The trip started with a curve ball as soon as we landed on Friday 7/18 three of our members had to stay back at the airport because of a crime they witnessed then we got to the team house and found out we had no electricity or water. So naturally people were bummed out because we all wanted was to shower after traveling for over 14hrs. So for the next 30 +hrs we had no water or electricity. But we made the most of it by playing games in the dark like. Grog. Saturday we had a preparation day for the vbs weeks to come and went over detailed schedules. Then chilled out by the pool. Sunday we all finally showered and headed to church. After church we got sheorma for lunch then left for nenchilest which is 2hrs away and where the other house we stayed at was and the vbs were held. When we got there on Sunday we had had dinner and then a team meeting talking about what each team was doing and how the first day of vbs was gonna go. After the meeting we hung out for a bit and then went to bed. Monday morning we had breakfast at 8 am and after breakfast we had our morning devotional led by a team member! After the meeting staff members from H2H went to pick up the kids and we set up while they went to do that. When the kids arrived we greeted them with high fives and hugs and played games with them. Then we all went into the clubhouse and started worship which was so fun to do! After worship our skits team, that I was apart of would do a skit correlating to our Bible story for the day. After that we split the kids into team for different stations. My team was the blue team. Our team consisted of all the smaller kids and throughout the week we were always last or second to last, but the kids were still so happy probably even happier than the kids in first place. Which was so refreshing to see because it’s easy to be upset that you’re not winning but to them it wasn’t about winning they were just having the time of their lives. The station we started with was crafts. The kids would work so hard on their craft and then gift it to you which was so heart warming. Next we went to games which usually consisted of water soap and a tarp which brought them so much joy and getting the Americans wet made their whole day! One day I slipped and hit my head on the tarp and these kids were so sweet and asked if I was okay and then remembered the next day and wanted to know if I was good to play cause they wanted me to which made me so happy that they wanted me to join. It was so fun watching them be so happy about simple things we over look. For instance if you asked a class of freshman if they want to play duck duck goose they won’t be too thrilled, but you could a eighteen year old if he wanted to play duck duck goose and he would be ex statistic. Next was the Bible story station and they were teaching basic Bible stories as expected and it was so cool seeing them be excited to answer a question or volunteer to be an example in the story, this trip really showed me how much joy there is in the world and how to have joy in little things. It also showed me how blessed I am to have been raised in a Christian home with a loving family, but also blessed with a good time and running water or good friends. It showed me how much I take for granted. It also opened my eyes to new perspectives for instance a lot of people look to these kids and think they have nothing no house, no family, no toys, etc. the thing is though those are all materialistic, but if you look faith wise they have everything, a lot of these kids wouldn’t get to know Christ and his love if they hadn’t been in the orphanage. And I know this because most of the staff in Romania are adults that went through those orphanages as kids and they all said they wouldn’t change a thing, because they wouldn’t have come to know Christ if they hadn’t been in the orphanage. Which obviously that’s not the case for everyone, but it shows new light and was encouraging to know that the work that H2H is doing out there really is making a difference. While I was out in Romania I was reminded of how love isn’t shown in words but actions I could barely talk to these kids and they could barely talk to me, but I remember the first time one of the kids gave me a hug and I had never felt a hug like that before. It was a genuine hug and I could tell they felt safe and it was warm and comforting to them. And this kid had the biggest smile and I remember how it felt for me then I realized this is how it must feel for God when we hug him and just soak in all his love and comfort. And I will forever remember that hug and how it made me feel as a reminder of Gods love for us and how we should share it with the world. The hardest part of the trip was saying goodbye especially on the last day of vbs. It broke my heart to think I may never see these kids again and I don’t know what’s in store for their life, but the best thing I can do is pray for them and check in on them, but most importantly trust in the Lord that he will keep them safe and love them better than I or anyone else ever could. The second week of vbs was a different because we were working with special needs orphans. And instead of them coming to us we were going to them. And let me tell you some of them were pretty touchy. Which I didn’t mind as long as they’re not getting too physical. For instance if they touched my hair I didn’t mind because I know they like the texture or think it’s pretty and they’re being gentle and I know that the leaders are watching and making sure they’re not getting to close and that the guys are making sure us girls weren’t getting uncomfortable. Luckily I never had a problem with that. One of the things that made this hard for me was one second I could be having a fun time with a kids and then next they’re overstimulated and freaking out which would catch me off guard or telling then directions on games or crafts were a little hard, but I didn’t let it stop me from having a good time with the kids. In fact it reminded me that sometimes we’re like that with the Lord we could be having a blast and all of a sudden we’re unhappy or don’t want to do something the Lord is calling us to do in the end I knew just as God does that what we were doing I knew they could do they just needed a little helping hand just as we do God. The last day we had all the special needs kids come to the house just like the first week kids did which was a little intimidating since we had almost twice the amount of kids with us play being special needs so we had to do things in larger groups and really buddy up like how we should with the Lord because he knows what’s to come and can keep us safe and quite through out obstacles in life. We ended our trip with some touristy things like visiting castles and going to the market which were huge. I t was so cool seeing all these old buildings and stories because we don’t have much of a history in the US because the US is still pretty young compared to the other countries. But that’s a little run down on my trip I’m sorry I didn’t post more but we had the power go out plentiful times, but if you would like to hear more let me know and I’ll tell you all about it.😊 God bless!