what's new!

Three months had past since we returned to our community ( Lau and I),after being absent for nine months, when we had our Sabbatical. This time, (quite a long time, we recognize that) had been benefic for myself and for us, time we put aside to meditate on the past 12 years of service among those that are vulnerable. It has been a time when we sought to rest and to experience God in new ways- when I wanted to self-define my own identity not through my activism, but through who am I. Even if it is a long process, God is continuously teaching me to self-define my own identity based on what I am as a human being, created in His image.

In April we started our coming back transition into our community, and gradually we got involved in our community’s activities, while praying for discernment regarding taking over our responsibilities.

If for Lau the transition back was somehow easier, for me, Vali, it has been quite difficult, because I am trying to find a way to put together my desires for my life (to continue my education), my thought about who I am (wounded as I am) and what is God calling me to be. Even if I already got some of my responsibilities back, I still have a few months ahead of me to discern the position I am called to serve from.

Being back into community meant jumping into the last three months stream.

 In May, as we do every year, we as community had our community retreat. This year was a regional retreat for the Europa-Africa Word Made Flesh region, where our community from Galati, the community from Chisinau, Moldova and the one from Freetown, Sierra Leone, met together for times of solitude with God, and for sharing what God was speaking to each of us. This year retreat topic was reconciliation. We are all grateful about how we all confessed and witnessed how God’s Spirit was present working among us, bringing light into our broken relationships, into our discrimination toward other people living next to us,…we are praying that God will continue to work in our lives, in our communities and in the neighborhoods (countries)  where He called us to serve.

In June, when the summer school holiday started, we planned this summer’s activities, for they look different than during the school term. We are praying that God will lead our planning and realization of those activities. What we want is to bring the children and their families closer to their Father, to be aware of the signs of His Kingdom among us –staff, children and their families.

Eight months ago our community opened a new daily center, in a large village named Tudor Vladimirescu, with a lot of help from our board of directors president, Adi Buhai. In April, Mariana Camenschi joined us as staff, coordinating this center. There are many way to pray for Mariana, from developing good relationships with the children and their families, to obtaining all the paperwork needed for properly running this center.

In June we had a team of 12 (10 students and 2 leaders) from George Fox University, Portland. They served together with us for three weeks – one week in Chisinau, Moldova, and two weeks in Galati and Tudor, Romania. They brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm into our community, through their zeal and energy. God encouraged us by the way they got involved into our activities – doing almost everything, and by their testimonies on how God had changed their lives. We are praying that the seeds He planted into these young peoples’ hearts will grow, as well as the seeds planned into our hearts by what these young people did and said.