Day 1 update from Romania

Well it is Sunday morning and the team will wake up to a cool but beautiful morning in the mountains of Romania. The kids will arrive in just a few hours and the team still has some preparations to do. The theme for this years camp is "Imagine". The goal is to encourage these children (22 girls & 8 boys) to imagine a life full of joy and peace. This is a difficult thing for children who live in institutional living to try to do but we have a big God who wants these children to experience a life that has joy. Please keep the team in your prayers as they faithfully serve the Lord with their hearts, mind, and strength.

Team 2 arrives in Romania

The team of 9 people from Illinois, Texas, and Louisiana have all arrived safely. And with great pleasure all of the luggage arrived safely also. The team is tired but is settling into their rooms before going to dinner and then a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow the team will be on the road again in the morning as they set their sights on the Point of Hope Development Center in Tarnaveni, Romania. The team will tour the school as well as visit a couple homes of the children who a part of the programs at the Point of Hope. The team will end up at the mountain camp in the evening where they will start preparing for arrival of 30 children on Sunday morning.

Please pray for a good nights sleep and that our bodies adjust quickly to the 8 hour time change.

ACF team # 2 ready for Romania!

On Thursday, June 21 the second of four summer mission teams will be leaving U.S. soil to assist the vulnerable children of Romania. On this trip Dennis Lofton and his wife Swanna as well as Deb Guinn will be leaving from their homes in Kingsland, Texas. From Central Illinois Karen Goy, Deb Dalton, Jenn Adams, and my wife (Theresa) and I will be making our way overseas. All of us will be joining M'Kayla Love, who lives in Louisiana, and ACF's 2 summer interns Jessica Huettel (Houston) and Taylor Jenkins (Lafayette, Louisiana) who have already been in Romania for a few days.

A beautiful mountain camp awaits the team and 30 kids for the next week. Please keep this team in prayer and we reach out to kids with the Good News of Jesus. The team will be making regular posts as well as posting pictures to this blog during the trip. So, check back on a regular basis and feel free to share this blog site with others on your social media.

First Baptist Lafayette Prepares for trip!

July 4th is just around the corner.  The First Baptist Lafayette Team is busy preparing to be on mission with ACF.  Our team is preparing puppet skits and songs for the kids and looking forward to helping complete the remodel of the third floor of the Point of Hope Center.  For many on our team this will be the first time they have ever been in Romania.  So, I know it will be a life-changing event.  I ask that you pray for us as we prepare to be used by God to minister to these precious children.

I'm looking forward to lots of hugs from the kids and hopefully some sarmales!

Mission trip update

Wanted to post a quick update on the mission team from Hope Lutheran who is renovating a classroom at the Point of Hope Development Center in Tarnaveni. Dacian Moldovan, the President of Buckner Romania has informed us that the renovation is nearly complete and looks great. He says it looks even brighter than the other classrooms which have been remodeled. On Thursday morning a small ceremony dedicating the classroom to the children on Tarnaveni will be held.

Another Child Foundation and Buckner Romania, on behalf of the at-risk children in Tarnaveni, would like to THANK Hope Lutheran for everything they have done to spread the Gospel through their work. May God continue to bless their congregation as they work around the world!

Romania, here we come!

After a year's worth of preparation and planning, it was almost surreal to start packing and making final preparations yesterday to serve the Lord in Romania. And--as you can see--packing for the trip was no small effort. It took 10 of us two hours to get everything organized into our 11 suitcases.

Packing and organizing.

I think our packing experience was representative of what's to come on this trip. There will be a lot of hard work and times when things are seemingly in disarray, but in the end God will enable us to accomplish the tasks He has established for us. And when the day is over we'll all be exhausted, but we'll have smiles on our faces (much like the picture below) because of the great privilege we had to be a part of helping to grow God's kingdom.

All packed and ready to go!

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." -- Romans 15:5-6

Summer Mission trips are here!

I find it very hard to believe but June will be upon us in just a couple days! For Another Child Foundation that means mission teams will be making their way to Romania to serve the at-risk children and families. The children love to see the Americans come over to see them. When they realize the distance we travel to specifically see them they are always amazed.

This year the first team traveling to Romania with ACF is the team from Hope Lutheran in Rochester, New York. The team of 11 people will be putting the final touches onto another renovated classroom. Hope donated the funds last year for a complete renovation of 1 classroom and the staff at Point of Hope has been working getting the new windows, electrical, heating, walls, and floors ready for the team to complete. ACF is very excited to have Hope Lutheran on board to help reach, teach, and transform the lives of children. Their contribution will forever change the lives of the 15 new children who will have the ability to learn in a new and loving way.

Please be in prayer for the team's travel and mission outreach. Also, stay tuned into what this team is doing as they will have regular posts on this blog.

June VBS Camp to Camp Harghita

I have to admit that I was a little nervous on my way to the first team meeting, but those feelings were quickly replaced by total excitement as soon as I arrived! I was so happy to meet the others from the Illinois area and can't wait to get to know the others on the team. My mind is whirling and    and I'm eager to get working on the plans. Today I shared with my Sunday School class of first and second graders that I was going and asked them if they would be prayer partners for us. I was thrilled when I started the sentence that "We'd really like for each of those kids to know..." and they finished my sentence with ..."that God loves them!" Their excitement just fueled mine.  I'm looking forward to our next meeting  : )

posted by Karen Goy- 2012 VBS Camp mission trip participant

Jesus and Religion (Part 1)

Blogging my thoughts and feelings on different subjects is different for me. But, I feel it will really enhance my faith as I learn to put into words what God has revealed to me through scripture, friends, acquaintances, and news articles.

Today's subject is what I introduced yesterday. The video of a young man describing what a Millennial Generation person thinks about the larger church in today's culture. The link for that video is at the bottom of this post. To be honest when I first viewed the video I thought most of the things he stated in his poetic way were right on and accurate. After thinking on this for awhile I realize that he does not give the church credit for what it does do well. Being part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) I see many good things the church does. In the ELCA there is a campaign to eliminate malaria. This is a highly preventable disease that needs to be eradicated from the planet. Without the assistance of the ELCA and the larger church, malaria might continue to take the lives of many children throughout the world. The Youth of the ELCA are also doing their part! During the summer of 2012 thirty-five thousand youth will be joining hands in the city of New Orleans to lend a hand to the city and get the "Big Easy" back onto its feet. During that time the Youth will be collecting $250,000 to help drill 100 wells in sub-Saharan Africa. Without the vision of the larger church projects like this might not ever get done and even more importantly the Gospel might not reach the people members of the ELCA will come into contact with during these campaigns. These are just 2 examples of what one denomination is doing to help reach the world the the grace of God.

But, what I think the young man was mostly frustrated about was the emptiness of many so-called Christians. Those who are quick to judge, quick to act harshly, and intolerant of behaviors of people different than them. So, today as I continue to read through the book of Romans, I found myself starting chapter 10 which is titled "Israel reduced to Religion" in The Message translation. It talked a lot about how the Jews during Jesus' time thought of themselves above the rest because of the correct type of Religion they had in their lives compared to those of lesser intellect. The Bible says that the Jews pious attitudes were keeping them from living a life of grace. Their religion kept them from being the hands and feet of our Lord because all they could think about was protecting their own religious philosophy's. So, are today's Christian's doing the same? Are we being blinded by our religion? I encourage anyone reading this to give me some feedback on this. Feel free to comment below.

My next posting will dig deeper into the accusations of this young man and the perceptions of the Millennial Generation has for the larger church our religion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY&feature=share

Jesus and Religion

I saw a very interesting video on YouTube and Facebook that talked about the difference of religion and what Jesus had in mind when he came to Earth for 30+ years. Over the next week I will be posting some comments on this intriguing video and the thoughts of the Millennial generation.

Why I Love Jesus and Hate Religion

Team members thoughts!

Over the next couple of month's I will be posting some thoughts and feelings of different team members going to Romania for the first time this summer.Below is the first of those posts. This one was from Jennifer Adams from Jacksonville, Illinois.


The first team meeting heightened my excitment and really got my head spinning, I cannot wait to collaborate with everyone on different ideas! It was great to meet the Illinois team and I look forward to meeting everyone else and I am already dreading July 1st! ~Happy Easter~

Mission Team meetings

Today the mission team headed for Romania (the team members from Illinois) on June 21 had their first team meeting. At the meeting we had Karen Goy, Deb Dalton, and Jenn Adams. We covered some of the history of ACF and the connection to Romania as well as what the team will be doing during the 11 days. The team will consist of 5 people from Illinois, 4 from Texas, and 1 from Louisiana. The team will also be joined by ACF's 2-summer interns.


The theme for this year's VBS will be "IMAGINE". Using the popular song by Mercy Me, "I Can Only Imagine" the team will show the children how God wants us to imagine the depth of His love, the magnitude of His grace, and that His arms are always open to us no matter who we are and/or what we have done.


It is going to be an awesome experience for the team as we start getting into the details of how the trip will unfold. But, it will also be a pleasure to see God work outside of the plans we have made as the Holy Spirit will work through and in is as we serve the orphans in Romania. Please keep this team in your prayers as they continue to prepare to be His hands and feet.