internship begins...

hey everyone, so its been a while since I updated this thing... sorry about that... so last thing i said was that i was having problems with motion sickness... God and I have been working on that and i think i have found a way to make it bearable anyways... so this is good... So last weekend... I went to a couple of smaller cities called Alexandria and Rosiorii de vede. H2H works with the orphanages out there.... Its quite interesting cause the kids their dont live in an actual orphanage complex, they live in apartments that the governments own... so they have better living conditions than they used to have... The school where we handed out their school kits was actually the old orphanage complex.... in comparison to the apartments the conditions at the school were not good at all.... well i am going to back up a little on the story cause i need to tell you my first experience of the public transportation system... keeping in mind that this was early in the morning too... and i am much better with it now... anywhos here is the story.... so we were supposed to meet the other girls at 8 am (Amy and I) so we were planning on leaving the house at 7:30 am... I am normally a person that gets ready the night before (which I did, thank goodness) but is still up an hour before I leave, that didnt happen this time. I was woken up by Amy at 7:20 am... so needless to say we didnt leave by 7:30 am... when we left the house we thought that maybe we could still make it to the maxi taxi (this is about the size of a 15 passenger van or a mini bus) on time, but as we walked out of the yard the maxi taxi pulled up and left... so we had to catch a bus instead that came about 5 mins later... the bus was packed i was standing directly in front of the door in there cause there was no other room... while we were on the bus we were held up by the the train... so that was another like 2-3 mins of waiting making us later. We finally arrived at the metro station (subway) and we had to buy me a pass... that didnt take very long... after that Amy told me she heard the subway train so we ran down the stairs and i was not even 2 steps behind her... she jumped in the car and instantly as she jumped in the car the door shut... there was no way for me to get in.... so it took about another 5 ish minutes for Amy to turn around and come back... so as soon as we got off the train it was about 8 am. and met up and went on our way.... what a great way to start the day. anywhos back to the orphanages... The kids were absolutely excited and so happy to see us... but the language was so overwhelming... I dont know we were standing there and Lenuta, Mariana and Amy were all handing things out and I quite literally was standing there doing nothing cause i didnt know how to help. The Rosiorii de vede was fun too!!! We handed them out to 4 different orphanages which was done over the course of two days!!! This past week i have gotten into routine of what the internship is going to look like... here is a daily schedual so you can understand some of what i am talking about... Monday 9:30-12:30- Romanian lessons with Florenta 3:00-6:30- Working at the Baby Hospital with Angela Tuesday 10:00-12:00- Staff devotional bible study and prayer time 3:00-6:30- Peris orphanage (Over night in Ghermenesti) Wednesday Am- language review/orphanage prep time 3:00-6:30- Peris orphanage (Overnight in Ghermenesti or Pipera (team house)) Thursday 9:30-12:30- Romanian lessons with Florenta Pm- old baby hospital with Corni or Transition Graduate visits with Jenny and Sanda Friday Am- language review/internship homework 3:00-6:30- Baby Hospital with Angela *One weekend a month go with a team to Rosiori de vede. This would be leaving on Thurs morning and returning Saturday or Sunday afternoon anywhos so ya i am travelling all over the place and starting November with the orphanage at Periș I will be teaching dance sign language classes... i know me teaching that how can it be... well they saw me signing to songs and i guess thats what happened.... anywhos yes that is basically the how my last week went... i will talk to you soon... God Bless, Lindsey Toma

Speed bump in the Road...

One prayer request for you guys.... there is a story to go along with this... so here it is.... So Yesterday... Erin and Katie the girls from my short term mission team left.... which means that my internship has started officially as of tomorrow... anywhos back to my story... so they left... and I being the brilliant one i am decided that when we piled into the van i would sit in the back seat.... BIG MISTAKE... I started feeling the motion-sickness hit in.... long story short... surprise I have to do what i did in India on trips.... give myself a good dose of motion-sickness meds and knock myself out on the trips... I feel bad that i have to do this but whatelse can i do... my only other option is to not go to the orphanages or travel anywhere and there is no way i am doing that so ya...I have a "speed bump" to get over.... kinda like the ones here in some of the villages on the way to the orphanage... they are so big that you almost, if not have to come to a complete stop.. evaluate if there is anyway you can bypass it, find out that you cant and slowly go over it.... oh i love God and his imagry... anywhos other than that all is well... I visited the baby hospital again today and found Luchian not there... that was a little sad but at the same time it is good... the nurses have been talking about transfering him to somewhere where they deal with more special needs children.... so even though it is sad that he is gone and i wont be able to see him but as God showed me that day with him and Marius... He is holding him and taking care of him no matter where he is!!!well gotta get ready for this trip so i will update you on how this goes and what happened this weekend... God Bless!!! And dont be afraid to write... I love hearing how you guys are doing too!!!

some food for thought

thanks guys!!!! It truly is amazing! Breath-taking is actually a better description!!! Elli its funny you mentioned Gypsies... I was thinking about this the other day as i was driving home from peris where the orphanage is.... Gypsies are not highly looked upon here... they are the ones that pick-pocket and are just theives.... most of the children at the orphanages are gypsies as well and I am starting to fall in love with them... but anywhos back to what i was thinking about... when i heard the description of Gypsies i instantly went to my bible college/urban hike train of thought.... these are the people that God said would get into heaven before any of the "righteous" people would...and then i thought of what he said about love the ones who do wrong to you.... I have finally figured out that that is why i love them so much i think... cause they are the outcasts of society and even though they steal from you, you are supposed to love them. I dont know if that made any sense to you at all.. but it is another way that God shows us that his word is true even today... cause looking at the pictures that i have would you be able to pick out the ones who are gypsies or not? And if you could pick them out would you love them any differently than the regular kids... no because we are all Gods people and we are all equal in his eyes!!!! Anywhos thats just some food for thought!!!! any comments... any input???

Oh the beauty of Romania!!!

Hey everyone... so Saturday we went to the mountains and man was it gorgeous! The town we were visiting was a place called Sinaia! The castle there was absolutely captivating!!! I was not able to take the pictures on the inside of the castle but the outside was absolutely amazing!!!! We visited the Monistary there as well!!! The Romanian's make beautiful buildings!!!!!

Sunday was a great we went to a church known as the international church... there was a guest pastor there... who is working in switzerland but was originally from Canada. That was so weird... you for the most part or at least from who i have met, most people are american. so it was nice to see someone else who was from canada.

Today was great... we went to the oldest part of Bucharest... It was amazing!!!! We walked down the glass district man they make gorgeous glass...

in the afternoon I went to the Baby hospital... and worked in a room on my own.... for the most part... The kids were great!!! well except for when 4 of the boys in the room started bawling all at once... This two year old girl who was in the baby hospital and tried to help me, it was so sweet.... but it really didnt help.... so corney came and helped me out.... but I know that it would have calmed down... I was holding one of the boys named marius and the boy in the crib beside Luchian, wanted to be held as well. So i had the one in my arms and i put my arm around the other and it was like God was telling me that no matter who is there with these kids his arms are around them and holding them close...

The other thing is I have been finding bits and peices about my background and heritage... being about 75% Romanian and seeing and hearing about all the little qwirks and habits i have... This is going to be a year of learning about how to lead kids, how to work in a mission field, but also learning about me and who i am and what gifts God has given me....

well i will talk to you guys soon,

Noapte Buna,

Lindsey Toma

Short Term missionary!!!!! For Now!!!!

HEy its me again!!! So over the last couple days I have been to a baby hospital and an orphanage. The baby hospital was absolutely amazing I was completely in my element, holding babies, playing with babies and and changing them... they were adorable! The orphanage was a lot of fun too I was on the floor installing computers in the classroom. Then we hung out in the courtyard area with the kids... I got my glasses stolen for about 30 seconds... hehehe go figure that would be the first thing that they would take... but they are adorable and so fun and I am going to love them!!!! That is about all i have to say right now but I love you guys and I hope you are enjoying life in canada or states where ever you may be. Love you all so much! Noapte Buna!!!! So I wrote that yesterday.... today we got the revolutionary tour of Romania.... sorry didnt take any pictures this time around if the other girls did i will show you them if not i will catch it again i am sure... anywhos that was an interesting history lesson... We went to visit the babies again today.... just to clarify for people... my internship hasnt officially started yet... these first two weeks i am a short term missionary... anywhos i will talk to you later. Noapte Buna!!!!

I'm Finally Here!!!!

Hey guys thought i would write to let you know i got here all in one peice and guess what!!!! I was healthy getting here too and still am!!!! What a miracle!!!! anywhos i dont have much to tell about the trips over there was nothing reall exciting that happened... no big super stars or anything... But man is this place amazing!!!! When I get pictures i will put them on but ya!!!! We went to a Romanian Youth service today!!!! Incredible!!! Jenny did an awesome job translating for us!!! Yeah Jenny!!!! We met some of the girls and guys that are or rather were at the transition homes!!! It was a lot of fun!!!! then we went to a mall and had lunch.. they ordered us suca's(sp?) anywhos they were awesome the fries in it were a little strange but all around it tasted good.. now we are back at the house just kinda hanging out... I better run but i thought i would fill you in as to not worry you!!!! Love always, Toma

2 or should i say 1.5 days away!!!!

Well here we are 2 days away actually if you want to be exact it would be 1.5 days... no nerves in sight yet... just a whole bunch of excitement and wonder about what is going to happen with this year!!! I am so excited for what God has in store this year!!!! I will miss you all greatly but know that I am with you here in spirit cause no matter where you are in the world you are family!!!! I love how God did that!!! He is so creative!!! anywhos I should let you guys know that for the first couple weeks i may not have a lot of time on the internet, seeing as i will be getting used to things and working on things but i will be writing things down so i can eventually write them on here so you can hear all about the many crazy adventures!!!! I love you all and I will talk to you soon!!!