VBS and the Seniors Home

No, we didn't do VBS with the seniors...although that would be fun, I think!

We had our first day of VBS in Slimnic today with 17 children in attendance. We weren't as prepareed as I would have liked, but we just were too busy beforehand to lay out a cohesive plan...plus we aren't exactly a group of planners and you can't have non-plan following types stick to a plan anyway.

We started by letting the kids tear into all the play time stuff. Tomorow I think we will keep the sports and drawing stuff hidden away until after the inside stuff is done. I opened up in prayer and then Doug atempted to lead us with a guitar that was missing several strings. We ended up singing a capella...and none of us are worship leader material. I don't think the kids cared though. They enjoyed watching us jump around and sing with them. Doug even acted out a song with them. That got the boys to join in which is a hard thing to do.

Then, when it came time to memorize a Bible verse, we realized that nobody brought their Bible with them. We each thought the others had one. So, what verse does everyone know by heart? John 3:16, of course. I asked if any of the kids knew this verse in Romanian and would they like to come and try to say it in front of the group. One boy did and he rattled it off quickly. We all clapped for him. Then we all took turns leading the kids through the verse in English. Really they all seemed to know it even in English, but it was good to say it anyway.

We have two girls who live in Slimnic who helped us translate. Elizabeth told the story of King George and the Duckies (Veggie Tales). That was a challenge for our interpreters since rubber duckies isn't in the common vocabulary. We drew a picture of a duck and colored it in with yellow chalk.

Once the story and another song or two were done, we went back outside to draw with sidewalk chalk, play hopscotch, and play a soccer goalie/header game. Radu and Doug were amazing at keeping goal against some very serious soccer players. We also got to do something I have been dying to try. We asked the kids what they thought would happen if we put Mentos into a bottle of diet Coke. They said the candy would dissolve. It was fun to throw two Mentos into a small bottle of Coke and watch the fountain. I don't know if the kids found it as satisfying as we did.

Tomorrow I think we may try an experiment with three bottles and differing numbers of Mentos tossed in. I think some of the kids would like to drop the Mentos in this time. Warning: If you decide to try this at home, make sure you are a couple of feet away from anything you don't want to have diet Coke get on.

On to the Seniors Home. Our project in the afternoon in Slimnic is to recover the second greenhouse with plastic. Victor and Don did the first one last week, so we have a model to follow. Victor made some improvements to the design so that the fans will have to run less and more can be grown in each greenhouse. This is good because the Senior Home has to get everything they can out of every penny they get. They care for seniors who have little or no source of money. There was a tool missing so we had to wait till tomorrow to start on the greenhouse.

Instead, we ate lunch and then got to go to each senior resident's room to meet them and hear their individual stories. Many came to Christ here and the home. This home is so far different from our convalescent homes. I noticed right away that the smell was nicer. The residents have made themselves at home in their rooms and although most have no families coming to visit them, they seem to be very happy to have a family/home here. They pray, read the Bible, work hard around the property (kitchen, garden, etc). This is not a group of people waiting to die and being cared for by shifts of strangers. The couple who run this place know each of them and care deeply for them. One man staying here came parylized and now he can walk with the aid of a walker or cane. Several of the women told similar stories of being kicked out of their homes after raising thier children...usually by the daughter-in-law. There is so much to share and not enough room here. Linda took notes on each person we met and Elizabeth took pictures. I would like to get to know these amazing people better...there is one lady who has lived through WWI and WWII and the stories she must have to tell! Another was sent at least twice off to labor camps in Russia...the first time at the age of 16. She has no idea why...she was told that it was because she was involved politically...a girl in Eastern Europe.

Pray that we would be inspired as we share time with the children tomorrow. We are having some trouble focusing!