I haven't had a lot of time to blog-- so I'm just posting this to let you know that I'm busy and hope to update soon. Thank you for your prayers and support!
Hans
Monday, July 16, 2007
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Week 4 - The Mission
Day 21 - Monday, June 25, 2007, We continued Vision meeting II and had some difficulties wording the vision statement. If you've ever tried this-- you know it's a long process. We ran up against a wall. Later, I was able to give a guitar lesson to a young boy and two kids from Yugoslavia. Wow! I had never meet anyone from that country before! Later, I was able to give another lesson to Victor, one of the staff a guitar lesson.
Day 22 - Tuesday, June 26, 2007, We continued drafting and writing the vision and mission statement in the morning. After that, Alina, Anca, and I were able to brainstorm more ideas for the wording of the vision. After work, we were able to go visit Roxanna, the little 5 year old girl who broke her leg at the orphange. We brought her balloons, candy, and toys. She was treated like a little princess and I think she liked it.
Day 23 - Wednesday, June 27, 2007, We concluded our vision and mission in the morning and in the afternoon, I presented it to the rest of the staff. Here's our Vision:
Day 24 - Thursday, June 28, 2007, we were able to have two days off at the end of the week. So thursday, I slept in, cleaned my room, finished the book, "Wild at Heart", and spend some time praying and worshiping with guitar. I felt like God was leading me to go visit Roxanna again, so I went to the hospital close to the office and spent some time with her. She doesn't understand English and "Nu Vorbesc Romaneste" (I don't speak Romanian). I sat fanning her (no AC in hospital) and playing with balloons. Then I went to a big park called "Herastrau" and spent some more quiet time.
Day 25 - Friday, June 29, 2007, Friday morning, Alina and I left early for a small town called "Sinaia". We took the metro to a train station and it took us about 1.5 hours to get to mountain town of Sinaia. We climbed the steep steps into the town. We saw a really nice park, an old orthodox monastary, and then the amazing Peles Castle. This castle is a really cool castle that was built around 1873. Check it out on Wikipedia if you want to learn more. We walked in the great statue garden and took lots of pictures. We also saw a classical Guitar player named Catalin Comnoiu-- I saw this guy last fall and he is INCREDIBLE. We walked down the long cobblestone pathway through the Gypsy peddlers and through the town. It was a great day.
Day 26 - Saturday, June 30, 2007, Another relaxing day. Lunch with Alina and Heidi. Heidi is a missionary in Bucharest. She works with a variety of ministries and been involved with the vision meetings. This next week she will help us planning and training the American team for our week long camp July 9th.
Day 22 - Tuesday, June 26, 2007, We continued drafting and writing the vision and mission statement in the morning. After that, Alina, Anca, and I were able to brainstorm more ideas for the wording of the vision. After work, we were able to go visit Roxanna, the little 5 year old girl who broke her leg at the orphange. We brought her balloons, candy, and toys. She was treated like a little princess and I think she liked it.
Day 23 - Wednesday, June 27, 2007, We concluded our vision and mission in the morning and in the afternoon, I presented it to the rest of the staff. Here's our Vision:
The Vision
Through relationships
we affect Romania
Today for Tomorrow.
The Mission
Inimi Deschise supports, guides,
Inimi Deschise supports, guides,
and equips abandoned children and
families in need to overcome obsticles
achieving their highest potential
Spiritually, Socially, Mentally, & Physically.
Day 24 - Thursday, June 28, 2007, we were able to have two days off at the end of the week. So thursday, I slept in, cleaned my room, finished the book, "Wild at Heart", and spend some time praying and worshiping with guitar. I felt like God was leading me to go visit Roxanna again, so I went to the hospital close to the office and spent some time with her. She doesn't understand English and "Nu Vorbesc Romaneste" (I don't speak Romanian). I sat fanning her (no AC in hospital) and playing with balloons. Then I went to a big park called "Herastrau" and spent some more quiet time.
Day 25 - Friday, June 29, 2007, Friday morning, Alina and I left early for a small town called "Sinaia". We took the metro to a train station and it took us about 1.5 hours to get to mountain town of Sinaia. We climbed the steep steps into the town. We saw a really nice park, an old orthodox monastary, and then the amazing Peles Castle. This castle is a really cool castle that was built around 1873. Check it out on Wikipedia if you want to learn more. We walked in the great statue garden and took lots of pictures. We also saw a classical Guitar player named Catalin Comnoiu-- I saw this guy last fall and he is INCREDIBLE. We walked down the long cobblestone pathway through the Gypsy peddlers and through the town. It was a great day.
Day 26 - Saturday, June 30, 2007, Another relaxing day. Lunch with Alina and Heidi. Heidi is a missionary in Bucharest. She works with a variety of ministries and been involved with the vision meetings. This next week she will help us planning and training the American team for our week long camp July 9th.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Week 3 - The Vision
Day 14 - Monday, June 18, 2007, I was able to meet with Fibia, Madalina (team leaders), and Alina to talk about what the vision of CTL is and how we can incorperate that into lesson planning. I spoke with some of the other people in leadership and we decided to have some meetings with key leaders about the vision of CTL-- or in Romania-- Inimi Deschise.
In the afternoons, there was a family program teaching mothers and children to sew with sewing machines. While that was happening, I was able to meet with children from families in need and teach them guitar! It was great! I use to teach guitar lessons during college for about 5 years, now I'm doing it in Romania! Wow.
Day 16- Wednesday, June 20, 2007, We had our first meeting with some key leaders and I led the meeting talking about Vision. This was our schedule:
VISION MEETING I
In the afternoons, there was a family program teaching mothers and children to sew with sewing machines. While that was happening, I was able to meet with children from families in need and teach them guitar! It was great! I use to teach guitar lessons during college for about 5 years, now I'm doing it in Romania! Wow.
Day 16- Wednesday, June 20, 2007, We had our first meeting with some key leaders and I led the meeting talking about Vision. This was our schedule:
VISION MEETING I
- Ice Breaker: Cat Herding
- Staff Appreciation: Sacrifice, Passion, the living image of Christ
- Preview:
Why does CTL Exist?
What is the vision of CTL?
How do we get there? - Vision Defined:
a future hope/reality (present tense)
Dream Outside of the box
A statement that invokes passion and purpose - Break/ What are you sinking about?
- Performance Task
Goal: staff will discuss and develop the vision for CTL
Role: You are the leaders (no one else will do it)
Audience: Your teams, US teams, directors, families, kids
Situation: You have the resources you need to do CTL. However, people are wondering about the direction of CTL-- Where is it going?
Performance: You will be split into teams of leaders to make a clear vision of where CTL is going-- and present it to your audience
Standards: The vision needs to be exciting, future oriented, creative, inspiring, and purpose driven.
Trying to effectively reach orphan kids in Romania can be compared to trying to herd cats. Don't let anyone tell you it's easy.
Trying to communicate the vision is almost like trying to speak another language. It can be lost in translation... or lost at sea...
The meeting went really well.
Day 17- Thursday, June 21, 2007 Thursday and Friday, I was able to go to Orphanage # 6 and help Nelu and Ionuts paint the front fence of the orphanage. The days have been getting really hot!
Day 18- Friday, June 22, 2007 Back at Orphanage #6, we finished the fence with a nice coat of green paint. It really makes a huge difference. After packing up, there was a girl named Roxanna, who had a really bad accident on a swing in the playground of the orphanage and had fractured her upper femur (similar to this picture). I drove in the Dacia (Romania car) with Ionuts and a nurse to the hospital. The little 5 year old girl was in extreme pain. Her left thigh was very swollen. All I could do was sit and try to comfort her. It was very difficult. We got to the hospital and I carried her to the doctor's office, while the nurse supported her leg. She had some xrays taken, then was taken to the casting room. We had to leave her after that. After that, I gave some more guitar lessons and relaxed in the evening. It's great to relax after a long day of hard work and long walks.
Day 19- Saturday, June 23, 2007 Most of the day was spent relaxing, playing guitar, napping, and then in the evening, we went to the interns apartment for game night-- it was a fun way to say goodbye to 2 of the interns: Monica and Breann.
Day 20- Sunday, June 24, 2007 I was able to go my host's church (Elisei is Fibia's father, who is a pastor of Hope Baptist Church). Since the whole service was in Romanian-- I was able to experience what it's like to be in another country, with a whole different language. I reminds me of how my Spanish speaking students must feel in my classroom. This has been a great learning experience for me. However, I was able to introduce myself to the church. Afterwards, it was back to the apartment to celebrate my host's anniversry (31 years!)/Birthday. It was a great time. Later that evening, I was able to experience a Romanian Pentacostal church. I'm looking forward to seeing what a combined Romaninan/English service will be like. More soon!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Week 2 - Exploring
Day 7- Monday, June 11, 2007, Because of the extra time we spent with the boys from the orphanage, we were given 2 days off! So, I was able to travel to a town about 1.5 hours west of Bucharest, called Targoviste. We were able to walk downtown, see a zoological garden, and go to the top of a hill overlooking the city to an Orthodox Monestary. It was really cool!Day 8- Tuesday, June 12, 2007, Today was Alinas birthday, so we went to a really big park called Herastrau, went for a boat ride, etc. It was a great two days off!
Day 10 - Thursday, June 14, 2007, In the morning I went with Anca to Ruth's school.Ruth's school is a school with about 80% population of gypsy students. The Gypsy culture is a subculture of Romania, often treated with disrespect and discrimination. These families can often choose to give their kids up to orphanages because they cannot afford to feed all their children. CTL (Children to Love) works with these families to offer them live skills and a variety of programs.
We were working with a 3rd and 6th grade class to make a video about Respect and Friendship. We had a script about a student misbehaving and needing a friends help to be successful. I was assisting Anca with videotaping. After that, I met with some of the leaders for CTL to talk about what I have to offer this summer, what the vision of CTL is, and how I can help. It looks like I be most effective by helping with guitar classes, English classes, and curriculum development for orphanges. So next week, I will be working on deveolping those opportunities. After the meeting I
spent a lot of time editing the video with Fibia.
spent a lot of time editing the video with Fibia. Day 11 - Friday, June 15, 2007, After the morning meeting, Anca, Alina and I went back to Ruth's school give shirts and certificates as rewards for successful students. There was a big ceremony with a lot of kids and parents. After, the awards, we showed them the video we made with the two classes.
Day 12 - Saturday, June 16, 2007, We were able to visit the other interns apartment for dinner and went out to see a concert (canceled :( It was fun. I am one of many interns this summer. Monica, Julie, and Brenn).
Day 13 - Sunday, June 17, 2007, In the morning I was able to visit a rugby match of an orphan boy named Michael. It was great to be there to support him-- I think we were the only ones. I had never seen the sport before so it was an interesting experience!
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