him on it. He was laughing out loud and having a great time! I also enjoyed watching him discover sand for the first time. Seeing him run his fingers through the cool granules with more and more enthusiasm each time he touched it almost made me cry. On the way home one day a big farm tractor drove past us. He abruptly stopped and listened intently as it slowly went by. It was as if he could see it…the sound it made was so different than any of the other vehicles on the street that it captivated him. I thought of how much the little boys in our family centers love to see tractors and it made me smile to think how normal Georgel was in that moment…if he could talk I think he would have been shouting with joy…look, a tractor!
I have also been getting to know the staff at the placement center and enjoying them very much. The director (Roxana) speaks English, so we are able to chat every day. Also, the head of the nurses (Bobi) is eager to know me better. Although she doesn’t speak much English, we are able to communicate pretty well between my limited Romanian and her limited English. She is one of my favorite people at the placement center. She is always so friendly to me and I have seen how the children melt in her arms and how Cristi’s breathing (which is normally labored) returns to normal after she holds him for a while. She is amazing! I watch her every chance I get so I can learn from her. After running into Bobi at the grocery store one day, she invited me to her house for lunch the following Sunday. We were able to enjoy some great conversation because her husband knows English and her brother-in-law and another colleague, who were visiting from Bucharest, also speak perfect English. I ended up being at her apartment from 12:30 until almost 6PM…all of it at the dinner table! Talk about social eating – ha! We had a wonderful traditional Romanian meal…but there was so much food…appetizers, soup, traditional Romanian Sarmale, dessert, lots of bread and “suc” (soda). It was incredible!


Please continue to pray for:

• Leaning the Romanian Language
• The conversational English classes at the Community Center for Youth
• Continued learning to work with children with special needs
• That I will have a greater servant’s heart to be a blessing to the Romanian people


With His loving grace & peace,
Natalie Bridges
natalie926@hotmail.com



I would like to help Natalie Bridges in the following way(s):
Becoming a prayer partner
Monthly Financial Support $________
One Time Financial Gift $________

Name _________________________

Address _________________________

_________________________

Phone _________________________

E-mail _________________________




* Please return this portion of the newsletter to: Calvary Chapel Boise
Attn: Missions
123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709

* Make all checks payable to Calvary Chapel Boise, all donations are tax deductible.
* To receive a tax receipt at the end of each year, please contact Calvary Chapel Boise.

February Newsletter

February 2007

Natalie Bridges
123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709
208.321.7440

Str. Ion Vidu Nr. 25
Bistrita -BN Code 4400
Romania, Europe


1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

We have had an incredibly mild winter this year. I was told to expect frigid temperatures and lots of snow…normal winter weather for Bistriţa. To everyone’s surprise, we had hardly any snow and above freezing temperatures have been the norm. Although I was looking forward to the snow, I am not complaining! Fortunately, I did get a good dose of snow when we took a group of “Clare’s Kids” up to the cabana this month. As a reward for working hard all semester…doing their homework, behaving during the after-school-program activities, helping with chores, etc…the kids were rewarded with several days of snow activities at the cabana in the mountains.
Just getting to the cabin was an adventure in itself. The cabin sits back away from the road about a quarter of a mile, so we had to carry all of our bags, food, sleds, supplies, etc. while tromping this distance in 2-3 feet of snow! There were times when I took a step and sank all the way up to my hip in the snow. Consequently, the bags the kids were carrying arrived with enormous amounts of snow tucked inside! And I’m afraid that some of the food mysteriously disappeared on the way from the van to the cabana! Let’s just say the dogs in the area were excited we were there!
We kept the kids busy with lots of outdoor activities…the favorite being sledding down the hill outside the cabana. We also enjoyed a walk up to Dracula’s castle (a nearby hotel) for some hot chocolate and French fries! I was surprised at how much time it took just to do the basics at the cabana…making and eating meals, clean-up, etc. Mostly because we had to keep a fire going in the wood-burning stoves at all times and the fact that we had to melt snow on those stoves to have dish water. The biggest inconvenience was the frozen pipes which prevented us from being able to use the sink…or the toilet! We solved the toilet problem with a bucket…except that it needed to be emptied on a regular basis…which meant a trudge through deep snow to the out-house located about 200 feet behind the cabana. I had anticipated this job being mine, so I was so excited when one of the boys disobeyed Clare by using the bucket when it was almost full. I know that sounds bad, but the mess he made from his disobedience brought a punishment that spared me from the “bucket duty” for the rest of our time at the cabana! Ha!
I think the favorite indoor activity we did was making sock puppets and then letting the kids put on puppet shows for us. They also enjoyed the night the power went out for 6 hours….we sat around and told stories in the dark. Sometimes it’s the strangest things that create the best memories – ha! After hearing the kids talk about wanting to move to the cabana to live instead of their individual homes we knew we had succeeded in providing some needed love and attention for these special children!

Our trip home wasn’t the most pleasant experience. It was really sad to leave the cabana and the stray dog that had “adopted” us (watched over us and accompanied us on our excursions), not to mention the uphill climb in the snow to get back to the road…or the flat tire we got on the way home…or the fact that many of the children’s stomachs couldn’t handle the winding roads back down the mountain (boy was that messy!). But it all helped make this trip a truly memorable adventure…for all of us!


Please continue to pray for:

• Leaning the Romanian Language
• The conversational English classes at the Community Center for Youth
• Continued learning to work with children with special needs
• That I will have a greater servant’s heart to be a blessing to the Romanian people


With His loving grace & peace,
Natalie Bridges
natalie926@hotmail.com



I would like to help Natalie Bridges in the following way(s):
Becoming a prayer partner
Monthly Financial Support $________
One Time Financial Gift $________

Name _________________________

Address _________________________

_________________________

Phone _________________________

E-mail _________________________




* Please return this portion of the newsletter to: Calvary Chapel Boise
Attn: Missions
123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709

* Make all checks payable to Calvary Chapel Boise, all donations are tax deductible.
* To receive a tax receipt at the end of each year, please contact Calvary Chapel Boise.

January Newsletter

January 2007

123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709
208.321.7440

Str. Ion Vidu Nr. 25
Bistrita -BN Code 4400
Romania, Europe


Matt 25:40 “…Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least of these My brethren, you did it for Me. ”


La Mulţi Ani! is how you say Happy New Year! in Romanian. It’s also how you say Happy Birthday. Welcome to a New Year! I had an enjoyable New Year’s Eve celebration with my new Romanian friends. Any (pronounced like Annie) was home from college and we had a bunch of young people over to the house to celebrate the New Year.
We also had a visit from three young gypsy boys who are part of the after school program for underprivileged children. They came by to share a Romanian custom with us that consisted of a dance (complete with costumes), drum, and song/skit. It was wonderful! I have posted more details about the custom on my blog if you are interested in reading more. We also enjoyed a long and grand fireworks display at the city center just before midnight. All across Romania people were not only celebrating the New Year, but the fact that Romania is now part of the European Union.

After waiting months to obtain permission to work in the orphanage, I was finally given the official volunteer contract allowing me to work as much as I wanted in our local orphanage. I have been working three days per week in the baby room and enjoying it very much! I have been working with the staff psychologist and physical therapist to better understand the children’s developmental goals and become more comfortable handling the children’s special needs. I think the thing that has surprised me the most is how quickly these children have bonded with me. All of the children have physical and cognitive disabilities, but even the most severely challenged children both recognize and respond to me. I think at first they were just happy to have someone take them out of their crib…touch them….play with them…etc. Now, they actually light up when they recognize me and those who can will wrap their arms around my neck and hug me. It is the most amazing experience! I have also begun to develop relationships with the staff…nurses, psychologist, physical therapist, administrators, etc. Thankfully about 50% of them know English, the others and I struggle to communicate. I know just enough Romanian to get by with the basics, but I long to be able to talk to them. I wish I could say that the language has been easy to learn now that I am here and immersed in it but unfortunately, that has not been the case. Although I have begun to both recognize and understand many new words and can piece together simple sentences from my limited vocabulary, I am a long way from being able to speak Romanian! I have been given some language books and CD’s to assist in my efforts, however, and this has been a great help.

The New Year brought a surprise to my English class at the Community Center for Youth…more kids! I now have 15 kids in my class and all are eager to learn English. I’ve always enjoyed public speaking and being the center of attention, but I’m amazed that I’m actually able to teach this class. Why? Because I hate grammar…and I’m not good at it at all…and I’m “teaching” it? Fortunately, I had grammar classes at the School of Ministry and some wonderful online ESL resources otherwise I would be completely lost. Fortunately, because I am weak in this area I depend more on the Lord to help me and then I am strong.


































Answered Prayers:

• Becoming more comfortable working with children with special needs
• Positive response from my English students to my teaching
• Learning the culture and fitting in with the Romanians

Please continue to pray for:

• Leaning the Romanian Language
• The conversational English classes at the Community Center for Youth
• Continued learning to work with children with special needs
• That I will have a greater servant’s heart to be a blessing to the Romanian people


With His loving grace & peace,
Natalie Bridges
natalie926@hotmail.com



I would like to help Natalie Bridges in the following way(s):
Becoming a prayer partner
Monthly Financial Support $________
One Time Financial Gift $________

Name _________________________

Address _________________________

_________________________

Phone _________________________

E-mail _________________________


* Please return this portion of the newsletter to:
Calvary Chapel Boise
Attn: Missions
123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709

* Make all checks payable to Calvary Chapel Boise, all donations are tax deductible.
* To receive a tax receipt at the end of each year, please contact Calvary Chapel Boise.