Update from America

 

Update from America

March and April 2022 Update

"The Lord replied, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." - Exodus 33:14

March and April were a departure from our normal ministry in Romania. We were able to travel to the US for six weeks of ministry there as well as plenty of rest and relaxation. We started our time off with a birthday celebration for Oliver (March 9, turned 1!) and Nicu (March 5) where we got to see many of our extended family members. We spent several days adjusting to the time difference and orientating ourselves to being in a different country. This was Nicu's first time in the US so we took lots of walks and went on many special outings.

One of the outings that we went on was to the aquarium with my mom and aunt. Another night my college best friend and roommate, Megan, stopped by for dinner with our family. One day we went with my mom to Stone Mountain Park and rode the Skylift to the top. We were also able to meet up with my brother and his family for dinner one Saturday evening.

After just a few weeks in Georgia with my parents we took a quick weekend trip to Pennsylvania to see my best friend and former co-worker, Heather, and her family. We were also able to speak at Cochranton Christian and Missionary Alliance Church where Heather's dad is the pastor. We were very blessed to meet people who had been praying for us and our ministry for years. I had never been to Pennsylvania before so this was a new experience even for me! We got to see first hand what spring in the Northeast means (snow, sun, snow, sun, snow...all in one day) and learned about snow squalls (luckily we left before we experienced one for ourselves).

After we returned from Pennsylvania it was back to Georgia and another full week of activities: going on a Walking Dead set tour, meeting up with family members, having our first date night without Oliver, getting new lenses for Oliver's glasses, speaking at my parent's Sunday School class, and visiting the zoo.

One of the things we were looking forward to the most about being in the US was getting to take a family vacation with my parents, something I haven't been able to do in over two years. We were excited to have the chance to go to Disney World with my mom, dad, and aunt for several days. Oliver enjoyed riding it's a small world, meeting the characters during a character brunch, and singing along to Frozen and The Lion King.

We finished up our time in America with a few more special moments as well as lots of shopping trips to get last minute items. Nicu and I visited my aunt and uncle at their lake house and Nicu got to spend the day fishing...apparently he caught more fish than have ever been caught at their house before! We visited my grandmother, helped with an Easter egg hunt at the preschool where my sister-in-law teaches, had Easter dinner with family, and saw my nephews play baseball.

Our time in America also included local ministry. On several occasions we accompanied my mom to a local trailer park community to work at an after school program for elementary school children run by Path United (The Path Project). We loved being able to serve the kids through Bible stories, games, and crafts. It was a joy to be able to make connections with the kids even if we were only with them for a short period of time.

Our time in America was much needed...since I was last there two years ago we have gotten married, moved to Nenciulești, had a baby, and started running the boys transition program...all in the middle of a global pandemic! We were able to spend time visiting with friends and family and getting recharged for the work that lies ahead.

How You Can Support Us

Here are our current praises and prayer requests: We were able to speak at several churches and gatherings during our time in the US and to meet with current and potential financial supporters. We returned safely from the States and ready to return to our work in Romania. One of the girls from Periș, Ionela, who now lives in București, attended Easter dinner with us at Pipera. We pray that she will start regularly attending church with us. Pray for us as we begin planning and preparing for summer ministry. We hope to continue to gather financial support both for our family and for the transition program. Pray for direction for our ministry as many kids are leaving the orphanage and/or going to other foundations and I look to begin doing therapy again with some of the kids. Iuli and Andrei will be finishing the program soon. Pray specifically for Iuli as he finishes school and finds a job and for Andrei that he will continue to do well at his construction job. If you would like to partner with us financially through Heart to Heart International please use the button below. If you choose to support us financially be sure and indicate in the memo section that you would like the funds to go to Nicu and Melissa Perghel or the Transition Program. You can check out our Facebook group to receive updates on the program and how God is using us here in Romania. Giving Through H2H You can also make a donation through Walking With Orphans using the PayPal Giving link below. The transaction will appear as "Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project" (the registered name for Walking With Orphans).                             By using PayPal Giving we will receive 100% of your donation! https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/1239712

A New Year of Ministry

Another year of ministry has begun here at Heart to Heart! The focus for the last month at the transition house has largely been on finishing one of the upstairs rooms. Nicu and the boys have cleaned, patched the walls, insulated the ceiling, and put in a water barrier. Their next step will be to install planks and drywall on the ceiling.

The boys have also been working outside some when the weather is nice. We haven't had much snow this year so they have been able to do quite a bit. Iuli and Andrei helped to cut some trees. Another day, Andrei helped Nicu move some sand to the side of the house to make a clearer walkway while Iuli was at high school completing some of his coursework for graduation.

In addition to working on things here in Nenciulești, on the weekends we go up to the Bucharest area to work with the kids at the Periș orphanage. Our youth group lessons last month focused on the kinds of media we consume and how these affect our thoughts and actions.

Another small project that we were able to accomplish was to hand out Christmas gifts to some of the kids in need in the village. It was nice to be able to help out a few more families in need this holiday season.

This last month we also continued to serve with our church, AlfaOmega, by leading the children's Sunday School class. We have a wide range of kids of all ages which makes planning a bit interesting but the kids enjoy our time together and so do we!

Finally, on a more personal note, Oliver turned 10 months and has started pulling up to standing on his own! He is definitely keeping us on our toes!

In February we already have several things planned even though the month is short! The boys will continue to work on the upstairs room and we will continue with youth group at Periș. We are also expecting our first team since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago! Ironically, the group coming this year was also a part of the very last team we had in 2020 before things began to shut down due to COVID. Hopefully they will have a better ending to their trip than last time!

How You Can Support Us

Here are our current prayer requests and praises: We are thankful that we can continue to see the kids despite rising COVID numbers throughout the country. We are grateful that the boys are getting a lot done and learning a lot through the home renovations they have been doing! Prayers are needed as we try and work out a schooling schedule for Iuli. Pray for direction for our ministry as more kids are leaving the orphanage Please pray for our kids as they adjust to changes at the orphanage. We are still looking for financial supporters. We have just enough to cover the bare basics but not enough to save up for travel. We are planning on going to the States in March and will have to pay for Nicu's ticket. Please pray that we will find the funds to cover this expense (approximately $1200). In addition to our own financial support we continue to need supporters for the transition program. We know of several kids who will be aging out soon and would love to offer them the chance to come into the program if they would like. If you would like to partner with us financially through Heart to Heart International please use the button below. If you choose to support us financially be sure and indicate in the memo section that you would like the funds to go to Nicu and Melissa Perghel or the Transition Program. You can check out our Facebook group to receive updates on the program and how God is using us here in Romania.

Giving Through H2H You can also make a donation through Walking With Orphans using the PayPal Giving link below. The transaction will appear as "Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project" (the registered name for Walking With Orphans).                             By using PayPal Giving we will receive 100% of your donation! https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/1239712

Give Thanks

 

Even though Romanian's don't celebrate Thanksgiving like we do in the States, we have so much to be thankful for! We had a full month during November as we started preparations for the upcoming holiday season. The boys helped put up Christmas decorations and we are thankful for the opportunity to make new traditions and memories with them.

There were a few small projects that the boys worked on as well. One was to deep clean and paint one of the bathrooms. It's amazing what a new coat of paint will do to brighten things up! I'm so thankful that they were able to tackle this project. While it wasn't a big one it was much needed as there was some mold that needed to be taken care of. Nicu, Corni, and the boys were able to treat the walls so that hopefully the mold will not come back.

An after pic and Iuli and Corni working on cleaning the bathroom before Nicu painted.

Nicu and I have continued to serve in the children's department at our church, AlfaOmega. Once a month we lead a lesson, a game, and a craft with the kids. We're thankful for our church family!

We were also able to go to visit the kids at Periș once during November. There had been several cases of COVID so we had waited to visit until most of the kids were feeling better. We were especially thankful to be able to see the kids after several weeks away. Just after we went to visit the kids there were new restrictions put in place and we needed to be fully vaccinated before we could go into the orphanage. Nicu and I have had the first dose of the vaccine and will have the second dose in mid-December. After that we will be able to deliver gifts to the kids just in time for Christmas!

How You Can Support Us

Here are our current prayer requests and praises: Pray for all the kids we work with as we enter the holiday season. Some go home with families for the holidays and some will stay at the orphanage. Either situation can be hard for the kids. Pray that we will be able to get enough gifts for all the kids at the orphanages. We need over 400 gifts. Our church, AlfaOmega, and our "mother" church, Sfantul Treime, are helping with gifts. Pray that everyone will give generously and, more importantly, from their heart. Praise the Lord that we were able to get the vaccine easily here in Romania! We are praying that after the second dose we will not have any major side effects and that we will get the Green Certificate that we need quickly so we can go visit the kids. Pray that we will be able to have a Christmas celebration with the kids at the orphanages and not just drop off gifts. In addition to the gifts that we will receive from the Romanian churches we need financial support to buy gifts for the boys in the transition program and to cover any gifts that don't get bought for the kids at the orphanage. We pray that you will prayerfully consider donating to Heart to Heart this holiday season. If you would like to partner with us financially through Heart to Heart International please use the button below. If you choose to support us financially be sure and indicate in the memo section that you would like the funds to go to Nicu and Melissa Perghel, the Boys Transition Program, or Christmas gifts (if you would like to make a special Christmas contribution). You can check out our Facebook group to receive updates on the program and how God is using us here in Romania.

Giving Through H2H You can also make a donation through Walking With Orphans using the PayPal Giving link below. The transaction will appear as "Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project" (the registered name for Walking With Orphans).                             By using PayPal Giving we will receive 100% of your donation! https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/1239712

A New Season

 

The past few months have been a whirlwind as we started the transition program in earnest. We have two boys, Iuli and Andrei, who are living with us and learning life skills and different trades. They have done several projects around our house in Nenciulești as well as at Pipera.

Andrei and Iuli working on the stairs at our house in Nenciulești.

Nicu, Iuli, and Corni working on a cementing project at Pipera.

Iuli working on making eggplant salad.

We were very blessed to have my mom come for a visit for a few weeks in late September. She helped with Oliver which gave me the chance to attend some trainings that I needed for my licenses and also allowed me to do some much needed organizing. Right after she left numbers of coronavirus cases started to grow again and we have been on a very strict lockdown since the middle of October. We are so thankful that she came just in time!

My mom and Oly on a walk through the neighborhood.

In addition to getting the transition program going full speed we continued to visit Periș and do youth group there. We also visited a youth group in Roșiori led by our co-worker, Sandel. Nicu was even able to make a visit to Casa Lidia! Unfortunately, a few weeks ago several kids at Periș became sick with COVID-19. We have had to stop visits for the time being until they are well again.

Youth Group at Periș.

Nicu visiting Casa Lidia.

Looking ahead to the next month we are hopeful that we will be able to get into Periș and see the kids once again. And we are continuing full speed ahead with the transition program! We will be looking at doing some indoor projects now that the weather is getting colder. We are also gearing up for Christmas and will soon start collecting gifts for the kids.

How You Can Support Us

Here are our current prayer requests and praises: Continue to pray for the transition program. Pray that the boys will get along and continue to learn from the things that we are sharing with them. Also, pray for their spiritual growth. Pray for the health of the kids at Periș. We hope that they will recover from COVID and that we will be able to go back to visit them soon! That we will have wisdom about getting the vaccine and about which vaccine to get. We will need the vaccine to travel and will likely need it to get into the orphanages to work soon. We are praying about when is best for me to get the vaccine as I'm still nursing Oliver and about which vaccine is best for our family. Pray that we will have the funds to cover all the Christmas gifts needed for this year. If you would like to partner with us financially through Heart to Heart International please use the button below. If you choose to support us financially be sure and indicate in the memo section that you would like the funds to go to Nicu and Melissa Perghel, the Boys Transition Program, or Christmas gifts (if you would like to make a special Christmas contribution). You can check out our Facebook group to receive updates on the program and how God is using us here in Romania. Giving Through H2H You can also make a donation through Walking With Orphans using the PayPal Giving link below. The transaction will appear as "Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project" (the registered name for Walking With Orphans).                             By using PayPal Giving we will receive 100% of your donation! https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/1239712