Day 4: Day 2 of VBS & Construction

Day 4: Thursday, July 9 - 2nd Day of VBS & Construction

Thursday was a very full day, and ran very smoothly from start to finish. We began the day at 8:30am with devotions from Pastor Charles at Children of Promise, where he spoke about how deeply God cares for us. He shared the story of his visit to the hospital the day before, and how he was feeling discouraged that he hurt his hand and that it affected everything he had planned to participate in. As he was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, he glanced up at a picture on the wall and saw Jesus holding the left hand of a little girl. The caption underneath the picture read "What is wrong with your hand?" The picture spoke to his heart that God was concerned about every detail of our lives, including Charles' injured left hand.

After the morning devotions, the team split up for another day of hard work and VBS. The construction crew was ready and enthused to complete more work on the walls, and anxious to see how much work the local crew had completed during the night. The walls they are building will serve as structural support in the basement of the facility. As the men continued work on the walls, the other half of the construction crew set to work painting the gate and another mesh wall in their pottery room.

The theme for the second day of VBS was God being our strength and our fortress. Roberta taught using an illustration of a tissue. She compared a dry tissue and a wet tissue and how they can easily fall apart, then she stretched the tissue over a container and pulled tight with a rubber band and placed rocks on it. She taught the children that with the strength of the Lord in our lives, we can endure circumstances and events that would normally tear us apart, but instead we hold steady and strong. The children wanted to confirm that Roberta didn't do anything to the tissue to keep it from breaking when the rocks were placed on it. In the gypsy/"Roma" culture, magic plays a large role in their clans. In each clan, there is generally one woman who uses magic, tarot cards, palm reading, and crystal balls to manipulate people and wield power. This is why it was so important that these children understood that there were no magic tricks used in the illustration. In addition to the Bible lesson, Roberta and Mishel also shared with the children regarding basic hygiene, and explained that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that they must keep it clean in order to stay strong and healthy. In music class, we continued to teach new songs. During an outing with some Roma children in the afternoon, Shelby and Sarah were thrilled to see some of the Roma girls singing "This little light of mine" and "Amazing Love" in English, as they were walking down the streets of Oradea. Overall, the VBS is running extremely smooth and our youth are really beginning to engage with the Roma children.

In the afternoon, we had four different groups of Roma children separate with some of our team to take historical pictures around Oradea. These pictures will be used in a citywide exposition in September. After work was completed at Children of Promise and those who were taking pictures returned, our team traveled to the Rapha Center. The Rapha Center will be a ministry center that will funnel aid and help to ministries all over Romania, including: compassion international, clothing and food ministry, battered women, and a medical and dental clinic. The Rapha Center is still being built, but will be completed later this year.

Prayer Needs:

• That God will open the understanding of His Word to the Roma children, in spite of the dark superstitious climate of the gypsy culture.
• We will be leading the Roma children in the salvation prayer on Saturday at the conclusion of VBS, so please pray for the salvation of these children.
  
• Continual healing for Pastor Charles' hand.