Summer Update

The next week, we continued to shop for and visit with the other area ministries. We visited and delivered food and hygiene supplies to the Castle Orphanage and St. Angela's Orphanage. Both places expressed gratitude for the food and we had some time to talk and play games with the children there, though Hungarian is their first language and they don't speak Romanian well. One little boy told me that he doesn't like to play fotbal (soccer) like the other boys, but that he likes to swim! When I asked him where he liked to go swimming, he just shrugged. He doesn't have a place to swim nearby, in fact there isn't much to do where that home is. My hope is that we can purchase a simple swimming pool for the kids there this summer!

The visit with Forget Me Not Ministries and the Joy Beadz ladies was lovely! Most of these women are growing more confident in their abilities to work and care for their children without having to abandon them or sell their daughters into an early marriage. We also had a wonderful afternoon at the afterschool program where they are caring, teaching, mentoring, and feeding around 60 kids. The directors are constantly working on new programs that will help them become more self sufficient, aid the children, and keep the children in school so they can earn a living. When I asked them if any of the neighboring churches had been helping mentor the children, they replied that only one Orthodox priest takes an interest. The other pastors and priests in the area don't like the boisterous ways of the mostly Roma children. This broke my heart to think of the missed opportunities to transform these young lives instead of merely reforming some of them.

On a personal note, I was able to visit with my two children there. These were little ones that I had assigned to me at the orphanage I worked at so many years ago. They consider me like a mother still and it is a great blessing to be able to speak into their lives and try to help some still even though they are 26 and 21 right now. They face many issues as adults with Reactive Attachment Disorder, Depression, and poverty and it can often be hard to walk alongside them from afar.

I was also blessed to see the man, who was my first baby in the hospital. I consider him a nephew as my friend has claimed him as the child of her heart. We had such a good conversation and I was blessed to find out that my encouragement from last year had helped him push forward. I was also able to visit with some dear friends, one being Alina, our old employee. She is doing well and God is caring for her!

I was able to wrap up the trip with a happy heart, knowing that we had blessed many! I returned home for my son Andrew's back surgery and it has been a whirlwind since. A lot of mama tears and fears and giving those fears to God. The operation was successful and he is currently recovering at home! This winter has been hectic with much ministry related travel and a vacation thrown in there before the BIG surgery. I now need to concentrate on fundraising and updating churches and organizations on PHFTC and the people we touch! Please contact me if you would like me to come to your gathering to share!

If you would like to catch up on our previous newsletters, please visit our website at https://www.projecthopeforthechildren.org bottom of the home page.