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Showing posts from August, 2013

Reaching Caregivers

Romania is in the process of decentralizing children from large institutions into smaller group homes nearer to relatives, when possible. That's better for the children, hands down. However, caregivers in these homes are as poorly trained and even more isolated than their institutional counterparts. Many of the caregivers from the four large orphanages we work with are exposed to the Gospel and to the influence of believers who truly love God  for the first time  when they come to our camps. We would like to see those interactions happen all throughout the year, not just every other Summer when they end up at camp.  After talking and praying about these things, we had an unofficial start our ministry to caregivers at the beginning of the Summer. We set apart time during the teen camp to sit down with the four or five workers who were there, sharing our hearts with them and asking them for their feedback. It was a good start When I think about that interaction, the sit

Love meets Tragedy

A broken heart and lack of proper training contributed to John (name changed) being angry and aggressive- not qualities desirable in a children's home worker. His wife died early this Spring, leaving him to care for his young children by himself, along with his stressful job at the orphanage. John was at our third camp this year. Right away we noticed his frequent shouting and roughness with the children. One day a child's misbehavior triggered his issues and he erupted. Now we were angry! Instead of sending him packing (which we really wanted to do), Dinu and another member of the team took him aside and lovingly addressed him, confronting his behavior and requiring he apologize to the child involved. When they were done, Dinu spent another hour with him, listening to his needs and sharing the Gospel. John listened closely to every word. And though he didn't make a decision for Christ then and there, his heart was open. Dinu prayed with him that day. He prayed for John a