Dear Family & Friends,
As
you may know, in the 1970’s, the communist government of Romania, in an effort
to increase the workforce, outlawed abortion and began to force women to have a
minimum of five children, many of them raped. As a result, the population of
unwanted and orphaned children exploded in Romania, as women began to give
their children to the government. Since the fall of communism in 1989, Romanian
woman are now able to choose if they want to get pregnant, but there has been a
devastating social and cultural side effect—the discarding of unwanted
children. It is now ingrained in Romanian culture that if you don’t want your
child, or they become burdensome in any way, the answer is simply to give them
to the state run orphanages. These orphanages that the children live in are a
nightmare. Sexual predators run rampant within the system, infants become
sickly and die for lack of human interaction, and many children prefer living
on the streets than being subjected to the horrors of the orphanages.
I tell you all this to highlight what God is
currently doing Romania. In the town of Oradea, one of the larger cities in
Romania, the first Christian orphanage, called the House of Joy, is opening up!
Here children will be safe from sexual predators; they will experience God’s
unconditional love, and not feel like throw away children. God is also using
the House of Joy ministry to support foster families and reach out to the
street children, many of whom are so hungry they sniff glue to ease their
hunger pains.
Through Impact 195, a discipleship school I have
been attending since October 2010, God has given me the extraordinary
opportunity to make a lasting difference in the lives of these hurting
children. On August 1st, He is sending a team
of twenty-two Impact 195 students for two weeks to finish building the first
Christian orphanage in Oradea, Romania. He will also be using us to bring hope
and love to street kids, to provide care for sickly infants, and to bring joy
to the outcasts in the Gypsy communities. James 1:27 states that, pure and
undefiled religion is caring for the orphan and the widow—the poorest of the
poor and neediest of the needy. God is sending us to do just that!
Beyond your prayers, if it is put on
your heart, I would be blessed to have you to join me by financially supporting
this trip and making a lasting difference in the lives of
the orphans in Oradea.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this letter, and if you
have any questions, please let me know.
Blessings!
Lisa
