Easter eggs, English Club and Breakfast group!

On Tuesday, the students at the Obed Day Center spent part of their day celebrating the Easter season by dying Easter Eggs. Each student dyed four eggs. They were very patient as each student carefully retrieved their eggs from the dye. There were no spills :)

During the 7th and 8th grade English clubs this week, the students learned new English words by making crafts. 7th grade painted sun catchers and practiced words such as window, paint, sun, glass etc. 8th grade excitedly made fleece tie pillows. Their patience wore a little thin as they began tying the fleece but they were proud of their end products. And we learned that when you make pillows, you have to make a pillow fight :)


 On Friday afternoon, I went to visit Robert who
 had been missing quite a bit of school lately. When I first arrived on his street, he hid because he knew that he was going to be in trouble for missing so much school. After a few minutes of soccer, he told me that he didn't like going to school right now because he didn't know the alphabet or how to write like his classmates did. He had missed a lot of school through out the year for various reasons.

While I cannot teach him to read Romanian because that would require that I knew how to read Romania, I figured I could help him with his handwriting. He pulled out his notebook and showed me what he was suppose to be working on.
For a few minutes, we sat on the side of the road and practiced writing the letters "s" and "t". After awhile, the fact that there were UNO cards in my bag became know and the desire to play became a huge distraction. After a few games of UNO, the idea of a Saturday morning study session was born. After much debating as to what he wanted to for breakfast, it was decided. Robert would meet me at the Ruth School at 9:30 and I would have cereal, milk and a banana for him for breakfast. I held up my half of the bargain and so did he. Robert even brought his brother (Alex) and a friend with him. Luckily, I had invited my Romanian friend, Stefan, to help out. Robert and I spent the morning writing the alphabet on a dry erase board while Stefan worked with the older two on writing journals and adding fractions. It was a great morning! We all worked diligently for about 90 minutes before deciding to call it quits for the day. I didn't want to overkill it because they wouldn't come back the next week. All three boys promised to return next Saturday for more cereal, milk, bananas and oh yeah learning!

Gardner Webb Nursing Team

Last week, the Ruth School was blessed to have a group of nursing students, nurses and professors. This team of 11 performed health assessments on all of the Ruth School students. The neighborhood of Ferentari also had access to their expertise during a health assessment for the community on Wednesday afternoon. 

The teaching staff was encouraged by the team through a seminar on how to build self-esteem and self-worth in their students. Our 7th and 8th graders were given the hard truths of what drugs, alcohol and smoking can do to your body. The team urged them simply just to say "NO!" Going into this seminar, Tammy and I were both concerned because this age group rarely sits still and listens for more than five minutes yet they were attentive listeners for the full 35 minutes.

Our 1-4 graders were reminded of the proper way to brush their teeth through a puppet show complete with an alligator with real "brushable" teeth!





 On Thursday morning, the women of the team hosted Mother's Club and focused on healthy families. They taught the mothers many home remedies to keep their families safe and healthy. In addition, each of the mothers made a potholder from their choice of colorful tea towels. 

Thanks Gardner-Webb University for sending this wonderful group of servants to minister in Romania over their spring break!

BC Art Team

Well, the mural is done. As the team began ripping the tape off the borders of the mural, I felt more sadness than joy. Yes, I was overjoyed that the team had finished the mural with time to spare but sadness overcame me because it meant that their time here at Project Ruth was coming to an end.

This group did an amazing job at everything they did from painting the murals, teaching students how to mix primary colors, making hand puppets and even making my apartment feel like a small piece of America. I already miss them greatly but am so grateful for their service here at the Ruth School and the Ferentari community at large. Hopefully, many of them will be returning to Romania at some point in their futures in accordance to the plans our amazing God.

Check out some of my favorite pictures from the week!

Click here for a full album of pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150713225097780.463870.578177779&type=3&l=9a1912a568

 

The Beginning of Something Beautiful!

The Bluefield College team arrived safely in Bucharest on Friday evening. After  a quick dinner, the team fought through their jet lag and began the prep work for the mural on the hallway.

All day Saturday, the team was busy at working mixing, painting, drawing and enjoying being together. On Saturday evening, the team attended the Providence youth group meeting where they sang and team leader, Walter, gave his testimony. After the meeting, the group spent the next hour or so learning the Romanian way to play UNO. It was a great time of fellowship for all.

Today, the team has been painting. Around noon, two team members (Pip and Emily) went down the street to buy fresh bread for lunch. As they were walking back, a brother from the church stopped to talk to them because he had heard about the painting ministry being done at the Ruth School. He spoke very broken English but knew a lot about the Ruth School and its ministry. An hour later, the brother (Marian) came knocking on the door to help paint. He was quickly put to work painting mountains. After completing his task, he told us that he must go home for the day but will be returning tomorrow at 4pm after work to sacrifice his time to paint for Jesus Christ. Marian's faith and willingness to serve have already been such a blessing for this team.

Here are some pictures of the progress so far...

Bluefield College Art Team

A team of five college students, one professor and one staff member will be departing Bluefield, Virginia in a few hours to begin their over 20 hour journey to the Ruth School. This group consists of... well some of my best friends in the entire world and I am pretty much bouncing off the walls with anticipation for their arrival.

The team will be painting a large mural on the second floor hallway of the Ruth School to bring life to the plain white walls. Through-out the week, the team will also be involved in classes to teach art and other various lessons. They will also be leading the chapel services on Wednesday, in addition to English Clubs. If they have time, the team will also be painting a small mural in the nursery of Providence Baptist Church.

Please be in prayer for this team as they travel by van and plane to Bucharest today and tomorrow. Also, pray for the love of Christ to be shown in all that they do while they are here.

The supplies for the murals!