Abandoned Bridges

Winter Update - 2010

2010-04-11T17:28:00.015+03:00

We’re on the other side of winter now and I’m reflecting back over all the things that have happened in the past three months. I just have to say that it’s good to be on the other side of things…we’ve been through tough situations and can now look back and see how God intervened and brought us through. It’s humbling and amazing to see all that he’s done and it’s so good to see new signs of life….both outside in nature and in the lives of people as well.

The After-School Program for Underprivileged Children

This program continues to be a challenge for us in so many ways, but we keep pressing on and although we have certainly had our struggles, there have been some great things happening as well.
Clare was here for a week in January and brought us some new tools to help keep the children motivated and engaged while they are at the center. The resources have really helped! We put the ideas to work and have been blown away at how successful they’ve been. For example, in our first activity with the children they worked together in teams to plan a new country…write the laws, draw a flag, etc. and you could have heard a pin drop in the room as they diligently worked on the activity. The workers and I just stared at each other with our mouths open in amazement. It was so much fun for all of us!

Our biggest worry/challenge began in January and has continued until now. We discovered that our neighbor was diligently working to get us kicked out of our apartment. We rent an apartment in a building that was owned by a woman who divorced her husband for infidelity. In the divorce, she got half the building and he got the other half. He lives in his half with his new family and she rents her half out. We are currently the only renters on her side of the building and her ex-husband hates us. He wants the building all to himself and he's decided to complain about the noise level to the police. He has called so many times now that the police felt obliged to give us a ticket!! The kids are only there from 12:30-5:00 M-F so it is completely quiet in the mornings and evenings and all weekend long. Apparently, that isn’t enough. In his defense, the construction of the homes in Romania is extremely poor...so he can hear everything as if we're in the room with him. So, we had to go down to the police station and talk to them and it looked like we needed to find a new place by the end of February. The police, half-teasingly, told us we should find a house in the forest - ha! With this news we immediately began looking for a new place to rent. It looked as if God answered our prayers when the very next week we found an amazing apartment…nearby, cheaper, with sound proofing added to the walls and all completely remodeled inside. There were new doors and windows, new flooring and paint on the walls. It was amazing! We met with the agent and decided it was the answer to our problems. Then came the day we were to sign the lease agreement with the owner…and things changed! The owner turned out to be a very sneaky man who announced that the rent was only that low if we could pay a whole year in advance for it. If we elected to pay monthly, we would also have to pay a 19% tax each month and also revealed some other hidden charges (similar to home association dues). We decided to back off and pray about it before moving forward. In the meantime, some interesting things happened. Turns out our neighbor isn’t Romanian and had to return to Germany to sort through some immigration issues. He’s actually been in the country illegally and may not be returning at all! During his absence we have been working on obtaining some legal papers that will allow us to stay in the apartment even if our neighbor complains again to the police. God is so good!! I’ll keep you updated as things progress, but for now we are staying where we are.

In this new year I started a program to encourage good behavior from the children. The two children with the highest number of points (earned through attendance, completing their homework, good behavior, doing chores, etc.) get to spend an afternoon with me doing some sort of charity work. Initially, I wasn’t sure how excited the children would react to the idea, but I was overwhelmed by their positive response. In fact, after two months it is still the main topic of discussion throughout each week. We have gone to the orphanage and visited sick people (both in their homes and at the hospital). As the weather warms up we will be doing more outdoor work for elderly neighbors as well. We also take time to enjoy a treat…something sweet from the bakery, a hot chocolate, etc. and just spend time talking about whatever comes up. It’s been great spending time with the kids, doing something for others. We have bonded even more and it is another tangible way I can show them how much I love and care for them.

I have something really exciting to share! Our children have terrible teeth…even though we make them brush their teeth every day, they have so many cavities and visible evidence of their teeth rotting right out of their mouths! It’s so sad and after hearing them complain about toothaches on a daily basis, I decided that I would take one of the kids with the worst teeth and just pay for him to have his teeth fixed. Then, as I could afford it, I would do the same for all the children. Raluca took him to the best dentist she knew…who just so happened to be a close friend of her family. The dentist agreed to fix Francis’ teeth for a fraction of the cost and I was so grateful that Francis would have his teeth fixed without having to spend a fortune for it. Then, another blessing…the dentist told us he had thought about it and would like to sponsor our program by donating his time and materials to fix ALL of the children’s teeth for FREE!! We warned him that all of the kids have multiple problems, but he said it didn’t matter. What a great blessing!! God is so good!!!

Although we still struggle with behavioral issues, we know that these kids need a safe place where they know they are loved. A place where they don’t have to be afraid of being beaten or emotionally wounded and where they can have their basic needs met. It is amazing what the power of love can do. We love them and they know it and they are responding to it. Each day brings new challenges, but by God’s grace we are pressing on.

Orphanage

I am just so pleased with how loving and affectionate our children are in the orphanage, especially Marius, Mario, and Nicoleta who are three of the older children in the baby room at the orphanage. They will be turning 5 soon and we are still working on potty training, but they are feeding themselves, putting on their own shoes, and cooperating completely with the tooth-brushing and other grooming activities. In addition, they all know their animal sounds and Marius and Nicoleta also know their colors. They also know several children's songs by heart and sing along with the CD or break out in song when the mood strikes them…usually when they are sitting on the potty! They are happy and playful and affectionate and talking up a storm. It's so exciting to see!

We speak to the children on a daily basis using kind words and this modeling is rubbing off on the workers. Where they used to speak harshly to the children, we are noticing them speaking sweeter to the children. The children copy everything of course, so they are also speaking kindly. The whole atmosphere is changing slowly, but surely.

We added several more children during the past few months…3 babies and a 5 year old boy with epilepsy. His foster family was no longer able to adequately care for him so he was returned to the orphanage. One of the babies was born with severe deformities and breathing problems and sadly, she passed away a few weeks ago. The other two babies have physical challenges as well, but we are working with them daily to help them improve. Ildiko and I work diligently each day to spend quality time with each child, but it is so difficult to meet all of their needs.
I’m happy to report that Georgel still has not returned to his self-abusive behavior. He expresses his frustration vocally rather than hitting himself. We have found that most of his anger outbursts can be calmed with pure affection. We hold him and tell him we love him and he smiles and hugs us back. We continue hugging him until he is ready to move onto something else…usually tickling and playing games we’ve invented between ourselves. Once he has had his “affection cup” filled, so to speak, he’s ready to play with other toys and entertain himself. It’s amazing to experience this process on a daily basis.

These children are so adorable; I wish they would let me take more pictures to show you. Sometimes the children are just so cute that they let me snap their picture. One day I found the cutest poncho in the dulap and when Vasilica saw me with it, she threw such a fit I had to put it on her. Anytime a coat comes out, she tries to put it on because she wants to go outside. She’s only two and not talking, but you know exactly what she wants! She got herself all dressed up and grabbed Ildiko’s purse and was waving goodbye before we could turn around. She was so cute we had to take her on a quick walk after I snapped some pictures. In March the weather started to warm up a little, so we are once again taking the kids into town. They are doing so great! They aren’t afraid to enter a store or home anymore and they even ENJOY riding in cars now. If you could have heard their crying and seen their fits when we first starting taking them out, you would understand better how much progress they’ve made over the past year. I sure sound like a bragging proud mother don’t I? Ha!!

There are some personal challenges with working in the orphanage, specifically sickness. The children in the baby room were sick for weeks this winter and although we fought it off for several weeks, Ildiko and I ended up in bed with flu symptoms that turned into a nasty cold. It knocked us down pretty good and took us a while to recuperate, but we're doing fine now. It really makes you appreciate being healthy!!!

Overall, things are going really well at the orphanage and I am so excited that the director has given her permission for me to bring the children from the after-school program there as often as I want. Initially, I wasn’t sure how the workers there would react to me bringing in gypsy kids to volunteer, but they saw how good they were with the kids and how much they enjoyed it that they let us stay as long as we want and even answered all of their questions of curiosity. It just warms my heart to be able to merge these programs together so they both benefit. The gypsy children are so poor and discriminated against and are often abused and neglected at home, but they came face to face with children who have even less than they do. It affected them in a positive way and helped them to realize how much they had to be thankful for. A lesson we all need to remember!

English Class

In February, a team from an International High School in England came to volunteer at the orphanage. They also spent some time at our after-school program and while they were in town, and I saw a great opportunity for them to come and meet my English class. I invited a group of the students to join my English class while they were in town. They came and were put on the ‘hotseat’ by the class where they answered any questions the class wanted to ask. It made for some very interesting discussions because the visiting students were from all over the US as well as other countries. A young student from Nigeria was on the hotseat for quite a while. She had a fascinating life story and my Romanian students were very interested to know about her. The class ended with a general discussion about life in Romania, both past and present, in comparison to life in other countries that were represented by the students. We had so much fun that my Romanian students began to ask how long the visiting students would be in town. Unfortunately, they were leaving the next day, so there wouldn’t be time for them to hang out as they wished. So, we came up with a last minute plan…. a get-together that evening with anyone who could come. We met at a restaurant in the visiting students’ hotel and we had the place to ourselves. We had a great time visiting and playing games and taking photos. Some new friendships were made that day and it was one of my favorite experiences.
I have really enjoyed getting to know the students and have had to opportunity to get to know some of them outside class as well. For example, Vlad was preparing to take the Cambridge Exam and asked if we could get together to help him prepare. He stayed after class and we worked through some of the types of exercises that would be on the test and then I asked him how I could best help him prepare. He said, “Just talking will help me the best”. So, I began interviewing him with some questions that might be asked by the examiner. His answers to the first couple of standard questions made me think of other questions and then next thing you know we had spent 3 hours talking…non-stop!! I’m not sure exactly what it was that made it so easy to carry on a conversation that long…but it was a lot of fun. I’m happy to say that he did extremely well on the exam, so all that hard work really paid off!

My Visit To Sibiu

Ani used to live with us…but she moved to Sibiu, a city about 4 hours from Bistrita, to attend college. She is a talented fashion designer who has won numerous awards and contests, beginning in high school. While she was in college, she met a wonderful young man named Dani and they were married almost two years ago. They come to visit when they can and have been asking me to visit for two years. In March, I was finally able to get away for the weekend for a visit and had a marvelous time! They showed me around Sibiu, a fortress city that, despite repeated sieges, was never conquered and is now known as a Cultural Capital in Europe. We visited some of the town’s landmarks, did a little shopping at 2nd hand stores, visited a famous museum, attended a church whose pastor visited my parent’s church in Texas, and had a wonderful time catching up and laughing together.

The Village Museum was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. It is approximately 250 acres featuring more than 300 building, watermills, windmills, gigantic presses for wine, fruit, and oil, etc. These structures were brought to the museum from villages all over Romania and represent the village architectural styles and technology legacy of the Romanian people. It is an open air museum with a large lake in the middle of it and over 6 miles of walking paths meandering through the forest trees. Tour guides take you inside the buildings and tell you how they were used and when and what life was like for the people living/working there. I saw work tools that dated back to Roman times 2,000 years ago. Oil was (and still is) very important to Romanians and we saw how it was made in the “old days”…let’s just say they didn’t need to go to the gym after work in these days! Interestingly, some of the equipment used back then looks an awful lot like equipment found in gyms today. It was hard work; 10 kilograms of sunflowers seeds produced only 800 grams of oil back then (1,000 grams is one kilogram). Many of their buildings were made

with thatched roofs and we were told the roofs were made by layering pine branches with grass and straw and measured about a meter in thickness. We were also told that these roofs were very sturdy and lasted for 60 years!! They figured out how to prevent sparks from their indoor fires from setting the place on fire, but I can’t tell you how – my Romanian isn’t that good! Ha! One of the houses we saw had the chicken coup right under the house…one entry for the chickens, another for the humans! Very interesting stuff! It was a lot of fun and fortunately, it was a beautiful day to stroll along the paths and take it all in.

The church we visited was in a gypsy village about an hour outside of town…it wasn’t really that far, but the road was horrible! It was a gravel road filled with holes and washboards and pretty rough on the car. The pastor, Sorin, was so excited to have us visit that he asked me to share my story of how I came to Romania with the congregation. They were a very friendly and loving group of people and we enjoyed the service very much. In fact, Ani and Dani have been attending the church ever since! One of the things I liked about the church was how much the people just enjoyed being there. They took their time and enjoyed every part of the service. For example, when it was time for church to start, the pastor welcomed everyone and then told us to greet those around us and visit with each while they finished preparing the tea. After we spent some time meeting the people seated around us, he passed out cups of hot fruit tea (already sweetened just right) for all of us. They then had a time of worship led by a worship team comprised of adults, teens, and children…many of whom were playing percussion instruments to accompany the guitar the leader played. They had a special speaker from Canada who spoke, which was great for me since he spoke in English and Sorin translated for the congregation. They ended the service with a baby dedication and a time of prayer for those who would be beginning a bible school being offered via CD’s at the church. We stayed and talked with many people after the service…again, the people lingered not wanting to leave. Overall, it was definitely another highlight of my visit to Sibiu and I am so glad I was able to experience another part of Romania and meet more wonderful people.

Thank you!

Thank you again to everyone for their prayers and financial support. There is much work to do here and I pray that God will continue to use me and lead me in the work that he has prepared for me to do.

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
• Wisdom to handle the behavioral challenges of the children in the afterschool program

With much love,
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: Jana Patton
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.

November-December 2009 Update

2009-12-30T14:38:00.036+02:00

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

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: Jana Patton
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.

Sept/Oct 2009 Update

2009-11-02T23:19:00.016+02:00

The weather is changing on a daily basis these days...sunny and warm, rainy, sunny and cold, just plain cold...we even had a little snow already! It's been beautiful though with all the fall colors. There was an article in the local paper today about Autumn. To my surprise, the picture that accompanied the article was of ME and Ildiko taken today as we were walking to the orphanage! Life is full of surprises. Just as Autumn brings surprises and changes, so has the last couple of months. Here is an update of some of the highlights.

Ladies Tea

We had our annual Ladies Tea on October 10th and it was a huge success. The topic this year was Contentment and it was a great reminder to all of us to enjoy what we have and where God has placed us. Andreea Hogan from Calvary Chapel in Brasov was our speaker and she brought some friends with her from Brasov when she came. The church was decorated beautifully and we had a wonderful potluck feast. We also played some hilarious games that helped us get to know each other better in a fun way. Overall, it was a truly enjoyable event and everyone was blessed by the teaching and the fellowship.

Orphanage

In addition to working with the children in the “baby room” at the orphanage, Ildiko and I have been endeavoring to spend more time with the older children. There are about 25 severely challenged young adults who live at the orphanage. Half of them are able to attend a special school during the day and I only get to see them on Saturday. Of this group, several are able to converse with us and although it is difficult for me to understand them sometimes, it does provide more opportunities to make connections. One of the topics of conversation that is brought up almost on a daily basis is that of animals. The children are always talking about them and it has been my dream to someday take them to the zoo. Since the closest zoo is 1.5 hours by car, I knew it would be a miracle for that to happen. However, I know God is a miracle working God, so I began to pray about it. Imagine my excitement when we were told that an anonymous sponsor had provided the funds for a day trip to the zoo!! I literally jumped up and down in excitement! For the first time ever, we took a group of kids from our orphanage to the ZOO and it was a truly wonderful time! Everything was PERFECT...the weather was beautiful, we had plenty of snacks and drinks for the kids, the van ride was smooth and easy and no one got carsick, etc. We really had no problems at all.

The fun actually started in the van...the kids really enjoyed looking out the window and listening to the music. The boys who sat next to the windows were glued to them. Vasile was sitting in the row in front of me and he kept turning around to look at me with a huge smile on his face. I think he was enjoying it so much he kept looking at me as if to say, "hey, are you seeing what I'm seeing? This is so cool!!" He must have looked back at me 100 times during our time in the van. I just smiled back really big and acknowledged that it was indeed very cool! Hercule sat next to me and he discussed with me all of his favorite sites along the way. He had to keep wiping his window because of the moisture from his breathing. Ha!

We enjoyed some snacks when we arrived at the zoo before going inside. The kids love to eat, so it was quite enjoyable for them to have bananas and yogurt and juice....what a great treat!

With full tummies and empty bladders we were finally ready to enter the zoo! We all had a great time looking at the animals and spent almost 2 hours walking leisurely from one exhibit to the next. We had some laugh out loud moments...the first one was in the first exhibit...the monkey house. We saw a mouse running on the floor and in a flash Hercule was running after it. He was so fast and nimble I thought he might actually catch it! Fortunately, one of the other workers grabbed his hand and kept him in check or he might have disappeared after the mouse. At one point, Hercule was crouched down so low he was only inches off the ground looking for the elusive mouse. It was hilarious! Another humorous moment was near the big elk exhibit...one of the elk began bugling and one of the children said, "Do you hear that? It's Paul!" He was right, the noise the elk was making sounded an awful lot like Paul when he is upset. We all just had to laugh at that. Another moment was at the goat exhibit. Mario, who is normally afraid of everything was so excited about the goats. He loved them and was not afraid of them at all. He started talking to the goats saying, "Hai la Mario, iubito"...which means Come to Mario, darling. It was so cute!

There were many special moments...especially for Hercule who actually got to touch (and kiss) a pony that was one of several allowed to wander around the park loose. What a thrill that was for him! All the children had a fun time and we enjoyed watching them enjoy themselves.

On the way home we stopped at a restaurant to eat. It was a little farther out of town than we remembered and we weren't sure if Florin was going to make it...he was so HUNGRY! He kept asking every few minutes when we were going to eat...we had to keep telling him just a few minutes more. Poor guy! It was worth the wait though...the restaurant was very accommodating and we had a semi-private area in the outdoor seating area that was beautiful. We enjoyed inexpensive and delicious food (can't beat that combination) and had plenty of it. They even prepared a special meal for the little boys that was so good that Marius ate ALL of it and Mario nearly ate it all. Apparently, they ate so much that they weren't hungry for the rest of the day! After our wonderful meal, we headed for home with lots of happy memories to reflect upon.

My Birthday
I celebrated my birthday in September….three times! One with Romanian cultural influences, one was American style, and one was kid style. The custom in Romania is for the birthday person to take charge of his/her birthday celebration. They furnish the fun…the food, cake, etc. as a gift from them to celebrate their special day. So, in the traditional Romanian way, I planned my birthday party, decorated, bought the food, celebrated, and then cleaned it all up! Ha! The only thing I didn’t do this year was make my own cake…Cynthia and Ildiko took care of that for me and their results were delicious! It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it, but I was exhausted when it was over! Two days later, a couple of ladies from the church decided to show me how much they love me by giving me their version of an American birthday celebration…and I have to say, I like the way they think! Ha! They drove me to Cluj (a large city 2 hours from Bistrita) and took me to get my hair cut at a very nice salon. Then we went to the mall where we had Pizza Hut pizza and after lunch we went shopping and they bought me a beautiful blouse. I was overwhelmed by their generosity and we had a great time laughing and enjoying each other’s company.

The final celebration was at the afterschool program. We had a big celebration because Raul’s birthday was the day before mine and Nicusor’s was the day after mine. We made pizza and the kids wanted me to paint their faces like clowns and then we had my masterpiece….a chocolate chip cookie cake! It was the first time I had ever tried anything like it and I’m happy to say it turned out to be delicious! I had to laugh at the clown faces though…I ended up painting them like I do my own face and they all looked like mini-me’s in clown. They sure were cute! I did get a little creative and turned one into a clown pirate. Hilarious! A week later I received a wonderful package from my home group friends in Boise who sent me some beautiful and encouraging cards and other small gifts. It truly was a memorable and fun birthday!

100 year old washing machine

At the request of several Romanian friends, we took a trip to a village about 30 minutes outside of town a few weeks ago to take some rugs to a home where they have a 100 year old outdoor washing “machine”. It was an amazing set-up with water wheels and it was a fascinating experience to be looking at a process that has been in place for so many years. The owner has a booming business…there were more rugs than I could count…some in piles waiting to be washed, some being washed, and many more drying on the lines in the sun. The charge was nominal, bring your own laundry soap and the equivalent of $5 and they would wash your rug for you. Normally I see the locals hanging the rugs outdoors and beating them to get out the loose dirt or they’ll lay them in the street and hand wash them. Although this involved a little bit of travel, the ladies who received their rugs back in such a fine condition said it was well worth it! I am just glad I got to go along for the ride and see firsthand a bit of history and modern convenience in one setting.

After-school Program

After a fun summer filled with excursions and picnics and day-trips we settled back into the routine of school and homework and preparing for the big year-end exams. Unfortunately, the new school year has not started out so well. A few days before school started someone broke into the center and stole, among other things, the new school shoes that had been donated for the two oldest boys. Sadly, we suspect that one of the kids assisted in the break-in by unlocking one of the windows so the thief (or thieves) could get in. When we arrived the next day, we found the windows open and evidence that the perpetrator(s) had helped themselves to the microwave popcorn, smoked a cigarette in the office, and used the hair cutters, as well as taking numerous items. We filed a report at the police station, but the police didn’t take any action…none! It was very disappointing in every way.
Unfortunately, we’ve experienced an increase in behavioral problems in the last couple of months and suspect that it is a result of abuse in the lives of several of the younger children. It became clear to us that we needed to report our concerns to the department of child protection services who referred us to the police. It caused quite a bit of scandal, as you can imagine, and things got pretty bad for a while. We could really use your prayers for these children and the program as we are trying to decide now what changes need to be made. Just as Autumn brings a time of hibernation, it may be that this program needs to lie dormant for a while and let God make some necessary changes and breathe new life into the program.

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

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: Jana Patton
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.

Summer 2009 Update

2009-11-02T17:21:00.026+02:00

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

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: Jana Patton
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.

Spring 2009 Update

2009-05-30T23:27:00.019+03:00

At long last…finally an update! So much has happened in the past three months…we celebrated Martisor (a Romanian holiday welcoming Spring), Women’s Day (similar to our Mother’s Day…only here you don’t have to be a mom, just a woman!), Easter, and the Romanian Labor Day (on May 1). Spring is a great time of year in Romania for holidays! We had a great time celebrating these special days, but there is much more to share with you…so here are some highlights and updates for you:

Orphanage

It’s been a beautiful spring so we’ve been able to get the kids outside every day. Initially, we stayed on the grounds in the play area of the orphanage, but now we’ve been taking them to the big playground in the park. Ildiko and I have also been taking them on excursions…to the large supermarket, to a bakery, to Ildiko’s house, and for walks around town for example. The kids have really enjoyed it and it gives them a chance to be exposed to new situations. Mario, for example, is extremely scared every time we go into any new place and insists upon being held. I was so excited when I was able to get him to ride in the grocery cart…which was a huge accomplishment, considering he threw a fit and cried at the very thought of going inside the store. He actually enjoyed himself once he calmed down and had a terrific time. It’s been great fun getting them exposed to life outside the orphanage.
We’ve seen some progress in the children developmentally, for example, Georgel (the little blind boy who used to hit himself incessantly) is actually walking on his own! It is a diffident walk to be sure, but each day he is a little bolder in his attempts. I can’t begin to tell you how excited we were to see him walk by himself for the first time. He used to immediately drop to the ground if he lost contact with us and now he is getting up and cautiously stepping out without any help whatsoever! Other of the older children are also responding to our presence and interacting more with us. Where they used to sit alone and rock, they are now coming to us and interacting with us…smiles, touches, games, etc. are all common from them now. Ildiko and I have introduced many of them to Play-dough, coloring books, new toys, etc. for the first time and it is exciting to witness. We’ve also seen some positive changes in the workers. Although on any given day you will still see workers sitting off to the side by themselves while the children are alone to “entertain” themselves, you will occasionally see some of them playing with the children. One little boy in particular sits in his wheelchair, unable to move because of his disabilities, the entire time the children are outside. After noticing this the first day we were outside with the older children, I decided to try something new. I pushed his wheelchair around the yard for him and then lifted him out and put him on the swing. To my delight, he LOVED it…his smile was as big as his face. The next day we found one of the workers pushing him on the swing and it made our hearts burst with joy that she had taken the initiative to put him on the swing on her own. With these children, it only takes one small change to impact their world dramatically. For example, one of the older boys who is verbal, but very aggressive and must be restrained began asking me for a radio. He repeated his request for numerous days and then added that he also wanted sunglasses when he saw mine. The workers just humored him, but after several days I began to think this was an important request for him. Ildiko and I took a couple of the younger children on a walk the next day and found a store that is similar to our dollar stores. I was so excited to find sunglasses and a little radio for about $3, but not nearly excited as the young man. He was thrilled when I gave him the gifts and when he put his head on my shoulder with a contented smile on his face I cried. He then got up and danced the most hilarious dance for us and did he ever look cool in his shades! The entire staff was rolling in laughter and we all couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day. They are baby steps to be sure, but we do see positive changes and continue to pray for God to use us to be a blessing and to minister to the needs of the children and the staff.

One new development that I have heard about recently is that the Department of Child Protection is not able to hire any more foster parents (it sounds like some sort of hiring freeze) and those who decide to leave the program are not being replaced. This could mean that the orphanage will begin to see more children again. Please pray that whatever is motivating this change will be reversed. I have seen first hand what happens to children who are raised in an orphanage and it is devastating. Just this week I have seen evidence of this change when I visited the hospital and found 10 new abandoned babies, the oldest of which is 7 months old, living in cribs and receiving only basic care. The research on the affects of children who do not bond normally with a parent within the first few months of age says that the damage can be irreparable. Please pray for these children, they need a miracle!

Open Doors – the after-school program for underprivileged gypsy kids
We found ourselves in need of hiring again in March, and a daunting task lay ahead for us. Oana and I worked together to plan the activities, prepare the homework, and run the program…while interviewing and trying out candidates. I interviewed 30 candidates amongst our regular routine the first week alone! I didn’t realize how bad the economy was here in our town until we began the search for this candidate. The last time we hired, I interviewed about 10 people and only 2 of them spoke English well enough to be considered seriously for the position. This time we had nearly 50 interviews and all of them spoke excellent English. It made our selection process a little more difficult, but I’d much rather have that problem! In the end we selected a young woman named Raluca and she is amazing! She genuinely cares for the kids, is very bright, hard working, and full of energy and fun ideas. The children have responded extremely well to her and she is doing a great job. We are once again fully staffed and it is such a pleasure to work with these ladies.

In amongst the daily grind of homework and baths and breaking up fights and constant lecturing, we have had some true adventures and wonderfully surprising moments. It is like a roller coaster to be sure…for every exciting breakthrough there has been a near disaster. For example, we took the kids to the zoo in a nearby town last month. We had a marvelous, albeit exhausting, time and we’re still talking about the monkey that swiped Daniela’s telephone right out of her hand and tried to eat it! The zoo worker rescued it for us, but the phone still bears the marks of the monkey’s teeth! None of the children had ever been to the zoo before and it was such a joy to watch them thrill to the sights of the animals up close and personal…and an extra treat was that almost every animal there had babies! The fabulously fun and exciting day ended in near disaster when we got a call from the police station to come and get half of the kids who didn’t make it home in the taxi we put them in. Apparently, the driver decided he didn’t want to take a bunch of gypsy kids in his taxi and kicked them out after we had already left in different taxis. Half of the kids made it home and the other half wandered around the grounds of the train station looking for another taxi until the police came and took them to the police station. I know that gypsies are discriminated against, but to see it so up close and personal was overwhelming to me. Our 14 year old who was with this half of the kids was even finger-printed and treated like a criminal all because he was a gypsy. After we got to the police station they told us that children were not allowed to travel unaccompanied by an adult in a taxi and that’s why they were taken to the station. Now, I know that’s not true because I talked to a dozen adults afterward who told us they do it all the time with their own children. I also spoke to one of the police officers who spoke English and when I mentioned that I felt the children might have been discriminated against, he assured me they had not….but he said “these people are a lower level of people” and “they shouldn’t be trusted”. I’m sure my mouth was open in shock while he was saying these things. Understandably, the parents were upset when we brought their kids home and they took their anger out on poor Oana. Unable to understand a single thing they were screaming, I called Pastor Brian and asked him to pray…I told him we needed God to send us an angel because Oana was standing in the midst of 50 angry onlookers while one of the fathers (who was drunk) was yelling and waving his arms like a mad-man in Oana’s face and had seconds earlier attempted to strangle her boyfriend who had accompanied her. Just as I closed my phone…a car pulled up and the father of one of the other children stepped out. He is one of the most respected men in their group and he walked over to Oana and put his arm around her shoulder and two seconds later the crowd began to calm down and dissipate. It was over as quickly as it had begun and no one was hurt. God had sent us an angel!

We learned a lot that day about why the children react with such anger all the time…it is a way of life in their homes. Even the other day when we walked the kids home and talked to the parents, I noticed how one of the mothers interacted with her children as we were leaving. She screamed at them and hit them and had such anger on her face as she spoke that it just broke my heart to know that this behavior is “normal” to them. The children are desperate for attention and it seems the only way they know to get it is to misbehave. We’ve been working hard to praise them for the good behavior and take special efforts to watch for them doing good things so we can give them positive attention. It is amazing how a soft, kind word just melts the anger at times. Other times, it seems nothing we do is helping. Please pray for the kids and for us to have wisdom in our daily interactions with them. We do have those wonderful moments for which it makes it all worthwhile. The other day I joined two of the older girls on the cushion and we just started talking and telling stories (yes, I can actually carry-on a decent conversation in Romanian now) and we were having so much fun that before we knew it all the other children had joined us and we just had a wonderful, quiet, intimate time together. Sadly, one of the kids hit another kid and it ended in a big fight…but boy, it was wonderful for the 20 minutes that it lasted! Ha!

I’ve also learned that just as these children are suffering in their own homes, so are our two workers. Oana is in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend and Raluca and her husband have spoken of divorce due to the difficulties in their relationship. Both women are suffering immensely, but Ildiko and I have been praying with them and we’ve had a bit of a break through. Pastor Brian came one day and counseled with the girls, sharing Biblical truths with them about relationships…both with the men in their lives and with the Lord. It was a step in the right direction for them and since then, they have been reading the Bible and praying and Raluca’s relationship with her husband is getting better. Ildiko and I also planned an evening for the girls and they actually were able to come…which is a miracle. Every other time we’ve invited them to something they have wanted to come, but the men in their lives have prevented them from coming. So, last night we had a girl’s night out at Ildiko’s house and we watched the movie “Fireproof” with Kirk Cameron and they both had a wonderful time. They said they felt such peace and kept commenting on how they had never had such a wonderful time. We prayed with them before they left and I know that God is doing a work in their hearts.
It hasn’t been easy working with such hurting people and there have been days when I genuinely didn’t want to go to the center. The children have such anger issues due to their family situations, that sometimes it is almost overwhelming. The work is seriously arduous and I actually love that it is, because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I could not do this job without God’s help. This constant reliance on God for even the simplest of activities fills my heart with worship for his greatness. It is a continuing reminder of how hopeless my life is without him. Please keep the children and our workers in your prayers!

A snapshot of life in Romania

Wow…Romanians really know how to picnic! I was invited to a picnic recently and expected the usual sandwiches, chips, fruit, sodas, a blanket to sit on…you know, the typical simple picnic. What I was treated to instead was an outdoor banquet! First, we drove for almost an hour outside of town to a beautiful spot near a river with wonderful views. Then we crossed a log bridge to encounter wooden tables covered with linen tablecloths and mounds of food. The grill was an ingenious contraption allowing for grilling of meats and French fries all at the same time. In addition to the fresh fruits and tasty pastries, there was chicken and pork and steak and of course, the French fries. It was a marvelous feast!

We had a surprising visitor the other night…a hedgehog! It wandered down from the forest that is behind our house and I happened to see his shadow as I was talking to someone outside our kitchen window. We captured the poor little fellow just for one night so we could show the kids in the morning…he sure was cute, very prickly and kept trying to curl up in a little ball when he was being photographed, but boy did he smell bad! We let him go the next day and he ran for the hills faster than you can imagine! I imagine his adventure sleeping in a laundry basket will be something he shares with his family for weeks to come – ha!

One of my favorite things to do is read to kids…and oh how I wish I could read Romanian well enough to do it with our kids at the center. Sadly, it will be a while before I can do that…but I am practicing! In the meantime, I have had the pleasure of reading to the 5 kids in our home daily during the past few weeks. My mom sent me some used Pippi Longstocking books recently and the kids are hooked! They have been begging me daily to read to them…and I am only too happy to oblige!

Clowning Around

We had the 3rd Annual Special Olympics this month and Winky had a blast cheering on the kids and clowning around in general. The biggest highlight at this year’s event was the participation of the kids from our orphanage. Several of the older children from the orphanage who attend a local school for special needs kids were even invited on stage for a special performance (a song and poem) and they did a great job. One of the girls even became an assistant to the emcee and had the most marvelous time! When she realized that the clown was actually someone she knew, she just lit up and told her teacher that she knew me and that I came to visit her every week. In addition to seeing the older kids, I also saw many other workers from the orphanage there working as volunteers. Most of them had never seen me in costume before, so you can imagine their reactions when I spoke to them. Hilarious fun! I think my favorite moment came when I saw three of our small children from the orphanage at the event accompanied by staff members. The kids were enjoying themselves immensely and I wanted to greet them. Knowing how scared Mario is of everything, I was leery of speaking to him. I was sure that he would freak out and scream when he saw this clown approaching him. To my utter amazement, I spoke to him and he dropped the hand of the staff member, ran to me and jumped in my arms. He was as comfortable with me in make-up and costume as he was on any regular day. He wasn’t fazed in the least…and then I realized…it’s because he recognized my voice. It reminded me of John 10:27 when Jesus said his sheep recognize his voice and follow him. I looked completely different than normal, but Mario was not afraid…sometimes God doesn’t “look” the way we expect, but if we recognize his voice, we will know it is him and not be afraid. Marius had a little different reaction, he leaned back and looked quizzically at me, crinkling up his nose a bit…like he was thinking, “you sound like Natalie, but you sure look different”. It took him a little longer, but he came to the same conclusion as Mario…it’s Natalie! He too came for a hug and once he was comfortable that this strange looking face was really Natalie, he couldn’t take his eyes off me and his smile was priceless. It was such a joy to me that these kids knew me and were not afraid. May we all be like these children and recognize God’s voice and follow him.

New Beginnings

My two new little “sisters” (from the New Beginnings Family Center) are doing great. Lavinia and Cosmina are a lot of fun to have around. We spend a lot of time together in the evenings working on homework, putting puzzles together, playing games, etc. We also have some quiet time each night where we talk about our day and pray together. We’ve also been working on memorizing Bible verses (in Romanian, of course). This has been great for my language development and the girls really enjoy it. Sadly for them, it will often take us days to learn one verse because of all the new words I’m trying to master. By the time we’ve learned it, we know it pretty well though.

Although the new addition to our “family” has been enjoyable, we’ve also had an adjustment time. Cynthia bears the brunt of most of it with extra kids under foot vying for her attention. We pray that God continues to give her grace as all 6 youngsters in the house almost always need something. Bed time is such a welcome relief! We all help out, but she and Brian end up having to play the “heavy” when it comes to discipline. The other day Lavinia and Cosmina were teasing each other and it got out of hand…Lavinia made Cosmina so mad she cussed her out. Having been warned repeatedly about speaking improperly with each other (a problem they had from day one), Cynthia used a tried and true method that has worked with her other children…soap! They each had to hold soap on their tongue for 1-2 minutes before being allowed to rinse. It was not a pleasant experience for either of them…and then afterward, they spent the rest of the day in their room without toys or games. They had the option of reading or sleeping to pass the time. It was a harsh lesson, but there have been no more incidents since then.

Cosmina is in music school and is doing well with her guitar. We recently attended a recital where we enjoyed the performance of her latest work. She plays a classical style and I enjoy listening to her play…she recently played three songs that she wrote herself, each one completely different sounding than the previous one. In my opinion, it is quite impressive for one so young (she’s only 9).

Lavinia is the oldest child in the house (13 years old) and thoroughly enjoys mothering the others. Riley (our youngest at 2 ½ months) coos and “talks” non-stop to Lavinia when she is near. She truly has a nurturing gift and her dream is to one day become a kindergarten teacher. Unfortunately, her grades need improving…especially in math. We have hired a tutor for her, but she will have to work all summer in order to catch up to the rest of her class.
Although it’s a lot of work, it’s also extremely rewarding to be a part of these girls’ lives!

Prayer Requests:
• Visi and Marius (two of the boys from our programs) are having lots of problems at home and really need prayer.
• Raluca and Oana – wisdom in working with the children and help with their relationships
• One of the boxes I shipped to myself is still missing. Please pray that it will arrive soon!
• Continuing to learn the Romanian language
• Wisdom in working with the older children and new workers in the orphanage

With much love,
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: Jana Patton
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 2009 Update

2009-02-24T14:34:00.009+02:00

I’m happy to report that we have no more evidence of mice in the house and sleeping with a flea collar has dramatically reduced the number of flea bites I’ve been receiving! Sometimes it’s the little things that can make such a big difference. I’ve also come to appreciate being healthy as I’ve been battling a nasty sinus infection and terrible cough for weeks. I finally broke down and started taking some antibiotics because the cough was so bad I couldn’t sleep. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate a good night’s rest now! We really have much to be thankful for and sometimes it takes losing little pleasures for a period of time to make us realize that.

Orphanage Update
Ildiko and I have continued to work with the older children each week and although it is extremely challenging, it is incredibly rewarding as well. Last Saturday I found myself sitting on the floor with 5 children huddled around me…all wanting attention and affection. One of the largest kids (he’s 16) decided he needed to sit on my lap, another wanted to have his head under my leg, another wanted to hold my hand, another snuggled next to me and the other scooted up close and kept talking about kittens. It was a bit overwhelming, but wonderful at the same time. I was talking to myself and praying quietly at one point asking the Lord for wisdom because I just wasn’t sure what to do with them. Hercules, one of the boys who speaks, blurted out “wisdom”. He had no idea what he was saying, I guess he just liked the way it sounded. He said it over and over and I could only smile and say, yes…that’s what I need! Next month Amanda Towle (an American social worker specializing in children with special needs who is living in Brasov) is coming to do some training with Ildiko and I. We are looking forward to her visit and pray that we will learn how to better help these children reach their full potential.

After-School Program Update

We had a team of High School students from England here for a week this month. The school brings a group of students each year and we were blessed to have 16 kids spending time with us. The teens were divided into groups of 5 and they rotated between our program and the orphanage, hospital, and special needs school in town. We had the teens pair up with our kids and work on math and reading as well as crafts and games. We had a wonderful time and our kids especially enjoyed all the extra attention. It was a long week, but very rewarding for all of us!

New Beginnings Update
The family center in the house attached to our house (like a duplex) is in need of house parents. The previous parents moved to be with extended family and we have been searching for new parents for a few months now. This month it was decided that we would split the kids up among us and integrate them into our families until new house parents can be found. So…we have two new young girls living with us in our house. Lavinia is 11 and Cosmina is 9 and I have to say it’s been a lot of fun having them here. They are full of energy and having them here has really been helping us with our Romanian. Lavinia had been struggling in school and the social worker said that her teachers have reported that she has made a marked improvement in her school work and overall general attitude in the past two weeks. It’s great to know that she is settling in and adjusting well to all the change. The girls have really enjoyed mothering the little kids and having big sisters (Cristina and I) to hang out with as well. It’s also great to be able to play a more active role in their lives and we really have enjoyed loving on them.

Wedding
We had another wedding in our church this month. Alexandra and Dorin had done the civil ceremony last year, but decided they wanted a church wedding as well. The timing was perfect because they were also able to have a dedication service for their newborn. It was a wonderful time of celebration for all of us and of course, we enjoyed a wonderful traditional Romanian wedding feast afterward

God continues to bless and move in the hearts and lives of the people here and I am so blessed to be a part of it!

Prayer Requests:
• One of the boxes I shipped to myself is missing. Please pray that it will arrive soon!
• Health…I’ve had a nasty sinus infection and cough
• Continuing to learn the Romanian language
• 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 new house parents for our family center
• For us to meet the needs of Lavinia and Cosmina and for them to continue to adjust well in their new home

With much love,
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: Jana Patton
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 2009 Update

2009-02-24T10:36:00.010+02:00

What a joy it was to be home for the holidays! I was able to spend a month with my parents in Texas and had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends! I also got to spend a few weeks in Boise, but time was short and I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to. Overall, it was a great visit and I was able to enjoy a much needed rest.

I had a long, but uneventful trip back to Bistrita and was welcomed by warm people, but a cold house! We had switched from our expensive gas radiator heating system to a wood burning stove just before I left for the States. So although it will save almost $1,000 per month in heating costs, it isn’t big enough to heat the entire house. We finally have the temperature inside up to 62 degrees now, but it took us a while to get there. Fortunately, the outside temperatures have been warming and that helps. It also helps that all of us are home again from our holiday travels and have someone tending to the fire on an ongoing basis. Along with all of us being home again, we discovered that we had some unexpected visitors staying with us…mice! We practically had mice condos in the pantry there were so many! To date, we have disposed of 17 mice. Hopefully we don’t have others yet to be discovered. One night we set 6 traps and in the morning, had 6 dead mice! I guess it’s a good thing the house is so cold or we might have had a larger rodent problem!
I have started back with the outreach programs again....basically picked up where I left off. It has been great fun loving on the kids again. They were really excited to see me and overall seem to be much calmer these days, which is wonderful. I think our new workers have settled into a better routine with the kids now and it is much less stressful for all of us. We’ve had a lot of sickness (colds and such) hitting the kids pretty hard this month, but overall the kids are doing well.

The New Year has brought some changes at the orphanage. In the past, I’ve focused my attention on the children in the "baby room"...where our smaller and younger children live. Our oldest is 7 years, but mentally still an infant. It has been and continues to be challenging, but the children are making great progress and some have even been placed into foster care. Consequently, the director has asked that Ildiko (the lady from our church who works with me there) and I begin working with the big kids too. They are much more difficult because they are larger, stronger, and can be violent. The number of older children living at the orphanage has increased over the past year because children from nearby villages have been transferred there for better care. There are 21 children aged 9-20 who could use more attention. During the week most of them are able to attend a local school specializing in children with special needs, however, there are 11 who are unable to attend due to the severity of their condition. These are the children we have been asked to focus on. The past two weeks we have spent several hours with these children and it was very difficult as neither of us have any special training or experience in this area. . The difference between the environment in the baby room and in the big kids’ rooms is huge. There is little interaction between the workers and the children and only a few toys even in the rooms (out of reach of the children). It seems they just watch the children to make sure they do not hurt themselves or each other, but do nothing to interact with them in a loving, nurturing, or educational way. I have also been told that there are still workers who do not like our presence in the orphanage because they do not like change and are upset that they have to tend to the children now instead of watching TV or reading magazines as they have done in the past. Please pray for continual change and openness in the hearts of the workers. Change can happen and I’ve already witnessed it to some degree. In just a few short days I have seen amazing changes in the children and the overall environment with the big kids. Yesterday we introduced music by bringing a CD filled with Romanian children songs and the reaction was priceless. The children expressed themselves in ways I had never witnessed before…smiling, laughing, clapping, even screaming with joy when the music started. One girl began rocking back and forth with a huge smile on her face and the more she liked the song, the faster she rocked. Even the workers were laughing and dancing around the room. We all laughed together with the children and had a marvelous time. It is my heart’s desire to see joy in these children’s lives and for them to experience genuine love and affection. Please pray that we will continue to introduce ways and methods of reaching both the children and the workers.

Another exciting thing that happened this month in the orphanage is Christmas!! Several years ago a team from Spain came for a couple of weeks and helped in the orphanage. The children made such a huge impact on them that they have sent
Christmas gifts for each of the children in the baby room for the past two years. I was able to bring those gifts to the children again this year and we so enjoyed sharing in their joy as they opened their gifts. Many of the workers as well as managers and staff joined in the celebration of joy. Each child received a new outfit and shoes as well as a toy specially picked out for them. The outfits were adorable and very fashionable and all of us ladies oohed and awed over them. The children who could, immediately put on their new shoes and proudly showed them off. Nicoleta even tried dressing herself…although we had to laugh when she put her new panties on her head! The toys are still being enjoyed and shared among all of them! It is my hope that long after they’ve outgrown the clothing and the toys are broken that we will all remember the love of our friends from Spain.

Prayer Requests:
• One of the boxes I shipped to myself is missing. Please pray that it will arrive soon!
• Health…I’ve had a nasty sinus infection and cough
• Continuing to learn the Romanian language
• Wisdom in working with the older children and new workers in the orphanage
With much love,
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: Jana Patton
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.

Summer Update

2008-09-22T01:39:00.023+03:00

You know those crazy times in your life when you really need to go to the bathroom and yet you’re so thirsty that you keep drinking anyway? Well, I feel like my updates are like that. I really need to stop and write, but I keep having one adventure after another making it difficult for me to do so. Consequently, here I am again starting another update with an apology for taking so long in writing. Please forgive me!! We had a fun-filled summer this year with teams visiting, trips, weddings, and lots of adventures that I will do my best to capture in words and pictures for you in this update.

Conference
July started with our annual 3-day “Equipping the Saints” conference sponsored by our church here in Bistrita. The conference is designed to provide an in-depth topical Bible study and this year the topic was Growing in Grace. We were blessed to have two of my favorite people as guest speakers this year…Andrew McCall, who pastors a church in Hungary, and Tom Velasco, a pastor on staff at Calvary Chapel Boise who was also one of my School of Ministry teachers. Andrew brought a group of guys from his church with him and it was really fun to have all the different languages mixing together. They all stayed with us at the ministry house…but it really started rocking after Tom arrived. Tom had no time to rest from his long flight and van ride to town because he arrived only minutes before it was time for him to speak! He was a trooper though and graced us with his company while sharing lots of stories and laughs with us after the teaching before going to bed. We had a good turnout for the conference and the teaching was a blessing to all of us.

During the conference our town had its annual Bistrita Days celebration, so we got to explore the fair-like atmosphere in town with our guests…which included Amanda Towle who came up from Brasov to attend the conference as well. There’s nothing like strolling through aisles of vendors trying to decide which tempting treat to enjoy and exploring local Romanian handcrafted items.

Sadly, everyone had to leave immediately following the conference, so we didn’t get to enjoy our guests for as long as we would have liked.

Teams
We didn’t have long to mourn the leaving of our friends though…for just as they were leaving, we welcomed members from two teams…one from England and one from Boise. We ended up with 22 of us in our home! It was wild! We weren’t all staying in the house at the same time for very long though because the primary purpose for the team’s visit was to do some work at the cabin we use for kids and youth camps and retreats for the foster kids and parents. The cabin is located about an hour outside of Bistita in the mountains. It’s the same cabin where we held our first kid’s camp two years ago. Sadly, it has begun to deteriorate over the past few years and really needed some repairs and general fixing up. It had also become infested with a rather large family of mice who had decided to nest in the mattresses and other choice locations throughout the cabin. The team did a lot of work, both inside and outside the cabin. They completed the bathroom, so we can actually use an indoor toilet now! They also built a large picnic table, repaired the fence surrounding the cabin, repaired some outlying buildings so they are usable for sleeping, and thoroughly cleaned and spruced up the place, among other things.

Fortunately for me, not all of the workers were needed at the cabin the entire two weeks they were here…so several of the ladies from both teams accompanied me to the orphanage and the gypsy kid program. It was perfect timing having the extra help because the day before the team arrived, the orphanage took in 3 brothers who had been
left alone to fend for themselves when their mother left to work in Spain. Their father apparently is not a part of their lives…so Marian, who is six years old, was in charge! He took care of himself and his twin 2 year old brothers. It was quite a scandal in town when it was discovered. So, these lice-ridden children found a temporary home in our orphanage just before the team arrived. Having the extra gals was a huge help as these children craved attention in a major way. It took all of us to take care of the now 11 children in the orphanage. We took them to the park and also got to try out the new toboggans that the team brought us. Amanda Towle (now living and working Brasov) is a former social worker and one of her physical therapist friends told her what a great tool plastic toboggans are to developmentally challenged children. It helps develop balance for those who are learning to walk and provides sensory stimulation for those who desperately need it. So, Amanda asked if it might be possible for the team to bring us over a few…a couple for me to use here in Bistrita and one for her at the hospital in Brasov. The Buckmaster’s so graciously accepted the challenge of finding toboggans in the summer in Boise. They were told they didn’t have any as it was not snow season. But after explaining why they needed them, the owner of the store disappeared into a back room and came out with three perfect toboggans…and she gave them to us for FREE! Thankfully, the Buckmasters are creative and talented people because they were able to figure out a way to bring them all the way to Romania for us! The physical therapist friend of Amanda’s was right…they are an awesome tool and the kids LOVED them! They were a huge hit and are still a favorite with the kids today.

The teams were such a blessing to us in so many ways. We were built up by their testimonies of God’s goodness, prayer, praise, encouragement, and Godly examples. And the guys from England are extremely musical. They led worship during our Sunday evening Prayer and Praise service and it was an anointed evening. We hated to see them leave!

Orphanage Update
A few weeks ago Marian went to live with his grandfather and although it was hard to see him go because he is such a wonderful, sweet boy…it is good for him to be back with family instead of the orphanage. His brothers were also placed in separate foster homes a few days before Marian left. Please pray for all three of these boys!

We have 9 children now to care for and one more worker. Ildiko has been working in the orphanage with me for the past two months and it has been such a help having her there. The NGO (non-government organization) that I volunteer for wanted to hire a Romanian worker to help me so we could give the children more attention and help the workers be more attentive to the children. Sadly, to many of the workers taking care of these children is just a job…they have no affection, much less love for these children and it is evident in their lack of interaction with the children. For example, when I arrived last Saturday, the worker on duty was just leaving the connecting room to the baby room where she had been watching television. All of the children were still in their cribs and none had any of the toys. Upon my arrival she hurriedly began attending to the children, putting on their shoes and taking them out of their cribs for the play time. She did end up playing with some of the children while I was there, but it is evident that it is not normal for her to do so.

When the NGO told me they wanted to hire another person they asked me if I knew of anyone who wanted the job. I immediately thought of Ildiko because I had been impressed with her eagerness to help with mentoring the foster kids and her sweet disposition. I interviewed her for the job and because I had been given the impression that I had the authority to do so, I hired her. I later learned that the NGO was planning to interview several candidates…including Ildiko. We both began praying because Ildiko had volunteered for a couple of days during this time and really felt like this was something she wanted to do. I was impressed with how she worked with the children and how quickly they fell in love with her. Well…the NGO interviewed all the candidates and one by one, they eliminated them for one reason or another. In the end, the favorite was Ildiko and she got the job! I was so happy they agreed she would be the best candidate! We’ve been working together for almost two months now and it’s been wonderful. She and I are working on creating specific goals for each of the children so we can implement the Recognition and Reward program that the Lord put on my heart to begin. Please continue to pray for this program as we hope it will help motivate our workers to spend more time with the children helping them to develop to their full potential.

Open Doors - Gypsy Kid Program

Although normally the gypsy kid program is an after-school program, we kept it open this summer so the kids would have a place to play and eat and shower on a regular basis…as well as keep learning. We continued to prepare homework for them to keep up their math, reading, and language skills. They worked hard, earning points toward the grand prize for the year…a trip to the Black Sea. Since many of the kids were coming up short on points, they were anxious to do more homework so they could earn the necessary points. Unfortunately, our two workers…the Romanians who prepare the homework and lead day-to-day activities with the kids …both decided to quit in July. That left me in charge and was the beginning of another adventure that continues today. Several things happened that were answers to prayer about this new responsibility…one is that Clare really came to my rescue. She prepared and emailed me the homework for the kids each day so all I had to do was print it out and it was ready to go. She also started scheduling calls through Messenger with the kids each day. I also experienced a miracle every day for 2 weeks…God brought me helpers. It started with the team asking if they could come and help me and after they left I had other Romanians who asked if they could help. Add in a few applicants (I also began interviewing candidates for these positions immediately) who after their interview came for a day to help out and experience the program for themselves. Through the combination of all these things, I ended up having help until Clare arrived at the end of the month. It was really a miracle! The last miracle was hiring a person for one of the two positions. Her name is Oana and she is awesome! She is a hard worker and really cares about the kids. She also speaks perfect English so we are able to work really well together. She has a physical challenge…a birth defect leaving her with only half of her left arm. It may make things a little more difficult for her, but she can just about do everything a person with two arms and hands can do. She can braid hair, swing kids around, tie shoelaces…you name it and chances are she can do it! It’s really been a great thing for the kids to see that physical challenges don’t necessarily limit your abilities. Oana came from a one-parent abusive home, so she can really relate to the challenges our kids face. It’s as if she’s always been part of the program. We are finding it more difficult to find the right person for the second position. So, for now we are trying to handle things with just the two of us. So far it’s going ok. We had a back-to-school party for the kids that was a blast for all of us, took them to our local cinema (similar to our dollar theaters) for an excursion to see Prince Caspian, and are working on trying to create some routine and discipline that have been lacking due to all the changes. Our next big adventure is a move…our apartment is being sold, so we have till the end of this week to move to our new (smaller) apartment. We’ll be moving everything…including our carpet, so pray for us!!

A Faith-Building Trip
Clare arrived for a visit at the end of July during a break from her school. It was time for the big year-end trip that the kids have been working for all year. Only 8 of them had earned enough points to go, so it was a really big deal. Normally, Clare takes them to the Black Sea and the kids really look forward to it each year. Unfortunately, the inexpensive lodging that she managed to acquire the past two years was not available this year. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to find similar accommodations, panic was beginning to set in with Clare. It was just about that time that during a weekly prayer meeting Pastor Brian read to us Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” He reminded us that if we are worried about something it means we’re not praying enough…and if we’re praying enough we won’t be worried. Clare was still in the States at this time, so I emailed her the verse and the comment from Brian. She told me that she immediately prayed after reading the email and when she finished, the Lord spoke to her and said “Bucharest”…He wanted her to take the kids to Bucharest this year. God had also put Bucharest on my heart during this same time…so we decided Bucharest was where we would be going this year. Fortunately for us, there is another Calvary Chapel church in Bucharest and we planned to stay there since they have a big room and mattresses where we could sleep, a small bathroom with a shower, a small kitchen, and was close to public transportation. It would be perfect for us…perfect except that it turned out to be unavailable! There was no room for us! We had a few days to find something, so we didn’t panic. We started calling hostels and everyone we knew who might know someplace we could stay in Bucharest…for cheap. Unfortunately, we were coming up dry.
Then, we got a break. A friend of ours from church had a pastor friend in Busteni that would let us stay in their church. Busteni is a mountain resort town about 2 hours from Bucharest. We were running out of time, so we decided to head first to Busteni while we kept praying and making calls to find a place to stay in Bucharest. The church we stayed in sat next to a wonderful creek lined with tall trees. It was so wonderful to hear the rushing water and smell the crisp, clean air! The mountains were majestic and it was so peaceful! We hiked up to a waterfall and had a picnic one day and took a short train ride to a nearby castle another day. It was fun and restful in Busteni, but there wasn’t much else to do…and we knew we were supposed to press on to Bucharest. So, we kept praying, making calls, and the next day we caught the morning train to Bucharest. We were literally on the train only 10 minutes from Bucharest and still had no place for us, the 8 kids, and all our luggage to stay…and yet we had perfect peace. We just knew that somehow God was going to provide for us and that this was one of those faith-building experiences that we would talk about for the rest of our lives. It really was the peace that blew me away. I kept thinking…I should be stressed out…worried…something! But instead, an unexplainable calm and an assurance that somehow it was going to work out perfectly. We had prayed specifically…Lord, we really need a place to stay and preferably one with beds for everyone, a bathroom, a kitchen, and something close to public transportation. Just about that time my phone rang…another friend from church. She had called a friend who went to school in Bucharest and thought he might know of someplace we could stay. He had attended a Baptist Seminary there and said…what about the school? The dorms will be empty because it’s the summer holiday. So, while sitting at a McDonald’s in the train station in Bucharest we called the seminary. We explained our situation and they said, come on over! We’re only a 15-minute walk from the train station and we’ll be ready for you when you get here. We all started cheering and gathering up our bags…we had a place to stay and they gave us an amazing deal that fit well within our meager budget. When we arrived, we were given a room with beds and dulaps for each of the boys, another room with beds and dulaps for each of the girls, and another room with beds and dulaps for Clare and I. The bathroom at the end of the hall had 4 sinks and mirrors, three toilets, and two showers! It was huge! They gave us full use of their kitchen and dining room facilities as well as cups, plates, silverware, etc. God had given us everything we needed and better than we had ever imagined! The person in charge of the dorms was so kind and helpful…we were just blown away. We spent the next four days enjoying the Water Park, mall, KFC, and exploring Bucharest’s famous landmarks. We had a blast! The Lord also gave us this reminder on our trip…from Psalms 121: “I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip — he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Praise the Lord!

These are links to see a slide show of some of our photos:
http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery.php?source=ppsl&instanceid=121125704
http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery.php?source=ppsl&instanceid=121156794
http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery.php?source=ppsl&instanceid=121155224

Any’s Wedding
Remember how I told you I have been going from one adventure to another? Well…just as we were finishing up our trip to Bucharest, I had to break away from the group and head to Sibiu for a wedding…Any’s wedding! Any (pronounced like Annie) is one of the foster girls who lives with us. She is 21 years old now and has been with New Beginnings for the past 7 years. Any came from a broken home and had been living with her grandparents. After their death, she was placed with New Beginnings where she was given just that. Her life experiences had changed this normally social child into a reserved young lady wary of being rejected again. It took her 8 months before she was comfortable enough to give her first hug. Any was able to return to her normal gregarious self under the unconditional and consistent love of her new foster parents who shared with her the love of Jesus and helped her to understand that through a repentant heart she could become part of the family of God (John 1:11-12).

School was another issue altogether. Any had a talent for art and wanted to attend the High School for artists, but bribes are normal in Romania and if you want to get into a good school, you do what you have to do. Without bribe money, it would be nearly impossible for Any to get into the already overfilled school, but a kind teacher had compassion on her and helped her prepare the necessary items to be accepted. Any got into the school and because of her talent, won a competition which awarded her a scholarship to attend college. She has been attending college in Sibiu studying fashion design and has one more year left.

While at school, Any was invited to attend a college Bible group and there she met a young man named Dani. We got to meet Dani for the first time two years ago at Christmas (2006). He is a Godly, intelligent, soft-spoken, fun-loving young man and we loved him immediately! We were so happy when they announced their engagement last Christmas. Weddings in Romania are a bit different than in the States. Traditionally, the party starts at the groom’s house…then travels to the bride’s house…then to the court house for the official wedding (signing the marriage certificate, etc.)…then to the church…then to the reception…with lots of pictures along the way. Any and Dani’s wedding would be similar…just spread out over several days and two locations. Any and Dani decided to have the civil ceremony and a reception in Sibiu for their friends and family there and the church wedding and reception in Bistrita for friends and family here. I was fortunate to be part of both! What a joy it was to be a part of Any’s wedding celebration and another “new beginning” in her life!

Answered Prayer:
• Finding a place to stay in Bucharest that was perfect for our needs.
• Having help at Clare’s place every single day while looking for new workers.
• Hired a new worker for Clare’s place who is great.
• Hiring Ildiko to help at the orphanage.

Please continue to pray for:
• Learning the Romanian Language.
• Ongoing flea issues.
• Beginning the new Conversational English class. For students and ideas about what to teach.
• The children at the orphanage…that we will be able to help them develop to their full potential and for the workers to actually show them love.
• That I will continue to learn to work with children with special needs and the successful implementation of the reward/recognition program for the workers.
• Transitions for the Open Doors program with new workers and a new location.
• For the gypsy women who have such huge life-stresses.
• That I will have a greater servant’s heart to be a blessing to the Romanian people.

With much love,
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: Jana Patton
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.

Spring Update

2008-07-02T17:58:00.042+03:00

123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709
208.321.7440

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

I can’t believe it’s been so long since my last update! So much has happened that it’s hard to know where to start. I thought I would group the events into categories and update you on the things that have been happening the past few months. Overall, it’s been an exciting time here in Romania. Each day seems to bring a new adventure bigger than the day before. God is really blessing us here and we are growing in His Grace each day.

Orphanage
There are currently 8 children in the “baby room” at the orphanage…not all of them are babies, but they are all special needs children. I have seen some great progress in them over the past few months. We have been working specifically with three of the children who could not stand or walk and I’m happy to report that we’ve made successful steps forward (pun intended!). Marius is walking comfortably with help and some on his own, Nicoleta is standing and walking with assistance, and Lacrimoara can pull herself up and stand alone in her crib. It may not sound like much, but if you had seen them only a few months ago, you would recognize that a miracle has taken place. Our challenge with these three now is language development and social skills.

One of the boys, Mario, is 3 and is developmentally delayed due to living in institutions his entire life. He exhibits some autistic behaviors, but it is difficult to determine if they are a result of copying autistic children or if he is truly autistic. The Lord put it on my heart to begin taking him out of the orphanage for extended periods of time to expose him to more experiences…like playing with normal children in a home with educational toys, riding in a taxi and going to the grocery store, playing in the park, etc. After much prayer, I approached the director and asked if this would even be possible as I am only a volunteer. Without hesitation, she said yes and said she could have the necessary paperwork completed that day! I was amazed! I sincerely expected there to be a lot of red tape and bureaucracy involved…and at the very least, the need to ask someone higher up for permission. So, the next day I began my excursions with Mario outside the orphanage. I’m happy to say that Mario and I have spent many hours together over the past two months and although it has been challenging, we are both enjoying it immensely. In that time he has mastered 8 new words and is responding to discipline (timeouts) to correct his temper tantrums and other misbehavior. He is also less fearful of new experiences (e.g. taxi rides) and people and seems to be more comfortable going anywhere with me.

I am now working with the director to develop a recognition and reward program for the workers to encourage more diligent attention to the individual needs and developmental goals of the children. I put together an initial proposal and it was met with great excitement. We are now working out the details and hope to have it implemented in the next few weeks.

I am also increasing my hours to include more time on the weekends and we hope to find another volunteer to work on the days when I have other commitments. This decision came after the director pointed out to me recently that most of the deaths of children in our hospital occur on the weekends when extra care-givers and volunteers are gone. Most of us look forward to the weekend, but these children dread it. Although we don’t have many deaths of children at the orphanage, it is still a great need for the well-being of the children. Sadly, there are several children who seem to being doing worse now than when I first met them. Mia and Georgel have been at the orphanage the longest and they seem to be more frustrated and upset than they used to be. I’m hoping that with more attention, they will do better.

Open Doors

I continue to work 4 days a week at the after-school program for underprivileged gypsy kids (Open Doors). We have 3 new children who are, or should be, in kindergarten. They’re great kids, but they have no discipline and one of them (Adrian) couldn’t even hold a pencil or draw a simple picture when he first came. I’m happy to report that they are responding to the routine and structure of our program and actually require fewer timeouts. Also, Adrian seems to be passing up the other kindergarten aged kids with his abilities now. His drawings are much more detailed and his letters and numbers are consistently better than the others. He has just blossomed over the past few months and it is so exciting to see. He was extremely shy and reserved when he first came and he has come out of his shell and is maturing by leaps and bounds. We hope to have him ready for school in the fall.

The kids have been working hard on their school homework as well as their extra reading and math homework and other learning activities. They’ve been earning points for all this hard work and have had the opportunity to cash in their points for exciting outings. We took the kids to Cluj, a two-hour train ride from our town, to see the Botanical Gardens there.
Their favorite part was seeing the banana and palm trees in a special greenhouse section of the garden. They talked about the banana trees for weeks! We also hiked up to a scenic overlook to get a great view of the entire city as well as enjoyed a special treat…McDonald’s Happy Meals!

The kids also earned enough points for a 3-day trip to the cabin in the mountains where they got to pick raspberries, run and play, and visit the Dracula castle hotel located just down the road. The cabin is always a special treat for the kids. Every time we take them there they always say they wish they could live there. Sadly, it is because conditions at home are so bad. It makes for a challenging time at the center because their behavior reflects the neglect and abuse they receive at home. Many times we have angry and sullen children on our hands and it is difficult to teach a child in those conditions. We offer unconditional love and consistency and although it is difficult, we do see progress.

We have had some challenges recently with the program and would greatly appreciate your prayers. We have had to hire two new workers to replace the two who are leaving. The first few months are extremely challenging for new workers as you can imagine...remember how you used to test the limits with substitute teachers who weren’t sure of the rules? Yeah…it’s like that. In addition to that huge change, the owner of the apartment we’ve been renting has announced he is selling the apartment and we’ve had to find a new one. So, we’ll be moving to a new location in a couple of months. It’s not as big or nice as our current location, but we’re being optimistic that it will have other benefits, like being less expensive to heat in the winter.

Our next big event is a trip to the Black Sea. A team of High School students from England raise money throughout the year so that we can take the kids on an all-expense paid trip to the beach. We’ll be taking them in August and this will be my first time accompanying them. I’m sure it will be memorable!

Conference

I had the privilege of joining pastors, missionaries, workers, and other volunteers from all over Eastern Europe at an annual conference in Hungary two weeks ago. We had a great time meeting people and hearing about the work they’re doing all over Eastern Europe.

We also heard some excellent speakers and enjoyed some great facilities at the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Vajta, Hungary. They had a huge swimming pool, sand volleyball pit, outdoor basketball court, large grounds to explore, and a castle tour to name a few things. The college is located in a castle that was purchased very inexpensively because it had not been used in years. They’ve done some remodeling, but much of it was restored to its original condition (or as close as possible due to the expense). It is a huge, beautiful building with magnificent grounds, and it was a wonderful experience.

One of my favorite experiences at the conference was an evening “jam session” with all the Romanians in attendance at the conference. I saw old friends and made new ones as we sang song after song enjoying each other’s company and the presence of the Lord. It reminded me of evenings with my family and friends growing up…when everyone who played got out their guitars and the words to every song we knew and started singing through the list. It was so awesome to hear so many voices raised in song.

The last day of the conference we took advantage of the free time and drove into the closest big city to Vijta, which was an hour away. The city’s name is Szekesfehervar…don’t ask me how to pronounce it!! The city had a quaint old city center filled with little cafes and restaurants, as well as interesting stores. This city is famous for being the location where Hungary’s first king was crowned more than 1000 years ago.

The theme of the conference was Zechariah 4:6.... Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord of Hosts. We were reminded the importance of prayer, allowing God to do the impossible in and through us…not by our skills and abilities but by his Holy Spirit. When we remember who God is and what He is able to do we are released from fear or overwhelming situations and we get to see Him move in miraculous ways. It was exciting to be unified with so many great people and have the chance to get to know the people from our own church even better. It truly was a blessed time!

The Black Sea
One of our New Beginnings sponsors has been taking the child he sponsors and her entire foster family who live at our family center (the house-parents, their two children and the four New Beginnings kids) to the Black Sea for an all-expense paid vacation each summer.

It is the highlight of the summer for these children as it includes an overnight train ride to and from the Black Sea, staying at a nice (yet inexpensive) home during the week, playing at the beach twice a day, walks into town each evening where they get to spend the money they’ve earned from good behavior, great food, and lots of laughs.

This year the house-parents were unable to go on the trip and I was asked to accompany the children along with two other Romanian speakers for the week. What a treat it was to spend so much time with these great kids. Our favorite memories include riding the bumper cars at the carnival in town, eating watermelon, and roasting marshmallows over a fire. We had a wonderful time and after we got back they told me they cried because they missed us so much. Fortunately for me, these kids live next door so I get to see them every day!

Winky’s Big Adventures

Winky has been on three big adventures in addition to her ongoing hospital visits. On May 18th, she attended the 2nd Annual Special Olympics here in Bistrita and had a wonderful time making balloons and cheering on the participants for hours. We all had a marvelous time and the weather held out pretty well for us. It didn’t start to rain until the very end of the scheduled events and didn’t last long.

On May 30th the Department of Child Protective Services (DPC) and Non-profit partner organization of the DPC hosted the annual National Children’s Day party for all the foster kids in the Bistrita area. The party was at the park again this year and the kids were treated to games, snacks, prizes, and balloons. Winky had a fabulous time playing with the kids again this year. Many of the kids remembered Winky from last year, so it was a special treat for all of us to play together again. It’s definitely a highlight of the year for Winky.

On June 1st the New Beginnings foster kids were treated to another party in their honor at a local gymnasium due to inclement weather. We played some fabulous new games using balloons and followed the formula for success…food and presents for each kid! Our foster parents were also there which made it a special family event as well. Winky was exhausted by the end of the weekend, but it was a good kind of tired. Even after the make-up came off, a huge smile remained!

A Special Project
A few weeks ago I got to use my HR skills to assist Clare (the founder of the Open Doors program) with a huge grad school assignment. She is working on a project that requires a one-hour interview of 100 gypsy women who have children between the ages of 5-15 living at home. It is a daunting task, so I suggested an interview day similar to the kind we used to have at Albertsons. She loved the idea…so she created a flyer and solicited some help from her gypsy kids’ parents to get the word out and we prepared food packets for each volunteer who came to be interviewed. We only had 4 interviewers because the interviews had to be done by a female who spoke Romanian and with it being finals week at the high schools, all the gals I knew who would have loved to help, couldn’t. In the end, it turned out great though. We completed 30 interviews and I managed to keep all the ladies and their kids entertained with balloons for hours in the waiting room. At one point there were 50 people in the waiting room because the ladies had no one to watch their kids and they have so many of them!! We started our interviews at 10AM and by 8PM when we said goodbye to the last lady we were ready to drop dead. My fingers were going to fall off from tying so many balloons…but it was such a joy to see how much the kids loved their balloons. Many of these ladies are so poor they are living in cardboard boxes.

The interviews were about the life-stresses the women faced on a daily basis and included a section on discrimination. The interesting thing we discovered after a preliminary look at the results was that the greater the life-stress in a woman’s life (e.g. husband out of work, many children, no running water, no close family, living in a cardboard structure, etc.), the more likely she was to feel discriminated against. The women who had relatively low life-stress did not feel discriminated against. Another sad consequence of the interviews was the discovery that at least 3 of the women had recently been contemplating suicide. It really broke out hearts to see so many hurting women. Right now, I don’t know how to help them except to pray for them and I would ask you to do the same.

Well, as you can see…life has been exciting for me lately and the summer has only just begun. This summer we’re looking at kids’ and youth camps and teams visiting from the States and lots of special outings with the New Beginnings foster kids and the gypsy kids. It’s going to be busy, but I’m looking forward to it!! Thanks for taking the time to read this update…write me a note if can, I’d love to hear from you!!!

Answered Prayer:
• Because I’ve been traveling a bit, I have had a reprieve from the fleas lately. It’s such a relief!!!
• Having the chance to use my HR experience to bless Clare by helping with interviews and the school project and developing the reward and recognition program for the orphanage workers.
• Great progress in the physical development of the orphans who are learning to walk.

Please continue to pray for:
• Learning the Romanian Language.
• Ongoing flea issues.
• Ideas for building relationships with my English students who would like to continue meeting with me over the summer break.
• The children at the orphanage…that we will be able to help them develop to their full potential and for the workers to actually show them love.
• That I will continue to learn to work with children with special needs and the success implementation of the reward/recognition program for the workers.
• Transitions for the Open Doors program with new workers and a new location.
• For the gypsy women who have such huge life-stresses.
• That I will have a greater servant’s heart to be a blessing to the Romanian people.

With much love,
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: Jana Patton
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.

My walk to the Orphanage Today

2008-04-07T19:13:00.002+03:00

So many times the ordinary events in a person’s life don’t get told to anyone. They are just private memories that bring a smile to the owner’s face if they remember them and that’s it. Today, I walked to the orphanage but instead of just holding the memories of that walk inside, I’ve decided to share them.

One of the things I love about living in Romania is the pace of life...it is slower and more enjoyable. The fact that I can leisurly walk to work in the morning is a joy in itself. It has been raining quite a bit lately, so everything has that fresh rain smell and as I walked, I took deep breaths and enjoyed the cool clean air. As I walked I noticed a large group of people walking towards me all engaged in conversations with each other. As they passed I couldn’t help hearing a few words and usually I don’t pay much attention to them as they are little snipits of conversation in a different language...basically just noisy voices. Well, today as they walked by I realized something. I actually understood the few words I heard....a woman was talking about her sister needing some medicine. My vocabulary of Romanian words isn’t that large yet, but in that moment I heard a few words that I recognized and in that split second of our passing...I understood! What a thrill it was to actually hear and understand!! I spent the next few minutes reflecting on how good that felt and then it was time to cross the street. This, of course, requires a little more concentration because the cars here are supposed to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, but you must make sure they see you and are able to stop before you just head out. Today, it was easy...the cars were far enough away that I could readily cross without fear. I had only walked about 20 feet when I heard a child’s voice calling my name in Romanian...Natalia, Natalia! I turned to look and saw a group of children...six of them...walking behind me waving hello and practicing their English. Hello!!! I smiled because this group of gypsy kids are what my grandmother would call “street urchins”. No matter where I go or when I go in town, it seems I always see one or more of them running around begging for money. Usually they call me Tanti (rhymns with Auntie...which is also what it means). Tanti is an affectionate name that children call women...even if the woman is not their aunt. Apparently, they know my name now and have graduated from Tanti to Natalia. They came running up to me and encircled me. I’m sure we made quite a sight...me wearing my long black rain coat standing in the middle of these children...and all of them wearing orange track suits. I can only guess that they must have found a good deal on them...or they all really like the color orange! They kind of looked like a team of gymnasts waiting to compete. They all started talking to me and I understood enough to have a short conversation with them before they started using words outside of my vocabulary. At that point they decided to switch to English and started singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. They didn’t quite have the pronounciation correct, so I joined in to help them. I had to laugh as one elderly woman passed us and smiled. I wasn’t sure if she knew we were singing a Christmas song, but since I did it made me laugh. I’m surround by orange clad gypsy kids singing a Christmas song in April. After this we had to get going because they were headed to school and I needed to get to the orphanage. They then took turns telling me they loved me both in Romanian and English and kissing my cheek. One little boy must have kissed me 5 times before leaving! By that time, I was at the driveway of the orphanage and as I walk toward the building I was excited to pass along a little love and kiss some cheeks myself!

Winter Update

2008-04-07T15:19:00.025+03:00

123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709
208.321.7440

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

The weather is warming up and I’m finally writing my winter update! I bet you all thought I fell off the face of the earth! I'm so sorry I haven't updated my blog lately. My computer died and I have been without it for months now. A friend of a friend of a friend here (it's all who you know - ha!) is a computer guru and he has been trying to fix it for me. Sadly, everything he's tried has not worked and it is looking more and more like I'm going to have to get a new one. In the meantime, I've been trying to borrow other housemate's computers...but sadly, one by one, they are all dying too. Brian and Cynthia's laptop died shortly after mine. Then the big desktop computer that we all share has started having trouble. The CPU fan is going out and it just shuts down without notice and lately we've kept it turned off because of its complete unreliability. So, now we're down to Nicu's laptop and he's been really nice about sharing it with all of us...but, well....he likes to use it a lot. So, needless to say, with my computer time severely limited it has made it tough to spend much time communicating like I'd like to.

The winter was a little colder and snowier than last year, but not unbearable. We took the Open Doors kids (the gypsy kids who come to the after school program) to the mountains again in January for a Snow Camp...three days of sledding and playing in the snow...and roughing it without running water. It’s amazing how clean melted snow ISN’T! Ha! Once it’s boiled, it’s good enough to wash dishes though and the boys were happy enough to oblige me by bringing in buckets of it several times each day. It’s amazing how much snow it takes to make a pot of water...and since it takes so long to get the water it is amazing to learn how little you can get by with when washing dishes. It was so awesome to be back home and able to have running water. Sometimes it’s the littlest things you take for granted! I got to play the role of “cook” again on this adventure. It’s amazing how appreciative these kids are with hotdog and noodle soup! I have to admit, it wasn’t half bad...and I don’t really care for Romanian hotdogs much (the outer casing is a little on the tough side for me). I do make a mean hot chocolate though...of course, it helped having fresh milk from the neighbors. Now that was some creamy hot chocolate! We had a really fun time and the kids all wanted to move there and live with us permanently.

I had some problems with renewing my visa in time, so I had to leave the country again in February. The timing turned out to be perfect since we had a visiting pastor from Hungary here to do a pastor's conference and I was able to travel to Hungary with him and stay with his family for a few days. Surprisingly, there is a newer airline called Wizz Air and they have specials frequently. I was able to fly round trip to Budapest very inexpensively. From there we drove about an hour to the village where Andrew and Dori McCall and their new baby Matei live. The first thing I noticed driving to the village were the roads...they’re just like the nice roads we have in the States. Since Budapest is only an hour flight from the Cluj airport in Romania you wouldn’t think the roads would be that different. I made a comment about the roads being so nice it was like being in a different country...then Andrew reminded me that we were in a different country! Duh! Wow...you don’t really think about how bad the roads are in Romania until you’re driving on nice ones. It’s such a huge difference! Andrew is from the States and Dori is Hungarian. He met her at the Bible college in Hungary and they married a few years later. God has gifted him tremendously...he is only 25 years old and pastors the Calvary Chapel church there and is also working full-time (without pay) as an apprentice learning woodworking. He's really good...in fact, he made all the furniture in their house! He also speaks and writes Hungarian fluently (the Hungarians don't believe him when he tells them he's not Hungarian!). Dori is a soft-spoken, tender-hearted beautiful woman of God. It was such a blessing to get to spend time with them.

I've been keeping busy with my volunteer work. I have seen such a huge change in the orphanage since I first started going there. Initially, the workers just left the children in their cribs and took them out only when they had to because they felt that if they held one baby, they would have to hold them all and they just didn't have time to do that and get all their cleaning chores done. Now, I've noticed they not only get the children out of their cribs more, but they actually play with them. It's so awesome to see them softening towards the children and loving on them. I am having a wonderful time loving on them myself. They are just so precious. The coolest thing is that I got permission for my gypsy kids to come and visit the orphanage and play with the children. They had an amazing time! It was so cool to see these little girls (9 - 10 yrs. old) carrying the babies around like little mommas. The babies weigh almost as much as these skinny little girls, but that doesn't slow them down as they flex every muscle they have picking them up. Sometimes I worried they would topple to the floor with the babies, but somehow they managed to get them into "hip position" like a body-builder straining to lift the barbells overhead. The little boys surprised me by holding even the toughest of the kids...Adriana who is rigid and Georgel who is so easily upset for example, but they were awesome with them. It made such an impact on those kids that they all told me they were going to pray for them every night and one of the girls begged me to let her come on her breaks while she's in school. I also have some of my Sunday School kids asking to come with me when they get out of school. It's been cool to see my volunteering endeavors kind of merging together and overlapping.

Georgel is the little blind, autistic boy that I’ve been so worried about. God has been answering our prayers and he has been doing so much better. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to be one of those situations where we will need to continually lift him up. He has begun to regress again and they have had to begin restraining his hands due to the severe damage he is inflicting upon himself. His left ear is especially wounded...swollen with the skin behind his ear completely ripped open. It looks so painful and yet he still twists his head around to try and hit and rub it against my shoulder when I am holding him. I have to keep his head completely away from my body so he doesn’t try to hurt himself. Amanda Towle is a social worker who has worked with special needs kids for many years and she just moved from Boise to Brasov in January. She is a wonderful friend of mine who recently spent a few days with me here in Bistrita. She came with me to the orphanage and was able to evaluate Georgel a bit and offer some helpful suggestions to minimize his self-destructive behavior. Apparently, it all has to do with his senses. She explained that if we apply pressure to his head or other parts of his body (feet, hands, etc.) with our hands, it helps his body regulate itself better and reduces the need for self-inflicting the pain. The other workers and I have been doing it and we’ve seen some improvement.

During Amanda’s visit to Bistrita we had our annual Easter parade and craft piaza. We got to see traditional Romanian dancers and tons of brightly colored painted and beaded eggs as well as other handmade crafts. We got a few souvenirs and enjoyed the festivities and the people watching.

I also got to visit Amanda in Brasov for a weekend. It’s a 5-hour drive by “maxi-taxi” (a van that holds about 13 passengers) to Brasov and a great way to travel for only $15...as long as you don’t get car sick. Fortunately, it wasn’t a problem for me, except that the seat I chose didn’t have an armrest and I didn’t realize it until after we got onto the winding mountain roads. I kept sliding sideways out of my seat into the aisle and provided some good laughs for the other passengers I’m sure! Amanda and I did some site-seeing around Brasov’s “old-town” which was originally built in 1235 by the Saxons (Germans who settled in Romania). You can definitely see the German influence in the architecture of the buildings. You can also still see portions of the fortress wall that surrounded the original city. For a few dollars you can ride a tram up the side of the mountain and look down over the city. Like Hollywood, Brasov has a big sign on the mountains above the city. Now whenever I look up and see that sign I can say that I actually touched the backside of it! We also visited “The Black Church”...a huge church that was named the Saint Maria Church before a terrible fire in 1688 destroyed most of the town and killed 3,000 people. Because of the extensive smoke damage to the church, it thereafter became known as “The Black Church. The huge plaza in the center of the city attracts hundreds of people each day and it is a wonderful place to stroll and shop and eat. We ate at a restaurant called Clatite one day. Clatite are Romanian crepes, so you can just imagine what a great variety of dinner and dessert crepes they serve there. They ones we tried were delicious! Overall, it was a wonderful and relaxing weekend!!

Again, I’m sorry for the delay with the update. I am going to try and post smaller posts more frequently, so keep checking back!

Please continue to pray for:
• Learning the Romanian Language
• For some reason fleas and bugs really like me. Please pray for relief from the continuous bug bites I am afflicted with
• Teaching the conversational English classes at the Community Center for Youth
• The children at the orphanage…that we will be able to help them develop to their full potential and for the workers to actually show them love.
• That I will continue to learn 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: Jana Patton
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.

December 2007 Newsletter

2008-01-09T18:06:00.000+02:00

123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709
208.321.7440

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

The Christmas story is a love story….It is God sending His Son, Jesus Christ, on a rescue mission to earth. Mission accomplished! December was filled with the joy of Christmas this year in Romania. I hope these highlights and photos will give you a glimpse of how much fun it was to see the love story continue in the lives of these children.

Christmas Charity Ball
On December 7th the volunteer organization at the orphanage held their first charity ball to raise money for the kids in the orphanage and the other work they do with special needs children. The event was a feast for the eyes with all of the decorations and beautifully dressed people as well as for the palate. It was a great opportunity to meet people from the community who share a common interest in helping these special children. They held a silent auction and sold raffle tickets for some amazing art work and photographs and overall it was a big success as well as a lot of fun.

Ice-Skating
Imagine walking through a park filled with trees and Christmas lights and coming upon a quaint little ice-skating rink at the edge of that park. Now add a dozen foster kids, giant snowflakes gently falling as the sun drops behind the mountains in the distance and you will get an idea of how I spent one afternoon/evening in December. Stephanie (my social worker friend from the States) and I had a wonderful time chasing the kids around the rink. It was their first time on ice-skates, but you would have thought they had been skating for years. They had so much fun they didn’t want to stop…even after 2 hours on the rink! Stephanie and I, however, had sore feet and ankles from the plastic skates and overruled them! Ha! It’s a good thing we stopped when we did because they were barely able to walk home they were so exhausted. It was a magical, memorable evening.

Christmas Programs
We worked for two months preparing for both the Christmas program at Open Doors and at Calvary Chapel. After many hours of practicing and making props and dress rehearsals and learning songs, the kids presented their programs to family and friends with much excitement. They all did a great job and it was a blessing to all who were able to attend. I was also fortunate to attend the school Christmas programs for many of the children and was able to see some great Romanian cultural influences in costumes and presentations.

Christmas at the Orphanage
A team from Spain visited the orphanage last summer and fell in love with “my kids” as quickly as I did. They were so touched that they wanted to send them Christmas presents as a way of letting them know they were not forgotten. Each child received a new set of clothes, leggings, and shoes which they badly needed. They also each received a special toy designed specifically for their special needs. It was like Christmas morning the day I brought the gifts to the orphanage. Georgel had more fun with the wrapping paper than he did with the actual gifts initially, but quickly shifted his attention to his new toy. Mia’s toy not only thrilled her, but the entire staff. None of us had ever seen a toy like the one she received, and it was like it was tailor made for her. She loved it and spent the entire two hours I was there playing with it.
Adriana received a mobile to hang on the side of her crib. Since she is unable to move, it was the perfect gift…it played music and moved for her. She smiled as she stared at the colorful bugs “flying” over her head. The music and gentle movement was so soothing that the other kids would sit beside her crib and stare at the mobile as well.

Nicoleta received a cute little doll and a mini piano with colorful lights, sounds and music. It was a huge hit with her and the other children who were lucky enough to have a turn playing with it. Her younger brother Mihai looked so cute in his new soft, blue outfit as he played contentedly with his toys. He was another child who received one of those “I’ve never seen anything like that” kind of toys. He impressed all of us by how quickly he figured out how the toy’s nose made funny noises and we had as much fun watching him as he did playing with it. This morning was one of my favorite Christmas memories because these often forgotten and neglected children were lavished with love and attention and the whole room and everyone in it was affected by it. Doctors, directors, staff workers, and children all smiling, laughing, hugging, and playing together. It was a heart-warming and blessed time.

Christmas Parties
I am so blessed to have had the privilege of sharing in the joy of giving so much this month. We had a Christmas party for the gypsy kids in the Open Doors program a few days after Christmas. Clare (the founder of the program) returned from the States on her Christmas break and brought clothes and toys for each of the gypsy kids in the program. We also had a party for the foster kids in the New Beginnings Family Centers…complete with pizza, yummy snacks and, of course, presents! Thanks to the generosity of so many folks from the States we were able to give both the orphans and the foster parents gifts this year. It was truly a joyous time!

Answered Prayer:
• Georgel is doing so much better! His self-destructive behavior has decreased almost completely and he is laughing and playing and interacting with others amazingly well.

Please continue to pray for:
• Leaning the Romanian Language
• For some reason fleas and bugs really like me. Please pray for relief from the continuous bug bites I am afflicted with
• Teaching the conversational English classes at the Community Center for Youth
• The children at the orphanage…that we will be able to help them develop to their full potential and for the workers to actually show them love.
• That I will continue to learn 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: Jana Patton
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.

October / November Update

2007-12-03T16:42:00.001+02:00

November 2007

123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709
208.321.7440

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

October started off with a women’s conference in Bucharest hosted by the Calvary Chapel there. Ladies from allover Romania met at a local hotel for a day of teaching on the subject of worship. The theme was “Now is the Time for Worship” and a team from California brought beautiful decorations, gift bags, bookmarks, and journals for each lady with a special gift for everyone at the end of the conference…a watch to remind us that now is the time to worship. There were several speakers, some great food, and a wonderful time of worship as well as time to visit with each other and meet new and old friends. We took 14 young ladies from our church and it was an adventure for all of us.

Since it takes about 9 hours to get to Bucharest, we stopped in Brasov and spent the night with the Hoe’s who are the pastors at the Calvary Chapel church there. After the conference, we had time to visit a huge mall where we found some fun stores, a McDonalds, a Starbucks, and a movie theater. The next morning we visited some famous landmarks in Bucharest and then headed home. The highlight of the weekend was the huge slumber party we had in the church in Bucharest where all of us girls slept on mattresses in the same room. We talked about what we liked about the conference and most of the girls confessed that they had a whole new understanding of worship. It was a great opportunity to further explain and discuss what the Bible says about worship as well as a bonding experience for all of us.

I also began teaching my English class again the first week of October. I was shocked and pleased to find that 36 teenagers were interested in attending my class! Last year the most I had in my class was 17, so this was quite unexpected. For the entire month of October I had over 30 students each week, but I’ve been averaging about 20 in class now. I do have a great group of regulars and I am building relationships with them. I also got to attend a retreat held by the Community Center where I was able to spend some quality time with 6 of my students.

Another highlight for October was an answer to prayer for me…we found a teacher willing to give me and Brian (our pastor) Romanian language lessons. She prepares lessons with handouts, worksheets and quizzes and we are meeting two times each week. It’s been amazing! I can actually put together sentences now and I understand much more than ever. I still have a long way to go, but I am so happy to be able to communicate a little better.

My work at the orphanage is going really well. When I first arrived back in September I was very disappointed to see that the children had regressed significantly while I was gone. Georgel (the blind, autistic boy) was hitting himself so severely they actually had to restrain his hands so he wouldn’t hurt himself. It seemed nothing they did would alleviate his agitation. We began praying for him and for the past few weeks he has been dramatically improving…so much so that people are scratching their heads in amazement. They ask me what has caused the change and I tell them it has to be God answering our prayers because there is no other explanation. It’s been a great testimony! He will actually play with the toys now (which he’s never been interested in previously), and he smiles and laughs again. The biggest change of all is that he rarely hurts himself now. I’ve also been able to talk to the other workers more now that I have acquired a little more understanding of the language. It just thrills me to be able to have a conversation or even understand someone talking to me. I’ve found that they are accepting me more and more and actually want to talk to me where previously they pretty much just ignored me. And you’ll never guess what else…they want to give me the “Volunteer of the year Award” later this week!

During the month of November I spent a considerable amount of time working with the Open Doors program; the after-school program for underprivileged gypsy kids. The children come after school and we feed them, let them take showers, wash their clothes, help them with their homework and give them additional exercises to help them actually learn what they are being taught in school. We also do crafts with them, teach them some English, and take them on special outings. I have been helping with a lot of the administrative stuff and Thanksgiving week I spent the entire week working with the new girls who have been hired to help since the founder of the organization (Clare) is back in the states attending grad school. There are 11 kids in the program and it requires so much work…the girls meet with their teachers and parents on a weekly basis, prepare extra lessons, crafts, activities, etc. We also work hard to keep the kids motivated and disciplined enough to actually do all the things we have planned…this is the hardest part of all!! The wonderful part of this program is the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with them in practical ways. Most of them have accepted our invitation to come to church on Sundays and I have the pleasure of teaching them in my Sunday School class each week as well.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Bistrita! We had our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday due to everyone’s schedules and the fact that it is not a Romanian holiday. There were 16 of us who enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal including Turkey that we were able to buy in pieces (couldn’t find the whole bird except those walking around in our neighbors’ yards – ha!).

We ended the month of November by welcoming a social worker named Stephanie who has come to spend time in our family centers observing the families in action. She is spending 3 weeks at each location with a week off in between each visit. Two of her friends came to visit and I have enjoyed having them accompany me to the orphanage, my English class, and Open Doors. They have some great ideas and it’s been fun having them hang out with me while they are here. On November 30th we had a “girl’s night out” with the foster girls in our family centers. We made chocolate chip cookies, played games and watched a Mary Kate & Ashley movie with Romanian subtitles. We had a blast! Nothing like having a house full of giggly girls!
We’re now gearing up for Christmas…preparing for the children’s Christmas programs and parties, decorating, planning, etc. It’s such a wonderful time of year! I wish you all a very blessed and happy Christmas!!!

Please continue to pray for:

• Leaning the Romanian Language
• Teaching the conversational English classes at the Community Center for Youth
• The children at the orphanage…that we will be able to help them develop to their full potential and for the workers to actually show them love.
• For God to continue to heal Georgel and that I will continue to learn 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.

September 2007 Newsletter

2007-10-09T19:48:00.000+03:00

September 2007

123 Auto Drive
Boise, ID 83709
208.321.7440

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

I arrived back in Bistrita on September 11th… it was a long and exhausting trip, but it was the smoothest international flight I’ve ever had! I had no problems with any of my luggage or connecting flights and even though I was greeted with cold and rainy weather, the 8 hour trek from Bucharest to Bistrita was smooth as well. We arrived at the ministry house around 1AM and I was so happy to see that everyone had waited up for us! What a wonderful blessing it was to see everyone again!

After a few days of adjusting to the 9 hour time difference and getting back into the routine of the house, I was ready to begin work at the orphanage and other children’s programs again. At the orphanage most things were the same, but there were a few changes. For example, there are two new babies needing love and attention, Mia is now in a special school from 8AM – 7PM each day, and I found that my little buddy Georgel had deteriorated significantly while I was gone. It seems he cannot be comforted and his self-abuse has intensified to the point where they have to physically restrain his arms so that he won’t hit himself or pull out his hair. It broke my heart to see him in such torment. I spent most of my time my first few days back focusing on him. After much prayer and patient persistence, I have been able to make some progress with him…getting him to calm down and even laugh at times. He is still far worse now than when I left in June, so he needs lots of prayer.

I arrived back in Bistrita just in time to help with the annual Ladies Tea and I’m so glad I didn’t miss it since it is a lot of fun and a great time to get to know people a little better. Fortunately, my packages had arrived a few days earlier, so we were able to use the items I had purchased specifically for the event. Cynthia had asked Heather Hoe from Brasov to be out guest speaker. She came with four other ladies and it was a great blessing to see them all again. We spent hours decorating and preparing for the event, but it was worth it. The church was beautiful and everyone had a wonderful time. We invited several moms of the gypsy kids from the after school program…none of them were able to come, but one of the kid’s older sister came. Although she didn’t know anyone, she participated in the games and conversations and even teared up at the end when it was time to leave. I hope we get to see her again soon!

One of the highlights of my first month back in Romania was a daytrip to the zoo. We loaded up two vans with 13 kids and 7 adults and headed to Târgu-Mures, a city about 90 minutes from Bistrita. The zoo was amazing! It is a forest setting with winding sidewalks leading around to the animal exhibits. We saw a nice variety of animals including; monkeys, lions, tigers, panthers, bobcats, foxes, bears, horses, cows, elk, birds, reptiles, and fish. The kids had a wonderful time checking out all the animals and climbing on all the statues posing for pictures. The fun didn’t stop there though…after viewing everything we could at the zoo; we headed to the McDonalds in town where the kids enjoyed Happy Meals and lots of laughs. It was a treat for all of us since Bistrita isn’t a large enough city to have a McDonalds yet. Overall, it was a memorable and fun-filled adventure!

Please continue to pray for:

• Leaning the Romanian Language
• Starting the conversational English classes at the Community Center for Youth again
• God to touch Georgel and for me to continue 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.

Zoo

2007-09-30T21:54:00.001+03:00

On Saturday, September 29th we took a trip to the zoo in Târgu-Mures, a city about 1.5 hours from Bistrita. We loaded up two vans with 13 kids and 7 adults and headed off for an adventure. The zoo in Târgu-Mures is amazing! It is a large, forest setting zoo with a nice variety of animals. After a thorough exploration of every animal, snake, fish, and bird they had we headed into town to the McDonalds. The kids sure loved their happy meals! It was a treat for all of us!

Ladies Tea

2007-09-23T16:54:00.000+03:00

I arrived back in Bistrita just in time to help with the annual Ladies Tea and I’m so glad I didn’t miss it since it is a lot of fun and a great time to get to know people a little better. Fortunately, my packages had arrived a few days earlier, so we were able to use the items I had purchased specifically for the event.

Cynthia had asked Heather Hoe from Brasov to be out guest speaker. She came with four other ladies and it was a great blessing to see them all again.

We spent hours decorating and preparing for the event, but it was worth it. The church was beautiful and everyone had a wonderful time.

We invited several moms of the gypsy kids from the after school program…none of them were able to come, but one of the kid’s older sister came. Although she didn’t know anyone, she participated in the games and conversations and even teared up at the end when it was time to leave. I hope we get to see her again soon!

Back In Romania

2007-09-23T16:52:00.001+03:00

On September 10, 2007 I left Boise to head back to Romania for another 14 months. I flew first to Minneapolis and then to Amsterdam and finally into Bucharest where I was picked up by a van of friends to make the final 8 hour drive up to Bistrita. It was the smoothest trip I’ve ever had!

I had no problems with my luggage…even though I paid to take two extra bags. I checked them in Boise and didn’t have to touch them again until I got to Bucharest. Fortunately, they have free carts at the airport in Bucharest, so I was able to easily load everything onto a cart myself…which is good since only ticketed passengers have access to the luggage carousels in Bucharest.

I had never been to Amsterdam before, and even though I didn’t get to leave the airport, I still had a chance to experience a little of the culture at the airport gift shops. I had several hours to kill, so I wandered from one shop to another and basically found lots of wooden shoes…from tiny ones on refrigerator magnets and key chains to full size for any sized foot. I also saw lots of little Dutch boy/girl figures, tulips, and windmills; all the traditional symbols of Holland. It made me wish I could actually see a little of the country!

I made myself stay awake the entire trip because I had been told (and had personally experienced) it is the best way to acclimate to the new time zone. By the time it’s bed time in your destination location, your body is ready to crash and somehow resets itself to the new time zone faster. I did cheat a little though and tried to sleep in the van on the way back to Bistrita...I figured since it was midnight it was okay.

When I got the house at 1AM, I found that everyone (except the kids) had waited up for me! It was wonderful to see everyone again and it made me feel so special that they would stay up so late to welcome me!

I’ve now been here almost 2 weeks and I am adjusting well…to the cooler temperatures, 9 hour time change, seeing old friends and meeting new ones, and jumping back into the ministry opportunities. Life is good here in Bistrita!

Shipping Miracle

2007-09-23T16:49:00.000+03:00

After being in Romania for a year I had a better idea of the kinds of things you can and can’t find there and the kinds of things one needs and craves. So, while I was in the States over the summer I began collecting items to take back with me. Some were personal supplies, but many were items for Sunday School (craft supplies, prizes, etc.) or for the children and families in Romania. Much of what I had to bring back was given to me and although I tried to scale back on the quantity, I realized that it all would be so greatly appreciated that I decided to bring it all. Of course, once I began to box it up to get an estimate on the cost, I discovered that it really added up….to 250 pounds to be exact!

I visited my favorite postal annex because the owner has always been so helpful to me over the years. He informed me that due to recent changes with the US Post Office, the packages would have to be shipped via air with an estimated cost of $900. He was appalled and I was shocked. He immediately offered to make some phone calls to see if there were any cheaper options. I left in a daze praying for a miracle. That night I met with the Missions Prayer Team and shared my dilemma and together we prayed for God’s provision with the shipping.

I went back to the postal annex the next morning and was told that he had had no luck, but was going to make a couple more calls. As I was leaving, I thought of my friend Lonny who manages the mail room at Albertsons…an operation larger than many towns’ post offices. I thought he might have some ideas for less expensive shipping. After discussing the problem with him, he told me to give him an hour and he’d see what he could do. Lonny began to make some calls and the next thing I knew, he had arranged for the packages to be shipped via FedEx at an estimated cost of $850 AND had also contacted the charitable contributions department at Albertsons who graciously donated $500 of the total shipping cost. After taking the 12 boxes to the mail room, Lonny and his team helped me catalog each item for customs and tape up the boxes…a process that took two hours! When we finally had it all done, the final cost came to $800 which was $50 less than the original estimate. The extra bonus was that the delivery time was cut from the post office’s 2-4 weeks to only 6 days! The miracles were adding up left and right!

By the time I left the States a few days later, several wonderful friends had given me enough money to completely cover ALL of the shipping expenses AND most of the extra charge for the surplus luggage I took on the plane. God is so good!

Unfortunately, the packages did not arrive in the promised 6 days…apparently, the customs department in Romania required a copy of my passport and were unable to reach me for several days. But a few phone calls later, the packages were back on route again. I am happy to report that on Thursday (Sept. 20) I received all 12 packages in great shape (only one item was broken) and there was great rejoicing in the house! Thank you to everyone who contributed items for all of us…they were much appreciated!!!

Winky Update

2007-06-19T22:48:00.001+03:00

It’s true that clowns get to go places and do things that “ordinary” people don’t. Some of Winky’s favorite memories are being front and center to the attention of hundreds of kids over the past few months while working in Romania. Winky started clowning around the with kids in the New Beginnings family centers (see blog entitled “Hope for the Hopeless” for more information about the family centers) and ended up meeting literally hundreds of kids during the past year.

Winky had done some volunteering at St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho prior to moving to Romania which really helped prepare her for the challenges associated with volunteering at the county hospital in Bistriţa, Romania. There are a lot of differences in policies and facilities between the two hospitals, but the kids are the same…they like to play with clowns!

The hospital in Bistriţa has a wonderful play room on the children’s floor. The walls are colorfully painted with cartoon characters and Disney scenes and the cupboards are filled with games, puzzles, and craft supplies. The children who are able to get out of bed come to the play room for a couple of hours in the morning and afternoon each day they are hospitalized. It’s a great distraction from being confined to bed and IV’s. The vibrant, multicolored playroom is a stark contrast to the white walled rooms where the children spend most of their time. They remind me of the children’s hospital rooms in the movie Patch Adams…a half dozen white metal beds in a row on each side of the room…kids wearing pajamas and hooked to IV’s sadly staring at the ceiling. As you can imagine, Winky was welcomed with open arms, laughter, and inquisitive stares. Even the serious nurses were all giggles and chatter after receiving clown “kisses” on their cheeks (stickers that look like lipstick kisses) and witnessing the sea of colorful balloons, smiley-face stickers and tooth bearing grins on the children. One huge difference between the two hospitals is the policy on balloons…no balloons are allowed in Boise, but fully accepted in Bistriţa. I can’t tell you how much joy it is to look out over the playroom and see all those balloons! It was even better to see them back in the rooms…talk about brightening a room! Those balloons were also an ongoing reminder to the children that they are special…a clown loved them enough to come and see them that day.

Winky also had the privilege of being part of Bistriţa’s very first Special Olympics program. The nonprofit organization at the placement center organized the event and there were over 100 special needs kids competing in various events from sports (basketball, volleyball, foot races, etc.), singing, dancing, painting, etc. It was Winky’s job to cheer and entertain the participants and it was so easy to do. One of her favorite moments was being surrounded by a dozen kids all laughing and trying to communicate with the clown who talked weird. They loved the little tricks she did and showed their appreciation with huge belly laughs and requests to repeat the performances over and over again. The other thing that really stands out in Winky’s memory is that the MOST requested balloon that day was the HEART balloon. For every sword or dog balloon given that day, there were 4 hearts delivered to imploring children….and for every heart Winky gave it was another reminder of what that day was all about…LOVE. What a day it was…for everyone! It was a bit exhausting (Winky performed and played for 6 hours!), but the delight and wonder from the kids made the day wonderfully unforgettable.

Aside from the regular work…hospital visits and birthday parties for underprivileged gypsy kids and foster kids…Winky had another big event just before leaving Romania. June 1st was National Children’s day in Romania, so Winky was invited to three parties in three days. It was another chance to meet and play with both underprivileged and foster kids. The largest party was in the park and was for all the orphan children living in foster homes throughout the Bistriţa area. There were competitions (bicycle racing, chalk drawing, karaoke, etc.), loud music, snacks, gifts, and one clown who couldn’t keep up with all the balloon requests! Ha! Winky had a great time laughing and playing with so many children and it warmed her heart to see so many happy faces.

Winky is going to be doing a little work in Boise this summer, re-stock her supplies and then head back to Romania for another year of clowning around. For all those who are a clown at heart, keep checking back for more Winky adventures!

Easter in Romania

2007-06-19T22:06:00.001+03:00

Easter is an important and widely celebrated holiday in Romania. Unlike in the States, Romanians take the Monday & Tuesday after Easter Sunday off from work. Almost everyone attends a church service either at midnight the Saturday night before
Easter or on Easter Sunday and the streets are alive with people headed somewhere to celebrate. Like in the States, most Romanians like to spend time with family and many of them leave the city and head to their relatives in the villages where they enjoy each other’s company and a feast of traditional Romanian dishes.

A favorite dish is an appetizer made with the boiled eggs similar to our deviled eggs. The difference is the filling is made from pâté and the eggs are placed upside down in the bowl with a layer of mayonnaise spread on top of the eggs. I’ve had this dish twice now and although I’m not a fan of mayonnaise, I really liked it!

This year I had the pleasure of seeing an Easter parade the weekend before Easter – complete with a marching band and lots of people dressed in native costumes. After the parade there was an abundance of vendors selling homemade gifts – the highlight of most vendors being hand-painted or beaded eggs. They are beautiful, but few people are able to create such beautiful masterpieces.

There is a custom that is easy to do however…decorating eggs with natural methods. Since red is the most popular color for Easter eggs (representing Christ’s blood), Romanian women will take the eggs and lay small leaves and twigs around the eggs and then wrap them in strips of pantyhose to hold them in place. The wrapped eggs are then placed in a pan with water, onion skins, and a little salt where they are boiled until hard-boiled. The eggs turn a deep reddish brown color and have intricate designs left from the leaves and twigs that were placed on the outside of the shells. It’s a lot of fun and I recommend trying it sometime.

I didn’t see any Romanians hunting Easter eggs, so I think that must be an American thing. However, since I live with Americans we did introduce the infamous Easter egg hunt to “Clare’s kids” (the underprivileged gypsy kids that are part of the after-school program run by one of my American friends). We had the kids over and let them color Easter eggs and then made them wait inside while we hid plastic eggs filled with candy and prizes all over the yard. They had so much fun they wanted to do it again at the next two birthday parties!

A long time ago I learned how to say John 11:25 in sign language (Jesus said, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live), so I thought it might be fun to teach it to the kids in my class on Easter Sunday. They loved it! And it was so fun that they still ask me to watch them “say” that verse in sign language.

Easter in Romania was a special time for me filled with a mixture of new cultural experiences and old traditions shared in new ways with lots of wonderful children and adults alike.

High School

2007-05-01T12:25:00.000+03:00

When Cezara, one of the students in my English class, explained that she would not be able to attend class the following week due to her participation in a play and fashion show that her high school class was doing I found myself very interested in the details. She explained that her class had been working on a number of projects including research papers, plays, a fashion show, etc. all surrounding the topic of Ireland and culminating the week of St. Patrick’s Day. Because everything would be done in English, our class decided it would be an excellent field trip. It turned out to be even more of an adventure for me personally as I had a chance to have a behind the scenes glimpse of high school in Romania.

First of all, I learned that there are a number of High Schools in town and each one has its own emphasis and students attend different schools depending on their aptitude and interests. The one Cezara attends heavily emphasizes English, among other things, which is why all the plays the students performed that day were in English. The school building itself was magnificent both inside and out as the architecture of the building was beautiful. As I walked with the students down the tree-lined street toward the school, the students were excitedly talking about being able to enter through the main entry instead of the side entrance. Upon further questioning, I discovered that unless you are a teacher, or accompanied by a teacher, you were not allowed to enter the school by the main entrance. They discussed that since I was technically their English “teacher” this qualified them to be able to enter through the front doors, an opportunity that was greeted with great enthusiasm by the students. They explained that teachers are highly respected in Romania…something I had suspected for quite some time for I have often observed teachers carrying bundles of flowers from their students on every holiday or special occasion. I almost expected to be stopped and questioned at the door and required to show credentials of some sort before entering. To my relief, we walked right inside with no problems. Once inside, we climbed a large staircase to the next floor where the productions were performed. The building didn’t look like a typical American high school…there were no lockers lining the halls and each room had a massive door. I inquired about the lockers and discovered that there was no need for lockers because students don’t change classrooms in Romania…the teachers do. I also noticed numerous full-length mirrors on each side of the staircase. I didn’t ask, but I think it has to do with appearance being a high priority. You see, while we were in the theater room (complete with a stage and red velvet curtains) another teacher approached one of my students and had quite a serious discussion with him. I asked him why she seemed upset with him and he explained that she had just reprimanded him for standing with his hands in his pockets. It was considered rude and inappropriate and she was embarrassed that he was behaving that way in public. I must have stood for a full 30 seconds with my mouth open trying to process what he was telling me. It was like going back in time to when teachers taught manners and students cared about how they were perceived in public. Beti told me that teachers are of the serious sort and discipline was extremely important. I was immediately perplexed because anyone that knows me for more than a few minutes knows that I don’t fit that description. I stood up straight and tried to be on my best behavior for the remainder of our visit – ha! Beti then told me that she and the other students were so glad I wasn’t like the other teachers. She said they like that I am more casual and like to laugh and have fun in class. She begged me not to change! Since the Community Center likes to hear children laughing and having fun, I agreed to continue being my normal self.

The plays were incredible and the experience itself was mind boggling. There I was in a high school in Romania, surrounded by Romanian students and teachers, watching a play performed in English. I was able to soak up everything and because I could understand and laugh at all the right spots and fully appreciate all the work involved in the production, it made the experience even more precious. So, my high school visit allowed me to understand and appreciate the Romanian culture in new ways and as a result, I understand and appreciate my students even more!

March Newsletter

2007-04-10T16:20:00.000+03:00

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

2007-04-10T16:04:00.000+03:00

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

2007-04-10T13:48:00.000+03:00

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.

New Year Mask Dance

2007-02-13T17:20:00.000+02:00

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. One of the highlights was 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

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 chant/skit. New Year mask dances are quite popular in Romania, especially the Nanny Goat mask. The goat mask is made of a wooden stick with a stylized goat’s head whose lower jaw can be made to clap by pulling a string. The goat’s head is decorated with colored ribbons. It is supported by a rod over which there hangs a colorful cloth cover – a sheet in this case – which conceals a member of the group. The chant/skit consists of a number of lines addressed to the nanny goat and of the goat-dance which is done by jolts accompanied by the rhythmical clapping of the goathead’s lower jaw. At the end, the nanny-goat performs various acts to entertain the audience. In this case, the nanny goat pretended to be dead and revived when she was promised gifts. Other mask dances choose a bear, ram, deer, Billy goat, etc.

It was a wonderful surprise to see this dance performed live for us…especially since I had never seen anything of the sort before. I had to laugh when I saw these star football (soccer) players wearing make-up! Francis played the drum, chanted, and wore a painted on moustache and goatee. Marius chanted, danced and wore a skirt, matching top, lipstick, rouge, and eye make-up. George was the Nanny goat and thrilled us all with his clapping and dancing! What a great New Year’s treat!

Driving in Romania

2007-02-08T16:57:00.000+02:00

I’ve seen some pretty realistic car racing video games in recent years and I’ve teased that after seeing what Romanian drivers have to put up with I could invent a pretty challenging driving video game. It would include things unexpectedly appearing in the road…like chickens, cows, sheep, goats, cats, dogs, people (drunks for example)…all of which I have personally observed Romanian drivers avoid hitting on a regular basis. The player would also have to deal with other drivers, not just the stereotypical woman and old drivers, but the speed demons who pass before you even realize they are there, the seemingly hundreds of student drivers, the horse-drawn carts sharing the road, not to mention the drivers whose cars barely putter along and you wonder how it is still running. It would also include boundless opportunities to test your reflexes with potholes, winding narrow streets, bumpy-bad roads, road construction, and the infamous parked cars in traffic lanes. Players would also have to figure out who has priority at intersections…it will be different for each intersection and if you cause an accident by not giving proper priority, you will automatically lose the game…just like drivers here lose their license for 3 months when accidents are their fault. Mastery of the game would be highly recommended before actually driving in Romania!

Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit, but driving in Romania really is challenging! While the Fouts were in the States we had a situation come up where I had to drive the van up to Nasaud (a town about 25 km outside of Bistrita) to pick up several people for church on a Sunday morning. There was no one else available to drive, so it was up to me to go and get them. The van is a standard transmission, 9 passenger Ford Transit…it’s big, but it wasn’t only the size that had me concerned…it was the fact that I barely know how to drive a stick shift! Fortunately, my friend Radu went with me. Normally, Radu would have driven, but he was one of the unfortunate ones who had his license taken from him for three months. So instead of driving, he coached me through the entire trip…slow down here, shift to third, push in the clutch as you go around this corner, etc. It was amazing! My passengers applauded when we pulled up in front of the church…I’m not sure if it was because they were proud of me or because they were relieved we made it – ha! The only rough spot was when we stopped to let them all in…I was expecting only 3 people and got a little nervous (freaked out) when there was 7! So, when I saw the crowd I killed the engine. I started the van and killed it again! I think they were a little worried after that – ha! However, I got them all there and back safely and can now say I have driven in Romania! What an adventure!!

Orphanage

2007-02-08T15:33:00.000+02:00

After months of waiting for permission, I am finally working in the local orphanage! It’s been a challenging, but rewarding experience so far.

The orphanage is only a 10 minute walk from the house, so I enjoy walking to “work” in the mornings. I work in the “baby room” where the children are anywhere from 6 months to 6 years old. Because all healthy children are placed into foster homes, all the children in the orphanage are children with special needs. My job is to get all of the children out of their cribs during my shift which happens to coincide with their daily activity time. Each child has specific developmental goals they are working on and during our play time I help work on those goals. I must confess that having never worked with children with special needs, it was a bit challenging at first. I didn’t know how to hold the little deformed bodies and I hoped I wasn’t hurting them, I had to get used to the strange noises and behaviors of the autistic children, the lack of body control of others, etc. Most of what I’ve learned is that they just want to be loved…and I can do that! This realization was reinforced recently when I was watching a tribute to Rich Mullins, Christian songwriter and musician. In the tribute, his sister spoke of a phone call she received from Rich shortly after she had given birth to a child with a birth defect. The family was upset and she was angry with God wondering why this had happened to her. Rich, however, told her he was proud of her…proud that she was his sister. When she asked why, he explained that God only chooses special people to give children with special needs to because He knows they will love them in special ways. It really touched my heart because I realized how blessed I am to be here and to be given the opportunity to be used in this special way.

There are 7 children in the baby room at this time, but for several weeks we had additional children, healthy babies, while they were awaiting foster homes. Each of the seven children is unique…both in age and disability. George is 6 (almost 7) and is both blind and autistic. I’ve been warned by almost everyone there to be careful of him because he bites! Fortunately for me, I have never been bitten by him. He is verbal, but only with noises and grunts/growls. He doesn’t speak…actually none of the children I work with speak. He does LAUGH though and LOVES to be tickled. In fact, he has recently started mimicking the “tickle, tickle” sounds I make when I tickle him. It’s pretty cool. One of my favorite moments with George happened when I was hugging him and patting him on his back. He wrapped his arms around me, snuggled in and began patting ME on the back! It was so awesome! Adriana is 5 and is confined to her crib unless she is picked up. She is extremely rigid and can barely move on her own. I recently worked with the physical therapist to learn how to massage her skinny little limbs and manipulate her body. She doesn’t have much cognitive ability, but she does recognize people…and the most amazing thing about this little girl is that she is almost always smiling. I’m not talking a little grin either…her whole face lights up as her mouth opens in huge smiles over and over again. You can’t help but smile when you see her. Mia is 6 and autistic, but is the most mobile of the children…she can actually walk on her own and LOVES to get out of the baby room and go for walks down the hall. We even went outside the other day and it was a real treat for both of us. Although she can't speak, she does communicate and I know she likes me because every time I’m there she manages to maneuver herself to be sitting on my lap. She’s happiest in my lap and she loves hugs and tickles too. There are three babies…one is blind, one has severe hydrocephaly, and one just doesn’t like physical contact for some reason. The most severely disabled child is Cristi. He was born normal, but contracted meningitis and now he is trapped in a twisted, deformed little body. You can tell by the expression in his eyes that he would love to play or speak, but his body won’t let him. He does like to be held and talked to and he especially enjoys it when I sing to him. I guess the most amazing thing about all these children is how quickly I found myself falling in love with them and how much I enjoy seeing them and helping them develop to their full potential.

I am fortunate to be working with both the children’s protective services as well as the non-profit organization that oversees volunteers and numerous programs for the hospital and orphanage. I have been invited to attend their weekly staff meetings and am officially part of the team. In fact, they are beginning a restructuring process…new organizational chart, job descriptions, etc. and I have been asked to help with this endeavor. This is right up my alley as I spent considerable time assisting with department reorganizations while working at Albertsons. I am excited that my experience there can be used here as well. The staff of the non-profit organization extends to orphanages and hospitals across Romania and includes members from Bucharest as well as other cities throughout the country. The non-profit organization’s staff in Bistrita is comprised of a psychologist, social worker, physical therapists, and administrators in both the orphanage and hospital. They are a great team and all but one of them speaks English! Although the meetings are in Romanian, I have the benefit of translators and consequently communication has not been a problem. I am enjoying getting to know them and look forward to furthering my relationships with them.

I’ve had some amazing times at the orphanage so far. It’s interesting to think back at how nervous and apprehensive I was those first couple of days and how much more comfortable I am now that I am beginning to learn the ropes. I did have one really bad day the second week I was there. I had several of the kids out of their cribs…one of the babies was in a walker and he was happily exploring the room, another child was sitting in a special chair designed to help them change positions allowing them to sit up since they can’t do it on their own, and Mia was happily wandering around the room and playing with her toys. I also had a baby in my arms and things were going well despite the fact that all of the workers had left me alone in the room again. I’m not supposed to be left alone…there is supposed to be at least one attendant in the room with me at all times. Unfortunately, the ladies were using my volunteer time as an opportunity to take a break and enjoy a smoke outside. They were often gone for 30-45 minutes at a time and it was becoming a habit despite all the efforts by the office administrators to prevent it. On this particular day, one of the attendants apparently didn’t like that I had turned on the radio so she pulled the cord out of the wall before leaving on her break. That dangling cord happened to be just long enough for Mia to reach and when my back was turned she managed to grab the cord and pull the radio down on her head. I heard a loud crash and turned to see the radio and Mia on the floor. Mia was crying and rocking back and forth in a seated position. I just assumed the noise had scared her and focused my attention on the radio…I just knew it was broken beyond repair! To my surprise, the radio still worked and I thought a catastrophe had been avoided…until I saw the blood! It turns out that Mia pulled the radio down on her face and it hit just below her left eye causing a scrape which bled. I quickly called for help using my cell phone and began comforting her and putting the other children back into their cribs. Mia was alright…it turned out to be only a minor scratch, but it sure scared me! The good news is that Mia healed quickly with no behavioral side-effects and from that day forward I have always had at least one other worker in the room with me. Thankfully, I have not had any more days like that one!

My latest adventure has been assisting with the addition of a Special Olympics program. There are programs in other parts of Romania, but this summer will bring the first Special Olympic events for Bistrita. We have had our first meeting with a committee of parents last week and they are so excited. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but I’m confident we’ll have a great event!

My next step is to begin volunteering at the local hospital. I hope to start working there later this month.

Kaidon and T-Rex

2007-01-19T17:07:00.000+02:00

Kaidon is 4 years old and right now he is really into dinosaurs. He has several that he got for Christmas and can usually be seen with at least one in his hand or within arm’s reach. The other day Kaidon’s T-Rex got him into trouble. It started when his little sister, Sedona, tattled to mom (Cynthia) that Kaidon had made a mess. Upon investigating, Cynthia found that there was indeed a mess in the front room. The vase of flowers was tipped over and water and flowers were scattered on the table and the floor beneath it. Kaidon was hiding out in the family room with a look that was highly suspicious. Cynthia asked Kaidon to come and talk to her about the mess and, knowing her son, she began to search for the right question to ask him to get the whole story out of him. It went something like this:
Cynthia – “Did you make the mess Kaidon?”
Kaidon – “No”
Cynthia – “Did you knock over the flowers?”
Kaidon – “No”
Cynthia – “Did you play with the flowers?”
Kaidon – “No”
Cynthia – “Did you touch the flowers?”
Kaidon – “No”
Cynthia – “How did the flowers end up on the floor?”
Kaidon – “T-Rex did it”
At that point, Kaidon held up the plastic T-Rex he was holding in his hand. It was all Cynthia could do to hold back the laughter when she saw tiny baby’s breath flowers dangling out of T-Rex’s mouth! It just made me think of the classic Calvin & Hobbs cartoon. I could just imagine Kaidon standing there with his mouth wide open as a giant T-Rex stomped through the room and attacked the vase of flowers, toppling them to the ground, spilling the water everywhere as he contentedly munched the flowers. Of course, T-Rex turns plastic again when mom comes into the room and discovers the mess. Poor Kaidon is left to take the blame! Fortunately for Kaidon, this time there was ample evidence to vindicate him of any wrong doing – ha!

Christmas In Romania

2007-01-19T12:06:00.000+02:00

I love Christmas! Most Americans complain about the commercialization of it…and rightly so. The decorations and sale catalogs are out in full force even before Thanksgiving is over and then it escalates from there. Although I do agree that the emphasis is all wrong, I can’t help loving all the decorations and the festive atmosphere and the Christmas music playing everywhere. I love to celebrate Christmas and I wondered what it would be like so far from home and in another country. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. I had a wonderful Christmas here in Romania because the reason for the celebration is the same no matter where you are…Jesus…the greatest gift of all.

Romanians don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, so there were no “Day After Thanksgiving” sales and the Christmas decorations were not up in November as they are in the States. It felt weird not hearing Christmas music in the stores or “silver bells” ringing around town, but all that changed about the second week of December. Suddenly lights were going up all over town. Every main street had huge strands of lights strung from one side of the street to the other and repeated about every 100 feet or so.
Each street was different…red lights on one, white on another, light blue on one, alternating white and blue on another. The strands of lights were different too…some hung down like icicles, others were swags or panels of lights…single strands, multiple strands, tons and tons of lights. The city center was decked out with a huge tree surrounded by rows of trees all covered in white lights. The store windows were adorned with lights or had decorated trees in them. The whole city was so festive and beautiful no matter where you went in town. It was glorious!

I did most of my Christmas shopping at Kaufland…a new German-based grocery store that opened in town…because they had some great prices on toys as well as groceries. It’s a huge store…definitely the biggest in Bistrita. It’s a little larger than a typical Albertsons and has the high ceiling like at a warehouse store. It has a large assortment of produce as well as a huge deli and bakery. It also has quite an assortment of non-food items including clothing, household items, electronics, toys, and seasonal merchandise. I love it! It’s not like Bistrita doesn’t have a ton of grocery stores already…it’s just that most of them are tiny shops with limited varieties, quantities, and assortments. Great for picking up the basics, but not the typical “one-stop” shopping we Americans are used to. The opening of Kaufland changed all that and because it opened just before Christmas, it will be forever associated with my first Christmas in Romania – ha! I can’t tell you how many evening shopping excursions Clare, Nicu, and I went on to buy toys for the kids and other necessary grocery items. It started becoming a routine…one which I enjoyed very much. My craziest memory was a few days before Christmas…we went to Kaufland for the “last” trip before Christmas to pick up more wrapping paper, a couple more toys and some final Christmas dinner items…a quick trip we thought. We were surprised to see so many people in the store…but not nearly as surprised as when we saw the check out lines! The lines filled the aisles from the checkstands in the front to the coolers in the back! We made poor Nicu stand in one of the lines with the cart while Clare and I ran all over the store finding the items and dumping them in the cart. It was hilarious and made me feel like I finally got that “after Thanksgiving sale” experience! Ha! I think Nicu may have refused to ever come with us again if it hadn’t been for some previous positive experiences with their bakery. They have these great little cakes…kind of like cupcakes…only in the shape of a frog! It’s extremely moist chocolate cake with a green hard sugar frosting on top with little frog eyes. They are adorable…and yummy! Several times we splurged the one lei (about 30 cents) for a frog and Nicu was a happy camper. I bet you want to come and experience a shopping trip at Kaufland with me now don’t you? 

One of the Christmas traditions in Romania is caroling…they do it all during the week before Christmas, but especially on Christmas Eve, Christmas evening, and New Year’s Eve. Most of the time, people are caroling for money…and if you allow the group to carol for you at your home, you will be expected to pay them – or at the very least feed them. It’s a way to earn a little extra cash at the holidays, emphasis on “little”. For example, three of the young boys who are “Clare’s kids” earned 5 lei (about $2.00) caroling this year. I’m not sure how many hours of singing this money represented, but I can tell you the amount of love it reflected because they spent the entire sum on a gift for Clare instead of buying something for themselves or even for their families! It was incredibly heart melting! I was fortunate to go along on a couple caroling expeditions and I also had a rather unique caroling experience I want to tell you about. My first caroling experience was with the foster kids from New Beginnings. Our social worker also happens to play the guitar and taught the kids several Christmas carols. They were all decked out in Santa hats and I got to go along with them as they sang at a couple of offices and homes. The kids loved the cookies and juice they were rewarded afterward, but I just enjoyed hearing the familiar tunes sung in Romanian. The kids were awesome and it felt a bit like The Sound of Music as we walked through town…Nikki carrying her guitar and the rest of us skipping along wearing our new “play clothes”. Ha! Riding in the van with all those sugar high kids was also an added bonus –ha! My other caroling experience was with a large church group that needed help with transportation, so we took our van and became part of the caroling caravan that stopped at half a dozen homes on Christmas evening. There were at least 50 young men and women singing 3 and 4 part harmonies on the most beautiful songs I’ve never heard before. I just stood there and said, “wow” as I listened because it was so beautiful. I did recognize one of the songs…it was one that our kids had sung and because I had learned it with the kids I was able to join the group for that one. It was so much fun! Most of the houses invited us in for a feast, but by the third house we were too full to accept any more food invitations! My most unique caroling experience was the day our front door opened without warning and a man, uninvited mind you, just walked right in and started singing really loudly a song I had never heard before. I was alone downstairs in the kitchen, so I was a bit freaked out. I yelled for Nicu to come down…”Nicu! A strange man just walked into the house…and he’s singing! Help!” Ha! Nicu came running down and after he saw the man, just smiled and said…”Oh, he came last year too. I really like him. He’s okay…we need to find some money to pay him though.” I just stared at Nicu in disbelief because it was no big deal to him that some strange guy was in the house…singing! I locked the door after that and made sure it stayed locked! So, I guess the biggest differences between caroling here in Romania and in the States is that of expecting payment, walking in and singing without being invited, and one other thing I found fascinating. The carolers here sing until the wee hours of the morning! No kidding…there are people out caroling until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning on both Christmas Eve and Christmas evening! Christmas caroling in Romania…truly a unique and wonderful experience!

Another big part of my Christmas in Romania was the kid’s Christmas pageants. Both the foster kids from New Beginnings and Clare’s kids had Christmas programs and I got to help! Clare pieced together a play from several plays, writing the introduction and conclusion herself. She’s really quite amazing. She also made some exquisite costumes for the kids…I’m not talking sheets with holes cut out for heads and arms and ropes for belts either. These costumes were made from really fancy fabric donated by Clare’s mother from the States. The kids worked so hard on memorizing their lines and really did an awesome job for their parents.

Over half of the 11 kids in her program had family members show up for the performance. Afterward, the kids and their parents enjoyed refreshments while they colored paper Christmas stockings which we hung up on the walls. It was a great way to get the parents involved and everyone had a really fun time. Although the costumes for the New Beginnings kids were sheets with holes cut out for heads and arms and ropes for belts…they were cute nevertheless. They too worked really hard on memorizing their lines and did an outstanding performance.

I am happy to report that just like in America, food is a big part of the Romanian Christmas. I enjoyed some delicious cakes and pastries that were new to me as well as many other traditional Romanian dishes over the holidays. Our Christmas dinner was a mix of traditional Romanian and American dishes and was a wonderful experience! As many of you know, I am an extremely picky eater…so believe me when I say that Romania has some amazing food and you can find just about every variety at Christmas…breads, pastries, cakes, main courses, side-dishes, salads, dips, etc…and all homemade! You’ll just have to come to Romania to fully appreciate the food. Describing it with words…even in great detail…cannot do it justice!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas this year was watching the kids open their presents. To see the expressions on their faces as they opened the gifts was priceless. So much joy and excitement and smiles and laughter…it was so fun! And I knew which presents they would like the best…the ones with batteries required – ha! How do I know? Because the guys who helped install the batteries and “test” the toys had such a great time playing with them! Ha! So, in a way, I got to see two sets of kids playing with the toys…big ones and little ones…and except for their size, there was no difference in the way they enjoyed the experience! I just love how Christmas brings out the kid in all of us.

There are so many wonderful memories of my Christmas in Romania that I’m sure I’m leaving something out, so if I think of anything else I will add it later. If you have any questions or want to know about something in particular, please let me know! I’ll be happy to share more of my experiences with you! I just hope you had as wonderful of a Christmas as I did this year!

Community Center for Youth

2006-11-10T21:11:00.000+02:00

During the past year that I worked at Albertsons, I had the privilege of working with the volunteer program for the company. Albertsons associates from across the country logged more than 2 million volunteer hours in their local communities. Part of my job was to arrange volunteer activities for the corporate associates. It involved finding volunteer opportunities in the town, meeting with representatives from the organizations, coordinating details, publicity, recruiting volunteers, attending volunteer activities, following up with the organizations afterward, etc. I had the best time meeting people from all over the city involved in hundreds of meaningful projects and programs such as Habitat for Humanity, The Ronald McDonald House, Boys & Girls Clubs, etc.

Out of these amazing volunteer experiences came the dream of volunteering in Romania…I didn’t know where it would be or what I would be doing, but the desire to volunteer was strong. I knew that through it I would meet great people and get a chance to build relationships with people I might not normally come in contact with. I prayed almost everyday for God to open opportunities for me to volunteer...and I am thrilled to report that God has answered my prayer! I am volunteering at the local Community Center for Youth. I taught a couple classes on the art of balloon twisting and am currently teaching a weekly two-hour conversational English class.

The class is a lot of work…preparing each week for a two-hour lesson takes me about 15 hours. The students want me to focus on verb tenses, vocabulary building, and idioms. I start each class with an ice-breaker activity aimed at getting them up and talking and enabling me to get to know them better. These activities vary each week and are a lot of fun. I also end each class with about 20 minutes of conversation around specific topics. The students all speak English and are more at the intermediate level, so I have had no problems in communicating with them despite my limited knowledge of the Romanian language. There are approximately 12 teenagers aged 15-18 in my class, although I have new kids popping in all the time so the numbers fluctuate each week.

Last week almost every student in the class came up to me after class and told me how much they were enjoying the class…they said they liked that I made it fun for them and they really felt like they were learning. Even the director said she was pleased with the job I was doing…apparently, she had been listening outside the door for the past 3 weeks to check up on me – ha!

The best part of all is that I am building relationships with some great Romanian kids! I have run into several of them in town and they are always excited to see and talk with me. I’m also helping a couple of them with their English homework outside of class. This opportunity has truly been a dream come true for me and I am so blessed to be here!!

Hungary

2006-11-10T18:35:00.000+02:00

I am planning to apply for a visa after the first of the year. Until then, I am only allowed to stay in Romania for 3 months at a time before being required to leave the country for a few days and return with a new stamp in my passport. In September, I went to Hungary for a few days with Narcisa since we both had to leave the country. It was just before my birthday and was the perfect birthday excursion.

We flew on a new airline called Wizz Air…don’t laugh! Okay, do…the name cracks me up too! They had promotional fares, so we were able to fly for a little over $100 to Budapest! It was cheaper than driving across the border since gas prices are over $5.00 a gallon here in Romania. We stayed with the David Family…Tom is the assistant pastor at the Calvary Chapel in Budapest. He and his wife, Kathy, are both Hungarians who speak perfect English. Although born and raised in Hungary, they are only there because God asked them to return from the States a few years ago. For my sake, I’m glad they were there! Hungarian is the second hardest language to learn (next to Mandarin Chinese), so I was so thankful they spoke English!! They were so warm and hospitable it was like staying with old friends.

Narcisa and I quickly learned to navigate the city by ourselves when Tom came down with a 24-hour stomach flu the day after we arrived. We caught the bus in front of their house to the train station…rode the train into town…transferred to the subway…then jumped on one of the many trolleys to get down to the center of town. We had to laugh at how many forms of transportation we used on this trip since we also took a short boat ride down the Danube River. We were able to list the following forms of transportation on this short trip: car, airplane, van, bus, train, subway, trolley, boat, and escalator – ha! It was great! We got really good at navigating our way around…it totally reminded me of New York…figuring out the subway and getting around town without taxis or cars. It was great!

Budapest is an amazing city!! I loved it! It is located in the heart of the Carpathian Basin on both sides of the Danube River (the longest river in Central and Western Europe). Budapest is actually two cities divided by the Danube River…Buda is on the hilly side of the river and Pest is on the lowland side. Budapest is known for its natural springs and bath houses. Although we didn’t visit any, we heard the hot-water springs are a highlight for most people’s visit. There are about 120 of them and many of them are famous for having therapeutic effects.

We did see some amazing things in Budapest including the parliament building which cost as much money to build as it would cost to set up a town complete with roads, homes and infrastructure for 30,000 people! The red carpeted stairs led up to magnificent rooms filled with stained glass, gold overlaid ornamental woodcarvings, chandeliers, painted ceilings, etc. It was truly majestic! As we ascended the stairs, Narcisa turned to me and said, “I can’t wait to see heaven!” I knew exactly what she meant…it was absolutely breathtaking and if man could make something that spectacular, just imagine what God has planned for us!!

We also saw the largest synagogue in Europe located in the Jewish district as well as a poignant memorial along the Danube embankment…a line of iron shoes set in stone commemorates the Jews who were summarily executed and whose bodies were then dumped in the River.

Other highlights for me were:

The Chain Bridge, the first bridge to connect Buda and Pest over the Danube River.

The Fisherman’s Bastion is turn of the century neo-gothic and neo-Romanesque style buildings in the castle district on the Buda side of the river. It was built to provide a worthy setting for the famous Matthias Church, where Hungary’s last two kings were crowned. The Matthias Church suffered extensive damage in WWII…so much that it took two decades to repair it! After climbing flights of stairs we were rewarded with a close-up view of the church and a grand panorama of almost the entire city.

Heroes’ Square features at its center a monument that is a 160 ft. high column with a winged creature on top and the statues of 7 famous conquering chiefs on pedestals. Behind these there is a semicircular colonnade with the statues of the most outstanding Hungarian kings, princes, and commanders between the columns. On the sides of the square is an art gallery and Museum of Fine Arts. Behind the square is a huge park…complete with a zoo, circus, amusement park, bath houses, playgrounds, and another castle.

Budapest truly has some amazing architecture…grand and old buildings are everywhere. We truly had an amazing time in this ancient city on the Danube. If you ever get the chance to visit, I would highly recommend it!

The People I Live With

2006-10-23T21:22:00.000+03:00

Fortunately, I had a roommate for the last couple of years that I lived in Boise otherwise, I’m not sure I would have been ready to go from living by myself for 15 years to living with a house full of people! I’ve gone from living with one other person to 10 and surprisingly, it’s been great! The house is like Grand Central Station…we have regular visitors by the hour it seems and there is always something going on no matter what time of day or night!

As I have said earlier, it’s the people that make up a home and I have a wonderful home! In this update I will tell you a little about the people who call the ministry house home as well as those who practically live here – ha!

The Fouts Family
Brian and Cynthia, along with their three children (one of which was born 6 months ago here in Romania) moved here almost 2 years ago. Brian pastors the Calvary Chapel Bistrita church and teaches the Sunday morning service as well as a Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday night Bible study each week. Cynthia has her hands full with cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Kaidon (4), Sadona (2.5) and Sage (6 months). Brian and Cynthia are also the foster parents for two teenage daughters Cristina and Any. They’ve never parented teens before, so it’s been an interesting experience for them to say the least!

Cristina is 18 and working on finishing her high school degree. She is an extremely giving person and has many friends who hang out here at the house. She dreams of visiting the States one day as she has extended family in the Chicago area.

Any is 19 and is attending her first year at the University in Sibiu (a city about 3 hours from Bistrita). She is extremely homesick since this is her first time being out on her own. Any is a talented artist and seamstress. She won a scholarship last year for her fashion designs and has chosen that field of study at the University. She is living in a small dorm room with three other girls and is attempting to adjust to student life. I visited her last week and she has already made lots of friends and seems to be adjusting well despite missing home.

Clare is 26 and is from Houston, TX. She has been working with Romanian children for the past 4 years. She started with a volunteer organization and now has her own after-school program for underprivileged children. She helps them with their homework, teaches them English, washes, feeds, and provides clothes for them as well as loving them in other practical ways like birthday parties (complete with cake, decorations, and gifts). She has mastered the Romanian language and converses easily with everyone. She is going to tutor me in Romanian because I need all the help I can get!

Nicu is also 26 and is a social work major in college. He works for New Beginnings and also helps take care of things around the house. One thing I’ve learned from Nicu is never to trust him when he tries to tell me something in Romanian. He is notorious for twisting the words just enough to completely change the meaning…almost guaranteed to bring embarrassment if you fall for it!!

Narcisa lived with us for 4 months during her School of Ministry internship. She has just returned to the States, but it was great having her here! She speaks Romanian because…she is Romanian. Her parents immigrated to the US when they were teenagers, so they made sure their children all spoke Romanian while growing up. So, although Narcisa had never lived in Romania until this summer, she fit right in! We spent almost every day together for the past year (going to school and then moving to Romania together), so I miss her tremendously now that she is gone.

Radu is one of the teenagers who hangs out at the house so much he is considered part of the family. He is a natural with the kids. Whenever he is here he always has a kid or two crawling onto his lap for a good tickling or to hear a story. He is considering attending the School of Ministry in Bucharest next year. In the meantime, his passion is cars and he is either driving or fixing them whenever he can.

Ionut is another teenager who is over every day. His favorite past-time when he’s not in school is table tennis. Fortunately for him he lives with his grandparents who happen to live across the street ensuring easy access to the ping-pong table.

Marius just graduated from High School recently and hopes to attend college soon as he has a passion for computers and hopes to get a good job in the computer field. In the meantime he works at a car wash and helps out around the house.

Dorina is a high school student and best friend to Cristina. She often spends the night and is a joy to have around. She has a huge class load that makes my head spin just thinking about all the classes she takes.

Adi is the director for New Beginnings and is at the house most every day. He oversees every detail of the Family Centers…from rental home repairs to behavior issues with the children. He coordinates with the attorney, social worker, office staff, Family Center parents, and sponsors from the States. He is also the association’s driver and our main interpreter…truly an integral part of our lives here in Romania.

New Friends in Brasov

2006-10-23T21:17:00.000+03:00

While I was in Brasov I got to meet some amazing people and spent an evening with them feeling like I was part of a big, wonderful family. Keala and Heather (pastors in Brasov) hosted the home fellowship in their beautiful (and spacious) apartment. Talk about having the gift of hospitality! They welcomed me with open arms, fed me, and made me feel right at home. Shane (pastor from Bucharest), and Doug Case (visiting from Boise) were traveling through and we had a wonderful time visiting with them as well as others from Brasov…William (new administrator for the School of Ministry), Rebecca and Gheorghe (family center parents), and many others. The house was filled with laughter, singing, food, children, hugs, prayer, and love. It was so wonderful to meet people for the first time and feel like I’ve known them forever. Consequently, my visit to Brasov holds many special memories that I will always treasure!

Babies in Brasov

2006-10-23T21:16:00.000+03:00

Brasov is a beautiful mountain city in the center of Romania. I had the privilege of spending a day there last week where I had the opportunity to spend some time with Amanda Towle, a social worker from Nampa, Idaho. She came to Romania in September to spend 6 weeks conducting training sessions and assisting the workers and caregivers in our Brasov Family Centers. I was able to receive some valuable instruction from her as well as accompany her to the local hospital for a 3-hour volunteer shift.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at the hospital, but I had been told I would be helping with the babies. I had imagined sick babies, but aside from a few signs of colds and occasional bandages here and there, the babies appeared healthy. I soon discovered that many of them are there because their parents are temporarily unable to care for them. Some cannot afford the food, others are too young (the parents of one child are only 14 years old!), and I’m sure there are numerous other reasons. So, the babies are left at the hospital where they are given a bed and a number in one of the many rooms set aside for the infants. The nurses come by each room to feed and change the babies on a regular schedule several times each day. Fortunately, there are volunteers who come to help with the process and provide a little extra attention to the babies. I personally visited 6-7 rooms on two different floors. Between three to six babies occupied each room…although there were often several other vacant cribs in the room available if necessary. The rooms were relatively clean and bright, many of them with colorful paintings on the wall. There were just so many babies and so few hands to hold them that it broke my heart. I’m not very experienced with babies since most of my volunteer work is with children 3+, but it didn’t matter!! Really, it didn’t matter to these babies that I was a bit awkward with the bottle or that I struggled with lowering the crib railing…the fact that I held them and talked to them and fed them and played with them was all that mattered. It was so amazing to see their eyes fixed on me and feel their little bodies melt into my arms. One little girl was so serious when I first picked her up. She just stared at my mouth…I wonder now if it was the strange language I was speaking that threw her off. She might have been 8 months old, it’s hard to say. For at least 10 minutes I couldn’t get her to smile…and then suddenly, she decided I was okay and for the rest of the visit she was smiling and laughing like crazy. I loved seeing each baby smile and hearing the laughter…even if it was only for a moment. As I put each child back into their crib I said a prayer for them as they began to whimper and then forced myself to move onto the next room…with the sound of bitter cries piercing the air as I left. For me, that was the hardest part of all.

This experience lingers with me and I hope to return again in the near future.

Rebeca

2006-09-09T00:35:00.000+03:00

I have to tell you about my friend Rebeca because she is not only a wonderful friend to me, but someone who God has used tremendously in my life since I’ve been in Romania.

I actually met Rebeca last summer when I was here for two weeks with the short-term mission team. It’s an interesting and amazing story of how we met. Several of my team members were at the grocery store trying to identify and select the necessary items on the list. They were having a tough time with the deli counter when Rebeca, who happens to speak perfect English, overheard their struggles and offered to help. The team members came back talking excitedly about this amazing girl that had helped them at the grocery store. She came by the house later to visit and meet the rest of the team and the next thing you know, we were all friends! In fact, from the moment I met her I felt like I had known her forever.

Rebeca and I kept in touch through email throughout the year and I’m sure you can understand my excitement at seeing her again earlier this summer. We hooked up numerous times over the summer and got to spend several days together at the cabana when we took a bunch of teenagers there for a retreat. We have spent many hours talking and laughing and learning about each other’s lives.

Rebeca is a beautiful, vivacious, and intelligent young Romanian woman. She is only 19 years old, but she has already accomplished some amazing things in her life. Rebeca is the kind of girl who is not satisfied with going to school, doing homework, and hanging out with her friends. While she was in high school she managed to squeeze in endless hours of volunteer time around her school schedule. She volunteered at the orphanage, the Community Center for Youth, and the hospital. She told me about a project she organized and led which involved meeting with school administrators from each of the dozen schools in the city and surrounding villages to identify bright, underprivileged children from each school. She interviewed and selected one student from each school and then arranged a special outing for them, and several volunteers who came along to help, that included a visit to the museum and several other places of interest in the city…including a spot that served the best ice-cream in town. I’m sure you can appreciate the kind of work and planning that goes into this kind of project. The amazing part is that it wasn’t for a grade or award or anything. It was simply because she wanted to do something kind and special for others less privileged than her.

Rebeca volunteered at the hospital this summer after only one year at med school. She practically lived there! I was shocked when she told me what they had her doing…actual surgeries! No kidding…this 19 year old student was actually operating on people! I’m sure she was under some supervision from a doctor when she did it, but it just blew me away that she was working in the ER and regular surgical areas with so little training and experience. She even showed me pictures of her stitching people up! She also became a volunteer dentist’s assistant in exchange for some dental work this summer. She had a dentist appointment and mentioned to the dentist that she was studying to be a surgeon and the next thing you know, she’s helping him with oral surgeries while his regular assistant was away on vacation. She got some additional, valuable experience AND got free dental care! What an amazing gal!!

Rebeca is not shy and is eager to make new friends. She loves to bring me along with her when she goes to interesting places and we have had some amazing adventures together as a result. For example, the mayor was dedicating some new sculptures that had been done by famous Romanian artists for the city and she invited me along to the ceremony. She translated some of the speeches for me and then insisted on introducing me to the art professor from her former school, several of the artists, and the MAYOR and his wife! Keep in mind that she had never personally met any of these people prior to my introductions. I even got my picture taken with the mayor and his wife due to her influence! She is amazing! She also introduced me to a friend of hers who is a reporter for the local TV station. The next thing I knew I was being asked to do an hour interview with her for a TV program she hosts each Sunday. I will write a whole story about that adventure later…since shortly after our introduction, it actually happened. I was on local Bistrita TV…not once, but parts of the interview were played for days afterward! Crazy!

Rebeca is now back at med school in a big city too far away to visit without special arrangements. But before she left, she gave me one more gift of introduction. She walked me to the Community Center for Youth as well as the orphanage and introduced me to the directors of each. Those meetings are proving to be provisions for a dream come true for me. I have been asked to teach conversational English on a volunteer basis to youth at the community center’s after school program. I will also get to teach the art of balloon twisting, take Winky to several of their parties, and who knows what else. I have already had the chance to help the director put together a grant proposal that needed to be done in English. I sat with her for 2 hours and helped her with the wording and grammar of the proposal. It was an amazing experience! I also spent several hours at the orphanage and will write more about that experience in a whole new blog.

I am so blessed to know Rebeca and am thankful for her enthusiasm for life and her friendship with me. God knew I needed her and arranged for us to meet a whole year before I moved here! Wow! Please pray that the opportunities that have emerged from Rebeca’s introductions will be realized soon.

Big House

2006-08-28T20:56:00.000+03:00

This is the second in the series of my life in Romania.

I wanted to tell you a little about the house where I live. The best part about the house where I live is the people who live here, so it's hard to separate the two, but I will write about them next. I will focus on what the place looks like so you can get a feel for one Romanian house...I say that because all the houses are different. There are no "cookie cutter" homes here!

The house I live in is fairly large by Romanian standards, although I have seen apartments as big as our house as well as many other homes that dwarf this one! This house is actually two houses connected, yet separate. I have not toured the other house yet, although I have seen parts of it. It's not a side-by-side duplex kind of combination...the houses actually overlap pieces and parts of each other. For example, we have a bottom floor living room and theirs is above ours. The houses connect through a hallway into the basement of our house...like a secret passageway. We can go downstairs to the basement, through a couple of rooms and out into the hallway that leads to the other house. It's actually kind of cool...and handy if you are locked out for some reason.

The bottom floor contains the kitchen, a small pantry, a "formal living room", a bathroom that contains a tub that we can't use because the water doesn't drain well, and a large room that doubles as a family room and dining room (and a Sunday School room on Sundays). The living room and kitchen are grand central station most days. We almost always have people dropping by, no matter what time of night or day...so we make sure there is always coffee and some sort of snack for our guests.

The second floor has an opening in the center so the ceiling is two stories high in the living room. You can look up and talk to people leaning over the railing of the second floor. You can also toss down (or up) some needed item from the other floor...pretty handy! The second floor has the main bathroom...we all shower or bathe in this bathroom...that means there are 11 of us sharing the same tub!! Somehow it hasn't been much of a problem, which is a miracle! The second floor also contains three bedrooms and the entrance to a small balcony.

The third floor has been re-named as the girl's floor. There is one main big room with two bedrooms on either side. There are 5 of us who sleep in these rooms, so it's like a dormitory...or one big slumber party all the time! Fortunately the wireless internet connection works fairly well on this floor, so we can email or blog or whatever whenever we want.

The house also has a multi-roomed basement. It's where the two washing machines are kept along with miscellaneous tools and storage items. Unfortunately, the basement is uninhabitable due to the mold. Apparently, the builders cut corners when building the house and put the drainage system on the inside of the basement walls instead of outside. That means it is always damp and cold down there. Fixing the drainage system is on the list of items we'd like to do "someday", but the leak in the roof is a higher priority at the moment.

There is no central air or heat in Romanian homes...ours is no exception. This home uses a hotwater radiator system for heat. I've seen others that use wood burning stoves in each room. We rely on fans and currents from open windows for cooling when it's hot. Fortunately, the summer heat is not as extreme as it is in Boise. We had a pleasant summer, with only a few weeks of high temperatures. I'm told we will need our fans in the winter though because it gets so hot on the third floor. It will be interesting for me since I'm used to a cooler house in the winter (just ask my roommate Lani!). From what I hear, I'll be wearing shorts when I'm inside! Should be an interesting experience!

I hope this gives you a better idea of where I live. It's hard to know what to tell you, so if you have questions or want to see more pictures of anything in particular, just leave a comment and I'll add more info.

The Street Where I Live

2006-08-16T21:33:00.000+03:00

I thought it would be fun to start a series describing a little more about where I live and what we do. I'm starting with the street where I live because I have pictures I can share with you. I'll also share with you the city where I live, the house where I live and the people I live with. I hope it helps you get a better feel for what my life is like here in Bistrita.

The street where I live is called Ion Vidu. The Romanian word for street is Strada...so when we take a taxi home we tell them to take us to Strada Ion Vidu. The streets are extremely narrow and the houses are very close together. Each house is unique...you won't find two that look the same although there may be aspects of one on another. One of the features of the homes that stands out the most to me is the color. Although there are plenty of white houses (ours for one)...most are brightly colored. I'm talking bright yellow, red, pink, tangerine, etc. It's pretty wild! I wonder if it's because everything was uniform (and concrete) under the communist rule and now the Romanians feel the need to express themselves. It's only my theory but after seeing rows and rows of "concrete condos" in Bistrita and Bucharest, I know I would want some color in my life if it were me painting the house!

There is a lot of action on our street. Kids running and playing at any time of the day and evening, people walking to work or to town, ladies sweeping the front stoop, etc. I've noticed that most of our neighbors stand outside their door each evening between 5-7PM and talk to each other. I know this because every time I leave for the corner store (which is literally just around the corner) to buy bread or eggs or milk or whatever, I pass them. I love greeting them...Bona Seara (Good Evening)! They smile back at me and greet me as well. Sometimes they ask me things that I don't understand. If I happen to be going with a Romanian, I learn they are asking me where I'm going or how I'm doing.

It's been fun getting to know the neighbors. It will most likely be no surprise that I know almost every kid's name on my street! They love running up to me and waving and saying hello. Most of them practice the few English words they know and I say the few Romanian ones I know. We usually just laugh at each other and hug each other. I love it!! I've also met a couple of other folks and hope to continue getting to know more. The three that stand out the most are Vale, Meta, and Virginia. Vale's son was hit by a car last year and he is paralyzed from the neck down. I see Vale almost every day pushing his son in his wheelchair...sometimes he looks good, but most of the time he looks sad and tired. I had a chance to speak with him quite at length the other day at the corner store. He actually speaks English well enough to carry on a decent conversation. He shared the story of his son Paul and explained that Paul was going to med school before he had the accident. Paul is an intelligent young man who still has full use of his mental capacities, but is completely unable to do anything else. He can't even speak. He does communicate with his eyes though and because he knows some English, I was able to speak with him for a while. I'm hoping that we'll be able to visit him more. I can tell that Vale could really use the encouragement and I'm sure Paul would appreciate the conversation.

Another noteworthy person on my street is Meta. She is 92 and she sits by her window almost all day. She converses with every person who goes by and there are almost always 2-3 people standing at her window talking to her. She is very sweet and friendly and quite proud of being 92! I only wish I could understand her better. I'm sure we would have some great conversations!

The final woman whom I've met is Virginia. She is 77 and can't get out much due to advanced osteoperosis, however she loves company! She will prepare snacks and have us over for a visit as often as we want...and still wish it were more often. She was a teacher and is currently a poet and a painter. She is an amazing woman who knows several languages and is eager to learn English better. She wants to help us with our Romanian and in turn has asked us to teach her English. It's awesome!

On our street it's like living in the city and the country at the same time...like living in 2006 and 1906 at the same time. There are some who drive fancy cars and dress in the latest fashion and others who wear long skirts and scarves when they feed their animals (dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, etc.). I often hear the clip clop of horses hooves as horse-drawn carts go past the house just after I've heard a BMW go racing by. It's pretty wild, but I love it!

Well, I hope this gives you a little flavor for the street on which I live. I am looking forward to getting to know our neighbors better and hope to provide additional updates on them in the coming months.

Youth Camp

2006-08-16T12:37:00.000+03:00

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Everything Takes Longer

2006-07-20T12:21:00.000+03:00

The pace of life is a slower in Romania and yet it seems we are busy all the time. It's because everything takes so much longer to do. Take grocery shopping for instance. In the States, I would hop into my car, drive the 2 miles to the grocery store...find everything I needed at one store, wait for the courtesy clerk to bag my groceries and even carry them out to my car if I wanted. I would then drive the short distance home and be done in less than 30 minutes. Here in Romania, we walk the mile or so to the grocery store...careful to bring our own plastic bags with us for after we are finished shopping, we have to put the groceries back into the cart, pay, then move off to a table just outside the check stand area where we bag our own groceries. Then we lug them all the way home. Once we get home we put away the groceries, grab the empty bags and head off to the corner store for the rest of our shopping. Part of the reason for visiting 2 or 3 stores is because you can't always find everything you need at one store. Another is because the prices can be considerably more expensive at the big grocery store compared to the Plus Market or the corner store. Since we're watching our budget, we are price conscious. So...grocery shopping becomes more like a 2-hour adventure than a short errand. Add the fact that we only purchased enough food for 2-3 days means we have to go back again in a couple of days. You can't really stock up for a week or more here because food is fresher and thus spoils quicker and the refrigerators are MUCH smaller than a typical fridge in the States.

Another example of things taking longer is laundry. The wash cycle on a Romanian washing machine is TWO HOURS!!! After the wash is complete, we have to hang our clothes to dry...hoping it doesn't rain that day or we have to hang them inside. Clothes dryers are extremely rare here and very expensive, so no one uses them. Laundry day is literally laundry DAYS!! Unfortunately, washing aids such as Spray-n-Wash or Shout are not available, so stains don't always come out. New colors are common, however. My first load of whites came out gray...everything that was once white is now gray (sigh). Just when I was beginning to feel sorry for myself I remembered the woman I saw doing her laundry when I stayed at the foster care center in Unirea. She was doing her laundry by hand outside her home. She was surrounded by laundry already hanging on a clothes line and was busy working on a pair of jeans. She had a brush and was scrubbing the soap into the jeans. It looked exhausting. I am thankful for the machine...it is two hours I do not have to scrub clothes by hand.

My last example is cooking. I remember Saturdays growing up when my mom would spend the whole day working on lasagna...the sauce was started early in the morning and cooked all day. It was the BEST!! No store bought sauce can compare to my mom's homemade sauce. It's kind of the same here. First of all, although there are some prepared items available in the stores, they are limited both in types and varieties. Most everything is homemade...which means it takes hours to prepare. The main meal for Romanians is the noon meal, usually eaten about 1:00 PM. Breakfast is often bread with a vegetable pate' or margarine and jam. Dinner is usually a sandwich or other simple snack. Lunch, however, is amazing! The foster care center where I am living is fortunate to have a woman come a couple times a week to prepare our noon meal. Her name is Tanti Dokia (Auntie Dokia) and she is an amazing cook. On the days she comes she arrives around 9:00 AM and spends the next 4 hours filling the house with amazing scents as she prepares the meal. Homemade soups, salads with fresh vegetables and herbs, creamy sauces, etc. It's all rich in flavor and her presentation is fabulous. The Romanian teenagers in the house can't stand our "American" food...it's made too fast and lacks flavor. After tasting Tanti Dokia's cooking I agree with them. Mom had it right...but even Mom didn't cook like that EVERY day!

So, the pace of life is a little slower...but it's because everything takes so much longer!!

I Joined the Choir!

2006-07-14T22:52:00.000+03:00

This evening I joined Brian, Cynthia and Ani (one of the foster teens) at an art exhibit down at the Cultural Center. A friend of theirs is a talented painter and her art was on display for the first time and they had been invited to the exhibit. I had seen pictures of her work so I was anxious to see it in person.

The exhibit was a little different than I expected. It started out with a man speaking to the group from the top of the stairs in the front lobby area. He talked and talked and I’m sad to say the only words I picked out were exhibit, artists, and beautiful. He said an awful lot more than that though! When he was finished another gentleman came up and spoke. I have no idea what he said. Then the original guy spoke again. Then our artist friend said a few words. Then another guy started talking and reading poetry. By this time I was in pain. I had been standing patiently shifting the weight on my foot the best I could. The pain accompanied by the heat made for a miserable time. Not knowing how much longer this was going to continue, I decided to sneak into an open area just behind us and find a place to sit. I was in luck…a radiator by the window proved the perfect to spot to lean on and rest my aching foot.

After a few minutes of rest I noticed a group of people entering the room carrying burgundy notebooks…small, three-ring binders to be exact. The women were wearing dresses and heels and the men were wearing slacks and button-up shirts. They began to enter the area of the building I was in…until then I had been the only one there. I smiled warmly as they began to gather in front of me. All of them smiled warmly back. I began to wonder who these people might be. Hmmm…they might be judges critiquing the art…or maybe they are investors. Yes, that’s it. They are investors looking at purchasing the art and the folders are pictures of the artwork for them to refer to. About that time, they began to shift from a group of people filling a spot of space to lines of people in an organized manner. Something was up and I was now trapped in my little spot by the window surrounded by this group of people. Suddenly one of them opened their notebook and it all became quite clear…I saw SHEET MUSIC! This was a singing group and I was smack dab in the middle of them with no escape!! Within seconds of my discovery their conductor appeared with his tuning fork and the concert began. I tried to slide as far into the window well as possible because the cameras were out and flashing. Then the conductor saw me and all I could do was smile. It didn’t phase him fortunately and the group sang with great enthusiasm. I must say it was quite the experience to be surrounded by these beautiful voices…I was just between the altos and the basses. They sang six songs total and I was up close and personal for all of them! So, I joined the choir today….sort of…if only I had known the songs!

Bistrita Days

2006-07-14T21:05:00.000+03:00

Today is the beginning of a 3-day festival in Bistrita honoring the birth of the city. Bistrita Days is like a county fair...concerts, roaming clowns, carnival rides, umbrella covered vendors selling all kinds of things, and of course, the food row. Fair food is the BEST and Bistrita has some great fair food. I sampled a Turkish Kebob today that was fabulous. The guy serving the kebobs was a riot and posed willingly for a photo. To be honest, the food row looked more like a big line of barbecue grills. Almost every vendor had mounds of meat to sell...everything from fish to weiners to things I didn't recognize - ha!

Many of the tables next to the vendors had piles of bread in the middle. Bread is a huge part of a Romanian's diet. In fact, they won't eat some dishes without it and every meal you have cooked by a Romanian includes a big pile of bread in the middle of the table. Cynthia (the Pastor's wife) told us today that they had a potluck dinner recently and she forgot to buy bread. She thought they were kidding when they seemed upset...but after she realized they weren't eating most of the food she realized they were serious. She went to the corner store and got bread so everyone could eat!!

I was so excited to see Romanian clowns walk past our table! They looked GREAT! I didn't get to see them in action, but I did catch one taking a break and got my picture with him. It's funny...I've learned there are certain things you should never do in costume (drink, smoke, cuss, etc.) . This clown was sitting on the curb smoking away while in full costume! Smoking is still very accepted here in Romania...even in the grocery store!! It takes a little getting used to after living in Boise where smoking is outlawed in all public places. The clown was very agreeable to having his picture taken and even spoke a little English which was fun.

I'm sure I'll have more stories considering today was only the first day of the festival. We plan to go back again over the weekend.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2006-07-13T21:34:00.000+03:00

The day we got back from the Cabana, Narcisa and I were asked to stay with the foster children in Unirea (a suburb of Bistrita). No problem! We just spent four days with 18 kids, surely we could stay a couple days with only seven!

It turned out to be a relaxing couple of days, but not uneventful. I quickly realized how easily I can be duped when within minutes the four boys had slyly convinced me to help them to do things that were off limits to them. I unwittingly accompanied them to a construction site...fascinating as it was with all the tractors and heavy equipment, it become obvious rather quickly that it was not a safe place for little boys. I managed to get them back to the house and within seconds I was led by the hand into a luscious garden that I later learned was forbidden to the boys because they always do exactly what they did with me...run excitedly to the strawberry patch trampling plants as they picked every ripe strawberry in sight.

The garden was magnificant though. It had 2 pear trees, 2 apple trees, 2 cherry trees, and a peach tree. It also had both raspberry and strawberry patches and some other kind of berry I'd never seen before. It had onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, dill, parsely, and of course loads of cabbage! It even had a green house!! I had no idea it existed because it was hidden behind a door that divided the yard. On one side, a small yard to hang laundry and play...on the other side, the grand garden.

I was fortunate enough to taste two kinds of jam made by the fruit of the garden at breakfast and a canned fruit cocktail made from a pear like fruit at lunch. The strawberries the boys shared with me were so sweet and delicious...I understood why they like to get back there whenever they have a chance.

I knew that garden had been planted with the needs of the Family Center in mind and that it would enable the children to eat fresh and canned produce throughout the entire year. As I reflected on this it reminded of a verse in the Bible. Isaiah 58:11 says, "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden , like a spring whose waters never fail." NIV

Language Funnies

2006-07-13T11:04:00.000+03:00

The language classes I have taken over the past year have really helped, but I am far (far, far, far) from being fluent in Romanian. I'm at the Kindergarten level...how do I know? Because I can only communicate with 4 and 5 year olds...and even then I have language problems. The only thing that helps us is that they usually know a little English - ha!

I learned a new phrase that basically means "health to you". It is used often when people are saying good-bye or when someone sneezes. I really wanted to learn it and begin using it because it just seems like such a nice way of parting. I was practicing it on our drive from Bucharest to Bistrita and tried it out in a convenience store as I was leaving. The two guys behind the counter looked at me and then at each other and back at me in confusion. I tried it again and they were even more confused. Then just as I was giving up on being able to use the phrase, they understood and thanked me. I thought it must have been my accent or something. Turns out I was saying "Your father is calling" by mistake!!! The proper pronunciation is like this...sunna tateh...and I was saying soona tatah. Close, but not close enough! Can you imagine being told that your father is calling by someone who just purchased some water and was leaving the store? Cracks me up!

I also had an interesting language experience at the cabana. Apparently there is a verb in Romanian that sounds very much like an English cuss word. It is the verb, "I do". For example if a kid wants to tie his own shoelaces he will use this verb to indicate that he wants to do it himself. You can imagine my shock when a little girl sitting in front of me reached for my camera and said to my face, "F" you! I was taken back for a moment and then realized she was telling me that she wanted to take a picture....I do, I do!! This is going to take a little getting used to as you can imagine how often a kid will tell you she wants to do something herself!

One more story on this topic...one of our translators is quite the joker. He will often tell you that a word means one thing, when really it is something entirely different. He told John (one of our team members) how to say the big car is coming so he could warn the kids who were playing in the street. The correct word for car is machina (like machine with an a on the end)...he told him to say bachina instead. Bachina means fart...so he was saying the big fart is coming!! You should have seen the wide-eyed expression on the faces of those kids as they ran away giggling! After that the kids wouldn't stop saying the phrase. I'm sure their parents really appreciated it! Ha!

Fortunately, my language mishaps have been pretty minor and humorous. I can only hope that I will continue to improve and avoid too many more embarrassing situations!!