Summer 2009 Update

The summer has really flown by…it’s been full of travel and challenges as well as fun times. Here is an update of my summer in Romania.









Winky’s Adventures
In June we celebrated National Children’s Day with Winky making appearances at several parties for foster children. The largest had over 100 children not counting their foster parents and Winky had a great time playing with the kids. She was the only clown, so she was constantly surrounded by kids wanting her attention. They all had a great time dancing and “clowning around”. Winky also spent time visiting children in the hospital this summer. She brought balloons and magic tricks to entertain and also got to just hung out and play with the kids during visiting hours. The smiles on the kids’ faces were priceless and the infectious laughs of the kids kept Winky laughing as well.

The After-School Program for Gypsy Kids
Clare was back for a month during her summer break from school and we took the kids on their big summer excursion. They had worked hard all year earning points for the trip and most of them had earned enough to go on the trip. This year we divided our time between Brasov and Bucharest. In Brasov we took a tram ride up the side of the mountain where we were able to look out over the entire city, then had a picnic, and hiked down the mountain. We also spent the afternoon at an Adventure Park where the kids were able to climb and swing from the trees on amazing ropes courses. In Bucharest we stayed at the same Baptist Seminary that we stayed at last year. We had a great time at the Water Park again and enjoyed the sites of Romania’s capital city and the mall where we saw a movie and enjoyed good ‘ol American fast food (McDonald’s and KFC).
Although the big trip of the year was a huge success, the behavior of the children during the normal day-to-day schedule has become increasingly more difficult to manage. After having visited their homes on a regular basis, I have a better understanding of why they behave as they do. I see examples of verbal and some physical abuse on my short visits. Their homes are overcrowded with a dozen or more adults and children crowded into one-room “apartments” with no bathroom and only one sink with running water. Many of the children from our program are helping their parents and relatives sweep the streets at night to earn income for their families; it is no wonder we have grumpy, angry, aggressive children. We’ve introduced some new rules and put together a stricter schedule to help establish routine and discipline, but it remains a challenging endeavor. Please pray for our kids and our Romanian workers.
Our Romanian workers (Raluca and Oana) are wonderful ladies who have challenges of their own. Both have been living in abusive relationships and Ildiko and I have been praying for them and with them as well as inviting our pastor (Brian) to counsel with them. We also organized some special ‘Ladies Night Out’ events for them. Our first one was held at Ildiko’s home where we watched the movie “Fireproof” and had the girls’ favorite comfort foods…pizza and ice-cream. To my amazement, both girls said it was the first time they had done anything like that! The movie was a huge blessing to the girls as it showed an example of how a marriage was saved through the love of Jesus changing the hearts of people. It was the beginning of a journey for both girls as they have both been born-again and are allowing the Word of God to transform their lives. For example, Raluca’s husband told her he wanted a divorce, but Raluca began praying and making changes in her life. After reading about the Proverbs 31 lady, Raluca began getting up early to make breakfast for her husband, clean, and get herself and her baby ready before work. She used to roll out of bed at 9 to be at work by 10 and now she gets up at 6:30. She also started responding to her husband differently...instead of yelling at him or arguing with him, she speaks quietly and sweetly to him. He has completely been blown away by her changes and now there is no more talk of divorce and their marriage is better than ever. It is the beginning of a journey, but an exciting one and I am so happy to be on it with them.

Orphanage

Ildiko and I have noticed that the children are scared of practically everything…cars driving by, walking into an unfamiliar location, a non-barking dog behind a fence, etc. We are constantly working to expose them to new experiences to help them get over these fears. We spent the summer taking the kids on daily excursions into town. We enjoyed playing in the park, eating treats in the bakery, as well as shopping in the local stores and doing other “normal” activities that a child would do with his/her mother in town. I remember the first time we took Nicoleta (who is 4 now) on an escalator she started crying when she tried to climb the moving stairs. After a few minutes of reassuring her she was alright, she relaxed. The second time we rode the escalator it was pure joy for her. Success! The great part about these excursions was the opportunity for Ildiko and I to get out and enjoy the town with the children and get some errands done at the same time. Every day was different and it made for an enjoyable summer for all of us.

I have some really exciting news about Mia as well. She is becoming more and more affectionate with me as well as the other children. She likes to play with my hair and she will even lean in for a kiss and smiles so big after I plant one on her! It's so adorable. The most exciting event with Mia this summer was her speaking for the first time. I was holding her on my lap and Ildiko was trying to get her to clap her hands when we both heard her say "nu vreau"...which means I don't want to. She said it quietly, but it was loud enough and clear enough for us to both look at each other in amazement and ask...did you hear what I heard? Then we were so excited because everyone said Mia would never speak and it was impossible for her to do so. We both praised her and clapped our hands and made a big deal out of it and Mia just smiled so big and looked so pleased. It is possible that we both just heard what we wanted to hear, but it was completely unexpected and we weren't trying to get her to say something. It definitely sounded like she spoke. So, it has been very exciting for us. It could be a breakthrough for Mia...or just a one-time thing...but either way it is very exciting.
We have also noticed that improvements in the way the workers relate to the children continue to happen. Most of the ladies who work with the younger children are actually interacting with them now rather than keeping them in their cribs and ignoring them. They are more loving toward them and have actually started trying to teach them things. It is so exciting to see how the mood in the room is so much different now than when I first started volunteering. The atmosphere in the rooms with the older children still needs a lot of work, but I believe change will happen there as well. It just takes time.

Travel
This summer I got to do a lot of traveling. I went to Austria, Hungary, and London, as well as many places around Romania. It was such a thrill for me to get to see a little more of Europe. Each country really has its own beauty and personality.
My first excursion was to Austria and it was a free trip! A team from Boise was doing a European tour and invited everyone from Boise who is now ministering in Europe to meet at a castle in Austria for a few days of rest and relaxation. All I had to do was pack and jump in an open seat in the caravan and everything was taken care of for me. We got to stay in an old castle that had been turned into a retreat center. We got to hang out with friends who are now living in Germany, Hungary, England, and other parts of Romania. It was a wonderful and relaxing time of fellowship and refreshment and some powerful teaching.
We were reminded that the greatest human need is love and when we realize how much God loves us we can love others…even those that hate us. People usually sacrifice for God because of guilt or fear, not because they feel loved. But if we understand how much God loves us, it will transform our lives. Ephesians 3:17-20 tells us to…”Be rooted and grounded in God’s love. Experience how high, deep, wide, long his love is.
I was also fortunate enough to travel again to the annual Leadership Conference in Hungary. It also was another free trip for all of us and such a great blessing. We stayed in another castle (Europe is full of them!) and got to see other Pastors, Missionaries, and outreach workers from all over Eastern Europe. We had a wonderful time worshipping and studying the Bible as well as enjoying the facilities. They had a great coffee bar with lots of comfy, casual seating along with other amenities like a pool table. The grounds had a beautiful swimming pool, basketball and tennis courts as well as a fabulous, full-size sand volleyball court...not to mention all the wide-open spaces for soccer, hiking, or just relaxing. The setting provided lots of opportunities for hanging out together…meeting new friends and catching up with old ones.


My dream of seeing more of Europe is slowly coming to pass with the addition of a visit to England for the first time. As an early birthday present, my parents bought my plane ticket (amazing how little it costs when you fly from one European country to another) and I stayed with Clare’s parents who are on a 2-year work assignment in London. We were able to see many museums and other famous landmarks for free and her parents took us to some English gardens where we got to see some breathtaking landscapes and beautifully manicured estate gardens. I also took a day trip over to Wales and visited some friends and their families. They took me to the largest castle in Wales and I also got to see more of the beautiful landscape. It was a little unnerving to be a passenger in what is normally the driver’s seat of the car. I kept thinking we were going to run into something or someone, but we arrived safely to all destinations. Overall, it was a wonderful week of memorable experiences and a little taste of England.









Life in Romania
We had several teams come to Bistrita this summer. Most of them were volunteers from schools in Germany, France, and Boston wanting to help at the orphanage. Since all of the teams spoke English, I ended up being the one to spend most of the time with them while they were at the orphanage. It was great being able to meet people from different parts of Europe and the States. One of the highlights of the summer, however, was the team from Boise. Pastor Bob and Cathy brought a group of college students through Europe and we were able to spend a couple of days with them here in Bistrita. The best part was that they left Meaghan behind when they left and she spent the rest of the summer interning with us. We kept her extremely busy helping me at the orphanage and the afterschool program as well as helping with our large “family” at the ministry house. Most of all she was a huge blessing to all of us…it was as if she had been here forever the way she fit right in with us. We miss her very much and hope that she will come back again soon!


I started language lessons again this summer in an effort to continue to improve my grasp of the Romanian language. It’s a lot of work, but slowly my vocabulary is increasing and my daily conversations with Ildiko really help. Just when I think I’m making progress, I feel like I hardly know anything again. But I know that I just need to keep moving forward; pas cu pas (step by step). On the reverse side of things…the foster girls living with us have dramatically improved their English. So much so that Lavinia’s teacher thinks someone else is doing her English homework! On a scale from 1-10, she’s gone from getting 4’s to 8’s now and from not understanding any English three months ago to both understanding and speaking it daily. She isn’t fluent yet and there are still times where she has no idea what we’re saying, but she’s making great progress. I laugh every time she says, “say in English” when we’re trying to say something to her in Romanian. Apparently, it’s easier for her to understand English than for her to try and figure out what we’re trying to say in Romanian. That’s great progress for her…but it lets you know we still have a long way to go!

Prayer Requests:
• Continuing to learn the Romanian language
• Spiritual growth for Oana & Raluca
• Wisdom in working with the older children and new workers in the orphanage
• For God to continue to help me prepare good lessons for my English class
• For us to meet the ongoing needs of Lavinia and Cosmina as well as our other foster children in the New Beginnings Family Centers
• Wisdom to handle the behavioral challenges of the children in the afterschool program

With much love,
Natalie Bridges
natalie926@hotmail.com


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