The dinner on Thursday night was a wonderful celebration of the Teleios Association of Romania. God has assembled an amazing team!
Bonnie and Jeni with the entire Teleios Association of Romania team. (more pictures below the post)
Attila shared each person's talent and their importance to the team. Bonnie shared how the partnership of Teleios Ministry and Teleios Association continued to work together to fulfill the God-given visions to minister to the people around the Reghin area.
Friday morning started with packing to come home.
Bonnie and Jeni discuss the challenges of New Life Children's Home.
Later we spent time with Csaba and Iboya, the house parents at New Life. They shared with us the challenges of making a home for children who are so different and come from troubled pasts. We had the opportunity to pray with them, for them and the children. Then we were able to eat lunch with the children again and spend a little more time with them.
Bonnie visits with "Sir Baptist."
Attila and Bonnie went to visit "Sir Baptist," Istvan Kalanyos. He has been a long-time supporter of Attila's ministry. Sir Baptist lost his wife, Dora, to Covid in 2021. Bonnie was thankful to be able to spend time with him and reminisce about their times together.
Emmi and Kota Toth
I was able to spend time with Emmi Toth, who I met at one of the children's camps. Emmi and her husband recently adopted a little girl and I enjoyed hearing how God worked to bring her into the Toth family. It really is an amazing story!
When we arrived back at Attila and Adel's home, she was busy decorating for Christmas. It was looking beautiful and she was excited as the lights and garland went up.
Then it was time for us to go. Kaleb and Dani joined Attila and Adel for our 2-hour drive to Cluj with a promise to have supper at KFC, the new favorite fast food place in Romania. The drive passed quickly with Kaleb telling us jokes and sharing that his English grades are so good that his classmates call him, "Google Translator!" He insisted that we should come with them to eat and we enjoyed one last meal together. After eating, we were dropped off at our hotel. Bonnie and I decided to try to sleep a few hours before a taxi came to take us to the airport. At 4:15 am, we stepped into the airport to start the long journey back to South Carolina.
As I think about our week in Romania, there are so many memories that I will always treasure and a theme that stands out. Bonnie spoke many times of thankfulness in all things and I spoke of trusting God with His plans for us, but "home" is the theme that continues to ring in my head. Christians understand that our home is in Heaven but because the Kingdom of God is here and Christ lives in us, we are at home anywhere we are fellowshipping with other Christians. Bonnie and I spent time worshipping, fellowshipping, and visiting with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We talked about the Lord's work in our lives and the lives of others. We laughed around tables full of delicious food. Although we were thousands of miles from the upstate of South Carolina, Bonnie and I were at home.