Lovin' on the orphans!!

So I don't want to leave here. I absolutely LOVE the girls. The girls on my team are wonderful. I love the girls that I have been spending time with at the orphanage as well. I have gotten close to Elena and a little bit to Lavinia. And this week I have been getting closer to Sylvia. I love all the little ones to like Ionela, Alexandra, DeBuy, and Mariana. They are all super cute. This week I have been working with the older girls again in the mornings, talking to them about love and friendship and lying and stuff like that. Some of them are getting it, but alot just brush it off. I can only hope that the next person that tries to tell them can see the seeds that we have planted in them. Mirela is one of our best "students." She goes to church and knows what the Bible says about alot of things. She knows alot of stuff that many of the other girls don't. So that is good, but at the same time it isn't good because she is saying alot of things that are the right answers but not really how she is feeling or what is actually true. But it is okay. I can't wait to put my pictures up on facebook and stuff. I have so much more I want to say, but not the time to say it. I will get online this weekend. We are going to the team house where there is wireless so I can use my computer and I will probably put up stuff from my journal and some other stuff as well.

Until then, please pray for my team. There is kind of a separation between the older crowd and the younger crowd. A separation in thinking and in doing everything, so there is alot of tension. Also because after this weekend we are going to be losing Sarah because she is going to do other stuff in Romania, instead of staying with us. And of course please pray for us because this upcoming week is going to be very hard for us, leaving the girls and everything. None of us really want to leave at all. We have been trying to avoid even thinking about it, but it is about that time where the girls are starting to say things to us about leaving.

Thank you all so much!!! I love you all!!!!!

MWAH!!
<3 Amanda

Buna Ziua!!

Buna from Alexandria again!! I am getting closer and closer to the girls at the orphanage and the girls on my team each day. I have become quite attatched to a girl named Elena. She is 14 years old and likes to make fun of me when I try to speak Romanian. She also likes to teach my Romanian words and sing to me and dance with me to her singing. She has made me 8 friendship braclets so far, and she has written me two notes. Both of her notes have said things like She loves me and she wants me to know that Jesus loves me too. She likes to hang out with me and she likes it when we play together with the ball or jump ropes. She thinks of me like a big sister. I also think of her as a little sister. I love her very much. I have written her two notes so far and made her a few bracelets as well. There are so many wonderful girls at this orphanage I just wish we could do more for them. It is crazy to see how they are treated by the older girls and by the supervisors/teachers. It is actually really sad. Today we finally get to take pictures of them. I probably won't get to put them up until i get back to the Team House on like the 26th of this month but that is okay. When I am at the Tean House again I will also be putting up most of my journal on my blog. I love Romania so much. Please just keep these girls in your prayers. And although I havent said much please keep these girls especially in your prayersElena, Mariana, Fina, Mimoza, Lula, Florentina, Flori, Mirella, Corinna, Iouana, the other Iouana, the other Iouana, the other Florentina, Alexandra, Cindila, Anisouara, Claudia, Georgiana, and DeBuy. That is just a handful of the girls that I can think of right off the top of my head, but please keep them in your prayers. They all need it. Thank you so much for all your love and support!!!

Alexandria

Buna Ziua from Alexandria, Romania!!! I am having the best time here. I love all of the girls we are working with and all of the girls and the guy on my team. They are all such wonderful people and I love them all so much. My team is great and we all work well together. It is really really hot here, I definately didnt expect it. But it is okay. We are working at the school where the orphans from Alexandria go to school, we just play outside. We begin at 10:30 a.m. and teach, sing, and play games until 12:30. Then we all break for lunch. The girls go back to their apartments and we all just walk down the road to this little courtyard and eat. We all get back together at 2:30 back at the school. and then we sing, play games, and teach/hang out again until 5:30 when they go back home and we go back to the Boys Transition House. When we get back to the transition house we have a little while before dinner to kind of unwind a little bit and then we eat, after dinner there is a little more time before we have our Night Lite. Night Lite is just where we all get together and talk about the day, what was good and what was discouraging for us as individuals and as a team. Most of our time is also spent trying to learn new Romanian phrases from the missionaries and even the Romanians we are living with. It is fun. I know alot more words now than I did before.
I have already become attached to one little girl named Mariana. She is probably about 8 years old, she is mute, and she has a scalp condition. She also twitches frequently. But I already love her very much. I wish you all could meet her and the rest of the girls too.
I am writing from an internet cafe in Alexandria right now and I only have a few minutes left. I hope to hear from you guys soon. Please email me if you want to know more about my ministry. Talk to you all later!!!

Some more specifics before I leave.

I finally got my tickets. I am leaving at 8:45 p.m. on Friday and I will arrive in Amsterdam for a two hour layover at 10:40 in the morning (Amsterdam time). Then I will be leaving there at 12:55 for an almost three hour flight to Bucharest, Romania. Once in Romania I will have orientation until Sunday, then I will be headed to Alexandria. I will be leaving on July 20th to come back to the states 6:00 in the morning Romania time, and twelve hours later I will be arriving back here, but it will only be 12:50 p.m. because I will be crossing over so many time zones. I am just getting really impatient waiting for Friday to come. I hope to be able to write on here often. Much love to all!!!

Hebrews 6:15
And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

It's Crunch Time

I finally have some official stuff to tell everyone about my trip to Romania. I am going to be working at the Alexandria orphanage. Alexandria is an all girls orphanage,there are about 100 girls there ages 8-20, most of them are physically or menatlly impared. I am on a team with five other girls from around North America (two are from Canada). We are going to be teaching the girls a curriculum called "Discovering God's World" which will be teaching Biblical things through science, and science through the Bible. Along with that we will be teaching VBS and having youth group meetings for the older girls, giving testimonies, and just showing these orphans how much God loves them. I found out that I am leaving Detroit next Thursday, I will arrive in Bucharest on Friday, we will be having a training session on saturday and possibly sunday, and as soon as we are done with training we leave for Alexandria.

Please pray that all the flights from my team and the camp team will go smoothly, and that nothing will go wrong with the planes.
Please pray that all the team members on my team and the camp team will be able to bond quickly and be flexible with their views and everything.
Pray for the girls at the Alexandria orphanage that their hearts will be opened up to whatever we have prepared for them and that they will be able to see the love of Christ through our journey together over the next month.
Please pray that God will bless our trip through the roof of the orphanage.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I am excited to share with you all whatever I can as soon as I can. I will hopefully be able to update at least once a week. If not, I will be doing it as soon as I get back home.

Love and thanks to all for prayers and support!!!

FINALLY

I finally know for sure that I am going to Romania!!!!!!!!
That is one huge sigh of relief and I can finally start packing and stop worrying about the money.
I am so ready to go. I have eleven days until I leave.
I am going to find out later this week when I leave specifically, and what airlines I will be flying.
I am very excited about that.
These days are going very slowly as I just sit around waiting for the day to come.

God keeps proving how faithful He is to me!!!

1 Thessalonians 5:24
The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

ELEVEN DAYS AND COUNTING!

twenty-four days.

The official countdown is now 24 days. By God's grace alone I received enough money in my account for my plane ticket the other day, plus some extra to get me on my way to the rest of the money I need altogether. I officially have $2017 which means I still need $1483. I have received $450 from another person, I have been promised $150 from another person, and $100 from someone else. With those added to what is in my account I will have $2717 which leaves me needing only $783. If I absolutely need to I am not afraid to tap into my account for school. This means more to me than anything else in the world. I know that this is where God wants me for the entire month of July. There is a reason I am supposed to be there. I am trying to keep my faith strong in Him and fight this until the end. I wrote down somewhere "God, if you are in it until the end, then so I am. Let's fight this battle together." God is proving he isn't going anywhere and He isn't leaving me alone on this one. I cannot wait until I step onto that plane ROMANIA BOUND to be able to show my family that through Christ all things are possible.

24 days and counting.

Philippians 4:13:
For I can do everything through Christ,who gives me strength.

Hear my prayers!

As I have waited and watched the days float by with nothing coming into my account, lately I have felt like the people around me are failing me. People who told me they were going to give, but still there are no signs of it anywhere, people who told me that they were sending it in the mail "TODAY" and that "today" was about two weeks ago.

I guess I am just nervous and stressed about it.

I have 15 days, I currently have $1137 in my account which means I still need $2363 in my account.

The promises seem like they are just going to evaporate. I am just really nervous about it I guess. But even after I take away all the money that people have promised I still need roughly $1183.

I emailed a lady from H2H the other day and asked what happens if I don't have all the money in on time. She told me that as long as they have the $1550 for my plane ticket they can be a bit more flexible with getting the rest in. That means that I still need $413 in 15 days. That seems a bit more reasonable. Especially if a few of those promises come through.

The job that I have this summer in which I would have to do about 3 appointments per day, every day, in order to make enough to support myself, and that is with doing it up until 3 days before I leave.

I really hope support keeps coming in. I know I already posted this verse in an entry a few weeks ago, but I keep coming back to this verse and it is so true, especially for right now. Keep me in your prayers.

The official countdown is down to 42 days!

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

Days and Dollars.

I am counting the days until I am finished with my sophomore year. (3 days)
I am counting the days until my money is due for Romania. (24 days)
I am counting the days until Romania. (53 days)
I am counting the days until Terrah and I are roommates. (roughly 96 days)
I am almost counting the days until I graduate. (two years)
I am counting how much I have in my account right now. ($810)
I am counting checks I have recieved from people and promises from people. (roughly $1315)
Which makes my "total" as of now ish about $2,125
Which means I still need about $1375.
OUCH!

I just seem to like counting right now.
I still need some more support.

Definately praying for that situation.

But God will take care of it, see:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

Goals!

I have 62 Days.
I have officially $810 in my account.
I have $250 on the way, plus probably somewhere around $100.
I still need $2440.
That is roughly $40 a day.
I believe it can happen.
I need lots of prayer and support though. I cannot do it alone.
I serve a BIG, AMAZING God!

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So close, yet so far.

So, it is 4:32 in the morning. I am just sitting here listening to the radio. The lyrics to the song on are "Make me a way." God is definately showing me that He is making me a way to go to Romania. A few hours ago i checked my Heart to Heart account online. It has been at $660 for two weeks and at 2 in the morning I didn't expect anything to have changed. The Witmer's gave a donation towards Romania, and it registered online between 11:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. I am so thankful for them and for the other person who has given towards this trip so far. I know there are other people who are sending it, or have sent it. But, it is just the little things that God does to show me that He is still hanging in there with me, if I am in it for the long haul. I also got an annonymous $20 in my mailbox at school with a note that said "For Romania." And last night a good friend of mine stopped me in the parking lot and pulled a wad of money out of his wallet and said this is for you and Heidi to split. That was $58!! Things are going very well. I am so consumed with God's fire right now, I love it!!! I now have officially $780 in my account (not counting the money from my friend or the donut sales). Romania is what is getting me through these last few weeks of school. It is keeping me going. The mere thought that the count is down to 67 days, is what is giving me my motivation to finish this school year. In 67 days I will be in Romania! I am so excited for this!! Keep me in your prayers.
Much Love,
<3 Amanda Kay

Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.

Closer Now

So April 10th is a week from today. I have $560 in my account. I got $300 from KCC which was really exciting! I just keep praying that God will provide the money for me to go. I am so excited to have this opportunity. This week especially, because of the 24/7 prayer week going on. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me and for everyone else on this campus. The countdown to Romania is officially 86 days!!!!!!! I am absolutely in love with the Lord right now!! God is so amazing. Praise His name!!!!!!
<3 Amanda Kay

Letters

So this week I finally finished up writing my letter and actually right this moment I am taking a break from stuffing envelopes to write this blog. I am getting anxious about the money to go because the deadline is so close. I have to have $1500 in by April 10 and the other $2000 in by May 30. It kind of scares me since presently I have $134.70. Oh well, if God really wants me there, He will provide. Keep you posted on how the money is coming along!!!