Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A Weekend Away...


The young adults from the mentor apartments along with their mentors went on a little outing this weekend! They have been working together to save money from their budgets so that they could do something fun all together! We left on Friday morning and headed towards the mountains... Upon arrival in Brasov, we found a little festival for "Brasov Days" going on... we took part in the celebration and enjoyed the beautiful day!



Later we arrived at our little cabin in the mountains and the men grilled out as the ladies prepared the other food inside. We had a great meal and time of games and fun together. On Saturday it was off on a big hike through the mountains and we even got snowed on a little! Later in the day we toured Bran Castle, which is always associated with Dracula, but apparently "Vlad Tepes" didn't actually live there.






On Sunday we went to The Castle Peles, where the King of Romania used to live and took a walk through Sibiu before heading back to Targu Mures. It was a great weekend of fun and fellowship... playing games and enjoying time away.


Thank you for your ongoing prayers for these young adults as they learn from their mentors and some work towards completing school while others are getting closer to independence and are working and starting to provide for themselves. It is a blessing to see our two oldest Kati & Ani working hard and making plans for their graduation from the program this summer... looking for apartments, saving money and getting ready to take that next step.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Easter Gets Messy...

Because the kids who attend the Underground really aren’t kids anymore as they range in age from 15 to 20, we decided to vamp our Easter games up for them. We did messy games once this year, and these teenagers absolutely loved and got so in to these games. So, we decided to add a bit of a messy twist to their Easter party this year.




As is always the case, we have them sign up for games without knowing exactly what game they might end up playing. The signed up to prove they were the hungriest, had the best aim, the biggest mouth, the most precise, the most attentive, the strongest, and the most courageous. In order to be the hungriest, they had to be the first to eat a large chocolate bunny. To have the best aim, they had to throw jellybeans while another member of their team tried to catch them. To prove they had the biggest mouth they participated in a game of “chubby bunny” but filled their mouths with dry crackers instead of marshmallows. To be the most precise they participated in a game of bowling where they had to knock as many soda bottles down as possible using a hardboiled egg. The most attentive teen was the first to remove 10 chocolate candies from a bowl of milk. The strongest had to smash a hardboiled egg against an opponent’s hardboiled without cracking his egg. And finally, the most courageous participated in an old fashioned egg toss.





They also participated in some team games. In one, they had to pass a hardboiled egg from one spoon to another and to be the first team to pass it from one end of their line and back, and in another, they had to race each other while carrying their team’s hardboiled egg by spoon. They also competed in a Bible Easter quiz in which all of the teams answered the majority of the questions correctly! At the end of the party, they searched for different colored hardboiled eggs and for each color of egg they found, they received a different prize. The kids really enjoyed their party and games, and they all went home with smiles on their faces!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Celebrating Easter...

This year, Easter is coming to Romania one week after you celebrated it in the States. So, we have spent the last week celebrating Easter with parties, games, prizes, snacks, Bible quizzes, and Easter egg hunts. The kids always enjoy having the opportunity to have a week full of fun and special gifts and activities, and this week was no exception. They balanced eggs on spoons, jumped like rabbits, quacked like ducks, and participated in many more Easter themed games in hopes of winning enough points for their team to be the winners. But, they were all winners this week as they searched for eggs full of candy to be able to take home with pride!




It never ceases to amaze me how thankful they are and how much they enjoy playing the simple games we grew up playing and often took for granted. They absolutely LOVE to have fun!!




We will be wrapping up follow up in the next 3 weeks as we begin to start planning full time for Super Summer 09. Please pray that God will continue to prepare their hearts for the summer ahead in our last few meetings together this year! Thank you for your support and prayers which make it possible to continue to do fun programs with all of these special children!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Get Ready for... Super Summer 09!!!

Each summer Livada Orphan Care has the amazing opportunity to minister to over 400 children and teens through evangelistic summer camps. This is the highlight of the year for most of these children and is the continuation and a building block for the ongoing outreach programs that go on throughout the year in the orphanages and state group homes called "follow up."

During the past two summers at Camp Vetca... Livada's camp ground... we have trained special agents for the amazing life that God has in store for them during "Mission Possible 07"... then we were athletes in training and striving towards the prize of life with Jesus during the "Vetca Olympics 08." Here is a look back at the Olympic summer from last year...



We would like for everyone to start praying now for... SUPER SUMMER 09!

You guessed it... this summer we will all be Super Heros in training! We will learn where our strength comes from... how to be a super hero and not a villian, how to be a Superman or Wonder Woman and more! Many super hero competitions, games, skits and more are on the way... along with small group times designed to allow a little deeper look with team leaders into what God's word says and how God has worked in their lives, as well as time for the campers to share and ask questions.

Please begin praying now for the children and teens who will come to camp this summer. Pray for the college students and young adults who are coming for the whole summer to serve as summer interns with us. Pray for the nine teams we have coming from Northern Ireland and America to serve with us in our Super Summer Camp and in town day camps. Pray for Michael Hale, our camp pastor and leader of the intern team. Pray for Sarah Meszaros, who is joining our Livada staff in Romania for a year and a half and will be camp administrator and work with these kids throughout the year in follow up. Pray for Rebecca Rasmussen, who leads our follow up program and will be working with all of the above to make the summer fun and focused on Christ!

Thank you so much for your prayers... get ready for June, when you will begin receiving updates from our Super Hero Training Facility in Vetca, Romania during SUPER SUMMER 09!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

"I CAN SEE!"

We would like to, once again, thank Stitching Livada and eye doctors George de Jong and Johnny Roem of Stichting Zienderogen for the eye exams they completed on the Livada staff and kids as well as over 300 kids and staff who live and work in State care. About 80 glasses were made and sent for everyone who needed them. From the day the doctors left, the children asked NONSTOP when their glasses would arrive! They waited with much anticipation!



These past two weeks we have had the opportunity to hand out the glasses, and the kids have been thrilled to receive them! One kid ran up to me and said, “I can see!” and another teenage boy made up a little song claiming “I have glasses! na na na na na! I have glasses!” It has been so exciting to watch these children and teenagers faces light up as many of them can truly see well for the first time!




Eye care has been one of our greatest needs over the past few years, but with so many children in need, it seemed impossible to fill this need. Praise God that with Him, nothing is impossible, and that He provided skilled doctors and a generous foundation to not only perform eye exams for everyone we work with, but also to provide beautiful, custom glasses for every need!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Highlight... Claudia Kalanyos

Take a look at Claudia through the years...


Claudia or "Dita", as she is known by most, is the youngest of her five siblings who are all in the care of Livada. Like all the children in our care, Claudia lived in the orphanage in Ludus before coming into our care. She loves to play almost any kind of game... she loves soccer, basketball, ping pong, phase 10, Remmy, Uno and more! She also loves listening to music. She is full of energy and a great sense of humor.


She does not like school very much and really doesn't like math, specifically multiplication and division. Claudia does enjoy reading, if it is a book that she is allowed to choose. She says that she only studies and learns because she has too and so that the adults in the house will be proud of her!


Claudia loves to have fun and is respectful of adults. She also gets along well with the other children, but does not do well if she is made fun of our told she is too little and will fight back when provoked. Claudia loves animals, especially cats and wishes that she could have one live in her room with her. She really loves her oldest sister Simona and can't wait to grow up and be in an apartment like her.


Claudia does not have a lot of friends at school and so she really feels close to her sponsors and is very thankful to be at Casa Ana with all of her siblings and the other children here. She has really bonded with her sponsor, Jamie, and hopes that she will come to see her soon and bring her soon to be husband.


As you can see, Claudia has grown from a little tom boy into a young lady who is beginning to care about her appearance and is now trying to be more feminine and grown up. Pray that as she continues to grow and mature on the outside that God will continue to grow her and mature her on the inside as well. Pray that she will do her best at school and that she will do her homework without trouble. Pray that she will find a good friend! Thank you for your prayers for Claudia and for all the kids in our care.

Daniel...

Many of you have been praying for Daniel over the past few years. We watched God work in his life through the special therapy home "Casa Daniel." Many of Daniel's behavioral and emotional issues were much improved in a smaller and more structured environment. He learned to respond correctly to authority, to have self control and to interact well with others.

This was more difficult for Daniel in a group home setting with many other children and influences around. He also struggled with having many different authority figures to listen to. As time has passed we have realized that for Daniel, the group home setting is not the best option. For him and it will be best to be in a family much like his brother Madalin, who is also in our care.


We have found a wonderful set of parents who have experience working with children who have been institutionalized and who have challenges to overcome. These parents are now on our staff and Daniel is living with them in a foster care situation under our care.

Please pray for this transition time for Daniel as he is closely supervised and is adjusting to a new home. Pray for the family to have patience and discipline for him and to love him. Pray that they will find themselves a family before long!