Recreation

Snow Skiing and Chicken Pox

 in Health / Prayer / Recreation by

Over the next few posts, I will be sharing with you Mia’s March report on the mission activities and prayer requests for her and the children.

“Beloved Friends of Mia ‘s Children , “Grace be unto you , and peace , from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ,  I thank my God always on your behalf , for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ That in everything we are enriched by Him , in all utterance and in all knowledge”  –  this Scripture is the special word God has for each of you coming from the mission from Romania .

God is taking a special care by His beloved children . The blessings are pouring over us and we give thanks and glory for all.

We started March being in a camp at the mountains -a camp for skiing offered to us freely by Mr. Marinescu and some of his friends -they pay for hotel and food together  Catalin and his brother ,Costy -the owners of a skiing camp-they allowed us to have free skiing lessons , to take the skii elevator for free ;some of his teachers -great friends and special people offered to our children classes of free skiing and a special friendship .Thank you to all those who offered us such a blessed time in the middle of snow storms , of beautiful mountains in a very hard winter time .Beyond of everything we could fell God’s protection .

When we came back , we were in a middle of an epidemic of small chicken pots , but the kids could go through only with high fever , not other problems .

Please , pray for the process we started to take the 5 children who are in danger from their Mom .Will be a long fight , but we are in God’s peace and we don’t want top separated the kids from the parents , but also , we cannot let the little one be used for bagging , for so many bad things .

Please , pray for “little” Nicoleta-the doctor found some nodules on her thyroid gland and doesn’t feel well. Next week we’ll have the results of the tests and the doctor will tell if she need treatment or surgery .  Praise Lord , John is Okay with the thyroid gland , despite the initial predictions .”    (Mia)

 

Italian-Romanian Cuisine at Mia’s Children

 in Food / Ministry / Prayer / Recreation  tagged English / food / Italian / Italian food / Mia's Children / prayer by

A few weeks ago Giorgio, an Italian friend of the organization, stopped by Mia’s Children for an authentic Italian dinner. He brought pasta, tomatoes, cheese, meat, and other ingredients along with him.

The children who could be there enjoyed learning how to cook from him and especially liked practicing their Italian and English speaking. Some of the kids could translate what he taught them, but even with translation, Mia reports a dinner of half Italian and half Romanian food!

After the cooking, the group got a chance to pray together, and then have dinner.

Thanks, Giorgio, for the food and good time!

A Friday Note from Mia

 in Art / Bucharest / God / Mia's Children / Orphans / Recreation / Romania / Sports  tagged art exhibit / business / Children's Day / Iraq / soccer / You Can Make a Difference by

**Wonderful news this week from Mia. We’ll probably provide more details on some of this later. For now, parentheses ( ) have been added for clarification.**

Dear Family,

We had a blessed time where the Lord showed again His glory! We praise his Holy Name, His love and care for all what He is doing every day!

The art exhibit was in Iraq a successful! There were auctioned about 47 art work and we need to receive in our account 8200 of $!

Thursday we’ll have another great moment: The art exhibit and the movie (“You Can Make a Difference”) will be showed first time in Romania and the concert will be  performed by some important Romanian artist(s). The event was worked totally – other than the art part  and the movie – by Ioana Mantulescu and her husband.

Saturday and Sunday, Gabriela, Mihaela, Rivaldo were involved in a soccer national competition. And our team gained the first place at the age between 7-9 years old! We are part from winner team!!!

We went to the park in the county No. 4 where a group of big hearts women from The Business Women made a special day for orphan children, trying to bring them some joy around Children Day. They gave us a tent for garden, so we can have some shade and some other stuff, fruits, school items…

Seems that people started to be more  interest in what’s going on with our work.

Well, I let you (go) for right now. I’m tired and still need to work for something. Miss you a lot.

Blessings,

Mia and all your(s)

What is Oina?

 in Bucharest / Mia's Children / Recreation / Romania / Sports  tagged baseball / football / Moldova / oina / P.E. / tee ball by

In our last post, we spoke about Ion (John), one of the boys at Mia’s Children involved in sports. Ion plays, among other things, the game oina.

Oina is like a mix between baseball and monkey in the middle, but it is much older than either sport. Invented in the 1300s, it has become the national sport of Romania because of its ties to the country and its long tradition there. In fact, there are only two oina federations in the world: one in Bucharest and one in Moldova.

Oina is similar to baseball. There are two teams: a team at bat and a team at catch. The weight of the ball for both games is nearly the same, and the bats are similar.

But while a play in both games begins with a pitch and a swing, in Oina the pitcher and batter play on the same team. The pitch is simple and close up, like in tee ball. And once the batter hits the ball, regardless of whether the opposing team catches it, the team at bat runs from one part of the field to another along lanes on the field (called advance and return corridors).

The opposing team waits in the outfield and tries to hit the runners with the ball. The runners can deflect the ball with their hands, but can’t catch it. If it hits their bodies, the opposing team scores and the player leaves the field.

The game only takes 30 minutes and thus is a popular P.E. activity in Romanian schools.

Sound complicated? Well, it is. But try explaining American football!

This video shows a partial game of oina:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTgScqdcU4&feature=player_embedded#!ref=0]

Soccer, Oina, and Good Grades, Oh My!

 in Family / Orphanage / Recreation / Sports  tagged baseball / Concordia / games / grades / oina / siblings / soccer / tournament by
In Mia’s last letter, she spoke of the sports that some of the kids were playing.

James, 13, is on his school’s best soccer team. It is a competitive team and he travels around the country with his teammates for tournaments. He received a Certificate of Excellence from his school. James also plays “Oina,” an old Romanian game that preceded the American game of baseball. He plays in a league also. All this as well as getting good grades in school.

James for a while lived in an orphanage with his sister, Nina, because his parents could not feed their family. Now he has been at Mia’s several years with his 6 siblings.

Belu, 6, Matei, 7, and Nicu, 8, all play soccer on the Concordia team. They go to the soccer field almost every afternoon to practice and on Saturdays they have their games. Concordia also provides other sports where they can develop their athletic skills.

Belu and Matei have been at Mia’s about 3 years along with their 2 sisters and their mother, who helps Mia with the cleaning and care of the house.

A Letter From Mia’s Children – Romania

 in Art / Recreation / Uncategorized  tagged backyard / games / I Am / Ovidiu Hagima / results / sports / Thank You / Xanadu Restaurant by

Dear Friends,

With God’s grace we can again be in touch with you, praising our Lord because He is faithful and so good with all of us.  We are amazed to see that God will do above all one can ask or think, even in the little steps of life and even in little private desires… He is providing abundantly for those who are connected with Him.  We have been experiencing this wonderful Scriptural truth, especially during the last two months.

Even though times here in Romania, as throughout the world, are very difficult and the crisis continues—lack of jobs,  hopelessness, great disappointments—God is giving us the assurance of His presence and the vision to continue the work we do; He is bringing people around us who are willing to help and support us.  Individuals or groups from both Romania and other parts, together with Mia’s Children Foundation, Rotary Club, Adobe Foundation, KBFUS Foundation, ING, Madison Advisors, Transylvania Bank, BCR Bank, are among some of them (please excuse us if we do not mention all of you, but we so appreciate you and are grateful for your support). 

In all our activities we can clearly see the good results in different ways:  we were able to build another needed storage room; we created a garden with a water fountain, eating area; a family of plastic ducks & ducklings; a peacock; a small playhouse & slide—it has given the kids a delightful way to imagine they are part of a happy fairy tale in their own yard, with even a small patch of green grass and flowers.

Many new games and some sport activities are giving the children a special meaning and importance in their daily lives.  The activities the children do in the added back room of the house, which is for studies and projects ( we wrote about it in an earlier newsletter), have been enhanced by the outdoor fun they now have in the new garden area.  Now God is enabling us to develop creative ideas for school curriculum, etc..

Around Eastertime we were given a special dinner by the owners of XANADU Restaurant here in Bucharest.  We thank you so much for the dinner prepared so graciously for us.  During the past two months also other people came to us— like Tedy and Anda, Simona and Georgio, Alex and his group of motorcyclists, Jonathan and Ralucka, etc..  Thank you all so much for your care.

We want to thank Mr. Ovidiu Hagima for the movie he made with Mihaela and Elena, two  young enthusiastic artists,  about Mia’s Children.  They are making a documentary movie about how you can serve needy children and change their lives,  turning them from darkness to light through faith, art, caring showing that humanity has a choice and a hope for the future.  We thank Mr. Hagima for the courage and commitment he had to take with him to Iraq 47 pieces of the children’s artwork, making an exhibit illustrating the truth of the words above.

For us knowing God is so very important, and we are doing a Bible study entitled I AM, the “I AM” words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John.  To know God in an intimate way is the key of success for a changed life, and if we look back where we started with the kids, we see there is success with the kids because we all have an intimate, daily relationship with God.

We want to thank all of you for your financial support for the kids, and for both Costel and Mia.

Prayer requests for:

 *a new home

 *constant support of friends

 *for good health and encouragement

 *a message sent to the world through the fruits of the children’s lives

 We thank you and bless you in the Name of the Lord!

                                Mia’s Children