Binecuvinteaza, Doamne, Romania.

I'll start by saying sorry that this note on week 5 is a few days into week 6! We've been pretty busy!

Last week we help camp in the mornings for about 50 kids that live in group homes about an hour outside of TM. We had to be up early to make the drive to camp but I didn't mind because it gave me the opportunity to spend time with God on the bus and enjoy looking at his creation (the drive was very scenic.) All but one of the kids in my group could not take pictures so unfortunately I can't show you all their precious faces. We had a great group and got to talk about a lot during team time each day. Some highlights of my week were praying with each child on Thursday, being able to talk with one girl about her relationship with Christ and tell her how important it is, tying for first place, and trying to explain and then playing the card game uno for 90 minutes with 3 kids in my group and 2 other Americans!

In the afternoon we had camp with the LOC kids back in TM. It was a lot of fun being able to spend more time with them and get to know some of them on a deeper level. They all have incredible stories and it was great to be able to share parts of our stories with them. A lot of them know so many Bible stories and verses but they don't understand the importance and reality of a personal relationship with Jesus. Pray that the seeds we planted this summer and Livada's ministry with continue to help them grow and that they will realize that life is more than just being good, going to church, and knowing all the right answers.

On Saturday I had the opportunity to go back to the baby hospital. I don't think I will ever be able to go there and leave not feeling sad. Their situations just seem so hopeless, but I know that God can work in crazy ways. I wish I had done this every time I went this summer, but that day I took time to pray over every baby that I held. I know that God heard me and I pray that I will be blessed with the opportunity of seeing some of the prayers answered here on earth. The babies are precious and hearing their laughs, seeing the toddlers try to walk, and letting them pull your hair are things I never want to forget and hope to see again.

I cannot believe that we are into our last week of camp. We are working with kids I had in camp when I was here in 2007- so it's been fun to see a lot of them again! I will give more details on this week once it is over, but things are going really well. Fun thing: the school we are holding camp at this week has Turkish toilets... minus the toilet part. The bathroom is a shed with cement floors that has several holes in it. Even though it's gross - I can tell God is using it to show me how much I take for granted all of the time and that all of the "luxuries" I think are necessary really aren't. The past 6 weeks have flown by - pray that this week will continue to go well and that I will make the most of every minute I have with the kids.

Oh, and really quick... On Sunday Sam, Caitlin, and I went to the church where the older LOC kids go. The church is fairly contemporary and the praise and worship part of the service last for about 45 minutes. While I could attempt to sing most of the songs, a few of them were pretty difficult. They sang "Shout to the Lord" in Romanian of course while we sang it quietly in English. Watching the kids and the other people around me worship and sing so passionately almost brought me to tears. It really was incredible to hear them praise God in their beautiful language. It's so cool that our God is the God of all people and he understands every language and dialect.

Ecclesiastes 8:16-17. I'm so glad that God, his goodness, his love, and his glory is something I will never be able to comprehend. Once you completely understand something it becomes a lot less interesting and mysterious - for me anyway. It's cool that I will never know so much about God that I will not have/want to learn more.

I meant for this to be shorter - haha. I'm going to end with a quote from the book, "Crazy Love," that we have been studying this summer as a group of interns. While I have learned a lot - one of the main things is that I can't always be in control, I won't always know exactly what I'm doing next, and that safety and comfort are not really priorities when it comes to serving God.
-"People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being sheilded from pain or distress." Francis Chan