“I can’t do it!” “It’s too hard.” “My feet hurt.” The complaints just kept coming from the mouth of one of our “big-boned” orphan girls on a recent hike in the mountains. As many of you parents can relate to, I began to get irritated. “It’s not that hard”, I was thinking. “Can’t she just [...]
I’ve got to admit it, many people think our ministry goal is nuts! Our goal is to take young people who have spent their entire lives in orphanages, with almost no discipline, love, encouragement, direction, or help, and to turn them into not just productive, normal citizens, but young Christians on fire for Christ who [...]
Compassion. This is where it all starts. Anyone whom I’ve ever met (myself included) who has worked with orphans began doing so because they felt compassion for them. But it doesn’t take long working with teenage/young adult Romanian orphans to realize that more than compassion is needed. There are two very different problems that must [...]
I know that the idea of doing business as ministry is a little strange to some people. Recently we have begun two small businesses whose sole function is to finance our work with orphans and to provide jobs for orphans in Romania. For those who would like to understand how business and ministry can go [...]
Just a quick update on Mandinita. (Pictured to the right along with her mother and Andreea, our Director) Some of you will remember her from past posts. Mandinita had to temporarily leave our program because her mother (Mandinita comes from a Gypsy family) left to go work in France for several months in order to [...]
We have a male guard dog named Ursul (Bear) at our Beauty from Ashes Center for Orphan Girls. Ursul is only 8 months old but he is already big. He is restless and rambunctious, always getting into things and needing attention. Recently my wife gave birth to Evelyn, our new baby daughter. Ursul barked at [...]
Once again one of our orphan girls has been the target of threats and violence. A new addition to our Beauty from Ashes Center, Sarmanca, was baptized just three weeks ago. She is a changed person. She is now a child of the King! She is pursuing a different life than the life she led [...]
Violence – I don’t like it. I don’t like having to deal with it. I don’t like threats. I don’t like living in fear. I don’t like those in my family and our orphans to have to confront these things either. Yet these are some of the things we have been confronted with recently at [...]
Recently I have been reading through Ruth. In addition, over the past year, I have read a lot about ministry to the poor. This is a subject near and dear to my heart as I have dedicated my life to ministering to orphans in Romania. As Christians we are to have compassion on the poor, [...]
The harshness of the lives some of our orphans have led is sometimes mind boggling. But the horrors they have endured are no match for God’s incredible love and salvation. I have written recently about a new addition to our Beauty from Ashes Center for Orphan Girls, Sarmanca. Through tears Sarmanca opened up to our [...]
