Bridgeway Christian Church

Today I kept thinking about broken promises! The kids here have some many broken promises; parents who promise to come back for them, people who promise to protect them, teachers who promise to care for them.....and I think of all those broken promises.

I think of the kids who were left at the orphanage with a promise from parents they would come back and how they are still waiting. I think of that unspoken promise of protection from teachers and staff at the orphanage who let these children battle out the survival of the fittest between each other.

I think of my sweet Marian and the promise of his godparents to come get him and take him home and that he is still at the orphanage. I remember when Marian told me his godparents were coming to get him how sad I was at the thought of not seeing him. The other staff here said, "we'll see if they come", but inside I thought for sure they would come, Marian is a great boy, why wouldn't they come to get him? I fell for their broken promise as well. And today when I saw him and hugged him and loved on him I thought how he must feel to have another promise broken? I don't want to be another broken promise for this child, I want to be accountable to love him every chance I get, I want him to know I love him. And most of all I want him to know the promises he has in God, that knowledge that he is never alone and someone is always listening, If I can just give him a promise that is my wish.

The thought of broken promises kept going through my mind today and I thought about how painful and hurtful broken promises are, how hurtful it is when someone lets you down......and then I thought about how often these sweet children have experienced broken promises and my heart hurt.

On a very positive note, these kids that I have the privilege of loving everyday give me so much joy. I feel so blessed to go and just spend time with these little ones. If it means giving a piggy-back ride or painting nails or watching them try to throw the basketball in the hoop for the 20th time, I'll gladly do it! What I noticed and think is so sweet is that no matter the age of the child, from infant to twenty years old they love having their back rubbed. What ever kid sits next to me I start rubbing their back and it's like the international language of love. As most of you know I am a very affectionate person and touch is probably my love language so I enjoy being able to love these kids in a tangible way through touch.

It's surprising how much this simple act of love can affect one of the kids, if they are sad it helps them to feel better, if they are angry it calms them down, if they are lonely it makes them feel cared for and most of all it is a way I can show these children I care. I think here in Romania and especially in the orphanages touch is under-rated. Touch in a positive way doesn't happen often except through our organization. The kids crave touch and affection more than any other children I have ever worked with and it is my pleasure to give that hug, kiss on the cheek, to rub their back or stroke their arm in affection.

Things are going better with language classes. I discovered that I was pushing myself too hard and stressing over my classes more than was needed. I think the un-needed stress was actually hindering me rather than helping me. The exciting thing is I have been able to talk with the kids some and even help translate in a few situations and that helps keep me excited and eager to learn more. I had an entire week of classes where I didn't feel like hitting my head against the wall, so that was refreshing. God's work comes with tasks that are not as easy as others and the task of learning another language is not an easy one. I do now know past, present and future tenses and can formulate full sentences, which is fun stuff.

Did I tell you yet that Romania has flower shops on every corner, they are not shops like you think of shops they are little independent enclosed stands that have flowers. It is one of the things I very much enjoy about Romania, I see flowers on every corner. Also Romania has beautiful parks everywhere. The streets here are quite dirty and with cement block houses filling the streets it's not the most beautiful view, so Romanian's take pride in their parks. The parks are green with beautiful flowers, benches everywhere, nice pathways to walk on and sometimes a fountain or center area with flowers. People often frequent the park, alone, as a family, to walk the dog or just to sit and enjoy a bit of nature. That is two amazing perks to cities of Romania filled with block housing.

Emotionally I am doing well. I had a hard week or two with a death of a friend, my mom breaking her ankle and a few other pieces of bad news from home. I had a day of homesickness, and missed so much being with friends on our 5th annual rafting trip. Missing events at home is hard when I'm far away. Knowing people are hurting at home and not being able to be there is debilitating. I am again filled with joy and praise God for that. I have learned to really rely on God during this time. I wish I could describe the presence of God that I feel in my life and share it with everyone. I am only filled with joy because of God, there is a distinct difference between being happy and having inner joy. When I got several pieces of bad news from home I was sad, yet filled with inner joy knowing I am in the right place at the right time in my life, and that is only from God. I know I will have days that are hard and days that seem easy but I know in my heart I am where I am suppose to be and I am so grateful for that.

My biggest request for prayers and encouragement is with teams ending. I am with the last summer team right now and things are busy and there is a lot of people around to connect with and draw energy from and my fear is that after they leave and things calm down I will begin to feel homesick and lose my identity with my calling here. I thrive on hearing from home and being around people. A few friends have taken the time to e-mail and actually send a letter and that has really brightened my day and kept me encouraged, and as things slow down that little voice of fear in my head says, "you're going to be forgotten" and "no one at home cares", and as much as I know that's not true my fear is I will start to believe it. So pray for that and keep the e-mails and updates from home coming. I am so excited about my life here in Romania, but it doesn't mean I don't miss my life back home.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and share in my adventures afar.

With much love, Krista
 
Romanian word of the day: "misto" pronounced: me-sh-toe means: "cool"