Many of the young adults who were raised in orphanages in the 1990s are now young parents, ill-equipped to raise children, impoverished, and hopeless. A single mom named Helga that we know from the local market told us, “I have a hard life and no family other than my 13-year-old daughter. My mother died when I was two. I grew up in the orphanage. I work all I can to give to my child, and I cry every day because my life is so hard.” On many trips to the market, Helga has poured her heart out, and Joy has been able to encourage her and share the hope and love of Jesus.
Pat meets twice weekly with boys at the orphanage, Tuesday for a small accountability group and on Friday to teach English. Tibor, one of the college-age orphans that Pat meets with said that he hates his past. He doesn’t understand God and wants more of his questions answered. He is seeking, and only God has the answers he needs. Pray for Tibor's understanding and Pat as he continues to share truths from God's Word.
On one of our many trips to visit the Minor Center, 16-year old Niţa had a needle and thread and was attempting to sew a hole in a pair of pants. She didn’t know how and asked Joy to help. When the other kids saw her mending clothes, many ran to their rooms and got things that needed mending, so while Pat & Kelsey taught English, Joy was “mom” to the kids with torn clothes. We realized that these neglected orphans, have never had a mom to fix their clothes or teach them how to sew. God has given us such a love for these kids, we know it could only come from Him, and we are so blessed to be a part of their lives.
We were blessed to meet Asad Ali, a 14-year old boy from Pakistan who fled his country in the back of a truck with 10 men, all trying to reach Western Europe. When a bomb destroyed his home and killed his grandfather, Ali had no one, no identification papers, and his only hope was to reach Italy or Spain where his uncles live. His parents had fled in one of the bombings, and now no one knows where they are. We were able to share God’s word with Ali for several weeks, and even though he is Muslim, he willingly stayed and listened. On our last visit to the Minor Center we learned that Ali had been moved to a facility in Timisoara, Romania. He didn’t want to return to Pakistan to the wars and violence he’s always known, but the Romanian and Pakistani embassies are sorting through the legalities, and a judge will decide Ali’s future. Please pray for Ali, for God to continue to direct his path, and for the Word of God to take root in his heart.
These children are runaways, prostitutes, drug traffickers, homeless, beggars, and thieves. Their only hope for a different future is a changed life through Jesus…of course, He’s the only Hope for us all.
I'm so excited that I found you. I was creating a blog for my small group class at church and started hunting around on how to hook my blog up with a link to you guys. Finally, I found the emails which eventually took me to your blog. I have posted your picture on my blog and a link to the main website in hopes that so many will take a trip to your site. I hope that's o.k. with you. I here you guys are back in the states is this really true? Hope to hear from you soon. It would be great to visit with you guys.
ReplyDeletePaige