Blessings of Busyness!

Literally, a thousand things have happened since I last blogged. These things have kept me from blogging because we have been overwhelmed with busyness. Celia and I were talking the other night about how busyness is such a blessing because when we are busy it means two main things. Firstly, things are being done for the glory of God and we are not sitting here idle. Secondly, we don't have time to think too much, worry or be homesick.

Here are the main things that we have been busy with: 

Child Sponsorship

The Ruth School enrollment is up to 217 students which is a drastic spike from last year enrollment of 175. This increase is due to starting Class 0 which is now has 25 students. The Ruth School has also had many students transfer in from public schools. Several of the transfer students realized that the Ruth School was a place where they are loved, safe and valued this summer during the summer clubs run by volunteers.

Each of these 217 students were photographed & interviewed by Celia and I. We then wrote short biographies for each student to share with their sponsor. These bios and photos were sent by e-mail and snail mail to sponsors across the USA and the UK. This task took the majority of October to complete because while my Romanian is improving, speaking with each student took quite a while :).

We still have about 45 students that are not sponsored. Please e-mail studentsponsorship@projectruth.ro if you feel able to support a Ruth School student for $30 a month.

The GSS brothers during the session in October

Olympics, oh my!

Parade of the Flags for the Olympics :)

In late October, we were blessed with a team from NC. This team was incredible. They held a teachers appreciation week in which each teacher got a special treat such as brownies, hand lotions etc each day. They also hosted the Ruth School Olympics. Our students loved running, jumping and laughing as they competed during the week long session.   Tammy, Celia and I prepared lunch for the team each week. They loved my grandmother's poppy seed dressing!

Clothing Distribution

Doesn't Mari look precious in his new fuzzy hat?

Each student received a pair of socks!

Project Ruth is often blessed with clothing from various organizations and individuals all over the world. As the cold weather set in, we ventured into the storage room in search of winter articles to get our students warm as winter approached. Each student received a sweatshirt, socks and other various items depending on their age, size and need such as: blazers, long sleeved shirts, hats, gloves.

Positive Discipline

Playing Just Dance on the Wii :)

The Ruth School like every other school in the world struggles with behavior. Our teachers and staff implemented a new program this year to help our students be the best they can be. The students have standard punishments when they break one of the ten Ruth School rules and are held accountable for their actions. In order to not only discourage bad behavior but encourage good behavior, students can earn Ruth School points. These points are given to them by their teachers when they are 'caught being good.' Every Friday, Celia and I take each class up to the library on the 3rd floor where students can spend their points at the Ruth School store. At the Ruth School store, you can purchase various school supplies, candy, snacks, small toys and tickets. The tickets for some sort of Friday event. Some Fridays we have movie day after-school where our ticket holders can come, eat fresh popcorn, drink Kool-aid and watch a newly released movie projected on a wall--- the Ruth School Cinema :). This last Friday students were able to purchases tickets to the Wii Party. 11 students attended. They played tennis, Mario Kart and jammed to Just Dance. It was probably my favorite afternoon ever!

Please pray for our teachers as they continue to implement this program. It is working and student behavior is improving but it is often easy to get discouraged.

Coffee & Tea Bar at Youth Group

 This past week, I became obsessed with having a coffee bar at youth group. I felt and urgency to have it at youth group on Saturday. At the time, I didn't know why. It seemed rather silly because we had just had a youth group meal a few weeks ago for fellowship but God just kept telling me that we needed to have something to fellowship over on Saturday evening at youth and who doesn't want to have a coffee with various flavor syrups? So, Celia and I made flavored syrups, cookies and two very large pots of coffee. As we were arranging cookies on the trays and putting out herbal tea for those who aren't caffeine addicts, we noticed some of our Ruth School teenagers venturing in. Sami, the youth pastor at Providence, leads the worship time each week during our chapel service and had invited students from 7 & 8 grade to attend and they did! 11 Ruth School students attended the youth group for the first time ever last night. After a time of worship (all songs from chapel so our students knew them), prayer time in small groups and the Bible lesson, we all gathered around with our coffee and fellowship. It was a wonderful sight to see. - Sorry I didn't have my camera--- Youth that have been attending the church since they could walk were sitting and talking with youth from Ruth. Thank God for fellowship and coffee :)