Romania Notes and Farmin' in Poland

Hey everyone!  We are sorry that we haven't updated our blog in 20 days!  We have a lot to share, though! Hope you are able to view the video above and enjoy what we want to share with you.  If for some reason it does not work, here is the link to the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWqwy53h2NM

We are now officially "banished" from Romania!  At least for another three months, which really isn't that bad, because now we are able put Ukraine on our schedule.  But, we are not yet in Ukraine, because we are back in Poland to work at a small family farm under the WWOOF (Wide World Opportunities on Organic Farming) program.  It's a program where family farms invite travelers, and we work in exchange for room/board.  The purpose is to teach us about how to farm and live off the land, and we would be able to help the hosts with their daily chores.  It's a really neat program, and we really like it.  We will only be here for three weeks, though, and we will be moving on to Ukraine, which is something that we are very excited about, because of the cool group of missionaries there and the opportunities to visit deaf children and orphans there.

Let us wrap up Romania first!  Basically, every day and moment in Romania was new, everything was a new experience.  And it was a great one.  The problem with deaf orphans is not as big or as bad as we originally imagined, and it is a very good thing.  That does not mean that they don't need any help - they do need a lot of it, just in a different way.

Many orphans that we've met don't have an idea of "mom and dad".  They have friends, they have interaction in deaf schools, they do have clothes and an education, but they do not have that deep sense of family that most of us had growing up.  Their futures are bleak - we honestly don't know how or what will happen to them, and we want to help in some way.  It does not necessarily mean that we have to live in Romania permanently - but there should be something set up, some kind of a program.  There are MANY intelligent and talented deaf adults in this country - it is just a matter of "connecting the dots" and using the power of our good, merciful God to work miracles in their lives.

The most pressing need of abandoned Romania deaf children would be the summertime - this is the worst time for them.  If we are able to work together to start a long summer camp, have missionaries like you come and fly to work with them, give them a great time, education, talk about Jesus, donate clothes - it will make a big difference.

Now - the hard part is all the government stuff!  It's not that easy to just take children out of their respective foster houses and place them in one camp.  It takes a lot of process, trust, and good relationships.  That is what we are trying to work on.  We have many e-mails from people asking us on how they can help the orphans - and we wish we could give a "one size fits all" answer, but it is something that is really complicated, but very possible if we all keep on wanting to do it and building relationships with Romanian churches/organizations.

A even better vision for the future would be to have a big foster house where all of the deaf children can be together when school is closed, so that way the children will have "brothers and sisters" instead of being sent to their foster houses.  A camp is a great idea, but if they are able to have a permanent home, it'll be even better.  Now, how does that happen?  That's something that we will all have to work on, churches/organizations/individuals, from prayers to financial donations to actual workers.

Ukraine is a big new country for us, but we know that after a few weeks, we will get a handle on it and be able to see how things are different there.  One BIG BIG BIG, cool thing about Ukraine - they allow international adoptions, so we will try our best to see how we can help deaf children there be adopted.  Romania DOES NOT allow international adoptions, so it's difficult and a "solution" must be done in-country and through only Romanians.  We are contacting a few different adoption agencies that work in Ukraine and we are trying to advocate for the needs of Ukrainian deaf orphans.

We are like ants in a big country - but one step at a time, one person at a time, one church at a time, and one organization at a time, and dots will get connected and things will happen with God's power!

We are now at the farm, and we are loving every minute of it.  It is hard work, it is dirty work, it is wet often and cold, but it's really special!  It is something that we have always wanted to do but never have been able to because we grew up in the suburbs and never really worked at a farm.  We really do think that the concept of living in a farm with a number of orphans will be a beautiful situation - the children will be able to build confidence, have interaction with animals, learn life-long skills, and be able to support themselves as adults in the future.  Animals/plants don't ridicule you or abandon you - they are dependable and come from our Creator!  :)

That's all we wanted to share for now!  We always think of you all in the U.S. and Canada!  God bless!  :)

- Alex n Alexa