Eternal Security - Day 1

I'm not sure how interesting today's entry will be (not that any have been very interesting) because I just can't seem to come up with the words to describe it all.  Maybe some 7 Days mini croissants with chocolate filling will help with that. I guess it's a good thing I can't find them in the states because they're just too good!


Today was the first day of camp with the gypsy kids. Several people asked me today how my first day of camp was. The first thing out of my mouth was ACTIVE. We all had kids that 1 minute would be hugging and sitting in our lap and the next running from us, running to see if we would chase them, kicking us and cussing at us either in Romanian, Hungarian or Gypsy...even though we didn't understand the words, we could read the facial expressions. Deeper than all of that, though, is watching a child fight with another child because they don't want to share another person's attention or they are protecting something we would think insignificant, like a coloring sheet...in general, just hungry for human touch whether it be a hug or they're being dragged across a floor because they've run from you so many times you just can't pick them up one more time.  What I have seen so far is that so many of the kids remember their "special" Americanos from last year...with no prompting from the Americanos. You truly don't know the impact you will have on someone else's life. 


The camp theme is "Eternal Security" and the only way to get "unstuck" from sin is through a trusting  God. There were games, skits, crafts and memory verses to help illustrate how sin keeps us out of relationship with God.  One of the memory verses for today was Proverbs 3:5-6:


Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. 


In Romanian (not exact and without all the accents on the letters) which is really how we all had to learn it...


Increde-te in Domnul cu toata inima ta si nu depind propria ta intelegere. Cautati-va in tot ce ai face, si el sa-ti arate calea care sa ia. 





Our team devotion for today was about being mutually encouraged by those we serve from Romans 1.  Paraphrasing from the devotion...When we go on mission trips, we tend to go with the attitude that we will be taking Christ to people for the first time.  The truth is, Christ is already there and the seeds of faith have been sown; they just need to be nurtured, watered and cleaned up a bit. We have the same chance to have our faith cleaned up, watered and nurtured. We're here to serve but our hearts need to be opened to being served. The gypsy kids, the interns and the translators can have just as much of an impact on our lives as we can on theirs. 


Rachel and Lisa had a good day at the baby hospital. They were able to spend more time outside with the toddlers. Since it was just the 2 of them and 2 Livada staff members, they stayed very busy with all the babies.


Here's a few pictures from today's camp...I'll try to post more later:

It's lights out for us! Goodnight!