Martisor Greetings

Happy Spring Everyone! 

The snow has finally melted. Yet we enjoyed what little snow we had out in the suburbs of Bucharest. On our way to the school in Peris, Jen and I had a lovely coffee and an amazing cinnamon rolls with our dear friend and amazing colleague, Ramona. It was a most lovely visit. As we're embracing slightly warmer weather, we've been quite busy the past couple months. We recently just had a team with us from Michigan. Among the team, they have a combined total of 16 trips (years) serving and partnering with H2H. They brought amazing Martisor crafts for the kids to make to give to their friends, teachers, and one another. 

A little about Martisor. Martisor is the celebration of Spring. In Romania, we celebrate it on March 1, a week before International Women's Day. The ladies and girls wear something with a red and white string or a Marisor pin or bracelet, etc in hopes of a prosperous and healthy year. Men and women and boys and girls can give Martisor gifts to their moms and spouses and sisters, friends, classmates, coworkers, and educators. Traditionally we give flowers, chocolates and a small Martisor pin or bracelet to show respect and appreciation for the women in our lives.

Birthdays And Bowling

Karla is Alina and Roby's youngest daughter - Alina and Roby are both graduates of H2H's transition program . Karla turned 8 years old in February, so we thought it would be appropriate to go bowling. She scored incredibly well every round! We had a wonderful dessert. It was a fun time all around. La Multi Ani, Karla!!

Youth Groups + Baby Shower + More

We have been enjoying every moment with our youth and teens in Rosiori. They are very open to hearing about God and learning more about Jesus. The conversations are pretty deep and yet meaningful. We pray that these conversations and interactions will have a much deeper impact, that they will invite Jesus into their hearts. 

Our students in the schools in Alexandria and Rosiori and Peris have been full of life and energy. We just love spending time with them, teaching them social skills, and playing fun games with them. It is wonderful to also build even deeper connections with the professors at the school in Peris. We invited them and our kids to the Pipera house for a day of fun and to hangout with them outside of the context of school or work. We all had a total blast. We celebrated Martisor with the kids and professors. The professors truly appreciated every moment and their Martisor gifts. We hope we can have more days like this with our Peris crew. 

Sweet As Can Be

The team from Michigan thoroughly planned out this amazing baby shower for one of our graduates, Mariana. The theme we had was, "Sweet as can be." Mariana enjoyed her gifts and the celebration with her friends and our team, all people very near and dear to her. Please pray for Mariana and her daughter soon to be born in May, for a healthy delivery, that her daughter be healthy. And pray also that Mariana will grow closer to God and that she'll have the help and support she needs in raising her second child; and that Emy her 12 year old son will be helpful to Mariana, and that he will be a good and responsible big brother. 

A huge praise report! When we say God is on the move, God's not joking, He really shows up in the most unexpected ways....

Here's the back story:  We have been working with Vlad and his brother, Alex while they were at Peris over the years, He was espcially close with our colleague Melissa and another colleague, Heather. At the time, Heather and Melissa and H2H had been tutoring Vlad and Alex, and mentoring them. The boys attended camps and youth groups over the summers. And that is how I first met Vlad and Alex about 6 years ago. During the year, Vlad came to church with H2H a few times with them when he was younger and they presented him a kid's Bible. Fast forward about 6 or 7 years and former colleagues of H2H have continued to keep in touch with Vlad, yet he was not in any of our programs. He and Alex were moved out of Peris, and went to live with their mom. Since their move to their mom's house, a former colleague continued to tutor him and Alex in math and English. Vlad and I kept in touch over the years via text, but I hadn't seen him or Alex since summer 2017. He messaged me a year ago, and wished me congratulations moving to Romania. And we continued to keep in touch off and on. Then a few months ago, Vlad reached out to Heather and Melissa and asked if they were still attending AlfaOmega church, and if he could come to church with them. Melissa was out of town so he messaged me one day out of the blue. He asked me if I go to AlfaOmega and if so, could he come with me to church. He came to church with me. And it was beautiful and wonderful to see him reconnect with people at AlfaOmega, and to reconnect with H2H staff and some of the guys he's grown up with at Peris. These are people who invested in him many years, and guys who grew up with him that he has not seen in almost 10 years. It was incredible. I asked him, why he wants to attend church, and he said: he was having a hard time with peers at high school and was not at peace in his mind, and that he's looking for peace, so he thought he'd come to church. He met the amazing leaders and new friends at Vertical Youth, a youth group that meets every two sundays. And now he attends church, and asks me, or Marieta or Flori (both graduates of the girls transition program and thriving beautifully and serving in AlfaOmega and with H2H ), "are you gals going to vertical, when is vertical, let's all go together?", "Cati (that's me), you're coming too right?" He is so excited to be making new friends. Please pray for him to be more open to hearing about God, and that he continue to grow in his faith. And pray that he make new and healthy friends, that the guys of AlfaOmega will take him under their wings and be good and positive role models of Godly men and influences in his life. 

You can see a photo of him here, he and I took a selfie en route to church ☺