June 2016 – adventuresinromania

English Club at Elena Doamna and Casa Ray Orphanages went on as scheduled in the Springtime, Tuesdays at Casa Ray and Fridays at Elena Doamna, less in months May & June as I was preparing for the birth of our daughter :).

At Casa Ray every Tuesday afternoon, with 13 students in 4th-8th grade, we spent time reviewing their homework and vocab- 4th grade just a few verbs, 5th grade learns 30 verbs, 6th& 7th grades learn 70 verbs, and 8th grade 70 verbs plus all the tenses. We also read in English.

With Elena Doamna students in the Spring, we met every Friday afternoon. We studied Past Simple & Past Perfect together, having times to practice, also fruits & vegetables, prepositions, and adverbs. Sometimes we had a challenge to speak only in English. We then spent time helping with homework. We hope these short meetings can help these students have a better understanding and working knowledge of the English language.

The welcoming of our first daughter has kept me from updating in awhile, although we have been continuing with the activities. (less me:)) Our little girl was born on Friday, June 3 and we have been having a ball getting to know her !!
Lucian has been continuing with the outreach for youth in the orphanages and in church that we started a month ago of weekly sessions of futbol/ Volleyball. The sessions have been going well, with the highest attendance this Monday of 50. There was a holiday & off school, so more were able to come. He also always puts the word out about the youth meetings, Saturday nights at our church. Continue to pray that these times would be good times of socialization & encouragement and Lucian is able to show the youth the love of Jesus.

The Saturday before Children’s Day (June 1) we had an outing with kids from Elena Doamna & Ion Creanga Orphanages, and villages of Garcina & Negresti to celebrate! Mainly with kids ages 7-15. We had a barbeque in the forest all day, with two meals, volleyball, soccer, frisbee, bubbles, and time for socialization. We also encouraged the kids with a story about Jesus and the storm, and that he can calm the storms in your life, which we did with a skit.

Statistics

In Romania in the year 2000, there were: 87,753 orphans/abandoned children.

In the year 2010, there were: 62,000 orphans/abandoned children.
(To read more about why there are orphans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_orphans)

While numbers are going down, there is still a large group, with a high concentration in institutional orphanages in the Eastern part of the country. To effectively serve this marginalized group, there is a need for compassionate individuals to be willing to do life with them: support during the school year, providing extracurricular activities, and offering possibilities for them to grow.

Romania Pop. 20,121,641 people (2011 Census).
Piatra Neamt, Romania Pop. (our town) 58,000 people.

Num. of children at Casa Ray Orphanage (private) : 20

Num. of children at Elena Doamna Orphanage (state) : 116

Num. of children at Ion Creanga Orphange (state): 74

Country's Induction in the EU: 1 Jan, 2007.
Conditions of orphanages have greatly improved with the country’s induction in the European Union, and grants have been given to certain orphanages and infrastructure to make renovations.

Psalm 68: 5-6

" El este Tatăl orfanilor, Apărătorul văduvelor, El, Dumnezeu, care locuieşte în locaşul Lui cel sfânt. Dumnezeu dă o familie celor părăsiţi, El izbăveşte pe prinşii de război şi-i face fericiţi; numai cei răzvrătiţi locuiesc în locuri uscate. "

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

" A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. "

Month: June 2016

English Clubs in the Spring

The Childrens’ Day Celebration! (and welcoming of Emily :))