Back to School

I don't know what Back to School looked like for you and your family, but it probably included going out to your local Target or Wal-Mart and gathering backpacks, lunch boxes and school supplies. You and your child probably decided what he or she would wear on the first day of school the night before and laid it out for the morning. Backpacks and lunch boxes were packed with great care to make sure that the first day went smoothly. The first day of school is a big deal!

Source: Buckner Romania

In Tarnaveni, Romania, Back to School was just last Monday, September 17th. Sixty students and their parents began filling up the second floor of the Point of Hope around 10 am. They were able to meet their teachers, see their classrooms and parents filled out some paper work. Of course, the students displayed a range of emotions. Some were excited, others were nervous. Thirty new students were added in the 2-4 age group. Fifteen returning students moved up to the 4-5 group and another fifteen to the 5-6 age group. About an hour or so later the last students and parents filed down the stairs and out the front door. On Tuesday the students returned for their first full day of school activities. At the Point of Hope, children have a special opportunity. They are able to go to a preschool that will prepare them for grade school.

In this community parents would have no way to send their children to preschool if the Point of Hope wasn't there welcoming these kids with open arms. These families cannot afford the cost of preschool. They did not go out and buy new back packs or lunch boxes for Back to School. Any money that can be earned must be spent on food to sustain their families. Luckily, the children at the Point of Hope are sponsored by generous givers. At this time though not all students have sponsors. Would you consider sponsoring a precious child, so that he or she can receive an education, food, and clean clothes in a loving, Christian environment? Maybe you could talk to your children about the children in Romania and sponsor a child at the Point of Hope as a family. Wouldn't that be neat for your children to get to know another child across the globe and to learn to care for them? What a blessing and learning opportunity! As your children go to school daily, please be praying for the children at the Point of Hope and consider changing one of their lives forever!

To learn more about sponsoring a child at the Point of Hope click HERE!

Great stories from Romania!

I wanted to share with you a post from our long term missionaries from their Blog "Winning Roma". Some great insight from Romania!

http://www.winningroma.blogspot.ro/

A Building

The Point of Hope Development Center

 

According to dictionary.com, the definition of a building is as follows:

build·ing

[bil-ding] 

noun
a relatively permanent enclosed construction over a plot of land, having a roof and usually windows and often more than one level, used for any of a wide variety of activities, as living, entertaining, or manufacturing.

But if you know about the Point of Hope Development Center in Tarnaveni, you would say that it is so much more than just a building. The building that is the Point of Hope is a place of refuge, a light in the darkness, an image of redemption, an out stretched hand. You might be wondering how a building can be so much. When I returned from Romania, I began telling friends and family about my trip. I would tell them about the Point of Hope and how the building was rebuilt to be a school with several rooms still under construction. Almost instantaneously it dawned on me that the building is so much more than "a relatively permanent enclosed construction," instead it is an example of how Christ is making all things new.

The unfinished area on the 3rd floor. Also known as the dungeon.

The Point of Hope used to be a hospital. In fact, it even had a padded door in one room. Yikes! While working there this summer, we labeled the area of the third floor that is unfinished, the dungeon. I'm sure we weren't the first ones to call it that, but the area is quite rough around the edges, literally. The concrete walls boast thick chipped paint in mint green hues and the doorways have pieces of bricks sticking out of them. Little by little these rooms are being redeemed and renewed. They are being given new life. Christ is making them new. He is turning a building that was a place of sadness and sickness in to a place that is filled with light and life. The children and families in the area know that there is something different about this building. They know that the building radiates joy and offers assistance to those in need.

Revelation 21:5 says, 'He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"' He isn't just working in the lives of people. He's using buildings to spread His message of hope too. There is no greater gift than to see Christ at work. In this case He's using a building. I've been blessed to witness the work going on in this building, both in the construction process and in the lives of the children and families who enter its doors. It gives me such hope! If He can use a building that has an area that we labelled the "dungeon," then surely He can use you and me! I am so thankful that He is constantly making all things new!

One of the renovated classrooms on the 2nd floor. What a big difference!

Did you know that the Another Child Foundation is currently raising money to further their work, both in Tarnaveni at the Point of Hope Center and in Targu Mures at the group home? Wouldn't it be awesome to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of all that are touched by ACF? Well the cooler part is that when you donate by September 7th, your donation will be matched! Yes, you heard that correctly! If you give $25, then it becomes $50. How awesome is that? I'm pretty darn pumped about it! Learn more about how your donation can be matched by clicking here! Then click the green band that says, "Click here to get matching funds!" to donate. Make sure that your donation is designated for the 2012 Golf Marathon, so that it will be matched!