During our first evening in Slatina, we were able to help out at Awana. Awana is a children’s organization that focuses on teaching about the bible. We noticed that it also creates a safe and fun place for the kids in these Romanian villages to come and get loved on by great examples of role models. Many of the children come from struggling families and are in & out of school (especially since not many of them had any technology to continue school during the covid lockdowns). There are also many after school programs in Slatina (where we are volunteering) that help kids with homework and other general school work.

During Awana, the kids played a big relay race game at the beginning which was so entertaining to watch. Tons of high fives were given out and so much chanting / cheering on our colored teams took place too. Austin even had a secret handshake with one of the kids, it was pretty hilarious! Some of the kids on my team (red) were very cautious with high fives at first but once they realized it was "ok" to give me a high five, there was no hesitation.

After the game, there was a short message (in Romanian) and then everyone broke into small groups to talk more about each of the children and also practice reading God’s word out loud.

Austin snagged this photo which was right before we started the game. My team (the red team) crushed everyone so everyone was pretty excited about that!!