June 26, 2013
By Liz Searles, PC(USA) mission coworker in Romania
Fruits in season here in Romania include cherries—bright, tart, yet sweet, juicy cherries. Today, NOROC (New Opportunities for Romanian Orphaned Children) administrator Petru Solca picked and delivered cherries to the orphanages and staff. The abundant cherries came from the new gym hall property, which has many fruit and nut trees.
These fruits are a new and vibrant gift for everyone involved in NOROC's ministries. As the trees are bearing fruit, the property is being developed for the use of children and youth.
Thanks to a grant from Presbyterian Women's 2012 Birthday Offering, orphaned, abandoned and at-risk children in Tulcea County will have a place to gather, to play, to develop healthy bodies, minds and spirits, and to connect with other kids—those from outside the state institutions as well. All this will happen in due season . . . .
Check out those cherries! We popped them fresh all day, then pitted the rest for compote. It took lots of sugar, but wow! What those preserves do for yogurt !
Pitting the cherries, adding sugar and lemon, and boiling the compote put me in mind of our journey here in Romania. At first, we are fresh, tart, juicy and tasty. To preserve that tastiness, however—the salt and light the Bible talks about—we need to get rid of some pits and insects, mix well with other ingredients bitter and sweet, and have our gifts refined by fire and melded together with those of others.
Don't want to stretch the metaphor too far, but it also may have something to do with fruits of the spirit ;-)
Lots of time to ponder when you're pitting cherries . . . . .
Keep NOROC's ministry of critical care and presence in your prayers, won't you?
And keep enjoying those summer fruits!
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