I don’t believe I can fully express how thankful I am to be back in Romania. Since I was able to establish such strong relationships with the kids and staff of Heart to Heart (H2H) on my 7 month internship, I’ve been able to reconnect very quickly. In many ways it feels like I’ve never left.

The day after I arrived in Romania I left for village, where H2H has their boy’s transition house.  This house is where we were hosting our boy’s summer camps. We bussed in boys from three different orphanages to participate in the camps. We had two groups of boys (the first ages 15-17, the second ages 17-19). Each group was with us for 3 days and 2 nights.  During this time we had Bible Studies, played games (especially soccer), went Kayaking in the river, had scavenger hunts, obstacle courses, zip lines, and campfires. Needless to say we had a BLAST!

During each of the camps there were low points and high points. The low point actually started the day before I left for the camps. I fell down close to the pool, cutting my knee and crushing my foot. So all week I have been recovering. This has limited my ability to fully run and play with all the kids. But, I am so blessed because I have already had the opportunity to build strong relationships with most of them. Therefore, I didn’t need to run and play with them for them to know that I loved them. They were just happy I was there.

The highlight of the camps however was watching some of the boys we’ve ministered to in the past actually lead the Bible studies. Last year several of the boys gave their lives to Christ. Since then they have begun to go to church and were baptized last June. These same boys have reached such a point of spiritual maturity that H2H actually trusted them to lead the discussions.  And it was joy to see the boys learning from their peers. It was a powerful moment that really touched me. I am so thankful to be able to see the fruit of last year’s trip.

Today is Sunday. I was able to go to church where I was greeted with many smiling faces and warm hugs because of my return. Tomorrow I begin a new set of camps. This time I am in Bucharest working at day camps for younger kids. I am so thrilled to be able to see many of the little ones I worked with last year. I feel so thankful and blessed to be back!