You can read the Mathew’s blog here and keep up with their trip.

Lydia and Miriam left for Gradinita (pre-school) all set to give out their Martisor to their friends.

The girls were just as excited as they returned home with their own stash of Martisor that they had received.  The Martisor are actually little pendants tied with a red/white striped string.  The colors red and white are symbols of the coming of spring.   You usually pin the Martisor to your shirt.

This celebration reminds me of what Valentine’s day was for me as a child where we would give and receive Valentine’s cards.  Valentine’s day isn’t celebrated here in the way I was used to growing up, but Martisor is just one of the little special things that I am glad my girls are able to enjoy.  They aren’t growing up in the culture I was raised in, but the Romanian culture is filled with special things for them to enjoy as well.

Sophia doesn’t go to pre-school, thankfully her big sisters were generous to share their Martisor so she could be a part of the fun too.

So Happy 1st of March with love from Romania.

Petry continually stays busy with a VARIETY of things.  He has been handling different projects at the HOH center.  You can read all about that here on our HOH blog.  He is very close to completing his master’s in Transformational Leadership through Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN.  It truly has been a transformational experience for him.  Can you imagine writing endless papers in a foreign language while there are three little girls running around a 600 square feet apartment??  I am still amazed that he has been able to keep up, but he has and we are so blessed because of it.

I continue to keep busy taking care of our three little girls and all that that includes.   A new grocery store, Kaufland, opened in Fagaras and I am delighted to share that I can now buy flour tortillas, peanut butter, and Oreos.   The opening of this store was HUGE for our town and in a way it made home feel a little bit closer for this American.  This past November I started teaching English at a NGO that opened in Fagaras called the Association for Valuing Education.   I teach three different hours of English to 3-4^th grade students and it has been such a joy to be back in the classroom.  I also started teaching two hours of English at a little pre-school close to our apartment.

Lydia turned 6 years old in October and she is now in her last year of “Gradinita” or pre-school in Romania.  This fall she will begin 1^st grade  which is considered “starting” school in the Romanian system.  Lydia is a people person and loves to be a part of the action.  She has a sweet spirit and is always waiting for the next adventure.  She took ski lessons this winter and took 5th place at a ski competition for her age group.  Lydia’s two front teeth are loose and she can’t wait or them to fall out.

Miriam turned 4 in September and she enjoys her pre-school class too.  She is becoming our girly girl.  She wants her hair to be long so badly and unfortunately as her hair grows, so do her curls.  She is a sensitive soul and is the first to tell us she loves us.  When we pick her up from pre-school she runs into our arms as if we hadn’t seen her in days.  Miriam talks a lot about being a mommy and having her own family one day too.

Sophia is 22 months and keeps us on our toes.  She brings such joy and laughter to our family.  She is continually doing things that keep her sisters in stitches.  Her vocabulary is growing daily and her volume the same.  Sophia definitely has a set of lungs on her and we are thinking she might have a future in voice.

Hope you enjoyed hearing from us!

Merry Christmas!

The celebration of Christmas should bring joy in our hearts. Our desire is that we all acknowledge the meaning of Christmas and live our lives accordingly.

The Groza family wishes you a Merry Christmas.

Petry, Kyle, Lydia (5yrs), Miriam (3rs) and Sophia (7 mo.)

Fagaras, Romania

Toarcla is a small village about 35 minutes drive from our town Fagaras. Our church Bethany Baptist has a few mission points in the villages around the town. Toarcla is one of them. I have the privilege to go in Toarcla every Sunday afternoon where I am always received by a bunch of children and a few adults. One of the requests that they had in the last two years was to try to fix the walls of the room where the meetings take place. The building  where we meet belongs to the German Evangelical Reformed Church. For many years now they have been letting us use the small room you see in the pictures without paying anything. This is possible only because about 10 years ago our church fixed up the roof of the building.

So this week from Wednesday-Friday, I had the opportunity to go with my friend Liviu and patch up some of the walls. The building is probably over 300 years old so it definitely is in need of repairs. The children promised that they will help and so they did. Even though they live in such poor conditions they were willing to help without any payment. I was able to give them some money and they went and bought some cookies and drinks for everybody.  While one of the little boys Sergiu (11) was cleaning the bricks, he told me,  ” Petry, I don’t want any money. I came here to help for free. I don’t know about the other kids, but I don’t want any money”.  He was so honest and funny at the same time as I never really offered to pay them anything but he was so eager to tell me that he doesn’t want any money just in case I would want to pay them.

I will let you now enjoy the pictures I took while there. Please try to remember Toarcla and our Kids Club we have there. We are trying to do as much as possible for the children and youth of this village but there is so much more left to do. At least we are glad we can offer to all that come something that can enrich their souls. This resource is free and has no limits.

The outside wall after one day of work

More progress

Codrut, one of our main attendees at the Toarcla mission point

The inside wall

Getting sand the cheapest way - Free transportation

Children and adults working side by side

Little+many= power

Liviu finishing the inside

The outside finished

The main church building

Hopefully next year we will be able to remodel the whole room which would include painting over the repair work we just did.  At least this is a start, and the children can see that they and the place where they meet is important to us.

Miriam with her backpack

Lydia and Miriam with their friend Matei (Matthew)

Checking out all the toys.

Lydia with her cousin David and her friend Daniel

We pray that Lydia and Miriam would have a great year in pre-school this year!

A choir from Timisoara came to celebreate the day with us and a few of the choir members were also present ten years ago when Bethany Baptist had its dedication ceremony.  The choir sang beautifully.

Petry’s dad is the pastor of Bethany Baptist and he shared about the history of the church.  The church building was built on faith and God provided the building that stands today.

Pastor Doug Gamble from Crossroads Fellowship in Raleigh, North Carolina came for the celebration.  Here you can see Petry translating Pastor Doug’s sermon.

Lydia taking notes for sure!

The entire day was a special one.  We thank God for His faithfulness to our church and for the honor that we have to be able to serve here in Fagaras.

]]> http://thegrozas.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=366 0 http://thegrozas.com/blog/?p=480 http://thegrozas.com/blog/?p=480#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:03:15 +0000 Kyle http://thegrozas.com/blog/?p=480 Today my parents, Rick and Jan, are celebrating 40 years of marriage. FORTY YEARS! What an accomplishment, right?  I am so thankful to God that He has given them the strength to keep the commitment that they made to each other and to God on a hot August day in 1970.

Mom and Dad:  We are celebrating with you today, even though we are an ocean away.  We love you and we are SO proud of you!!

Mom and Dad

Most of the children that get to go to camp live very simple lives in surrounding villages or in poor areas.  Most of their families are families who basically live off the land so their summers are usually spent working long hours in the fields.  The week that they are able to attend camp is such a special week just for them.  They are able to play games, make crafts, eat good food, and most importantly, hear teaching from God’s word.

Craft time

Water balloon volleyball

Parachute fun

This cracks me up...guess she didn't make it in?!?

Lesson Time

Petry's group

Lesson time in the rain

What a cutie!

Evening worship

In the past we have all gone to camp together as a family.  Since Sophia was only 6 weeks old at the time, we thought it was best that I would stay home with the girls.  My dear friend Jenni came from Severin for the week with her three kiddos.  We might have been crazy to have six kids in a three room apartment, but we had a great time together and as usual we enjoyed the fellowship. We were just a little bit too busy to snap pictures, but I will be sure to get some during our next visit.