The Point of Hope Staff

We celebrated Roxy's birthday today at the Point of Hope. She currently teaches the third year students. Her love for her students is tangible! She is excited about her job and does it well. I have been blessed to get to know Roxy and the other staff at the Point of Hope a little better this summer. As we all sat around the lunch table today to celebrate Roxy, the staff members began to share stories and be silly. Most of it was in Romanian, so I didn't understand very much of what was going on, but their smiles and laughter were contagious! I enjoyed just being around them!

I can relate to the staff at the Point of Hope in more than one way. I am a teacher, so I completely understand wanting the best for my students, as they do, but there's a big difference between my job and theirs. The staff at the Point of Hope is responsible for their students' education, as well as caring for their spiritual growth, health and social interactions. They give the students showers and feed them meals. They love on them and praise them just like I would my own students, but the things that their students experience here in Romania can be very different from what my students experience in the States. Sometimes it might be the same, but not always. These men and women go far beyond what it means to be a teacher and take on the role of parent, friend, mentor, and encourager.

We are also the same in the fact that we are shy when it comes to trying the other person's language. It is definitely not easy to catch on to a new language and sometimes this can stand as a barrier between American and Romanian. The great thing is that it doesn't have to! Joy transcends languages. We have learned it's ok to try to say new words. We just might think it sounds funny when a word is mispronounced, but we'll do our best to help the other person practice saying it correctly again and again.

Our team got some time to take the staff out to dinner. We took half of them to dinner on Wednesday and the other half on Thursday. It was a time to enjoy one another's company, to learn more about each other and to thank the staff for their hard work this year. We had brought small gifts for each of them, but before they opened their gifts, we told them thank you. We wanted them to know that we recognized their hard work! We wanted them to know that they are making a difference in the lives of the children they work with and even the children's families! The staff at the Point of Hope amazes me! I am thankful for the time that I've been able to spend with them!