52 DAYS!

As I greeted my guest from Norway at the bus station in the distance I heard my name being called.  "Cindy, Cindy!"  When I stop to look 3 girls running at full speed, with the smallest running into my arms with a kiss and a smile.  I look into her brown eyes that sparkled with joy and a face that was full dirt from the sweets eaten earlier.  All day these girls stay at the dumpster, collecting plastic bottles and metal to exchange for money.  In between they eat food given by those taking their trash.  The sister is standing next to me, just as dirty and pant legs rolled up as far as they will go, on a brisk spring day.  Hair matted and hands black.  She reaches and holds my hand and ask for me to buy some food.  The oldest stands and greets my new guest and again I am asked for food for her and her siblings...52 DAYS!

It was muddy from the rain the night before.  Stratigically stepping on the hard mud and not the soft.  Trying to find grass anywhere to make the journey less sloppy.  As my right hand is swinging back in forth with joy as I grip the hand of a 12 year old who is very happy.  We are visiting her home to ask her mom if she can go to camp next week for the first time in her life.  Our hands break as we dodge mud puddles only to be joined again on the hard parts of the ground.  On the right there is shacks made from straw and mud bricks, doors made of shingles found in the trash, windows broken out with plastic bags replacing glass.  On the left, the same shacks falling down, as the scraps of metal and pieces of trash can barely sustain the structure they call home.   There is no water and no electricity, some days they take the plastic bottles they collected and fill them at the local market.  It is like another world, an area with it's own rules, it's own ways and own culture.  It is hard to imagine people can exsist in such conditions because 3 blocks away are neighborhoods of people who live in apartments and homes and have some sense of normal...(whaterver that is)  52 DAYS!

At the end of the morning program I am surprised to see a girl from the other side of town walk in the door, soaking wet from the rain.  Ofcourse, no coat, no umbrella.  She said she was at one of the local schools to see if she could start attending.  It is a fantasy for her and far from reality.  She is 12 years old, never attended school and hangs on the street all day long.  She comes from a family of 12 or 13.  She lives in a room with her family no bigger than some of your bathrooms.  She always ask me when she can come to my house and stay with me...52 DAYS!

Everyday for a year I looked out the window of my apartment and prayed for this building dream to become a reality! I had great hope and expectaions for what God could do inside this neglected building. In January with little funds and big faith we began to put love and life back into this building. A team of volunteers moved forward quickly as we purchased radiators and concrete to begin the rehab. Since then they have made progress but there is a long way to go...52 DAYS!

This building will be a place for the girls in this story and many others to come daily for a hot meal, shower and educational and vocational training. There will be a classroom, kitchen and bathroom facilities. It is in the center of thousands of Gypsy and poor families and children. It will be a place of hope, a safe place for them to come and be loved, nurtured and discipled...52 DAYS!

On July 2 a team from California will come and after a team from Norway.  Starting May 12 to July 1 there are 52 DAYS!  With the comittment of many and the help of our God, we can complete the room for the kids, the bathroom and kitchen.  It will be a place for the teams to stay, cook and shower during this time we will dedicate the building and begin to fullfill the vision God gave us here to take Medgidia for HIM! 52 DAYS! 

52 DAYS it took Nehemiah and his team to complete the walls of Jerusalem!  They worked day and night, with tools in one hand and swords in the other, there was great opposition against them but God frustrated the enemy.  There are things against this project and in the natural it looks impossible to finish in 52 DAYS but TOGETHER we can finish what God has started.  Stand and work with us by praying, praising, giving and fasting.  However you see to help us we can finish in 52 DAYS!

The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul. It had taken fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard the news and all the surrounding nations saw it, our enemies totally lost their nerve. They knew that God was behind this work.

Nehemiah 6:15-16