This mission trip up through yesterday, has been so wonderful.. meeting the children from separate orphanages and trying to get to know a little about each one. Some are immediately drawn to us, and others take a little longer to interact depending on personalities and of course past issues. Yesterday morning we had a group come here to CTL and it was around 20 children or so. I was drawn to a autistic boy named Adi, He continued to wonder around the room, all the other children were playing with the team , so I attempted to go over to him and see if I could find something for us to do together that may kept somewhat of his attention. Sara and I found memory cards and tried to play a game with him , and he loved it . He was so excited to find the matching cards, It made me smile watching his reactions. We had balloons blown up and decided to tap one back and forth with him.. He stayed with this for a hour at least. We said our goodbyes, and in the afternoon we ventured out to the Chitila orphanage which were troubled teenage girls and a few younger girls in that group. We did Zumba and testimonies, sang songs and each girl got a polaroid picture taken with whoever they wanted to,so they could keep it and have a memory of our time spent with them. Originally I thought they would want to be in this picture with one of their friends, this was not the case, they bombarded all of us with excitement and it became the highlight of these girls.. running around and picking the team member that they wanted with them in their picture. Talk about feeling the love!!! It was a amazing time.
Today is the day that will be remembered to me for a lifetime. A day that a cried so many times that my eyes hurt. A day that god gave to me for my own healing. Yes, I thought I was there to establish relationships, talk about Jesus, and love on them.. was I mistaken!! God knows exactly what he is doing at all times. I know we always say that , but he has blessed
me with this day and I sit here and still play it over in my head. I don't want to forget a single second.
We went this morning to a orphanage and I walked in and saw my new friend Adi... Not knowing if he would come to me , I was pleasantly surprised when he did.. I got a high five!! I ended up getting him to sit with me for quite a long period of time we looked pictures on my phone and played with uno cards, He knew my name was Cathy.. My heart was so full, he hugged me numerous times and I even got a few kisses on the cheek. On and off he laid his head on my shoulder, this in itself is amazing, autism as you know can be not easy for them to touch or get close too. When it was time to go , we realized we wont be seeing this group again. I tried to hold it together, but it walked to the door and began to cry.. I made a connection with this child, and now had to say goodbye. This was incredibly difficult , and I thought our next group in the afternoon would keep my mind off Adi . When I later was told no one ever usually tries to go to him, they mostly try to spend time with the others, and he doesn't ever connect like he did with me, I was torn between happiness and sadness.
The second group meet us at CTL and we quickly realized we saw this group before also. I spent a good amount of time with a few of the teen girls doing their hair, they LOVED it. Soon it was time to eat, sing songs and a few of us share out testimonies. A few of us decided to share our testimonies and how god has worked in our lives. I decided to give story, and how I was raised in a Christian home with loving parents, until my mom passed away when I was 17. I unexpectedly lost it , I started to cry and I could no longer speak, overcome with sadness, reliving he pain. Finally I feel one of the teen girls sitting next to me grab my hand ,and held it in both hers. She whispers, "it will be ok",( in broken English).. I continue my story with crying moments between words ,and share how my father decided to spend his nights trying to fill my moms shoes, leaving my sister and I alone and feeling abandoned. I concluded that I was thankful for my foundation of knowing Jesus, and HE is what carried me through the many dark days I had ahead of me ahead of me. For ultimately God is my true father, and all I'll ever need to fill that void. I then look at the girls sitting around the room wiping tears from some of their faces , smiling at me , staring at me , being so sympathetic.. I had countless hugs and kisses from these young ladies. The girl that took my hand pulled me aside to tell me that I was a amazing woman and beautiful inside and out and hugged me so genuinely. I am in awe over this!! I was here to witness to them, and what I received was a gift from god . A healing of a heart that has been covered over for so long.. for God showed me HIS love through a orphaned child, the unwanted, someone who lives with knowing there is no parent there to care for them. I will forever remember this day. BLESSINGS FROM ROMANIA , Cathy Schadel
DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER 4 hours of sleep makes me realize I was seeing double, rocking in my seat, and trying to see the screen at 2am. Please forgive me the misspells and double talk but enjoy enjoy the message. love
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