The two weeks I spent in Romania were undoubtedly the best and most important two weeks of my life. I did not at all anticipate the way that things would be run; I assumed we would mostly be trying to keep the kids in line, but being crazy is fun, and if the kids were having fun, we had succeeded. I'm not always good with kids, but fortunately I did manage to make some connections. In the first week, there was Yunt trying to give me candy that he won in a game, and shadowboxing with me, and Mariana, a kid I had barely spoken with, giving me a hug right when I needed it. In the second week, there was Stefan figuratively breaking my ankles each time we played soccer(I got the ball away from him like once the whole week, and it was a miracle), and Nikoleta, who apparently liked me, and I was the last person on the team to figure out.
Just as rewarding, if not more so than the connections I made with the orphans though, were the connections I made with the H2H staff; they are the most wonderful people I have ever met. Whether we were sitting in a circle recapping the day, talking as we shredded chicken for much longer than I was used to sitting still, if I was playing farkle with Jen and Sarah late at night, if they were letting Nikoleta borrow a ring to try to give to me (I am NEVER trusting Corny with de-escalation again), or I was being commanded by Carla to "come jump on the trampoline NOW" they were always a joy to be around.
I also became much closer to the church volunteers, of course, through working with them, but also through playing truth or dare through the long car rides, through our guys devotional, and through mafia games that some people said were boring, but that they played anyways because they didn't want to go to bed. Going on a mission trip is harder than I've made it sound here, the other stories have probably represented that aspect better, but if you want to serve I could not recommend anything more than this trip. It's hard, but its more rewarding than you can imagine.
Just as rewarding, if not more so than the connections I made with the orphans though, were the connections I made with the H2H staff; they are the most wonderful people I have ever met. Whether we were sitting in a circle recapping the day, talking as we shredded chicken for much longer than I was used to sitting still, if I was playing farkle with Jen and Sarah late at night, if they were letting Nikoleta borrow a ring to try to give to me (I am NEVER trusting Corny with de-escalation again), or I was being commanded by Carla to "come jump on the trampoline NOW" they were always a joy to be around.
I also became much closer to the church volunteers, of course, through working with them, but also through playing truth or dare through the long car rides, through our guys devotional, and through mafia games that some people said were boring, but that they played anyways because they didn't want to go to bed. Going on a mission trip is harder than I've made it sound here, the other stories have probably represented that aspect better, but if you want to serve I could not recommend anything more than this trip. It's hard, but its more rewarding than you can imagine.
Hey, Aaron ... I'm of a different generation so a lot of what you shared made no sense to me *ha ha* ... but it's obvious you benefited from the trip. Thanks for sharing. Will pray that the memories stimulate your spiritual growth as well as, in ways you'll never know this side of Heaven, it benefited the people you worked with (Romania and EFCC).