Roaming to Romania

So... again a lot has happened sence being on here last time.

But the biggest news is that I am working on going to Romania this coming Summer for my field work.

I will be working with an organization called Veritas. Veritas is located in Sighisoara, Transylvania a region of Romania. The mother language spoken there is Romanian.

By going on this trip it will open up a lot of "firsts" for me: my first time on an airplane, my first time out of the country, the first time Grand Valley's TR department will have ever sent anyone overseas for field work and the first time for Veritas to have a TR major enrolled in their program.

Why Romania? In 2005 I worked my first summer at Lake Ann Camp, that summer we sponsored a sister camp in Romania. We were shown a video of the camp and there was something inside of me that said "I need to go there". I had a burden on my heart for the people of Romania and I needed to find out why.

I knew the only way to find out was to visit, and it was during that video that I knew one day I would go to Romania. I began to do research to try and find out more about the country. This is when I found out about the turmoil the country had been through after being under communist rule until 1989. The majority of my research was on the high number of orphans. It broke my heart when I heard how so many children over there were not able to develop properly because there was no one there to hold and love them. To think that just being held by another human being makes a difference, it made me want to devote my life to loving these poor children
(sounds good right?!?).

Romania continued to be a burden on my heart which is why I think the thought of doing my field work over there came to mind. Doors kept opening and I just knew that it was suppose to happen. After speaking to another student about her trip to Romania I decided to apply through the same agency that she went through. And I was accepted!

I will be leaving May 1st and returning sometime in August. Not sure on the date because I want to travel other parts of Europe and maybe visit friends in Spain :)

The way I look at life is I have this one life to live (not the Soap Opera :oP), and I do not want to be sitting around when people need help. If I have the chance to go I want to go and see if I could potentially see myself living in Romania for a portion of my life/the rest of it.

After talking with the director of Veritas I found out the organization has never had someone from my major, which is exciting to me! This is another good reason why I need to go.

I want my life to count for something and at this stage in my life I feel lead to go to Romania and learn from the people and their culture.

The process is coming together, thanks to many caring people because of their donations of pop cans I have been able to buy my passport which was such a blessing. The pop cans continue to come in and I continue to thank God for everyone of them. I am also appling for a couple scholarships to try and cover the costs of the trip.
May can not come soon enough!!!

The process has been long/fun/tiresome/rewarding and through it all my support verse has been: Philippians 1:16 ~ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

So continue to pray, for Romania, Veritas, the people I will meet there, funding and safety. Thanks for reading and I will be using this more to communicate when I am over there. I made a pleade with a close friend that I will not be on facebook :) which I think will be great!

The process has been long/fun/tiresome/rewarding/exciting and through it all my support verse has been:

Philippians 1:16 ~ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

God Bless!