Visiting our worksite from last year and Meeting our worksite for this year

Our Team Represents…

1. Germany
2. Switzerland
3. Canada
4. United States
5. Brasil
6. Romania
7. Sri Lanka
8. South Korea
9. Italy
10. Ethiopia

Students from Freie Evangelische Schule and Black Forest Academy and a few from local churches who wanted to join our team come from all of these countries! Thank you to all of our supporters who also joined our team. We are thankful for this opportunity and are privileged to share our journey with you all!

Hello Caracal

The first day of our construction work.

The third day of our trip.

One of many days that God will teach us old truths again and they will seem new.

Know that when you are all successful business men and women in the future, making millions, and you see in the newspaper that Romania has been changed for the better because of the educational opportunities afforded to children 40 years ago, we can smile and feel happy that all our efforts were worth it. Our Habitat For Humanity regional director gave us this pep talk this morning.

What if this doesn't change Romania for the better? What if we cannot make a significant dent in the future of the whole country? Will our efforts still be deemed worth it today, or even 40 years from now? These thoughts flitted about my mind during the drive back to our hotel. Passing myriads of stray dogs, chickens, and loitering people sitting outside of pitiful homes spaced between lots full of garbage. We serve a God who does not put worth on how big or glorious our efforts appear on this earth. God does not always need us to see the results, or sometimes the results may be only one person. Only one person? Is that not huge?

We are remodeling the ceilings and walls of a kindergarten for Roma children. Men gathered from the local area to smoke and watch and scoff, not finding it worth their time or effort to invest in a kindergarten they do not intend to send their children to, or perhaps will only be there one more year. I was reminded of the Jews returning to rebuild Jerusalem with Ezra and Nehemiah. They worked in the face of discouraging lookers-on and scoffing neighbors. They must have questioned the worth of their efforts. They must have felt a little embarrassed, both of their work and maybe of their zeal. How can I feel so passionate about something when someone else finds it foolish and contemptible?

So why are we here? Is it just to fix up this building? Is it to provide better opportunities for impoverished, uneducated children? Is it to soothe our privileged egos with charitable ambitions? I pray God would examine all our hearts and reveal to everyone on our trip our motives, would correct us, would fill us with His Spirit, and would produce His fruits in us.

Our efforts will not be reckoned worthy if we see "successful" results in the future. We will do right by our attitudes, actions, and words in how we treat one another and those we meet here in Romania and by how we approach our task. We will be successful if we obey God and trust Him in whatever circumstances we encounter on this trip with thanks. 

We are thankful to be here, and we hope that the Roma children, adults, construction workers, Habitat For Humanity representatives, and each of us witness God's grace and glory in heart-changing ways through our BFA+FES team.

10 hour countdown to our departure…

Spring break is here, and this is our team! We are headed to Caracal, Romania tomorrow morning. Many prayers this week as we prepare. So excited to get to know these students on our team and to meet the needs of the Roma community during this upcoming week.

Black Forest Academy & Freie Evangelische Schule & Habitat For Humanity Teaming Up!

Four days and counting!
We are gearing up to fly to Romania this Friday.
Excitement is mounting. Prayers are sustaining. Friendships will be forged.

We go to serve the Roma community and impact their culture for good. We plan to help build a kindergarten so that children in the local area can go to school to learn instead of to the city to beg. We hold our plans with open hands. We make our plans, and God will direct our steps.