Penticostal Church event 5/10/2015

Last Sunday, we prepared a special program at the Pentecostal church involving a handful of teens from the orphanages and some members of our team.  The purpose of the program was to celebrate and thank a family from our team who are moving!  The pastor also had a nice message for the teens on Jonah which showed Ninevah’s readiness to repent.

We sang 4 songs, peppered with some verses in Isaiah, and had some testimonials from the team.  It was a great chance for some of the kids from the orphanages to be in front of the church to be kept in heart and prayer.  The pastor particularly prayed about the orphan children’s salvation and for them to find knowledge of God and his son Jesus .

Afterwards, we had a snack of juice, homemade foods by the ladies of the team, and cookies.  There were 7 girls from Elena Doamna and 4 girls from Ion Creanga.  Praise the Lord that they had this opportunity to interact with the people from the church and hear the word of God preached!

The girls practicing their songs.

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Saturday Programs in April

Peace everyone,

Saturday Program in April
We would like to bring to your attention the events that happened in April:

The first Saturday in April, which was the day before Palm Sunday, our team visited both Elena Doamna Orphanage and Ion Creanga Orphanage in Piatra Neamt, which are on the same campus and both hold about 100-120 children & teens.  At Elena Doamna there were 5 helpers and I.C. had 6 helpers of those who came with us.

We followed the same program as usual, with games, songs, story, and craft.  Our story for the day before Palm Sunday was about Jesus’ entrance in Jerusalem and his suffering and betrayal. This wasn’t the first time these kids have heard the Easter story, praise the Lord they are familiar with Bible stories, but we reminded them of it with a skit from the leaders.  The craft we did that day was a cute one of Golgota with paper plates.

Songs we sang this month were new ones focusing on the sacrifice of Jesus and other worship songs, such as:  Once Again, How Deep the Father’s Love, and The Way the Truth and the Life.  The children have enjoyed learning them, and sometimes we have been adding in some percussion instruments.  The children have sung only in Romanian so far.

The second Saturday in April, as in the one before Easter, we didn’t visit the children but instead took a group of teenagers we know from this orphanage to play volleyball and soccer at a sports center.  Woohoo what fun!  It was great weather, too.

The third Saturday, that is the one after Easter, we didn’t have an official program again because some of our team members were still away,  but Luci and I went in for a visit.  We had some pictures to give regarding the events of the last few weeks, and we had the chance to ask how their vacation was, what they did, and if they were able to visit with any relatives.  It was a lovely time spent.

The Christians in Eastern European countries follow the Orthodox calendar, and therefore celebrate Easter one week later.  This is the practice for all people in the Eastern Europe countries, except for the Catholics who celebrate the same time as the West.

Please do pray for the team who goes to Elena Doamna and Ion Creanga Orphanages at this time, as the numbers have dropped sharply due to one family’s move and another family’s upcoming move.  May the Lord send in replacements if its his will for the work to continue.
Pray for the young girls to be able to balance their chores with their schoolwork, and for the young boys to find strapping tasks.
Blessings.

With much respect,
The team of volunteers
Lucian & Becca Avadanei

Little Adjustments

Interestingly, this culture’s laid-back attitude does not make me more reflective as I would have thought. Rather, the quiet sunny days speckled with birds’ songs open the way for more reliance upon the deep structures learnt in childhood which guide my life.  Romania’s ventures into innovation has yet to take speed, and a laid-back attitude sometimes permeates society, thus I feel propelled to offer structure when needed.
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.  They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”  Prov 1:8-9