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

• 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!