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| Summer camp forever changed the lives of Aysun, Alex, Laurentiu, Lorendana, Anton, Silviu and Razvan, just a few of the many young kids from Cobadin, a Turkish-Gypsy Muslim village. Although reaching the heart of the families within these cultures is very challenging, the fact that the children otherwise would never have an opporutnity to attend summer camp, the parents were very open to allow their kids to come with Kidz Romania team to spend 4 days at camp. One of the many activities the children participated in was Junior Bible Quiz (‘JBQ’) practices where children played fun games to memorize Bible Verses and then recite them in a tournament style game. Unfortunately in the Turkish-Gypsy culture, education is not a priority and parents will even require their children to quit school before the 4th grade in order to work the fields or at home. Despite all this, and the fact that they could not read well, Aysun, Alex, Laurentiu, Lorendana, Anton, Silviu and Razvan were determined to do their best. In fact by the end of the camp, they decided they wanted to be part of a JBQ team during the year and participate in regional tournaments. They returned to Cobadin and worked very hard and prepared for their first official JBQ tournament last fall. November 2010 they showed up at the JBQ tournament with their team and were full of smiles and enthusiasm as the day started. However by the end of the day their enthusiasm wore out and they left discouraged receiving the lowest score and finishing in last place. Kidz Romania team continued to encouage them to keep practicing and memorizing their Bible Verses and to not give up. Once again Aysun, Alex, Laurentiu, Lorendana, Anton, Silviu and Razvan were very determined to not quit and they returned for their second JBQ tournament this past March. These young children who could barely read, raised in a culture where all the odds are against them, rose to the challenge and went from last place to winning first place. We are so proud of all our JBQ kids throughout Romania. Please continue to pray for the children in Romania as they hide God’s word in their heart. JBQ regional tournaments continue throughout the rest of May and first part of June. National JBQ tournament will take place during one of our summer kids camp. Kidz Romania Team: Tamara Henkes Jan Cunningham Travis Corbell Gratian Serban Florentina Gheorghias Marius Gabar  
Playing thumb wars and hanging out with kids from Cobadin | | |
| The Kidz Romania Speed The Light van pulled into the camp sight with 9 very anxious and excited children ages 5-14 from an orphanage located in Bucharest. *Alina, a Psychologist required by the government to attend camp arrived with the children and immediately became furious once she found out that this was a “Christian Camp”. “I would have never brought these children here had I known!” exclaimed Alina. The Kidz Romania team responded with love and encouragement and tried very hard to make this a positive experience for all 65 children, the volunteers and for Alina. Kidz Romania staff and volunteers had planned various activities including games, crafts, small group devotions and special chapel services in morning and evening. Alina could not deny the love that was poured out on the children and herself and by the end of the second day Alina asked for a Bible for herself and by the end of camp confessed that “this was the best thing that has happened for the children.” What a powerful testinomy to what God is doing in and through the ministry of Kidz Romania and especially during our summer camps when the team has a chance to build relationships with the children and to live out our faith on a daily basis for the children and volunteers to witness. This coming summer Kidz Romania has an opportunity to once again minister to children in Romania through summer camps and to share the life transforming message of Jesus Christ to them. For us to do this, however, we need your help. We can only bring as many kids to our camp as we have sponsors. Normally we do not use this blog to request funds but this is an exceptional case. One child to attend 4 days/3 nights of camp costs $55 total which includes camp facility, transportation and food. Praise the Lord we have already received sponsors to send 66 kids to one camp. We have 3 additional camps we would like to fill with a total of 140 more kids. This will require us to raise about $7,700 If you would like to sponsor one (or more) child(ren) at $55 each to attend camp you can go online HERE to contribute to Kidz Romania direct, please indicate “Kids Camps” in the notes section. From the bottom of our hearts thank you so much for your prayers and support and we look forward to sharing more incredible stories of what God is doing here in Romania Kidz Romania Staff Tamara Henkes Jan Cunningham Gratian Serban Florentina Gheorghias Marius Gabar *Name changed   
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| My roommate started a tradition long ago before I even arrived in Romania to treat herself to a Decadent Day. Susan, Rachelle and myself decided that Monday would be a great day for such an event. Rachelle's birthday was last month and Susan and mine just so happen to be on the same day this month. This would be our birthday Decadent Day. So what does one do on a Decadent Day - really anything we want with the focus being on enjoying ourselves and doing things we have never done or always wanted to do or something we would not normally do as well as indulge on things we probably shouldn't 
So each of us got up in the morning and began to add some color and flare to our kitchen.
 
We then all pitched in to make brunch including pancakes and eggs. Ate and prayed together then cleaned up and out the door to begin the adventure. Jumping on the subway we make our way down to Piata Unirii. Below are some pictures of the sights around that part of the city:
 
 
We enter into an Orthodox Church where many people are observed participating in various rituals. One woman is seen crossing herself and kissing an icon. Another woman and her child approach the Orthodox Priest and kneel down as he places a cloth over their heads and recites a prayer. Our hearts were broken as we saw such devotion and dedication to religion yet such desperation in lives for fulfillment of something. Our hope cannot be on 'religion' but on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
 
 
Normally as I walk through this area it is for the purpose of getting from point A to B. On this day however, I had such the pleasure to actually take time to view my surroundings. Below are various pictures throughout the city of Bucharest as we took our journey to explore some parts of this beautiful city I have grown to love.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And this is how we ended our decadent day - dinner at Indian restaurant then birthday cake and movie.
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| This evening I got to be part of an incredible fellowship time with friends from around the world representing believers from Romania, Canada, USA, South Africa, Nigeria, Nicaragua...(sorry those I missed). This group of people attend the Bucharest International Church. So Many more countries make up this congregation (probably around 30 or so) and on Sunday mornings we raise our hands in worship to our Lord. No matter what language we speak, what culture we come from, what backgrounds have formed our lives, we serve The One Lord in Christ Jesus. Makes me think about when in Revelations where it says "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." Oh how beautiful that day will be. For now our times of worship together and fellowship together will be just a taste of something oh so greater and beautiful. | | |
| Acts 20:19(a) “I served the Lord with great humility and with tears”
7:00 AM today arrived quickly as my roommates and I made our way down 4 flights of stairs to my car parked on the street only to find that I had accidently left the passenger side window open the entire night. I gave thanks to God that nothing was stolen. We made our way to the office fairly quickly as there was no traffic - again - giving thanks to God as this was not the day we could afford to be late. Arriving at the office we loaded the vehicle with all of our supplies needed for the days outreaches in two different kindergartens. Our theme today was to “be honest”. We give thanks to God for this opportunity to share with the kids.
Our commute to the first kindergarten was perfect with no traffic problems and we arrived early with plenty of time to get our stage and props set up. With 15 minutes to spare I decide to quickly use the restroom. I enter a bathroom about the size of a very small closet, lock the door behind me, do my business and proceed to exit only to realize quickly that the door will not unlock. I try for a couple of minutes and I am aware now that I have a big problem. I attempt to get my colleague’s attention by pounding on the door and I thank God again that they come to my rescue. 15 minutes later the door finally is opened and I enter the hallway to over 10 construction workers staring at me. (they were all working on the school remodel) All attempted to help. I think there could be a joke in this somehow.... how many does it take to rescue a missionary from a locked bathroom..... Okay let’s continue. I arrive in the classroom just as we are ready to begin and we carry on teaching the kids for the next 30 minutes about being honest. So much at this point to be thankful for.
We make our way to the second kindergarten and set up and begin the same program. The kids are excited and we are having fun. Another lesson in humility comes my way as a 4 year old, very sweet, dear, little boy proceeds to correct my Romanian language. I thank him and continue on. All in all a great day, had tons of fun with the team and the kids.
It was certainly a day filled with humility and luckily no tears as the scripture verse says (however another 10 minutes in the bathroom and there just may have been tears, although I am not claustrophobic, this tiny room was getting smaller and smaller as time was passing)
I look back and can laugh about the entire situation. Everyday for me is a lesson on humility as I continue to learn new things about the culture I now live in as well as learning new words every day and even 4 year olds are correcting me on my pronunciation. I make mistakes every day on even the simplest things like how to correctly talk. Humility is hard to swallow sometimes but I would much rather fall down while trying, get back up and continue... than to just stay still, do nothing - safe and with no risk of falling but I would never experience the extreme joy of serving God in this capacity. Stepping out of our comfort zone and trying new things takes risks, humility and sometimes tears but in the end it is all worth it and for that I give total thanks to God.
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