Thursday, May 29, 2008

Pray and watch what happens...

A friend of Livada just sent this to us. It was found in the prayer room at their church and has been there since 2000. This church has been coming to Romania with us before we were officially even "Livada Orphan Care" and has been praying for the kids at the Ludus orphanage since 2000. Each time someone prayed for these requests they initialed it.


It was such a blessing to see how many people have prayed just in this one church over the years for this one group of kids. The first two prayer requests listed are still on our list! The last one... having an ongoing follow up ministry has been going on for over 6 years now and the orphanage in Ludus has closed its doors.

Many of the kids and teens from Ludus have gone through our mentor program, are still in mentor apartments or are living in group homes that Livada has started over the last 5 years. Many others are still participating in follow up weekly with our staff and volunteers and will come to camp with us this summer!

Our prayers are not always answered in our timing, but He is always at work changing hearts, changing lives and changing us. Praise the Lord for what He has done, what He is doing and what is yet to come!

I can't even imagine if there was a card showing all the prayers being lifted up for our kids and this ministry daily! Please continue to pray with us!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Would You Consider Sponsoring a Child with Livada?



This is a little video we put together a while back to share with folks the opportunity to partner with us in changing the lives of these kids by investing in their physical needs through monetary sponsorship and their need for love and relationship through the communication and prayers that they can share with our kids. Your sponsorship with us is a blessing to the ministry and the kids... we truly believe that it is also a blessing to our sponsors!

Thank you for considering this opportunity... if you are already a sponsor with us... would you consider sharing this opportunity with a friend? Thank you!

Bobo Gets Baptized...

Although this blog is coming to all of you late, its message is quite exciting! This fall, Bobo, one of the teenagers in our Mentor Apartment Program, decided to publicly display her commitment and love for Jesus through baptism. This was a very happy and proud moment for us and for her! She has started attending a new church this year, and she has truly found joy and a newfound love and commitment for the Lord. She is proud of this and is not ashamed to speak openly with the other kids about her commitment. It has been very exciting to watch her grow and mature in her love for the Lord.


At her baptism, the pastor spoke of the fact that Bobo has never really had parents and has absolutely no memories of her life before the orphanage but that God has filled that void in her life and truly is her Father! This is a concept so foreign to many of us but so real in the lives of the children we work with in Romania. Praise the Lord with us over such a joyous event in the lives of one of our precious children.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

It's Almost That Time...



As we get ready for summer ministry here in Romania and especially for camp this summer... we thought we would take a look back at how Vetca came to be last year and the first summer... Mission Possible... We look forward to the "Vetca Olympics" this summer!!!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Fill Me Up...

This spring we started a new program in Follow Up called Club FUEL. Our theme verse for this program is Acts 2:28b, which says, “You will make me full of joy within your presence.” We named the program Club FUEL and explained to the kids that they need to “fill themselves up” with the right kind of fuel, which is Jesus Christ. When they do this, their lives will be full of joy. Throughout the course of the spring, we have learned all the ways God can change us and change our lives when we choose to fill ourselves up with Him.


As we have had some changes in our Follow Up staff over the last year, there were many kids in different group homes throughout Mures County that we could no longer minister to if changes weren’t made. That is when we came up with the idea to start a big Saturday morning program in which we combined kids from several different group homes throughout the county. The group of approximately 60 kids ranges in age from about 7-15. Every other Saturday we have planned different games, competitions, skits, songs, crafts, and lessons for them.


We had an Easter party a few weeks ago with Easter games, and Easter egg decorating contest, and an Easter egg hunt. For some of these kids this was a first! The two hours are wild and crazy, full of activity and most importantly full of joy. The kids love meeting with kids from other houses, and they have been so excited to be a part of something new and fun this year.


Thank you for your prayers and support of the different programs we do within Follow Up that makes it possible for us to minister to 400+ kids on a weekly/biweekly basis!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Grass...

It is just over a month until camp Vetca opens its gates to the first group of 50 kids and teenagers for The Vetca Olympics 2008. Planning and preparation is going well and we are excited to see what God has in store for us this summer.

In true style though there is always an adventure, always something that hits us at the last minute, something that is completely out of our control. Perhaps it is to grow our faith, develop our characters or just remind us of the fact that we are small, insignificant beings compared to God’s greatness! Last year it was building a camp, marquee tents that blew away in the storm and no water! This year it is grass. Yes grass or the lack of it to be more accurate.

The land at camp was very uneven last year and so to prevent broken ankles this summer the ground was turned and levelled in the fall. New grass seed was sown and we waited to see how nice and thick it grew. Only it didn’t. We kept a close eye on it but since it has only turned warm here this month, it is only now that we can see the true extent of the problem and the serious lack of grass. To cut a long story short, it would appear that our camp ‘administrator’ sowed the seed around the edges of the field, we use to play all our games, and then stole most of the rest rather than planting it. So now it’s sparse to say the least and with any rain at all this summer we will be in very large mud pit for 7 weeks! These orphan kids and teenagers come with one pair of shoes and one change of clothes so this is not a good situation.

At this point there is not a whole lot we can do but pray. We know that God provides and that He is bigger than grass! Please join with us as we pray that God will work a miracle and multiply the seed that is already there so that the grass will spread to fill in the bare patches. Pray that this is an opportunity for the kids, the people of the village and us to be in awe of the great things our God can do!

From a distance it looks pretty green

.
But on closer inspection there are wide spaces with little or no grass at all.

Thank you for praying with us for grass!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

The 1st of May...

Here in Romania, the first of May is a big holiday... It is almost like the 4th of July in America!

Many people find a spot outdoors to grill out with family and friends and enjoy the warming weather! This year many kids and adults from our "Livada Family" were all together to celebrate this special day! We were thrilled that the weather turned out to be sunny and warm. As you can see from a few video clips below... it was a fun day of food and play...









More from the 1st of May below!

More from "The 1st of May"...

The kids had a great time at our May 1st picnic! The older girls enjoyed just hanging out and talking...


Emese and Kati as well as many others enjoyed badmitton and other games...


Our wonderful cooks from all three houses came along as well. Mama Erzsike, Mama Doina & Mama Mariana grilled all afternoon and we had a wonderful picnic meal of meech, hotdogs, sausage, etc. We even had a few American chocolate chip cookies thrown into the mix!


Our guest pilot, Randall, taught the boys to fly toy planes...


There was even a little guitar playing and singing...


It was so fun to have all three houses full of kids and a bunch of adults... making it almost 50 people all together having fun, playing together and enjoying this Romanian holiday! We were glad we had almost this entire area to ourselves as we take up a bit of room when we all pile out of the vans to play!