November-December 2009 Update

There are so many things to be thankful for these days...and so many things that I take for granted. All it takes is a bad cold and lingering cough to make me appreciate being able to breathe without congestion or sing without having a coughing fit. Or a pain in my left heel lasting for several months to be able to appreciate being able to walk normal again without pain. All I need to do is see the need at the orphanage on a daily basis to remind me how blessed I am to have a loving family who raised me with unconditional love and affection. It only takes a visit to a family who barely has enough food in a pieced together home to appreciate my warm home where I have plenty to eat and my own room to sleep in. God has blessed me in so many ways and I am grateful to be able to share with you some of the happenings around here during the past two months.

Around the house
Most homes in the villages are heated with wood burning stoves called sobas. The folks living in the city have radiant heat and look down on people with sobas because it’s considered a heating system for poor folks. Well, our home is now heated with sobas because it was so expensive to heat our home with radiators. Our gas bill was over $1,000 per month during the cold months and we just couldn’t afford it…being poor folks – ha! So, last year we had a soba installed and got a great deal on it. Unfortunately, sometimes you get what you pay for and after an incredibly cold winter (it never got over 55 degrees in the house), we decided to have a professional come and help us out this year. In November they installed a new soba, then moved and rebuilt our old one upstairs on the third floor to help regulate the heat better. They did a great job and our home is a cozy 65-70 degrees now. It now costs only about $100 per month to heat the house (not counting the initial installation cost)…even though it means a little more work chopping the wood and keeping the fire going. It’s definitely worth it!! (Brian and Cynthia are posing next to the soba in our living room)



We live in a small city in Romania…it’s a nice and quiet little city with most things you need. However, we decided to take the foster girls to a nearby “big city” for an excursion. Neither of the girls had ever been to Cluj and since it is only a 2 hour drive, we loaded up the van and went for the day. Going to Cluj is exciting for the Americans because they actually have two large malls there complete with a Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and KFC…none of which our little city has. They also have a large cinema in each mall that recently began showing 3-D movies. We treated the girls to their first ever 3-D movie…the latest Jim Carrey Christmas Carol movie. They loved it! We also got a little Christmas shopping started and ate good old American fast food. It was an exciting day for all of us!

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in Romania…obviously, but it was at our house this year. We had a nice big traditional American thanksgiving feast and took time to reflect on our many blessings and appreciate each other’s company. Romanians don’t traditionally eat a lot of turkey and never have dressing or sweet potato pie, and they typically don’t like pumpkin…so this was definitely not a typical meal for any of us. It was thoroughly enjoyed by the Americans, however, and our Romanian guests graciously tried everything. Some of them actually enjoyed much of our feast. Since it isn’t a holiday for Romanians, we had our feast on Friday afternoon so that more people could join us. The kids were pretty hungry by the time we were ready to eat…and poor little Sage (who is 3) sat down at the table the minute she got home from school. She sat there for well over an hour all by herself….waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It was definitely worth the wait!

After-School Program
We’ve had some really wonderful moments in the after-school program during the past two months along with some very trying and difficult times. We still battle with challenging behavior problems that manifest themselves in fighting and stealing along with bad language and attitudes. Clare is back from the States for a couple weeks this month (December) and we’re hoping that together we can put together a plan to turn things around in the coming year. We could really use your prayers for wisdom and patience and understanding for these kids and the challenges we face.
On a brighter note, we had several birthday parties during the past two months that were huge successes and lots of fun for everyone. I guess the one thing I have figured out how to do well is plan birthday parties – ha! Of course, it is hard to go wrong with homemade pizza, cake, games involving balloons, M&M’s, and whipped cream, and piñatas filled with candy!

We had a wonderful time decorating the tree and performing the annual Christmas play for the parents. We also had a Christmas party for the kids where we gave them their presents…a set of new clothes and a toy for each of the kids and boots/jackets for those that needed them. I was told that things were pretty bad around their houses at Christmas time this year. Apparently, one of fathers had a big drunken fight with his brothers on Christmas Eve and knives were involved. It just breaks my heart. Please pray for reconciliation and peace in these families. They desperately need a miracle!

Orphanage

The kids continue to make progress and I’m so proud of our kids in the baby room. They are growing up so fast! The older ones are quite the talkers these days and are full of energy. They love music and toys that play music…they dance and sing and are generally happier when we have children’s songs or soothing music playing. It’s so exciting when they break out singing a song that we’ve taught them or chatting about something that excites them. The 4 year olds (Marius, Nicoleta, and Mario) know their colors and animal sounds really well now and we’re still working on counting. They feed themselves, can put their shoes on themselves, and are in the potty training process. Assuming all goes well in that area they’ll go to kindergarten in the fall.

I’ve been working on some training for Georgel. When he gets mad he tends to become aggressive…he tries to pull my hair and even bite me out of frustration when he doesn’t get what he wants. The worst part is not being able to figure out what he wants that is making him so agitated! It amazes me that he is responding to training though. Whenever he tries to pull my hair I tell him no and explain that it hurts and is not allowed and then I tickle him under the arms to get him to pull his hands down. It works…mostly because he is so ticklish. However, I’ve noticed that I don’t even have to tickle him anymore…I tell him no, it hurts and it’s not allowed…and he stops. He surprises us with how much he understands. He also is a great communicator about the things he does like. His gives us a big smile and sometimes laughs out loud when we start putting on his shoes to go for a walk. I think my favorite part of the day with Georgel is when I first say hello to him…he moves in for his hugs. He’s gotten to the point now where he just likes to snuggle up in my lap and put his head on my shoulder and his arms around my neck and just lets me hold him for a while. It usually turns into a game where I give him a big ‘ol bear hug and then release and repeat a half dozen times. He also likes to make little cooing noises while I’m holding him. It’s just a special time each day with my little buddy Georgel.

Christmas in Romania



It's been a busy, but fun Christmas season here...between all the kids' programs and baking and visiting people, it's kept me pretty busy. The orphanage had a fund raiser gala in December and some of the children from the orphanage performed a Christmas program that we put together. It was simple, but we saw tears in many people's eyes, so I know they were touched. We had the ones who could dress up as Mary and Joseph and a shepherd, etc. Ildiko (my fellow volunteer) spoke and told the story while the kids acted it out. Then they sang a little Sunday School song that Ildiko and I had taught them months earlier that basically says, Jesus loves everyone...he loves the children and the parents and me and you...he loves us all. It was the perfect song because the kids already knew it and didn't have to try and learn something new and it spoke of the real reason Jesus came...because he loves us. The best part is that the children have begun to make the connection between the song and real life. Every day they will surprise us by saying...Jesus loves Natalie, Jesus loves Ildiko, Jesus loves me, etc. It blesses me so much!!



The team from Spain that came a few years ago sent gifts to the children in the baby room at the orphanage again this year! Every child received a set of new clothes, shoes, and a toy. Many of the children are old enough now to really enjoy unwrapping presents.

Some are still more interested in the wrapping paper and boxes than the gifts inside, but they all had a great time playing with the toys. They did a pretty good job of sharing between themselves…especially with the big turtle that had lots of blocks and played music. They figured how to raise the turtles back by pushing on his head before we did! It brought much joy to us to see how excited the children were with the new toys and the generosity made a big impression on the staff…from the director on down. We all turned into little children that day…everyone who came in the room took a turn playing with the toys and it was great fun to see the smiles and hear the laughter of grownups enjoying themselves right alongside the children!


We have a girls Bible Study that we've been doing every other Saturday, and there are about 10 girls from a nearby village who have been coming. Their families are very poor, so the weekend before Christmas we took gift baskets to their families and a few others (in total there were 13 families) to bless them for Christmas.
We sang carols (in Romanian...let's just say, I can sing Joy to the World in Romanian pretty well now - ha!) and gave a short message about Jesus as we gave them the gifts. It was such a blessing to see their faces glowing from gratitude and many women openly cried. It blessed me as much as it did them!







We had a church service on Christmas Eve where the kids from my Sunday School class did their program, then afterward we had a birthday party for Jesus…complete with games and cake and presents.




It was really fun and the kids did a really good job. I decided to video the play this year instead of doing it live. We did it like a news report style with a reporter in the studio talking to the on-the-scene reporter who interviewed Mary and Joseph and the wise men and they also interviewed a family. The point of the play was that Santa and presents don't bring true joy and peace...only Jesus can. It was really cute and our social worker (and my translator) wrote it for us. We went to a cabin out in the village to film the manger scenes. It snowed that day and it was so much fun. The family has horses who were very curious to see what we were doing in their barn. I had to keep moving them out of the way so we could film. It was entertaining to say the least.

After the program we went caroling with my class and a few other adults to the orphanage and some houses on our street. We also took some gifts to one of the families because they have 10 children and are very poor. I was able to pull together enough gifts from donations so that everyone (including the parents) had something to open on Christmas day. Lavinia (one of the foster girls who lives with us is best friends with one of their daughters and we learned that they would not have any presents this year). It was also really fun singing at the orphanage...the orphanage kids and the staff really enjoyed it. I loved it too, of course!

English Class

I have another great group of kids in my English class this year. I average between 20-25 students each week, which is nearly double what it’s been in years past. It’s still a lot of work trying to come up with lessons that build vocabulary and conversational skills, while still appealing to a group of teens…but I enjoy it very much! I’ve also recently had the opportunity to get to know some of the students outside the classroom as well. Two of my students invited me to watch their Taekwondo competition recently and it was a lot of fun. I took my camera and shared the photos I took with them. They were thrilled!

We also had a Christmas party for the class this year and it was a blast! There were a little over 20 students there and we played some great games, ate pizza, and listened to each other karaoke Christmas songs. My favorite part was watching the students act out the 12 Days of Christmas song. I’m attaching it here for you to enjoy as well. It took them a little while to get the hang of it, but once they did, it was hilarious!
























Thank you!
I want to thank you all for making it possible for me to spend another year ministering to the people of Bistrita, Romania. God is touching and changing lives and I am so blessed to be a part of it. Thank you for your continuing prayer and financial support that enables me to be here. I hope that you are enjoying God’s many blessings in your life!

Prayer Requests:
• Continuing to learn the Romanian language – my classes are going well, but it is still quite a challenge!
• 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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