Great Expectations

This past week was my first full week at the baby hospital. My days are long but full of enjoyment because I LOVE getting to spend each day with the kids. Courtney (the other intern who is working at the baby hospital) and I take a taxi to the bus stop and then we take the public bus to the town where the baby hospital is. The entire process takes us about an hour and a half because we are commuting. Public transportation is not my favorite thing in the world but I will say that the scenery on the ride to the hospital more than makes up for it.

The Lord blessed us with cool weather, which is a welcome relief from the 90 degree temperatures of the week before-Most buildings don’t have air conditioning here!

The “Baby Team”, which we have come to call ourselves, has divided up the kids at the hospital who need the most developmental help. We will each have 3-4 children who we will work with on a daily basis on a rotation schedule. This is effective because the kids become familiar with us and we become familiar with their needs, and we are able to recognize improvements. Improvements for each child range from having enough strength to sit up on their own, to walking.  It’s different for each child. These are the kids who I get to spend each day with!

Pray that he gains the strength to hold himself up and develops motor control

Pray that she develops social skills and connects with a caregiver

Pray that he will make eye contact and “socialize” with those around him

When a child is developing, it is important that they develop attachment to the people who care for them. This reduces the likelihood of an “attachment disorder” later in life. Some of the children have great social/emotional development but are struggling with physical development while others have developed physically but not socially/emotionally.

When I spend time with these children I can’t help but pray for a miracle. I want them to grow up and have sharp minds that can comprehend how good God is. I have great expectations for what the Lord is going to do with their lives. They have many hurdles to overcome but I know that with God as their ally and biggest advocate, anything is possible. This is something I have to remind myself of on a daily basis.

Isaiah 61:1

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners..."

Cow Brains & Good Company

 One week down! This past week the interns were busy preparing for the many different ministries we will be involved in over the summer. It has been a blast since my days have been full of productivity and fellowship. I get to work with such an amazing group! On one of our first nights here we took a walk up to the top of a hill near our house and took this picture-It is a pretty accurate portrayal of all the different personalities.

It is incredible to see how God brought each one of us to Romania and how he is already using our individual talents to make his name known.

Being here reminds me of so many lessons that I learned last summer-How easily we forget what the Lord teaches! It is humbling to see what HE has done over the past year and even more humbling to recognize that he doesn’t NEED me to accomplish his work. Yet, he has allowed me to be here and it is my desire to be clay in his hands, fashioned as a tool that he can use for his own glory. 

I was able to spend three days at the baby hospital last week. It was so good to be back! I can’t believe how some of the kids have grown since last time I saw them. Right now there are 16 infants/toddlers (this includes a few 3 and 4 year olds) in the care of the hospital-this is a very high number. One big change that has happened since last summer is that the hospital has given Livada a room in the hospital, which is now a play room! This is a HUGE praise because the babies and toddlers had no space to play and develop before this. We are so grateful for the hospitals generosity.

Here are some pictures of one little girl. The first picture is from last summer, and the second picture is from this summer. Look how she has grown! She is now walking and is right on target developmentally which is also a praise. 

In my blog, and any form of social media, I am limited in how much information I can relay because of privacy restrictions. I cannot refer to the babies by name but I will be sending email updates with more details.

Right now I can say that one of the biggest prayer needs is that God continues to bless the relationship between the hospital staff and Livada because without a good relationship, nothing we do there would be possible.

Oh, you’re probably wondering about the cow brains…well, I can officially say that I’ve eaten cow brain-ah! Another intern was adventurous enough to order it at a restaurant and I had to have a bite (with some encouragement of course). A bite was enough. It is safe to say that my team encourages me in more ways than being adventurous with food. The community we have found with one another is truly an answered prayer and makes a big difference in our daily activities.  

Please pray this verse for us as a group:

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Jesus Christ. So that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" [Romans 15:5-6] 

And So It Begins-Summer 2013

ROMANIA-SUMMER 2013

This is the view from my window 

This summer I will spend two months in the Transylvania region of Romania where I will be interning for Livada Orphan Care for a second time (www.livada.org). There are 11 other interns from all over the United States who will be with me.

Livada has several ministries that we will be part of. They have a VBS styled day camp for state orphans, a literacy program in the Ogra gypsy village, and a partnership with a local hospital where babies, who are too young to be in a state orphanage/group home, live. 

8 Interns will be working at camp, 2 will be in Ogra, and myself and another returning intern will be at the baby hospital.

Last year my role as an intern was to help facilitate and lead the day camp but this summer I will be working with the infants and toddlers! Many of them have delayed physical and cognitive development because they have not been nurtured and cared for in the way they need. I will be assisting with daily therapies and exercises that will help these children to develop into healthy adults. It is very eye opening to see what a lack of face-to-face interaction and affection can do to a child—God designed us to love and be loved! Since I am a Child Development major, this is incredible experience. I’m grateful that I get to surrender my passion for kids to the Lord and that he has chosen to use me in this way!

THANK YOU for all of the prayer. The group of 12 interns, myself included, arrived this morning after 4 days of Orientation in Dallas and 24 hours of travel. I’m happy to report that this year we didn’t lose any bags! We flew from Dallas to London, and from London to Bucharest, Romania. After a 6 hour bus ride through the night we made it to Casa Rene (the name of Livada’s guest house). 

Everyone is in good health and is taking the day to fight off jet lag--jet lag is so real--I had pizza for lunch but my body was saying, "why are you eating pizza at 5 am". Romania is 8 hours ahead of Dallas time

This week we will prep for camp, Ogra literacy ministry, and the baby hospital. There is so much to be done! I will be updating my blog each weekend with news from the week and current prayer requests

PRAYER IS CRUCIAL to everything that we do and I would be so thankful for as much prayer as possible

[Don't let those old posts confuse you! They are from last summer but feel free to browse through them]